English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 08/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.
Luke 08/16-21:”‘No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.’ Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you. ’But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 07-08/2020

Your Lebanon Is Holy, Defend Its Sovereignty & Independence/Elias Bejjani/ٍSeptember 06/2020
Lebanon’s COVID-19 patients exceed 20,000/Najia Houssari/Arab News/September 07, 2020
Armed clash erupts at Beirut’s Tariq Al-Jadida district
One dead, two injured after armed clashes in Beirut's Tariq al-Jadideh
Cyprus sends team to Beirut to stop migrants fleeing crisis-ridden Lebanon
Aoun Asks Jordan King to Allow Passage of Lebanese Produce
Aoun Discusses Forensic Audit Contract with Wazni
Sawwan Questions Witnesses, Dismisses Motions to Release Detainees
Complaint against Ministry of Economy for 'Wasting' Public Funds
Israel Carries Out ‘Maintenance’ Works off Marjayoun
Italian PM to Visit Beirut Tuesday
FPM Blasts Geagea Speech, Accuses Him of 'Obstructing' Aoun
Haniyeh Meets Jumblat, Says Keen on Lebanon SecurityCyprus Worried as 4 Migrant Boats from Lebanon Reach Island in 48 Hours
Put Lebanon ahead of Iran and stop Arab interference, Geagea tells Hezbollah
Letter to Khamenei and the Iranian Ambassador/Elie Aoun/September 08/2020
Persistence key to Lebanese desire for change/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/September 07/2020
Hamas seeks radical common ground with pro-Iran Hezbollah/Jemai Guesmi/The Arab Weekly/September 07/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 07-08/2020

EU warns Serbia, Kosovo over Israel embassy move to Jerusalem
Saudi King tells Trump he is eager for fair solution to Palestinian issue
Jamal Khashoggi killing: eight sentenced and case closed
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, France’s Macron discuss G20 and coronavirus
Iran plays dangerous game with uranium enrichment
Qatar: Payouts for Hamas no longer guaranteed – report
Iraq to reopen borders for trade, bring back sports and dining
ISIS claims terrorist attack in Tunisia’s Sousse
Morocco talks pave the way for new transitional phase in Libya
Houthi drones target Saudi Arabia amid allegations of Qatari backing
Russian FM Sergei Lavrov visits Syria for first time since 2012
Assad seeks Russian help in face of US sanctions
Sudan floods: Nearly 100 deaths, hundreds homeless amid unprecedented rainfall
Navalny Out of Artificial Coma after 'Novichok Poisoning'

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 07-08/2020

Turkey expresses 'concern' at Kosovo, Serbia embassy move to Jerusalem/Alex Winston/Jerusalem Post/September 07/2020
The UN and EU's Silence on Iran's "Shocking Human Rights Violations"/Majid Rafizadeh/ Gatestone Institute/September 07/2020
Confiscating Books in Sweden/Judith Bergman/ Gatestone Institute/September 07/2020
Terrorism strikes again in Tunisia, amid political crisis/Sghaier El-HidriThe Arab Weekly/September 07/2020
Eastern Mediterranean conflict further marginalizing NATO/Ramzy Baroud/Arab News/September 07/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 06-07/2020

Your Lebanon Is Holy, Defend Its Sovereignty & Independence
Elias Bejjani/ٍSeptember 06/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/77734/elias-bejjani/

History teaches us that almost none of the world’s greatest nations have ever been defeated by their rivals. All of them were first weakened and destroyed from within, before their enemies were able to bring them to their knees. Even medicine teaches us that when the body loses immunity it becomes vulnerable to disease. Perhaps the best examples of this can be seen in the fall of the Ottoman and Roman empires.
These historical and medical realities are a good example of what personifies the pathetic derailed stances of some of our people in both occupied Lebanon and in Diaspora. These people are destroying the Lebanese communities from within, through their shameless collaboration and subservience to the Iranian occupation.
“Everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (John 8-34), and every Lebanese who betrays his people to advocate for the Iranian occupation in any way and by any means is also a sinner too.
These mercenaries and Pharisees, are void of any kind of dignity or national honor. Unfortunately they come from all walks of life and from all religious backgrounds and regions.
They have sold themselves to the devil in a bid to increase their riches and solidify their power. They steal, cheat, embezzle, betray, and change their skin for personal interests, all at the expense of the Lebanese people and Lebanon.
They ignore Lebanon’s deeply rooted history, distinguishable identity, and they have no respect for the sacrifices of the many thousands of Lebanese patriots who offered themselves on the nation’s altar to enable us to be proud, prosperous and independent.
These antagonists are thirsty for power and blood; They sold their souls and honor for thirty pieces of silver. They have no respect for Lebanon’s 7000 years of civilization, culture and its glorious history. They are masters in defeatism, ignorance, cowardice and faithlessness.
Their wicked camouflage, sweet words and lies are well known to all those who are witnesses to the truth. They have missed the fact that Lebanon’s people have never, ever knelt and hung their heads before any tyrant, invader, occupier or conqueror.
All foreign invaders with their armies were forced to leave Lebanon in defeat, humiliation and a fractured dignity.
The only memory of these invaders are the primitive carvings on the “Nahr Al-Kaleb” rocks, near the city of Beirut. These carvings should foretell to the Iranian occupiers their fate in Lebanon and that they definitely are not going to be any better than those who like them deluded themselves and falsely believed that they can destroy Lebanon and subdue its people.
They have all left while Lebanon and its people still stand as proud and patriotic as they were 7000 years ago!
We remind the Pharisees and Trojans, who apparently suffer of an advanced selective amnesia that the people of Sidon in the year 350 BC, chose to burn themselves and their city after their prolonged heroic resistance failed to safeguard their city against the Persian invader Artechtahta. They preferred to die with dignity rather than live with humiliation.
The people of Tyre followed this same pattern in 332 BC. They resisted Alexander the Great’s mighty army for seven months refusing to surrender or kneel. Alexander, after capturing the city crucified many of the brave Tyrians, while enslaving others in a bid to revenge his huge loss and demeaning humiliation.
In the same context,The Maronite Patriarch Gabriel Hgola choose to be burned (1367 AD) in Tripoli northen Lebanese City in front of the Omari mosque in a bid to save his people from the Mamlouk’s humiliation and torture.
The same sacrifice was taken by the Maronite Patriarch Daniel Al-Amshiti in the same place in year 1282 for almost the same reasons and for the same cause.
In principle, a man is considered defeated when winning the whole universe, if he lacks the courage needed to witness the truth and defend God’s word. By the same token, the brave man who honors human values and dignity, remains victorious even when imprisoned and chained in shackles.
We remind those who are afraid to takes clear stances in life, change their skin to suit their opportunistic interests, and lack the courage to witness the truth, that by doing so, they are committing the worst mortal crime. Imam Ali says in this regard: “He who accepts acts of others is considered their partner. He who is involved in evil acts commits two sins, that of performing the act and that of its acceptance.”
We call on our derailed leaders and politicians in occupied Lebanon to strengthen your faith, repent for their cowardice behavior and be witness for the truth.
We call on them not to fall into the trap of individual interests, and not to be deceived by the golden garments and illustrious schemes of those who have been assigned to divide our nation and communities, and spread hatred and conflicts among its members.
These derailed and weak shepherds, “God has blinded their eyes and closed their minds, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not understand, and they would not turn to me, says God, for me to help them”. (John 12-39).
It is a proven fact that the coward is a blind man in both sight and discretion, whose conscience has turned numb.
Shame on every Lebanese who keeps a blind eye towards his people who imprisoned arbitrarily in the Syrian jails and shame on every Lebanese who does not support human rights and does not advocate for Lebanon’s liberation.
Shame on all these Lebanese who are scared to oppose the occupation of their country, so as not to be expelled from the heaven of opportunistic interests and privileges provided by the occupier, or in fear of his reprisal. They have chosen the track of sin rather than that of righteousness.
These Pharisees are destroying the country which is our holy temple. They should be dealt with in the same way Jesus did over 2000 years ago:
“It was almost time for the Passover festival, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. There in the temple he found men selling cattle, sheep and pigeons, and also the money changers sitting at their tables. So He made a whip from the cords and drove all the animals out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of the money changers and scattered their coins; and he ordered the men who sold the pigeons: Take them out of here, stop making my Fathers House a marketplace”. John 03-13
We call on all those who have accepted slavery, are afraid to be witnesses for the truth, feel defeated inside themselves, have deviated from the righteous track, camouflaging, cheating and betraying Lebanon; We call on all of them to wake up and start thoroughly reviewing their dangerous acts! Forgiveness is always there and Lebanon’s open loving arms will embrace them once they repent.
“If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples, you know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. (John 8-13)

Lebanon’s COVID-19 patients exceed 20,000
Najia Houssari/Arab News/September 07, 2020
Lebanon’s total number of COVID-19 patients has exceeded 20,000, with the country’s health minister on Monday describing the situation as “delicate and in need of full awareness by all citizens.”
About 12,753 COVID-19 patients were registered during August, while 3,118 cases were registered during the first week of September. The number of COVID-19 patients whose source of infection was unknown has exceeded 4,000.
Health Minister Hamad Hassan said: “It is the duty of the state to protect society with its health security, and society must respond to the instructions of the Ministry of Health and adhere to wearing masks, hygiene, and instructions issued by the government.”
Many official departments were closed at the weekend in Lebanon for sanitization operations after coronavirus was detected among employees. Foreign Ministry staff underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests after a COVID-19 case was found among them. A retirement home in Beirut’s Ain El-Remmaneh area has recorded infections among the elderly and the staff caring for them. “It is not easy,” added Hassan. “There are a lot of cases in Lebanon and, unfortunately, there are some deaths. Hence, I ask that precautionary and preventive measures be taken seriously, as all the mobilization and emergency laws are not important if we do not take the measures absolutely seriously.We must be responsible and not transmit the infection to our nearest members of the family.”The ministry is equipping government hospitals in areas far from the capital with the requirements for receiving coronavirus patients, while private hospitals are working to raise their preparedness in terms of providing intensive care beds and regular beds for COVID-19 patients. Hassan rejected speculation about the results of PCR tests issued by laboratories accredited by the ministry, and urged people not to “question or underestimate” the pandemic.
Municipalities are monitoring infected people and tracking their condition. They have also resorted to isolating villages until infected people recover to prevent the transmission of the virus to others. The country’s dire economic situation has, however, prevailed over the preventive measures taken to combat the virus. Restaurants, cafes and bars have resumed activity and security measures are lax in pursuing those breaking COVID-19 procedures by not wearing face masks. Abdul-Rahman Al-Bizri, an infectious diseases specialist and member of the Health Ministry’s crisis committee, said that Lebanon’s rate of infections was relatively high and would continue to rise.

Armed clash erupts at Beirut’s Tariq Al-Jadida district

Arab News/September 07, 2020
Several injuries have been reported after an armed clash erupted in Beirut’s Tariq Al-Jadida neighborhood on Monday evening. The Lebanese army deployed to the area and cordoned off Karam Darwish street where the clash took place, the state National News Agency said.
Machine guns were used in the clash, a correspondent for the agency said. The injured were rushed to hospital as army attempted to restore security.

One dead, two injured after armed clashes in Beirut's Tariq al-Jadideh
Al Arabiya English/Monday 07 September 2020
The Lebanese army deployed to the streets of Beirut Monday night after a deadly armed clash broke out in the Tariq al-Jadideh neighborhood. RPGs and machine guns were used between two groups of men, which led to one death and two injuries, a statement from the army said.
The army deployed four armored vehicles and several soldiers to the area, in a video shared on social media. A security source told Lebanese TV channel LBCI that the gunfight resulted from a dispute between two local families that initially flared up on Saturday. Earlier in the day, local media reported that the clashes were between supporters of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his older brother, Bahaa. Al Arabiya English could not independently verify the reports. However, a statement from Bahaa Hariri's office condemned the incident and called for an investigation.

Cyprus sends team to Beirut to stop migrants fleeing crisis-ridden Lebanon
AFP/Monday 07 September 2020
Cyprus said Monday it will send a team to Lebanon to help authorities stop boats with migrants including from war-torn Syria heading for the Mediterranean island after several recent attempts. Officials from various services will visit Lebanon “to deal in the best and most effective way with this phenomenon,” Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said. Cyprus, just 160 km (100 miles) from Lebanon’s coast, is so close that the deadly explosion that devastated Beirut on August 4 was heard on the island. Syria is even nearer. Cyprus is on alert after at least five boats carrying over 150 migrants were spotted off the coast of the tourist island by authorities in recent days, and the interior ministry held an emergency meeting on the situation on Monday. Many of those on board were Syrians, as well as Lebanese. Some were permitted to disembark, but others were sent back.
Cypriot authorities chartered a boat to take a group back to Lebanon with an escort. Lebanon, which hosts a million Syrian refugees, was already reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades before the cataclysmic explosion in the port of Beirut. Nearby Nicosia fears becoming a magnet for those fleeing a political and economic crisis. European Union member Cyprus and Lebanon have a “send back” agreement to discourage migrants. Cyprus has long complained it is on the frontline of the Mediterranean migration route, with the EU’s highest number of first-time asylum seekers per capita of population. “We are no longer able to receive additional numbers of economic migrants simply because” reception facilities are full, Nouris said. Nouris last week praised parliament’s approval to cut the time that migrants can appeal rejected asylum applications from 75 to 15 days.
Since the migrant “Balkans route” from Turkey to central Europe was blocked in 2015, asylum applications in Cyprus have soared - from 2,253 that year, to 13,648 in 2019 - the interior ministry says. A spokesperson for the UN refugee agency in Cyprus told AFP: “Any person on a boat who seeks asylum should be admitted at least on a temporary basis to examine the claim.”

Aoun Asks Jordan King to Allow Passage of Lebanese Produce
Naharnet/September 07/2020
President Michel Aoun on Monday held phone talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II to inquire about the reasons behind the closure of Jordan’s Nassib border crossing in the face of Lebanese agricultural goods, the National News Agency said. “He asked him to intervene to open the crossing to 60 trucks carrying dozens of tons of fresh Lebanese vegetables and fruits,” NNA added. “King Abdullah responded positively to President Aoun’s request and gave his instructions to facilitate the passage of the convoy of trucks,” the agency said.
Aoun for his part thanked the monarch for his cooperation, stressing “the firmness of the brotherly Lebanese-Jordanian ties.”The president also extended gratitude to King Abdullah for the air lift that the kingdom organized in the wake of the devastating Beirut blast to offer medical and humanitarian assistance to Lebanon.

Aoun Discusses Forensic Audit Contract with Wazni
Naharnet/September 07/2020
President Michel Aoun on Monday held talks with caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni over a contract with a foreign firm aimed at carrying out a forensic audit of the accounts of the central bank. “The meeting was dedicated to discussing the issue of the contract with the Alvarez & Marsal firm that will carry out a forensic audit of the accounts of Banque du Liban, in order to clarify some ambiguities that occurred after the signing of the contract,” the National News Agency said. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Wazni said: “I would like to assert that forensic audit is one of the main reform topics and will later entail all of the state’s ministries, administrations, institutions and funds.”
“The contract with Alvarez & Marsal has been signed and has entered into effect, and if there are any amendments, they will be discussed with the company later,” Wazni added, noting that he will form a follow-up committee.

Sawwan Questions Witnesses, Dismisses Motions to Release Detainees
Naharnet/September 07/2020
Lead judicial investigator into the Beirut port blast Judge Fadi Sawwan on Monday heard the testimonies of four witnesses and will question more witnesses on Tuesday, the National News Agency said. Sawwan also dismissed motions for the release of three detainees in the case, remanding them in custody. According to media reports, 31 suspects have been detained in the probe, most of them customs and port officials. Sawwan has recently heard the testimony of caretaker PM Hassan Diab and is reportedly poised to question ministers and former ministers. The cataclysmic explosion at the port killed at least 191 people and wounded around 6,500 others, making it Lebanon's deadliest peacetime disaster. Seven people are still listed as missing while swathes of the capital were devastated and around 300,000 have lost their homes. The tragedy has been blamed on tons of explosive ammonium nitrate that were left languishing in an unsecured hangar at the port for around six years.
SourceNaharnet

Complaint against Ministry of Economy for 'Wasting' Public Funds
Naharnet/September 07/2020
Director of Media Focal Center, Salem Zahran, filed a complaint on Monday with the Public Prosecution Office to investigate the “waste of public funds" in the Ministry of Economy and Trade specifically in subsidized food commodities.
“Millions of dollars were paid from the people's confiscated deposits at Banque du Liban to merchants under the title “subsidizing food commodities.” Instead of prices dropping, they rose, as the Minister of Economy admitted. Accordingly, we registered a complaint with the prosecution to identify and arrest the merchants who plundered our money and recover it immediately,” said Zahran. Outgoing Economy Minister Raoul Nehme had in July introduced subsidies to some 300 basic commodities in light of a severe devaluation of the Lebanese pound to the dollar that increased the prices of goods uncontrollably.
“It aims to secure the majority of essential goods for citizens at a low price, and thus increase their purchasing power,” he had said. But his move only pushed a further increase in prices, although he vowed “we will monitor the prices and pursue traders or distributors in the event of tampering.”
In a video recording filming Zahran from the Justice Palace, he said all merchants responsible for the spike in prices of commodities must be jailed under Article 685 of the Penal Code. Lebanon is reeling under an unprecedented economic crisis, coupled with the coronavirus outbreak and latest, a colossal Beirut port explosion that flattened large parts of the capital killing and wounding many. The currency has crashed in value to the dollar, and banks locked down dollar accounts to prevent capital flight. Prices have skyrocketed, and imports are limited in a country that imports nearly everything. Unable to access their money, even the most able are struggling to secure materials for repairs.

Israel Carries Out ‘Maintenance’ Works off Marjayoun
Naharnet/September 07/2020
Israeli troops carried out maintenance work using a bobcat bulldozer in the occupied territories off Lebanon’s Marjayoun plains, the National News Agency reported on Monday. Israeli military also carried out excavation works behind the observation station off al-Maysat locality in the outskirts of the town of el-Wazzani, added the agency. NNA also said an Israeli spy plane hovered over the southern town of Marjayoun from Sunday through Monday. Israel and Lebanon are still technically at war, and the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in south Lebanon is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire.

Italian PM to Visit Beirut Tuesday
Naharnet/September 07/2020
Italian PM Giuseppe Conte is expected to kick off a two-day visit to Beirut on Tuesday for talks with senior Lebanese officials, and to inspect the UNIFIL’s Italian battalion and the blast site in Beirut’s port, media reports said on Monday.
Conte is expected to kick start his meetings with President Michel Aoun, and a number of officials. He will inspect the blast site in Beirut where an Italian ship docked earlier transporting advanced aid to Beirut’s firefighters, and medical and food supplies. After the devastating August 4 explosion, the Italian government, in addition to several other states, provided relief support and humanitarian aid for Lebanon. Conte’s visit to Lebanon comes less than two weeks after the visit of the Italian Minister of Defense, Lorenzo Guerrini, who met with senior officials and supervised the urgent Italian support programs for the Lebanese people, after the Beirut port bombing.‏ ‏

FPM Blasts Geagea Speech, Accuses Him of 'Obstructing' Aoun
Naharnet/September 07/2020
The Free Patriotic Movement on Monday responded fiercely to criticism voiced a day earlier by Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. “Anytime a positive course begins to address one of Lebanon’s crises, LF leader Samir Geagea surprises the Lebanese with a negative rhetoric that poisons the atmosphere of hope,” the FPM said in a statement. “It is regrettable that he always exploits the martyrs anniversary. He has forgotten the martyrs and some of the (Lebanese) resistance’s martyrs fell at his hands and the names are known. His insolence has reached the level of mentioning martyrs who were the victims of his treachery,” the FPM added. “This man has never been constructive and yesterday, like every time, he did not voice a single positive idea nor did he present a single solution -- not in economy, nor in finance nor as to the monetary situation. He took extortion money from our pockets to build a castle and buy properties, he killed the people and assassinated their leaders and his militias planted toxic waste in our mountains years ago,” the Free Patriotic Movement charged. Accusing Geagea of “refusing any reconciliation between the Lebanese,” the Movement said the LF leader is dismayed by the understanding between Hizbullah and the FPM because “it brought the Lebanese closer to each other.”“He regrets the reconciliation between Christians because it did not fulfill his desire to seize power,” the FPM added, referring to the Maarab Agreement between the FPM and the LF. Referring to the post-explosion relief efforts in Lebanon, the Movement said “at a time the world has rushed to help Lebanon, Samir Geagea is insisting on reopening old wounds, stirring sentiments and continuing his hateful approach.”“He is also continuing his efforts to obstruct President Michel Aoun and prevent him from making achievements as a president,” the FPM charged. It also accused Geagea of having “a lust for becoming president.”On Sunday, Geagea said “the Mar Mikhail understanding was a deal between two parties to secure their narrow partisan interests at the expense of Lebanon as a country and at the expense of the state, sovereignty and the Lebanese people.”He added that “instead of bringing Hizbullah under the wing of the state,” the Mar Mikhail agreement “brought the state under the wing of Hizbullah, which destroyed every chance for the rise of a real state in Lebanon.”

Haniyeh Meets Jumblat, Says Keen on Lebanon Security
Naharnet/September 07/2020
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh held talks Monday in Clemenceau with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat. “We offered our condolences over the port martyrs and wished recovery for the wounded and Lebanon is capable of returning to stability and unity,” said Haniyeh after the meeting.
“We wish success for the talks aimed at forming a government and we hope Lebanon will become more stable,” he added. “We are keen on Lebanon’s security, our people in it are part of the Palestinian people and our relation with Lebanon is clear and strong with all its components,” Haniyeh went on to say.
He added that Hamas does not interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs and will not do anything that would “embarrass” the country. “We reject normalization with the Israeli occupation,” Haniyeh said. Jumblat for his part warned that Lebanon could “drown in further economic deterioration” and that “its political and economic fate” will be at stake if it does not form a new government as soon as possible. “My advice to the brother Ismail Haniyeh is that the unity of the Palestinian stance is the most important thing no matter what the pressures might be, and I’m ready, with the capabilities I possess, to help and facilitate the essential right for Palestinian refugees to live in dignity, seeing as racial discrimination is unfair against them,” the PSP leader added.

Cyprus Worried as 4 Migrant Boats from Lebanon Reach Island in 48 Hours
Associated Press/Naharnet/September 07/2020
Cypriot authorities are alarmed over the arrival of four boats carrying Syrian and Lebanese migrants in waters off the east Mediterranean island nation's coastline within a 48-hour span. Cyprus police said Sunday that four vessels appeared off Cyprus' eastern and southern coast over the last two days carrying a total 123 migrants and about half of them have been permitted to disembark. Some 21 migrants remain aboard a boat that is adrift off Cyprus' southeastern tip as a result of a faulty engine. Police said three women and nine children had earlier been taken off the boat and transferred to a Cypriot hospital as a precaution. Some 33 migrants aboard a boat that police intercepted 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) off the southern coast Saturday afternoon have boarded another vessel that Cypriot authorities have chartered to be taken back to Lebanon. European Union member Cyprus and Lebanon have an agreement to curb the arrival of boats loaded with migrants from reaching the island. On Friday, police encountered a small craft sailing off the coastal town of Larnaca with five migrants aboard. The boat continued to sail on in an undetermined direction. Meanwhile, 51 migrants were to a reception center after their boat from Lebanon reached a rocky beach Saturday along the island's eastern coastline that's inside a U.N. controlled buffer zone separating ethnically split island's breakaway Turkish Cypriot north from the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south. U.N. peacekeepers transferred the 35 men, five women and 11 children to Cypriot custody. A court on Sunday ordered that four men remain in custody over suspicion they were the boat's crew. Police said another 20 Syrian migrants — 19 men, a woman and a child — were taken to a reception center after being picked up Sunday morning near the buffer zone 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the capital Nicosia. Cyprus' Interior Minister Nicos Nouris told private news channel Alpha that an urgent meeting would be convened Monday to assess the unfolding situation. He said Cyprus' migrant reception center is reaching its limits amid concerns over sticking to health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19. On Friday, Nouris hailed lawmakers' approval of a constitutional amendment shortening the amount of time migrants have to appeal rejected asylum applications from 75 to 15 days. He said the measure is a key first step in helping to clear the huge backlog of asylum cases.
 

Put Lebanon ahead of Iran and stop Arab interference, Geagea tells Hezbollah
Joseph Haboush and Omar Elkatouri, Al Arabiya English/Monday 07 September 2020
Iran-backed Hezbollah must hand over the decision over war and peace to the state, a senior Lebanese politician said Sunday, adding that it must stop unjustified interventions in Arab countries. “It is time to take the initiative in making a difficult but correct decision to put yourself at the service of Lebanon and its people ... instead of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea said. Speaking during a memorial ceremony commemorating fighters of the Christian militia-turned-political party, Geagea said Hezbollah needed to follow the suit of all other Lebanese political parties who gave up their weapons and pledged allegiance to the state. Hezbollah is the only side in Lebanon, other than Palestinian factions, to keep their weapons following the 1975-90 Civil War. Initially supported to fend off Israeli aggressions and invasions, Hezbollah’s weapons have been turned against Lebanese citizens on more than one occasion. The group, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and several European and Arab states, continues to fight alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the neighboring war. It is also providing fighters and intelligence support in Iraq and Yemen against Arab states and interests, including Saudi Arabia. “It is time to return to Lebanon … Hezbollah must stop its unjustified foreign intervention in more than one Arab country and stop playing the leading role of the Iranian project in the Arab region,” Geagea said. Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general, previously pledged allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and admitted to receiving funding and weapons from Tehran. This has dealt a significant blow to Lebanon’s ties with the Gulf and its traditional allies in the international community. “Are you waiting for complete starvation?” Geagea asked, referring to Hezbollah’s continued intervention in other countries’ affairs. “Hezbollah must hand off the decision of war and peace to the country,” he said.

Letter to Khamenei and the Iranian Ambassador
Elie Aoun/September 08/2020

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/90210/elie-aoun-letter-to-khamenei-and-the-iranian-ambassador-%d8%a7%d9%8a%d9%84%d9%8a-%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%86%d8%a6%d9%8a/
A meeting took place at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut between Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh. It is obvious that both parties – acting with Iran’s support – are renewing their intent to jointly use Lebanon as a launching ground for attacks against Israel.
Firstly, the role of an embassy is to be a point of contact between two countries. It has no authority to hold meetings of parties (foreign and domestic) which intend to use the country as a base for military activities – and under the guidance of the embassy’s government. The meeting between Nassrallah and Haniyeh, and their objectives, constitute a trespass on Lebanese sovereignty and a violation of an embassy’s legitimate responsibility and duties.
As free Lebanese, we say to your Iranian regime: you have to respect our sovereignty. If you cannot do so, we do not only ask, but we demand from you to close your embassy in Beirut and take your ambassador back to Tehran. You are not welcomed in our country.
If Iran has a war with Israel, go wage it on your own – and not through proxies at Lebanon’s expense. And if your missiles are sufficient to destroy Israel, as you claim, why would you need missiles on Lebanese soil? Use your own from your own land.
Secondly, your declared animosity with Israel is dishonest. As you know, it was the CIA that helped Khomeini attain power in Iran. It was Israel that played a role in sending weapons to the Iranian regime in its war against Iraq, in what was called the Iran-Contra Affair. In other words, your regime received weapons from Israel to kill other Muslims. If Israel is an enemy, as you claim, what makes your regime deal with an enemy of Islam to kill Muslims, and to destabilize Lebanon who has done nothing wrong against Iran or Palestine?
If you consider yourselves to have ethical standards, then let us know what these standards are. As individuals, we do not see a logic in a so-called “Islamic Republic” killing Muslims and undermining nations where Muslims live – if that is honestly what you care about. Based on the results of your actions, you are con-artists.
Thirdly, the 1949 Lebanese-Israeli General Armistice Agreement prohibits the use of military force “in the settlement of the Palestine question.” Although that agreement has been violated on various occasions, it is still a commitment that was made by the Lebanese and Israeli governments. Those who live on Lebanese soil (as well as the Israeli side) must abide by it. That includes all Iranian-controlled proxies in the country.
Those who live on Lebanese territory, and cannot respect its laws, are free to relocate to another country. Lebanon has done no harm to Palestine, and the Palestinians must cease all causes of harm to Lebanon. Our hospitality is not an authorization for you to undermine the security of our country.
Fourthly, there are many signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinian authorities. If they have no intention to observe these agreements, then let them void these agreements prior to threatening one another with military actions. It is not the trait of real men to enter into an agreement to do one thing and then act in an opposite manner.
Finally, if you, Khamenei, consider yourself to be a man of dignity, then be so and respect the country that has done nothing wrong to you. Stop using Lebanese traitors to advance your agenda. Advance whatever agenda you want, at your own expense, and leave Lebanon alone.

Persistence key to Lebanese desire for change
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/September 07/2020
French President Emmanuel Macron’s follow-up visit to Lebanon last week created a backlash from those who, like me, oppose Hezbollah and the Iranian influence in the region. The declarations made by French diplomatic teams giving legitimacy to this group were a mistake and, for some, a betrayal. The reason is simple: We see this group in its current form as a danger to the future of Lebanon; something that contributes to the erosion of the sovereignty of the country. Likewise, Iran plays a nefarious and expansionist role throughout the Middle East.Like me, many French people of Lebanese origin hope and dream of a free Lebanon that is close to France and prospers despite the situation in the Middle East. We hope that President Macron understands this. Macron’s visit to Lebanon was followed by a visit to Iraq, and we owed it to him to listen to his message there. Indeed, during his visit to Iraq, Macron clearly opposed any interference in the country’s affairs, insisting on France’s support for the sovereignty of the Iraqi state. Iraq, with its new Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, may have the capacity to rebalance its relations with its Iranian neighbor, even though the task will be difficult. French and American efforts seem to be aimed in this direction. The same principle applies in Lebanon, but perhaps no Lebanese person or political group is able to bring about this change today.
On the other hand, we must also listen to Macron’s message about the Mediterranean because it is a message of prosperity and stability. Speaking of the principle of “Pax Mediterranea,” he clearly opposes Turkish imperialist action and its methods of intimidation, which all Mediterranean countries refuse. This is again a more complete vision to which Lebanon subscribes and which can be positive for this country. Some Sunni Lebanese groups seem to be calling on Turkey to intervene to oppose Hezbollah, but this would be a mistake that could plunge the country into even more conflict.
Macron’s mission is much more difficult in Lebanon because the country is complicated and symbolic of an overall vision for the wider region of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. For Lebanon, the chaos is already there and the risks are well known. Macron can only help Lebanon if the Lebanese help him do it — and help themselves first.
It should also be noted that no one has come to try and help Lebanon except Macron. He had a clear message to the ruling political class about the sovereignty of the country. There are, in fact, two realities in the country and all the signs currently seem to be in favor of the regime that is in place, which is that of Hezbollah. For these reasons and despite the opposition to the transformation of Lebanon into either an Iranian or an Ottoman state, it is important to give the French president time before judging his actions. The Lebanese have little to lose. It is also important for the Lebanese political forces attached to sovereignty to remain active and to show that they have real weight on the local political scene. Any change or rebalancing can only be done with persistence and consistency, and without alienating international support. Macron can only help Lebanon if the Lebanese help him do it — and help themselves first.
Macron’s efforts might perhaps be successful in securing an Iranian deal with a transition for Hezbollah’s political role. The odds are slim, but inactivity on the local scene while opposing the actions of the French president is helping to push the country in the wrong direction. What are the political actions that can accompany Macron’s efforts and allow for change in Lebanon to begin is the question that needs to be asked. One thing is certain: We cannot wait for the initiatives to succeed without having action on the ground to support them.
It is also important to note that, for now, the US appears to support France’s actions in Lebanon and this will hold true after the presidential election in November. However, disagreements still seem to exist on the policies vis-a-vis Iran and Turkey. It is, therefore, also necessary to align Lebanese action in the direction of these files by giving the necessary advice. It is important to make people understand that, in a region like the Middle East, a policy of appeasement is not always best and that some threats are not perceived as such or are considered weak.
A greater understanding between the US and France could have an incredibly positive role in the region and help achieve the goals Macron has set for himself. As far as Lebanon is concerned, neither the state nor any political force can disarm Hezbollah or reduce its control over key points of the state. The only way to get there is either a deal with Iran or a war. However, if nothing is feasible on armaments at this time, the accompaniment of Macron’s efforts may make it possible to reduce Hezbollah’s control over the state, mainly with regard to key security-related positions that undermine the state’s legitimacy.
The Lebanese should, therefore, not remain as spectators to the international efforts of the French president because it is up to them to create the change. We must work on acceptable solutions and not underestimate the strength of the people who want change. Every crisis is also an opportunity. It is not about shouting a slogan but about building a new Lebanon. As the saying goes, the drop of water breaks the stone not by force, but by falling often. Persistence will make the difference.
It is also important to succeed in changing Iran’s actions so that this country deals with the Lebanese state and not a single group, even though it has a religion in common with this group. The Lebanese can perhaps learn from the Cold War history of Finland, which managed to chart an independent foreign policy course by being close to the US and European countries and benefiting from their support, while also remaining neutral and communicating with the Soviet Union.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is the CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
 

Hamas seeks radical common ground with pro-Iran Hezbollah
Jemai Guesmi/The Arab Weekly/September 07/2020
BEIRUT- During a visit to Lebanon’s port city of Sidon, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sought radical common ground with the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement at a time of major challenges for both movements.
Haniyeh’s stop came as part of a week-long visit to Lebanon for rare talks between Palestinian factions about how to overcome their feuds and weather transformations in the region in view of recent Arab normalisation moves with Israel.
Haniyeh’s trip to Lebanon came after a visit to Turkey during which he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, triggering Israeli denunciation of the relationship.
Meeting with Islamist allies in Turkey and Lebanon, Hamas’s leader seemed in search of Turkish and Iranian guardianship in the face of international hostility.
His recourse to anti-Israeli threats in Lebanon betrayed Haniyeh’s temptation to use rhetorical escalation to gain the support of newly-sought patrons in Iran and Turkey. After meeting earlier in the week with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and representatives of other Palestinian groups, Haniyeh arrived in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp near Sidon on Sunday to crowds of cheering supporters. There he met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to discuss regional developments and “dangers to the Palestinian cause,” including “Arab plans for normalisation” with Israel, Hezbollah-run Al Manar TV reported. Addressing reports of Arab normalisation moves with Israel, Haniyeh said the trend “does not represent the people, neither their conscience, nor their history nor their heritage,” according to a Hamas statement.
Earlier in the week he urged for Palestinian factions to come together to “restore our national unity, put an end to division and establish a unified Palestinian position… to confront projects directed against our people.”
For years, divergences in ideology and strategy have pit the Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, against the centrist Fatah party, which leads the West-Bank based Palestinian Authority. The rift between the two Palestinian factions has complicated their governance of the occupied territories and undermined efforts to form a strong national response to Israel.
Haniyeh spoke virtually from Beirut with Palestinain Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in their first face-to-face meeting in years, triggering speculation that the two rival parties could finally put their differences behind them and forge a moderate, unified position.
However, Haniyeh reverted back to his familiar violent rhetoric when meeting with Hezbollah on Sunday, threatening to strike at Tel Aviv, Israel’s cultural and commercial hub located some 70 km away.
“Our missiles had a range of several kilometers (miles) from the border with Gaza,” Haniyeh said. “Today the resistance in Gaza has missiles that can hit Tel Aviv and beyond Tel Aviv.” Hamas, designated by the US and other Western countries as a terror group, has hit Tel Aviv with rare rocket fire in previous rounds of fighting, attacks that are considered a serious escalation by Israel and often met with a harsh response. Hamas-linked groups also recently set Israeli farmland ablaze with incendiary balloons, which was also viewed as a severe escalation. While pressing for Arab countries to more forcefully back Palestinian “resistance” efforts, Haniyeh has frequently antagonised his Arab neighbours by conveying enthusiastic support for Iran.
In May this year, Haniyeh specifically praised the Islamic Republic for “supporting and funding the resistance financially, militarily, and technically.” He has also expressed support for Iran’s regional agenda, saying that Palestinian militant groups will follow Tehran’s path in confronting Zionism and “American influence.”
In January, Haniyeh infuriated Egyptian and Saudi leaders by attending the funeral of slain Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike as he landed in Bagdhad that month. The Hamas leader lavished praise on Soleimani during the ceremony, crediting him with bringing the Palestinian resistance effort “power and steadfastness” and even referring to him as the “martyr of Jerusalem.” Arab countries’ deep antipathy to Iran, which stands accused of destabilising the region through a network of proxy militias and terror groups, have led them to pursue warmer ties with Israel in recent years. While only the UAE has so far opted to formalise ties with the Jewish state, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Oman and Bahrain have expressed a willingness to develop closer ties, while Saudi Arabia has opened its airspace to some Israeli flights.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 07-08/2020
EU warns Serbia, Kosovo over Israel embassy move to Jerusalem
Agencies/September 07/2020

The European Union warned Serbia and Kosovo on Monday that they could undermine their EU membership hopes by moving their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, as US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement about the change left officials in Belgrade and Pristina scrambling to limit the political fallout. In an unexpected move last week, Trump said that Serbia and Kosovo had agreed to normalize economic ties as part of US-brokered talks that include Belgrade moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo.
It surprised the Europeans, who are leading complex talks between Serbia and its former territory of Kosovo on improving their long-strained relations, while Serbian officials appeared to be watering down their commitment to Trump, and Kosovo sought to allay concerns among Muslim countries.
The EU voiced “serious concern and regret” over both countries’ commitment to move their embassies to Jerusalem, saying the bloc is still committed to the “two state solution” in which Jerusalem will be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state, and its own diplomatic mission is in Tel Aviv.
The 27-nation EU’s long-held policy is that Jerusalem’s status should be worked out between Israel and the Palestinians as part of broader peace negotiations, and that Serbia — as a candidate to join the bloc — should respect that.
“There is no EU member state with an embassy in Jerusalem,” European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said. “Any diplomatic steps that could call into question the EU’s common position on Jerusalem are a matter of serious concern and regret.”
The bloc expects prospective members like Serbia to align with its foreign policy positions.“In this context any diplomatic steps that could call into question the EU’s common position on Jerusalem are a matter of serious concern and regret,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters in Brussels.
Praising what he said was “a major breakthrough” and “a truly historic commitment,” Trump — deep into campaigning ahead of November’s presidential election — announced Friday that “Serbia and Kosovo have each committed to economic normalization.”
US President Donald Trump hosts a signing ceremony with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti at the White House in Washington, US, Sept. 4, 2020. (Reuters)
Trump also said that Serbia has committed to open a commercial office in Jerusalem this month and move its embassy there in July. The Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017, breaking with longstanding diplomatic practice, and moved the US embassy there in May 2018.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Serbia’s president and confirmed that Israel and Kosovo, a predominantly Muslim country, will establish diplomatic relations. He said Pristina also will open its embassy in Jerusalem.
Stano, speaking as Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minster Avdullah Hoti held a new round of talks in Brussels on normalizing their relations, said the EU was told in advance only about the economic aspects of the White House event, not about movements in Jerusalem.
In Belgrade, Serbian officials appeared to be stepping back from the embassy pledge, with Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic saying the final decision will still have to be discussed by the government and will depend on “a number of factors” including future development of ties with Israel.
Asked about the move following the meeting in Brussels, Vucic said that “Serbia has not opened that chapter yet, but we are doing our best to align with EU declarations, EU resolutions as much as it is possible. But he underlined that Serbia ”will take care of our own interests for the benefit and for the sake of our people.”Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci, meanwhile, was on the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, trying to assuage fears about the decision to recognize Israel expressed by Turkey and the Arab League group of countries.
“Such a recognition will not violate under any circumstances the strategic, friendly and fraternal partnership with Turkey,” Thaci said after the conversation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the deal that establishes diplomatic relations with Kosovo, and would have both Kosovo and Serbia open embassies in Jerusalem. They would join the US and Guatemala as the only countries with embassies in the contested city, whose eastern sector is claimed by the Palestinians as the capital of a future state. “We will continue efforts so that additional European countries will transfer their embassies to Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said Friday. He noted that Kosovo becomes the first Muslim-majority country to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
On Monday, Sharren Haskel, a lawmaker in Netanyahu’s Likud party and chairwoman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs subcommittee, said that the “EU efforts to educate Serbia and Kosovo are shocking.” She called on “other countries to strengthen Kosovo and Serbia, to join and move their missions to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people.”
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, around a decade after Belgrade sent troops into its former territory to crush an uprising by ethnic Albanian separatists. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo’s statehood, and tensions have simmered ever since.
The EU-facilitated negotiations, which the Europeans say is the only way to address their membership hopes, started in March 2011 and have produced more than a dozen agreements, but most of them have not been observed.
The talks stalled in November 2018 and only resumed in July after a parallel US negotiating effort began.
But as they met again on Monday, Vucic and Hoti recommitted to the European track, saying “that they attach the highest priority to EU integration and to continuing the work on the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.”
In what was described as a “joint statement” issued by the office of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Vucic and Hoti also said they “committed to redoubling their efforts to ensure further EU alignment in accordance with their respective obligations.”They appeared to play down Friday’s announcement, by saying that “the recently agreed documents in Washington, D.C., building on previous Dialogue-related commitments undertaken by the two parties, could provide a useful contribution to reaching a comprehensive, legally binding agreement on normalization of relations.”
In one of Europe’s most intractable disputes, Serbia has refused to recognize Kosovo’s declaration of independence since the province broke away in a 1998-99 war that was ended only by a NATO bombing campaign against Serb troops.
Both Kosovo and Serbia are facing mounting pressure from the West to resolve the impasse, seen as crucial to either side joining the EU. More than 13,000 people died in the war, mostly Kosovo Albanians, who form a majority in the former province.
One key question is diplomatic recognition for Kosovo — five of the EU’s 27 countries do not acknowledge its independence. The EU’s special representative for the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, hailed “full progress” in Monday’s talks on economic cooperation and the issue of people left missing or displaced by the conflict. “Our negotiations today were intense as usual and not always easy, but what prevailed was the will of both sides to advance the discussions despite the painful and complex issues at hand,” Lajcak said.
Hoti also said advances had been made in Monday’s talks. “I am pleased to say that progress has been made in drafting the final agreement between the two countries for the full normalization of relations,” he told reporters.
Talks will continue next week at expert level, Lajcak said, with the two leaders due to meet again later in September. The two sides have been in EU-led talks for a decade but little progress has been made. A raft of agreements in 2013 have yet to be fully implemented and a previous round of negotiations broke down in 2018 after a series of diplomatic tit-for-tats. Vucic and Hoti resumed face-to-face talks in Brussels in July but the effort got off to a frosty start, with the Serbian leader accusing Pristina of trying to blackmail Belgrade.
Monday’s talks also broached the question of the ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo and their future status in the country — one of the thorniest disputes between the two sides.
Washington touted the agreements signed by Vucic and Hoti at the White House on Friday as a major breakthrough, but on Monday the two leaders issued a more cautious joint statement before they met.
(With AP and AFP)
 

Saudi King tells Trump he is eager for fair solution to Palestinian issue
Reuters/Jerusalem Post/September 07/2020
Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines, does not recognize Israel.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman told US President Donald Trump in a phone call on Sunday that the kingdom was eager to achieve a fair and permanent solution to the Palestinian issue, which he said was the main starting point of the kingdom's proposed Arab Peace Initiative, the state news agency reported.
The leaders spoke by phone following a historic US brokered accord last month under which the United Arab Emirates agreed to become the third Arab state to normalize ties with Israel after Egypt and Jordan. King Salman told Trump he appreciated US efforts to support peace and that Saudi Arabia wanted to see a fair and permanent solution to the Palestinian issue based on the Arab Peace Initiative proposed by the kingdom in 2002. Under the proposal, Arab nations have offered Israel normalized ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines, does not recognize Israel. However, this month the kingdom said it would allow flights between UAE and Israel, including by Israeli airliners, to use its airspace. White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner has said he hopes another Arab country normalizes ties with within months.No other Arab state has said so far it is considering following the UAE. King Salman's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Kushner discussed the need for the Palestinians and the Israelis to resume negotiations and reach a lasting peace after Kushner visited the UAE last month. The UAE-Israel deal was met by overwhelming Palestinian opposition.

Jamal Khashoggi killing: eight sentenced and case closed
The National/September 07/2020
Five people sentenced to 20 years in prison for involvement
Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution sentenced eight people for their roles in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Five people were sentenced to 20 years in prison for their involvement in the killing, the Public Prosecution said. Three received 10-year terms and two of those will serve another seven years each. The Public Prosecution said the criminal case had been closed, the Saudi state news agency Spa reported. Khashoggi was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. His body was reportedly dismembered and removed from the building but his remains have not been found. The Saudi government said the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation" and the following year prosecutors put 11 unidentified people on trial. Khashoggi was living in the US and writing for The Washington Post newspaper. Salah Khashoggi, his son, in May said that he would not accept the exploitation of his father’s case by his country’s “opponents and its enemies". “I repeat what I have said in the past: I have absolute confidence in the kingdom’s judiciary, in its ability to retrieve justice from the perpetrators of this heinous crime," Salah said."And I will be as Jamal Khashoggi was, loyal to God, then to my country and its leadership."

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, France’s Macron discuss G20 and coronavirus
Arab News/September 07/2020
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman discussed the G20 Summit and the coronavirus pandemic with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. During the phone call, they reviewed the efforts of the G20 to support health services and economies in combatting the spread and impact of COVID-19, Saudi state news agency SPA reported. King Salman and Macron also reviewed bilateral relations between their two countries and discussed the latest developments in the region. Macron also praised the Kingdom’s efforts during its presidency.Saudi Arabia assumed the G20 presidency in December and is set to host the 2020 summit on Nov. 21-22.

Iran plays dangerous game with uranium enrichment

The National/September 07/2020
Limiting the proliferation of uranium is fundamental to minimise the threat of global nuclear war
On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN body, reported that Iran’s stock of enriched uranium has reached 2,105 kilograms. This is a figure 10 times higher than what it agreed to under a 2015 agreement – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The US and Iran both withdrew from the agreement, in 2018 and 2020, respectively. The IAEA warned that Iran is also exceeding the permitted level of enrichment, which determines whether uranium is suitable for use in civilian nuclear energy or, at if it is high enough, as a critical component of a nuclear bomb. Limiting the proliferation of uranium and the capability to enrich it to weapons grade is fundamental to minimising the threat of global nuclear war. It is also part of the raison d’etre of the IAEA. In matters of non-proliferation, however, Iran has long been opaque. For months, authorities in Tehran declined to allow access for the IAEA, which acts as the world's nuclear watchdog, to two Iranian nuclear centres for inspections. Even without access to these facilities, the agency had already surmised that Iran had committed a string of JCPOA violations. Late last month, in an effort to boost its diplomatic standing, Iran relented. Inspectors attended to the first of the two facilities last week. Friday’s report was released after that visit. While American officials have repeatedly invited Iran to renegotiate the terms of the JCPOA, Tehran has refused to participate in any talks, demanding the US lifts sanctions it has imposed. In response to these sanctions and other elements of the US’s maximum-pressure campaign, Iran has systematically reduced its compliance with the JCPOA. Since it announced its intention to scale up its enrichment dramatically back in January, Iran has been openly in defiance of its international obligations.
On October 18, a UN conventional arms embargo on Iran is set to expire, and the US has pursued, complicated procedural avenues within the Security Council to activate a “snapback”, in which the embargo would be renewed and the JCPOA would, in effect, be terminated. The UK and France – normally US allies – have pushed back at the American efforts in a bid to keep the JCPOA alive. The key point of contention within the Security Council over the last month has been whether or not the US – now that it has exited the agreement – still has any right to trigger a snapback. The US and Iran have each submitted opposing legal arguments on this and other questions, and the outcome remains uncertain. In matters of non-proliferation, however, Iran has long been opaque. Regardless of whether or not the snapback is imposed, however, the accelerated transformation of Iran’s “reduced compliance” into outright noncompliance ought to be alarming. For one thing, it provides Iran greater influence in any future negotiation – a fact that, to some extent, can motivate Tehran's strategy. For another, it diminishes the force of future agreements by showing Iran’s government that it can engage in noncompliance without serious consequences. Iran has withstood US sanctions, which have taken a toll on its economy, for years by largely relying on its regional proxies. But the headwinds that rock Iran’s establishment are particularly strong now. The pandemic has worsened existing disillusionment, in Iran and elsewhere in the region, with Tehran and its militias in other states. If European countries do not wish to support the US’s maximum-pressure campaign, whatever solution arrives must emphasise to the Iranians that destabilising moves and the defiance of international law will get them nowhere.

Qatar: Payouts for Hamas no longer guaranteed – report
DEBKAFile/September 07/2020
“Things have changed and we can’t keep on doing things the old way,” said the Emir Of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Middle East intelligence sources believe that the emir may be shifting ground ready for Donald Trump to win a second term as US president, by starting to cool his ties with radical and anti-US elements. Those ties have put him on the wrong side of Trump’s diplomatic drive in the region and got him in hot water with the Saudi-led Gulf Arab governments, especially the United Arab Emirates, which has just concluded a US-brokered normalization pact with Israel. All three parties to the deal have come off with gains.. The Palestinian Hamas and its parent, the Muslim Brotherhood, appear to be the first to feel the rough edge of the Qatari ruler’s re-evaluation. After a visit by US presidential adviser Jared Kushner to Doha last week, Sheikh Tamim is reported by those sources to have instructed his aides to inform the Hamas that the continued flow of Qatari cash to the Gaza Strip’s impoverished population was no longer guaranteed. The latest transfer of $30 million was “not a policy,” he warned, but “a one-off.” The next instalments may come on a one-by-one basis, depending on how Gaza’s Hamas regime behaves. That delivery silenced weeks of incendiary balloon and rocket attacks launched from the Gaza strip against southern Israel – though not for long judging by past precedent. However, this time, the Palestinian terrorist group was given a stern caution by its Doha paymaster: “The Americans and Israelis are not kidding around this time around,” he said, adding for good measure: “It does not seem as if Trump is going to lose the presidential elections.”Cooling his longstanding ties with Iran and Hizballah would be much riskier than cutting cash payments to Hamas. They are capable of hitting back in ways that could be gravely damaging to their target. On the other hand, loosening ties with radical and terrorist entities would open a pathway for Qatar to bury the hatchet with Saudi Arabia and the UAE and win points in Washington.
Sheikh Tamim is keeping close track of US presidential poll ratings before making a final jump. He listened when Democratic friends assured him that Joe Biden’s win was in the bag and he should hold his ground until President Trump was out. But now, after observing the narrowing gap between the two contenders, he is becoming convinced that Trump may actually pull off a second term. The ruler’s advisers have reportedly instructed senior editors of the Qatari Al Jazeera television network to temper their championship of Hamas and other radical organizations vis-a-vis Israel, the US and the United Arab Emirates and be less provocative.

Iraq to reopen borders for trade, bring back sports and dining
Arab News/September 07/2020
CAIRO: Iraq is reopening its land border crossings, restaurants, hotels, and bringing back sporting events without spectators, the prime minister said on Monday, three days after it recorded its highest daily increase in coronavirus infections. Land crossings would be open for trade only so as to secure local market needs, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said in a statement. Restaurants and five-star hotels must adhere to public health guidelines, he added. Sporting events would resume as of Sept. 12. Government agencies can now bring back to work up to 50% of their employees, he said.
Iraq registered its biggest daily increase in coronavirus infections on Friday with 5,036 cases as Iraqis continue to flout lockdown rules, the health ministry said. It recorded 4,314 new cases on Monday, the health ministry said, and 77 deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 264,684 and the total deaths to 7,589. Kadhimi said the electoral commission would be allowed to open voter registration centers and that its employees would be exempt from curfew. The prime minister took office in May as the third head of government in a chaotic 10-week period that followed months of unrest in a country exhausted by war with Islamist militants, corruption and economic decay. He was appointed to head a government tasked with organizing an early election, a main demand of anti-government protesters who staged months of mass demonstrations last year, and has called one, to be held in June.

ISIS claims terrorist attack in Tunisia’s Sousse
The Arab Weekly/September 07/2020
TUNIS - ISIS claimed responsibility on Monday for a knife and vehicle-ramming attack in Tunisia which killed one National Guard officer and wounded another, as security forces rounded up more suspects. The attack early Sunday morning in a tourist district of the coastal city of Sousse saw a group of assailants ram a patrol of the National Guard with a vehicle before stabbing the officers. They were chased by security forces before three of them were shot dead in an ensuing gun-battle, the Guard said, labelling the attack a “terrorist” act. ISIS said Monday its “fighters” had carried out the attack, in a brief statement by its propaganda arm Amaq on the Telegram messenger service. “Photos show that one of the attackers was wearing a T-shirt with a specific inscription to Daesh (ISIS),” said Mokhtar Ben Nasr, former head of the National Counter-Terrorism Commission, while stressing it was difficult to establish precise links between the group and its supporters. Tunisia, since its 2011 uprising, has been hit by a string of jihadist attacks that have killed dozens of security personnel, civilians and foreign tourists. Sunday’s incident took place close to the site of the deadliest attack, when 38 people, most of them British tourists, were killed in a 2015 beachside shooting rampage. Tunisian authorities said Monday they had arrested seven people over the attack. The wounded officer was “in a stable condition” on Monday, interior ministry spokesman Khaled Hayouni said. National Guard officer Sami Mrabet, a 38-year-old father of two, was buried Monday in his hometown of Moknine south of Sousse, in the presence of more than 1,000 people, including several senior government officials, including Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi.
– Under the radar –
Since Sunday, “43 people have been questioned and seven of them arrested,” National Guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli told a private radio station. They included “the wife of one of the assailants, who described her husband as a ‘martyr’ during the interrogation,” he said. Two brothers of one of the attackers and a person suspected of recruiting them were also arrested, Jebabli added. He said the attackers were twin brothers and a third man from the north-western region of Siliana. He did not confirm or deny reports of a fourth assailant. Jebabli said the twins had visited Facebook pages dealing with “explosive and armed attacks” but had stayed under the radar of authorities. Tunisian President Kais Saied, on a visit Sunday to the scene of the knife attack, said police were investigating whether the attack was planned “by individuals or an organisation.” Mechichi vowed to “eradicate terrorists as soon as possible.”Mechichi, in a statement from his office, urged Tunisians “not to be afraid” of assailants, whom he described as “microbes.”Sunday’s attack was the first since March, when a lone-wolf suicide operation against security forces protecting the US Embassy in Tunis killed a Tunisian police officer and left several others wounded. The year 2015 was particularly bloody, with three major deadly attacks claimed by ISIS. An attack at the capital’s Bardo museum in March killed 21 foreign tourists and a security guard. Three months later, 38 tourists were killed in the shooting at Sousse. And in November of that year, a bomb blast on a bus in central Tunis killed 12 presidential guards. While the situation has significantly improved since then, Tunisia has maintained a state of emergency.

Morocco talks pave the way for new transitional phase in Libya
The Arab Weekly/September 07/2020
TUNIS – The US-sponsored talks in the Moroccan town of Bouznika between two Libyan delegations representing the House of Representatives (based in Tobruk) and the State Council (based in Tripoli are expected to lay the ground for a new transitional phase in Libya.
Experts see the talks as recycling the same leading figures in Libya’s political scene since the start of the Libyan crisis in mid-2014.
Political sources confirmed to The Arab Weekly that the internationally-endorsed Bouznika talks will address a number of contentious issues within the framework of the agreements reached during the Berlin conference, with the hope of eventually drawing up a roadmap that would end the current crisis and stop the suffering of the Libyan people.
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said, during the opening session of the consultations, that the Libyan dialogue held in Bouznika “may be a prelude to agreements that end the Libyan crisis.”
The Speaker of the Libyan Parliament Aguila Saleh and the Chairman of the State Council Khaled al-Mishri visited Rabat at the end of last July by official invitation from Morocco, but they did not meet. They instead held separate meetings with a number of senior Moroccan officials.
This first round of Libyan-Libyan talks devoted to consultations on activating the political process under the auspices of the United Nations came after intense political and diplomatic moves that followed the announcement a few days ago of a generalised ceasefire in Libya.
The talks are taking place in the town of Bouznika, on the Atlantic coast south of the Moroccan capital, Rabat, and not in the Palais des Congrès in Skhirat where the previous Libyan talks, that ended with the signing of the Skhirat Agreement in 2015, had been held.
Libyan sources told The Arab Weekly that these talks, which will continue for two days, are the result of Moroccan efforts under the auspices of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, to push towards a political solution to the Libyan crisis. The roadmap that will come out of these talks is expected to set the dates for presidential and legislative elections according to the provisions set forth in the Libyan constitution and to develop mechanisms to manage the remainder of the transitional phase, in addition to drafting a plan for addressing the security and economic crisis to be discussed in the Libyan-Libyan talks scheduled to be held in Geneva next week. Despite the positive atmosphere created by these talks, with the participation of the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Libya, Stephanie Williams, there were still divergent opinions and reactions to the discussions inside Libya. Overall, the talks were welcomed with caution amid fears that they would be limited to just issues related to “dividing the spoils and distributing posts.”
The Libyan representative from al-Jafara, Ismail al-Sharif, did not hesitate to welcome these talks and consultations. “In general, we bless every Libyan-Libyan meeting that would dispel the concerns of the political parties, and build up trust,” he said on the phone to The Arab Weekly.
He considered that the general framework for these talks and consultations is “to bridge the gap between the Libyan parties in order to lay the groundwork for a phase of appeasement that may enable the sowing of the seeds of trust and thus contribute to healing the deep wounds caused by the continuing conflict.”
On the other hand, he expressed his hope that during these talks “the focus will be on ways to overcome the current stage with all the suffering it has produced, and not on sharing spoils through the distribution of posts.”
It was reported earlier that the participants in these talks will address the development of mechanisms to change the figures that will take over the leadership of the sovereign institutions, agreeing to form a new presidential council consisting of a president and two vice-presidents, and the formation of a new government on the basis of regional quotas that takes into account the reality of the three Libyan regions. According to a number of parliamentary representatives contacted by The Arab Weekly, these mechanisms will keep the parliament in Tobruk and the State Council as the sole legitimate representatives in Libya, during a transitional period of no less than five years, in addition to distributing responsibilities for the management of key government and state institutions based on regional affiliation.
These positions include the Administrative Control Authority, the Audit Bureau, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, the Attorney General, the Supreme Court, the Elections Commission, and other security and military positions, especially the positions of the General Chief of Staff of the Army and the General Intelligence Services.
Ibtisam al-Ribai, another member of the Libyan Parliament representing al-Jafara, considered that the Bouznika talks may constitute a prelude to breaking the political deadlock, and indicated in a statement to The Arab Weekly that “in general, any opportunity for dialogue is a good one even if it is not well-planned, because Libya has gone through a period of war and violence that has closed off every gate for dialogue while the people ended up paying a high price for it.”
Al-Ribai stressed that “all negotiations, whether in Morocco or in Geneva, are pushing towards the formation of a government and dividing posts,” noting at the same time that “there is no ideal solution in Libya, and the quota system is already in place, but just moving to the stage of a unified government is the beginning of the solution.” Along these cautious welcoming stances, other reactions rejecting the talks in Morocco emerged. MP Ali Al-Takbali, for example, did not hesitate to voice his refusal to hold a political dialogue between the Parliament and the Supreme Council of State which represents the Islamists, and to warn against its results that “will bring a new catastrophe” to Libya, according to him.
Al-Takbali considered that the members of the parliament delegation participating in these talks “will not be able to deal with the hypocrisy of the Muslim Brothers and their leader Khaled al-Mishri, who is going to be participating in them,” at a time when several political circles do not hide their fear that, during these talks, “the subversive Turkish role in Libya,” which has shifted the balances of the conflict and prolonged the crisis, will be ignored.
 

Houthi drones target Saudi Arabia amid allegations of Qatari backing
Seth Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/September 07/2020
Riyadh claimed it shot down the drones, some of the two dozen that have targeted the Kingdom and allies in Yemen in the last month.
Houthi rebels in Yemen have targeted Saudi Arabia with several drones in what Iranian media called a “large-scale attack.” The attack was aimed at “Saudi military positions and sensitive targets.” It comes days after The National in the United Arab Emirates reported that “Qatar paid for Houthi drones used in attacks on Saudi Arabia.” Riyadh claimed it shot down the drones, some of the two dozen that have targeted the Kingdom and allies in Yemen in the last month.
Reports about the recent drone attack began late on September 6 in Al-Mayadeen, a website generally sympathetic to the Syrian regime, Hezbollah and pro-Iran groups. The site said that eight drones from Yemen attacked Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia. A second report at the same website said the UAVs achieved a “precise” hit at the airport.A spokesman for the Houthis named Yahya Sari was quoted in Iran’s Tasnim as saying that the Iranian-backed Houthis used several UAVs against “critical targets at Abha International Airport.” They claimed Riyadh had been “defeated” by Ansarullah, the Arabic name of the Houthi rebel group. However, they acknowledged that Saudi Arabia claimed to have downed the drones.
Tasnim news, which is close to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published a second story on the attack showcasing other Saudi airports. The image appeared to be a message aimed at threatening wider attacks. Iran attacked Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq facility in September 2019 with drones and cruise missiles. Initially blamed on the Houthis, the attack by Iran showcased Tehran’s abilities.
NOW A MORE complex picture emerges because of a wider regional struggle. Al-Mayadeen reported on Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s visit to Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, as part of a “fortress of resistance” tour. The same site highlighted US support for Saudi Arabia's opening of its airspace to Israeli flights to Abu Dhabi in light of the UAE-Israel peace deal. Al-Mayadeen called the deal a “betrayal” and links it to the conflict in Yemen.
“The Emirati-Zionist step in normalization has proven the accusation that [they are involved in] aggression waged against Yemen,” the article notes. This accuses Israel of having “aspirations to control the Red Sea” and that the Houthis in Sana’a are confronting “colonial forces loyal to the Zionist entity.”
An August 28 Houthi drone attack targeted Najran, a three-hour drive from Abha, about 250 km. away. While Najran is near the Yemen border, Abha is several hundred kilometers away, but both have been targeted by drones. A report in Austria’s Die Presse on September 3 alleges that Qatar was linked to funding of drone attacks from Yemen. Why Qatar? It has been at odds with Saudi Arabia for years, increasing after Riyadh broke relations in 2017.
Turkey sent troops to Qatar, and Doha has hosted Hamas and Iranian senior officials. Qatar funds the Hamas-run-Gaza strip. Qatari media often slams the UAE and Saudi Arabia for the conflict in Yemen. In July, after previous allegations that Qatar backed the Houthis, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the allegations, according to Middle East Monitor.
The Austrian account claims that technology the Houthis use for drones comes from Iran. This has been known for years and documented by intercepted shipment of drone parts, as well as gyroscopes used in Houthi drones. This links Iranian technical expertise to the Houthi drone program, which goes back years. Die Presse alleges that these kamikaze drone “glide bombs” are a danger to the region, not just to Riyadh. “Oil-rich Bahrain and the international shipping routes” could be threatened. The Houthis have allegedly also acquired the Iranian-designed Shahed 129, which Arab news reports in January indicate was already in their hands.
THERE ARE many questions regarding who funds and plans the drone attacks, if it is not just the Houthis using Iranian technical expertise. Were the recent attacks timed to try to disrupt the UAE-Israel deal or send a message to Riyadh and others in the region? The Saudi-led coalition has said that it intercepts Houthi drone ,but a statement from the coalition at Al-Ain media on September 7 appeared to warn the Houthis against more of these indiscriminate attacks, as if escalation could result.
The Houthis claim the attacks are precise and aimed at critical infrastructure. Al-Arabiya says that 23 drones were shot down in August and that there is a rising intensity of these attacks. It also links them to components brought from Iran. The US Navy has interdicted at least three shipments from Yemen over the last year. A total of 358 Iranian-made missiles were stopped, the US said in February 2020.
The report at The National has additional information on recent claims about Qatar financing. It mentions “Jason G,” an intelligence analyst who ‘said he was determined to raise the alarm over the potential threat such as a failed drone strike on Abha airport on Sunday [August 30].” According to the report, he said: “I was actively working the last few weeks to determine the risks/threats of drone strikes – and the best payoff is when casualties are avoided.” The meeting of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon this weekend, along with attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen – as well as the way in which Turkey, which backs Qatar, has opposed Israeli normalization with the UAE and hosted Hamas – point to region-wide links of several conflicts. However, rumors that Saudi Arabia would also be normalizing relations with Israel received a cold shoulder on Sunday. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud noted, in a call with US President Donald Trump, that such a policy could only come with recognition or progress on a Palestinian state. Because of these sensitive discussions as well as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain opening their airspace to Israeli flights, each Houthi drone attack and interception of the drones has wider regional ramifications. This is why media from Turkey to Iran and Lebanon all spread rumors trying to undermine the UAE/Israel deal.

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov visits Syria for first time since 2012
AFP, DamascusMonday 07 September 2020
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov landed in Damascus on Monday on his first visit to war-torn Syria since 2012, the Syrian foreign ministry said. He is joining a Russian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov which arrived in the Syrian capital the previous night, state news agency SANA said. Lavrov was expected to meet President Bashar al-Assad before a press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem in the afternoon, both foreign ministries said. He was then expected to head onwards to nearby Cyprus.President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to Damascus in Syria's nine-year-old war in January this year. The Russian leader also visited Syria in December 2017 but had not been to the capital, only stopping at the Russian base of Hmeimim on the Mediterranean coast. Russia has been a key ally of the Damascus regime throughout the Syrian conflict that erupted in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests. Moscow's military intervention in 2015 helped turn the tide of the war, with Russian air power allowing Syrian government forces to win back large parts of the country. The conflict has ravaged the Syria economy, killed more than 380,000 people and pushed millions to flee their homes.

Assad seeks Russian help in face of US sanctions
The Arab Weekly/September 07/2020
DAMASCUS - Russia and Syria plan to sign an economic pact before the end of the year that is partly aimed at circumventing US sanctions, Russia’s deputy prime minister Yuri Borisov said Monday as he led a high-level delegation on a visit to Damascus with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Borisov said the Russian side is expecting to sign the pact on his next visit in December, adding that it includes more than forty new projects in the energy sector, reconstruction of a number of power stations and offshore oil extraction.
The agreement, he added, would “outline a new framework for trade and economic ties between the two countries for the coming years” while providing relief from US sanctions, which he said were “strangling” the Syrian people.
Borisov spoke at a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Lavrov in Damascus after the delegation met with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Syria faces an unprecedented economic crisis after nearly a decade of civil war and Western sanctions. The economic and financial situation has been worsened by the financial crisis in neighbouring Lebanon, Syria’s main link with the outside world and where many Syrians have their money. Syria is also grappling with a coronavirus outbreak. Russia has been a close ally of Assad in Syria’s devastating nine-year civil war, lending his government vital military, economic and political support. Russian troops have been fighting alongside Syrian government forces since 2015, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the war-torn country twice, including in January this year. With the help of Russia, as well as regional ally Iran and its proxy Lebanese militia Hezbollah, Assad has largely succeeded in crushing the armed rebellion against him. The rebels are confined to the northern Idlib province, where a truce has been in place for months.
— Economic hardship —
But Syria has been ruined, the economy has spiralled out of control, and the country remains divided. Turkey-backed forces control a sliver of territory along the border, and US backed Kurdish forces control an oil-rich area in the northeast.
“We have to admit that most of the areas rich in oil and gas are outside the control of the Syrian government,” Borisov said Monday. “This fact prevents the Syrian government from trading in oil, given that it is an important source of revenue.”
“The same applies to agricultural lands,” he added. “After Syria used to export grain, it now imports it. … This harms food security.”
Borisov blamed the United States for the economic deterioration in Syria, which risks reversing the government’s recent military gains, calling US policies “unconstructive.”
“The most important reason for the tragic situation in Syria is the devastating situation of the United States of America, in addition to the Kurds’ unwillingness to communicate with Damascus and hand over control to the legitimate government over agricultural areas and oil fields,” Borisov said.
Lavrov also criticised US and Western sanctions on Syria, saying they are “trying to strangle the Syrian people.”
The Syrian president is said to have told his Russian interlocutors he was keen to expand economic and business relations with Moscow, his closest ally, to help Syria weather crippling economic sanctions.
According to state media, Assad said he wanted to see Russian investments in key areas of the economy that had been agreed in the past succeed.
“The government was determined to continue to work with Russian allies to implement signed agreements and to ensure the success of Russian investments in Syria,” Assad said, according to state media.
Pro-government newspaper Al Watan quoted Syria’s ambassador to the Russian Federation, Riad Haddad, as saying that the Russian delegation’s visit “is of special importance, given the political and economic files that will be discussed,” which he said included progress in the work of a committee to discuss possible amendments to the Syrian constitution and Western sanctions on Syria, as well as efforts to fight terrorism.
Talks between government, opposition and civil society delegations resumed in Geneva late last month, with the sides discussing a possible new constitution for the country. The UN’s envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen has called the talks a prospective “door-opener” to a final resolution of Syria’s long-running conflict. The pandemic forced the postponement of an earlier meeting in March. Borisov and Lavrov arrived after Moscow said it would support Damascus in the face of tougher US sanctions, which penalise foreign firms dealing with Syrian government entities.
“Russia turned the tide for Assad and with the regime now facing its gravest challenges, Moscow is in a better position than any other time to further squeeze Assad,” said one Western diplomat who follows Syria.
Although Assad has now regained most of the territory he lost, the economy is in tatters, leaving many Syrians in poverty as the currency has lost 80% of its value.
Russia has criticised the new US sanctions that took effect in June under the so-called Caesar Act. Washington says the sanctions aim to cut off revenue for Assad’s government and push him back into UN-led talks to end the conflict.
Syria is pinning its hopes on Russia, its biggest foreign ally, to help it shore up its economy. Syria’s main regional ally, Iran, is itself also struggling to cope under a separate round of US sanctions.
Hussam Taleb, a Syrian pro-government analyst, told Syrian state television the Russian visit would anger Washington, which he said was “fighting us in our livelihood by passing the Caesar Act to deprive us of our wealth.”
Western diplomats say Putin’s military involvement in Syria, its biggest Middle East intervention in decades, secured Moscow major regional influence and a bigger foothold in a naval base in Syria’s Tartus port.
— Fearing transition —
Arab sources revealed to The Arab Weekly that Syrian regime circles have been apprehensive about the visit of the high-level Russian delegation for other reasons. They explained that the Syrian regime is concerned that the high-level Russian visit could mean that the Russians are preparing to tell Assad’s regime to take certain actions soon. These actions would include accepting the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2254, which means preparing for a transitional phase in Syria in light of the drafting of a new constitution.
Lavrov’s visit to Damascus was announced within the context of meetings held last week in Geneva of the committee in charge of drafting a new Syrian constitution. UN envoy Pedersen participated in those meetings and noted that the Syrian regime showed no urgency in discussing the drafting of a new Syrian constitution under which Syrian presidential elections would be held in June 2021. Lavrov said that his country, as a guarantor country of the Astana process, will continue to help the Syrians in the task of changing the constitution within the framework of Security Council Resolution 2254. Prior to his recent meeting in Moscow with Pederson, Lavrov said that “not all problems have been resolved and there has been no agreement on all matters related to future work, but in general the (Geneva meetings were) very useful and fruitful.”

Sudan floods: Nearly 100 deaths, hundreds homeless amid unprecedented rainfall
Ismaeel Naar, Al Arabiya English/Monday 07 September 2020
Nearly 100 people have died and hundreds have been left homeless due to the unprecedented floods in Sudan caused by heavy rainfall in recent weeks, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency across all governorates. Various regions in Sudan are experiencing difficult humanitarian conditions due to the floods that struck the country. At least 46 people have been injured due to the recent floods, while large areas of fertile agricultural land that used to supply the country with its needs of vegetables and fruits have been damaged. The Director of Civil Defense Police in North Kordofan, Sudan, announced on Monday the death of 11 people as a result of the floods, noting that 375 houses had collapsed in the governorate while 16 government facilities were damaged. The states most affected included North Kordofan, Khartoum, al-Qadarif, and Sennar states. Sudanese authorities said that the Nile River began to witness stability in some stations that recorded an unprecedented rise at levels not seen in a hundred years. Despite the relative stability of the levels of the Nile, authorities said they do not rule out that it will continue to rise in some places, especially the capital Khartoum and some cities in the Nile River state, at a time when different areas in Sudan are experiencing difficult humanitarian situations that have forced the authorities to declare a state of emergency in all governorates.

Navalny Out of Artificial Coma after 'Novichok Poisoning'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 07/2020
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who Germany says was poisoned by a weapons-grade Novichok nerve agent, is now out of a medically induced coma and being weaned off mechanical ventilation, the Berlin hospital treating him said Monday.The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner and one of President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics, fell ill on a domestic flight last month and was treated in a Siberian hospital before being evacuated to Berlin. "He is responding to verbal stimuli," Charite hospital said in a statement, reporting that the 44-year-old's condition "has improved". However, the hospital said it was too early to determine the long-term impact of the poisoning. Germany said last week that toxicology tests conducted by its armed forces found "unequivocal evidence" that Navalny had been poisoned with Novichok, the substance used in the 2018 attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. Navalny's associates say the use of Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent, shows that only the Russian state could be responsible, but the Kremlin fiercely denies any involvement. "Attempts to somehow associate Russia with what happened are unacceptable to us, they are absurd," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.Russian officials have accused Germany of being slow to share the findings of its investigation, despite a request from prosecutors. "We expect information (from Germany) to be provided in the coming days," Peskov said. "We are looking forward to it."But Germany warned that the failure by Moscow to thoroughly investigate the incident could have serious consequences.
Pipeline in crosshairs
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Sunday that Berlin, which holds the rotating EU presidency, will discuss possible sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin does not soon provide an explanation for what happened to Navalny.
Otherwise, Germany will be compelled to "discuss a response with our allies" including "targeted" sanctions, Maas said. He did not rule out action relating to Nord Stream 2, a multi-billion-euro Russian-German gas pipeline nearing completion. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Monday that she was in agreement with Maas, who is a member of junior coalition partner Social Democrats. She too would not rule out consequences for Nord Stream 2 -- a 10 billion euro ($11 billion) pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea that is set to double Russian natural gas shipments to Germany, Europe's largest economy.
It has long been in the crosshairs of the United States, which has criticized European countries for their reliance on energy from Russia.Western leaders have expressed horror at what Navalny's allies say is the first known use of chemical weapons against a high-profile opposition leader on Russian soil. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday that Russia had "a very serious set of questions to answer" and it was "clear" the Kremlin critic was poisoned with Novichok. The Navalny poisoning is the latest in a long series of assassination attempts against Kremlin critics. Already suffering from wide-ranging Western sanctions imposed over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, as well as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the drop in oil prices, Moscow is anxious to avoid any further pressure on its economy. Navalny's aides have said they suspect he drank a cup of spiked tea at the airport. The charismatic Yale-educated lawyer was initially treated at a Russian hospital, where doctors said they were unable to find any toxic substances in his blood, before he was flown to Berlin for specialized treatment on August 22.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 07-08/2020

Turkey expresses 'concern' at Kosovo, Serbia embassy move to Jerusalem
Alex Winston/Jerusalem Post/September 07/2020
"The relocation by any country of its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would constitute a clear violation of international law," Ankara said.
Turkey has expressed disappointment and "concern" at Friday's announcement that Kosovo intends to establish diplomatic ties with Israel and that Kosovo and Serbia plan to open embassies in Jerusalem.
The announcement was made by US President Donald Trump on Friday, during a meeting to establish normalized economic ties between Serbia and Kosovo. In 2018, America was the first country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Kosovo's planned embassy in Jerusalem saying, "It is disappointing that such a step, which would constitute a clear violation of international law, is even considered by the Kosovo authorities."
The statement also elaborated on Turkey's support for its fellow Muslim nation, saying that, "Turkey, one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo, has also provided great support for the efforts toward the international recognition of this country from the very outset. However, we do not find it right to build this process against international law and especially upon the suffering of the Palestinian people whose territories are under occupation.
"We call upon the leadership of Kosovo to comply with these resolutions and refrain from acts that would harm the historical and legal status of Jerusalem, and that would prevent Kosovo from being recognized by other states in the future," the statement said.
Israel has not recognized Kosovo since the tiny Balkan nation declared independence from neighbor Serbia in 2008.
“Kosovo will be the first Muslim-majority country to open an embassy in Jerusalem," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday. "As I said during recent days, the circle of peace and recognition of Israel is expanding, with more countries expected to join.”
"My government is dedicated to open the embassy in Jerusalem, establish diplomatic relations and deepen bilateral relations," Kosovan Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti wrote on Twitter in response to Netanyahu.
Ankara also condemned the move by Serbia to relocate its embassy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying in a separate statement, "We are deeply concerned by the decision of the Republic of Serbia to relocate its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem."
"The relocation by any country of its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would constitute a clear violation of international law."
"We call upon all countries to comply with the UN resolutions on this matter, to respect the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and to refrain from acts that would further hamper the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the ministry said.
Turkey and Serbia have had mixed relations over the years, punctuated in 2013 by a speech by then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in which he claimed: "Do not forget that Kosovo is Turkey and Turkey is Kosovo." However, Serbia has stated that it sees a stable Turkey as vital for the Balkan region. The two currently enjoy full diplomatic relations.

The UN and EU's Silence on Iran's "Shocking Human Rights Violations"
Majid Rafizadeh/ Gatestone Institute/September 07/2020
Last week, the Iranian regime's Supreme Court issued two death sentences to wrestling champion Navid Afkari, along with six-and-a-half years in prison and 74 lashes, according to Persian-language news broadcaster Iran International. His two brothers were also arrested; Vahid Afkari was given a prison sentence of 54 years and 74 lashes, and Habib Afkari received 27 years and 74 lashes.
"For around 50 days I had to endure the most horrendous physical and psychological tortures... They would place a plastic bag on my head and torture me until I suffocated to the very brink of death. They also poured alcohol into my nose." — Navid Afkari, Iranian wrestling champion, in a letter.
You would think that the EU or the UN would at least condemn the ruling mullahs of Iran for this brutality. Instead, they reward the regime. On August 14, the UN Security Council voted to allow the 13-year arms embargo on the Iranian regime to expire in October 2020. The ruling means that the ruling mullahs of Iran will be permitted to buy, sell and export as many conventional weapons they wish.
The ruling mullahs now have enough enriched uranium to refine and build a nuclear bomb if they wish to do so. Approximately 1000 kg of uranium enriched at just 5% can be further refined to create one nuclear bomb.
The UN and the EU need to hold the Iranian leaders accountable, or be discarded for irrelevance, where they appear to belong.
According to Amnesty International, victims of the Iranian regime's systematic torture include children as young as 10 years old. "[V]ictims were frequently hooded... punched, kicked and flogged; beaten with sticks, rubber hosepipes, knives,... suspended or forced into holding painful stress positions for prolonged periods; deprived of sufficient food and potable water..." (Image source: iStock. Image is illustrative and does not represent any person in the article.)
The Iranian regime has significantly ratcheted up its human rights violations. The United Nations and the European Union, which preach about human rights, completely turn a blind eye to the regime's abuses.
According to a recent report by Amnesty International released on September 2, various branches of Iran's government, including the judiciary system, law enforcement and the Ministry of Intelligence, are involved in these abuses and crimes.
The report stated:
"Iran's police, intelligence and security forces, and prison officials have committed, with the complicity of judges and prosecutors, a catalogue of shocking human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, against those detained."
Victims, according to the report, include children as young as 10 years old. The regime has also systematically been targeting those who take part in demonstrations. Last week, for instance, the Iranian regime's Supreme Court issued two death sentences to wrestling champion Navid Afkari, along with six-and-a-half years in prison and 74 lashes, according to Persian-language news broadcaster Iran International. His two brothers were also arrested; Vahid Afkari was given a prison sentence of 54 years and 74 lashes, and Habib Afkari received 27 years and 74 lashes.
While the EU and the UN are silent, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White and U.S. President Donald Trump have been pleading with the Iranian leaders not to execute champion wrestler Navid Afkari. President Trump tweeted:
"Hearing that Iran is looking to execute a great and popular wrestling star, 27-year-old Navid Afkarai, whose sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the streets. They were protesting the "country's worsening economic situation and inflation'...
"...To the leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young man's life, and not execute him. Thank you!"
UFC President Dana White wrote:
"I would just like to say that I, too, respectfully and humbly ask the government officials in Iran to please not execute this man and spare his life."
It is at the discretion of the judiciary or the Islamic Revolutionary Court that many people are arrested on ambiguous charges, such as "spreading corruption on earth" ("moharebeh"), "waging war against God," or "endangering the country's national security". Lack of due process, forced confessions and physical or psychological torture are prominent in the process through which the judiciary sentences defendants to the death penalty.
According to more reports, Afkari and his brothers were tortured to force them to testify against each other and to extract "confessions," which were then aired on television.
"For around 50 days I had to endure the most horrendous physical and psychological tortures," Afkari wrote in a letter.
"They would beat me with sticks and batons, hitting my arms, legs, abdomen, and back. They would place a plastic bag on my head and torture me until I suffocated to the very brink of death. They also poured alcohol into my nose."
In addition, most likely to impose fear among possible dissenters in the society, the regime, for decades, has resorted to punishments of torture and death, for example for the possession of cannabis. Torture is administered both physically and psychologically. According to Amnesty International:
"The organization's research found that victims were frequently hooded or blindfolded; punched, kicked and flogged; beaten with sticks, rubber hosepipes, knives, batons and cables; suspended or forced into holding painful stress positions for prolonged periods; deprived of sufficient food and potable water; placed in prolonged solitary confinement, sometimes for weeks or even months; and denied medical care for injuries sustained during the protests or as a result of torture."
You would think that the EU or the UN would at least condemn the ruling mullahs of Iran for this brutality. Instead, the regime is rewarded. On August 14, the UN Security Council voted to allow the 13-year arms embargo on the Iranian regime to expire in October 2020. The ruling means that the ruling mullahs of Iran will be permitted to buy, sell and export as many conventional weapons they wish.
The EU and the UN are also advocating to keep the nuclear deal (JCPOA), which Iran never signed, and to keep all sanctions lifted, despite repeated Iranian violations. On September 4, 2020, for example, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile had reached 2,105 kg (4,640 lbs) -- almost 10 times the amount of enriched uranium the regime is allowed to have. The ruling mullahs now have enough enriched uranium to refine and build a nuclear bomb if they wish to do so. Approximately 1000 kg of uranium enriched at just 5% can be further refined to create one nuclear bomb.
The president of the UN Security Council during August, Indonesia's UN Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, meanwhile, rejected a US bid to trigger a "snapback" return of all UN sanctions on Iran. Perhaps the time has come for the US to defund the UN, or at the very least, "paying only for what the country wants — and expecting to get what it pays for."
Despite decades of UN "reform" efforts, little or nothing in its culture or effectiveness has changed. Instead, despite providing the body with a disproportionate share of its funding, the US is subjected to autos-da-fé on a regular basis. The only consolation, at least to date, is that this global virtue-signaling has not yet included burning the US ambassador at the stake. According to an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal in 2017:
"Why does the U.S. tolerate this?... dodging embarrassing votes means acquiescing to increasingly high expenditures.
"The U.S. should reject this international taxation regime and move instead to voluntary contributions.... This is a performance incentive the current assessment-taxation system simply does not provide....
"The U.N.'s five regional economic and social councils, which have no concrete accomplishments, don't deserve American funding either. If nations believe these regional organizations are worthwhile—a distinctly dubious proposition—they are entirely free to fund them. Why America is assessed to support them is incomprehensible.
"Next come vast swaths of U.N. bureaucracy. Most of these budgets could be slashed with little or no real-world impact. Start with the Office for Disarmament Affairs. The U.N. Development Program is another example. Significant savings could be realized by reducing other U.N. offices that are little more than self-licking ice cream cones, including many dealing with 'Palestinian' questions. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees could be consolidated into the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees."
The UN and the EU need to hold the Iranian leaders accountable, or be discarded for irrelevance -- where they probably belong.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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Confiscating Books in Sweden
Judith Bergman/ Gatestone Institute/September 07/2020
The confiscation of books and the upcoming case against author and comedian Aron Flam has ignited a debate in Sweden about the value of freedom of speech. As Flam has pointed out, a Swedish writer who happens to be Jewish having his books, critical of Swedish-Nazi collaboration during the war, seized by the Swedish state is a bit ironic.
Uppsala, once a picturesque and peaceful university town, is now the town in Sweden with the most shootings per capita. "The gangs have been allowed to grow" Manne Gerell, a criminologist at Malmö University told SVT Nyheter in December 2019, adding that the police had "woken up" a little too late.
Perhaps it is time for Sweden's government to spend fewer resources on prosecuting the speech crimes of pensioners and comedians, and more on fighting violent crime.
Perhaps it is time for Sweden's government to spend fewer resources on prosecuting the speech crimes of pensioners and comedians, and more on fighting violent crime. (Image source: iStock)
In June, four armed Swedish police officers seized and confiscated the entire stock of the book Det här är en svensk tiger ("This is a Swedish Tiger"), written by Swedish author and standup comedian, Aron Flam. The book tells the story of how Sweden's claim of neutrality during World War II covered up a reality of Swedish collaboration with the Nazi war effort and the profits that the Social Democratic government made from the war.
The title of the book is a play on the words of a 1941 wartime poster of a tiger drawn in the blue and yellow colors of the Swedish flag with the title "En svensk tiger" ("A Swedish Tiger") and made by Swedish illustrator Bertil Almqvist. The word "tiger" in Swedish means tiger, but it also means to keep silent. The original poster was part of a Swedish government campaign to warn Swedes to keep silent, presumably not to rattle Sweden's wartime relationship with Nazi Germany.
Flam satirized Almqvist's illustration on the cover of his own book by drawing an armband with a swastika on the tiger, and having one of its front legs lifted in the Nazi salute, while winking at the reader. The owner of the copyright of Almqvist's tiger, however, Sweden's Military Readiness Museum, alleged that Flam had violated its copyright and reported him to the police -- who confiscated the books. According to Flam, now the prosecutor even wants to seize books from readers who already bought them, to make sure the books are destroyed.
The confiscation of books and the upcoming case against Flam has ignited a debate in Sweden about the value of freedom of speech. As Flam has pointed out, a Swedish writer who happens to be Jewish having his books, critical of Swedish-Nazi collaboration during the war, seized by the Swedish state is a bit ironic. "Just the idea that there is a prosecutor who is seriously pushing to track down and destroy books is Kafkaesque. If they had contented themselves with tearing off the front-page, but no", Flam said.
As always, how the police and prosecution choose to operate is a matter of priorities; those (curious) priorities were on display in another recent court case about free speech, as well. In it, an elderly Swedish woman was sentenced to a fine for "incitement", after she expressed her anger on Facebook over the violent assault by a 27-year old man on an 86-year old pensioner.
"Yes, he [the perpetrator] will probably be out [of prison...] right away. It would be better to send him out of the country, what kind of monkey people come into the country, deportation is all that applies now, there are no mitigating circumstances... The monkeys should not come here and commit such crimes..."
The woman did not mention any specific group of people in her Facebook post, yet the court found that she had incited hate against immigrants:
"The district court...finds that the communication cannot be understood in any other way than that it is aimed at such a group of people who are protected by the provision -- immigrants – i.e. the ethnic groups in Sweden who have in common that they have a different national origin than the majority population. By calling this group 'monkeys' and 'monkey people', NN [the woman] has expressed herself in a way that must be considered derogatory."
The case was not unusual for Sweden. The prosecution of pensioners, and others, for speech crimes is commonplace.
The problem is that Sweden is a country deeply mired in a growing violent crime wave that its authorities have not been able to defeat. While Swedish police and prosecutors give a high priority to the confiscation of books with covers of satirized Swedish tigers and pensioners guilty of "Wrongthink", they evidently do not have the resources to confront violent crimes.
In Uppsala, for instance, a report from 2019 showed that 80% of girls in high school do not feel safe. In 2013, that number was 45%.
Recently, SVT Nyheter ran a story about a 13-year-old girl who had been raped in a public toilet in a mall in Uppsala in November last year. Even though the police knew who the suspect was, it took them seven months to arrest him. "Since the police did not have the resources, he was not detained until now", Moa Blomqvist, the prosecutor in the case, told Swedish Television. "I am very upset that such serious crimes are piled up waiting with the police..." The police deny Blomqvist's claim.
In July, a mother of three and her sister, who were walking home with their husbands, suffered head injuries when a man, who identified himself to the women as coming from Gottsunda, a "no-go zone" in Uppsala, decided to start kicking them in the head, apparently for no reason. The man was soon joined by a gang, who proceeded to whip the husbands with belts. The police so far have no suspects in the case. Two weeks later, in the center of Uppsala, a man was stabbed multiple times.
Uppsala, once a picturesque and peaceful university town, is now the town in Sweden with the most shootings per capita. "The gangs have been allowed to grow" Manne Gerell, a criminologist at Malmö University told SVT Nyheter in December 2019, adding that the police had "woken up" a little too late.
Uppsala has also been hit by several bombings -- attacks, typically gang-related, using explosive devices. In 2019, Sweden had 257 cases. The latest Uppsala bombing took place in June: a "minor explosive device" detonated in an apartment building.
Yet, in Sweden, in 2019, not even one in ten bombings led to criminal charges, according to SVT Nyheter. Perhaps it is time for Sweden's government to spend fewer resources on prosecuting the speech crimes of pensioners and comedians, and more on fighting violent crime.
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Terrorism strikes again in Tunisia, amid political crisis
Sghaier El-HidriThe Arab Weekly/September 07/2020
TUNIS - A Tunisian National Guard officer was killed and another wounded in a terrorist attack at the Akouda crossing near the Kantaoui district in the coastal town of Sousse, the country’s interior ministry said Sunday. The three assailants were killed after they rammed their vehicle into security officers before attacking them with knives, he said.
The terrorist operation early Sunday morning raised questions about its goals at a time when the country faces a political controversy over its newly-formed government, and amid an open struggle between President Kais Saied and the Islamist Ennahda Movement.
The attack also raised questions about the symbolism of its target, Sousse, the hometown of the new interior minister and the site of a deadly terrorist attack in 2015.
sousse
Sunday’s attack occurred days after parliament approved the new government headed by Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, who appointed as interior minister Tawfik Charfeddine, a Sousse lawyer who is considered to be close to Saied.
Tunisian National Guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli said: “A security patrol including two National Guard members was attacked by terrorists with knives in the city centre of Sousse” and that “one of the guardsmen is dead and the second is in hospital.” Iman Ben Hamida, a spokeswoman for the Sousse 2 court of the first instance, said that four people who were driving a four-by-four vehicle were involved in the attack. Reactions to the incident varied, with a number of politicians denouncing it and others calling for terrorists to be tried more quickly for their crimes.
Mechichi described terrorists as “microbes” and said the attack was their attempt to “send messages saying that they exist, but this time they sent their messages to the wrong address as proven by the elimination of the assailants in a few minutes.”“The microbes should be afraid of the Tunisians, who should not be wary of them as there are lions protecting the homeland,” said Mechichi from the site of the attack. Saied, for his part, described the attackers as “madmen who do not understand anything.”
“Those who asked them to carry out this attack must be held accountable, and they will bear that responsibility before God, the people and history,” he added during his visit to the site of the attack. Analysts have linked the terrorist attack to Turkey’s continued dispatching of Syrian and other Arab mercenaries to Libya.
“It is clear that the attack has political goals as it aims to further confuse the political scene in Tunisia,” Walid Loukini, a judge and former interior minister spokesman, told The Arab Weekly. “We must take into account as well that it targeted the home-town of the minister of interior, so it seems the terrorists were sending messages saying that they are attempting to disrupt the work of security agencies and anti-terrorism efforts,” he added.
He also linked the attack to “regional developments which are to the benefit of the terrorist groups.”He said that “there are at least 800 Tunisian terrorists in Libya. Today, North Africa has become a base of operations for terrorists… and Tunisia is a target for terrorism sponsors who want to disrupt the country’s political track,” referring to mercenaries dispatched by Turkey to Libya, including Tunisian terror suspects.
While there has so far been no claim of responsibility for the attack, experts have speculated that the Al-Furqan cell, which previously pledged allegiance to the ISIS, may be behind the attack. The cell has previously targeted Sousse, which is an important tourism destination in the country.
“We say that terrorism has had its wings clipped, but every time we wake up to a new terrorist strike. Today, the terrorists carry out their attacks with unconcealed faces … all forces must adopt a unified and clear position towards these operations,” Loukini told The Arab Weekly.
“Terrorism has become bare-faced … The next stage will be difficult … the living forces and civil society must mobilise in the face of terrorism,” he added.
The attack, which coincided with a severe political crisis in which Tunisia faces a thinly-veiled conflict between Saied and Ennahda, has brought to the fore demands for the speedy trial of terrorists. “Condemnation, threats and intimidation are of no use today. Where are the trials and the implementation of sentences handed down against the perpetrators of terrorism and their accomplices?” said Mustapha Ben Ahmed, an MP for the Tahya Tounes party.
Loukini said: “Today there are two lines in Tunisia, a national line represented by the president of the republic, which defends the territorial integrity of Tunisia and the higher interests of the country and the civic state of the state. There are other lines that have other pragmatic interests.. but everyone’s efforts must be devoted to confronting terrorism.”Tunisia is living in the throes of a stifling political crisis after the conflict between Saied and Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi, who also heads parliament, came to light recently.
Saied’s recent statements reflected the imminence of the crisis. The president has repeatedly stressed that “there are those who conspire against the security of the country and that of Tunisians” and complained of being targeted by unidentified parties.
On Sunday, Saied said: “Terrorist and criminal operations will not unsettle Tunisian men and women, and the state will not fall … Whoever attempted to set the stage for new political situations through such operations is delusional, because nothing is hidden from the people anymore.”
Analysts believe that the president hinted through his statements at the possibility of political parties being behind the terrorist operation, either to further confuse the political scene or to exert pressure with the aim of reaching understandings that end the tension, including understandings between him and Ennahda and its allies.

Eastern Mediterranean conflict further marginalizing NATO
Ramzy Baroud/Arab News/September 07/2020
NATO is an alliance in name alone. The brewing conflict over territorial waters in the Eastern Mediterranean indicates that the military union of mostly Western countries is faltering.
The current Turkish-Greek tensions are only one facet of a much larger conflict also involving Israel, Egypt, Cyprus, France, Libya and other Mediterranean and European nations. Notably absent from the list are the US and Russia, despite the latter, in particular, standing to gain or lose much economic leverage depending on the outcome of the conflict.
Conflicts of this nature tend to have historic roots, and Turkey and Greece fought a brief but consequential war in 1974. Of relevance to the current conflagration is an agreement signed in January by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus’ Nicos Anastasiades. The agreement envisages the establishment of the EastMed pipeline that, once finalized, is projected to flood Europe with Israeli natural gas, pumped mostly from the Leviathan Basin. Several European countries are keen on being part of, and profiting from, the project. However, Europe’s gain is not just economic, but also geostrategic. Cheap Israeli gas will lessen Europe’s reliance on Russian supplies, which pass through two pipelines, Nord Stream and TurkStream, the latter going through Turkey.
Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom supplies Europe with an estimated 40 percent of its natural gas needs, thus giving Moscow significant economic and political leverage. Some European countries, especially France, have labored to liberate themselves from what they see as a Russian economic chokehold on their economies. Indeed, the French and Italian rivalry currently underway in Libya is tantamount to a colonial expedition aimed at balancing out their over-reliance on Russian supplies of gas and other energy. Fully aware of France and Italy’s intentions in Libya, the Russians and Turks are wholly involved in the military showdown between the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the forces in the east that are loyal to Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar.
While the conflict in Libya has been ongoing for years, the EastMed pipeline plan has added fuel to the fire. It has infuriated Turkey, which is excluded from the agreement, worried Russia, and empowered Israel, which may now cement its economic integration with the European continent.
Anticipating the Israel-led alliance, Turkey and Libya last year signed a maritime boundary treaty that gave Ankara access to Libya’s territorial waters. The bold maneuver allows Turkey to claim territorial rights for gas exploration in a massive region that extends from the Turkish southern coast to Libya’s northeast coast. This claimed exclusive economic zone is unacceptable in Europe because it clashes with the ambitious EastMed project and fundamentally alters the geopolitics — largely dictated by Europe and guaranteed by NATO — of this region.
While the conflict in Libya has been ongoing for years, the Eastern Mediterranean pipeline plan has added fuel to the fire.
However, NATO is no longer the formidable and unified power it once was. Since its inception in 1949, NATO has been on the rise almost constantly. Its members have fought major wars in the name of defending one another and also to protect “the West” from the “Soviet menace.” NATO remained strong and relatively unified, even after the Soviet Union was dismantled and the Warsaw Pact collapsed in 1991. NATO managed to sustain a degree of unity despite its raison d’etre — defeating the Soviets — no longer being a factor because Washington wished to maintain its military hegemony, especially in the Middle East. While the Gulf War of 1991 was the first powerful expression of NATO’s new mission, the Iraq War of 2003 was its undoing. The US adopted an “exit strategy” from Iraq that foresaw a gradual American retreat from the Middle East and a simultaneous “pivot to Asia” in the desperate hope of slowing down China’s military encroachment in the Pacific. The best expression of the American decision to divest militarily from the Middle East was NATO’s intervention in Libya in 2011. Military strategists had to devise a bewildering term, “leading from behind,” to describe the role of the US in Libya. For the first time since the establishment of NATO, Washington was part of a conflict that was largely controlled by comparatively smaller and weaker members, including Italy, France and the UK. While former US President Barack Obama insisted on the centrality of NATO in US military strategies, it was evident that the once-powerful alliance had outweighed its usefulness for Washington. France, meanwhile, continues to fight for NATO with the same ferocity it uses to keep the EU intact. It is this French faith in European and Western ideals that has compelled Paris to fill the gap left by the gradual American withdrawal. It is currently playing the role of the military hegemon and political leader in many of the Middle East’s ongoing crises, including the flaring Eastern Mediterranean conflict.
Last December, Emmanuel Macron stood up to US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in London. Previously, Trump had chastised NATO over its reliance on America and threatened to pull out of the alliance altogether if fellow members did not start contributing their fair share.
It is a strange and unprecedented spectacle when countries like Israel, Greece, Egypt, Libya and Turkey lay claims over the Mediterranean, while NATO scrambles to stave off an outright war among its own members. It is even stranger to see France and Germany apparently taking over the leadership of NATO as the US remains almost completely absent.
It is hard to imagine the reinvention of NATO, at least as an organization that caters to Washington’s interests and diktats. Judging by France’s recent behavior, the future may hold irreversible paradigm shifts. In 2018, Macron made what at the time seemed a baffling suggestion: A “true, European army.” However, considering the rapid regional developments and the incremental collapse of NATO, Macron may one day get his army after all.
*Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Twitter: @RamzyBaroud