English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 26/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Laborers in the Vineyard/Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Matthew 20/01-16/”For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’So the last will be first, and the first last.”
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 25-26/2020

Adib Meets 'Two Khalils', Impasse Reportedly Continues
Army Arrests Fugitive Involved in al-Beddawi Troop Killings
MP Says Adib Has Agreed to Give Finance Portfolio to Shiite Duo
Lebanon MP says FPM, Shia factions at odds over government formation
DNA tests on 5 bodies washed up on shores of Lebanon
Qabalan: Yes, We Insist on Naming the Shiite Ministers
Salameh Says Bonus Claims ‘Unfounded’
Over $66 Mln to Compensate for Beirut Blast Lost Homes, Businesses
This time, too, the blame is on the Italians/Yair Ravid/Friday, 25 September, 2020'
Lebanese, Palestinian Ambitions vs. Israeli Obstacles on Gas/Walid Khadouri/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 25/2020
'It Wasn't Supposed to Be This Way'...Story Behind Beirut Blast Photos
Hezbollah’s Growing Terror Network in Europe/Con Coughlin//Gatestone Institute/September 25/2020
Lebanon's Hell: People of Boats, Slaves to Jobs/Hussam Itani/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 25/2020
New IRA links confirm Hezbollah’s growing terror threat in Europe/Con Coughlin/The National/September 25/2020
Adib presents government proposal to Aoun as Hezbollah pressure grows/Najia Houssari/Arab News/September 25/2020
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 25-26/2020

Text of State Department press release: Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announces fresh sanctions on Iran/Major New Human Rights-Related Listings and Accompanying Sanctions on Iran
Two journalists stabbed near Charlie Hebdo’s old offices in Paris
Two Critically Hurt in Knife Attack near Charlie Hebdo ex-Offices
Iran Guards open new naval base for ‘dominance’ over Hormuz
Israeli Sources Reveal Possible Netanyahu-Burhan Meeting in Uganda
Syria War Losses Exceed $442 Billion
Lavrov, Zarif to Enhance Measures on Implementation of Resolution 2254 on Syria
Damascus Accuses Opposition of Preparing Chemical Attack
Turkey Seeks Arrest of Kurdish Politicians Over 2014 Riots
At Least 13 People Drown in Migrant Shipwreck off Libya
Iftaa Egypt Warns Against Media Weaponized by Extremist Groups
Iraqi Army Searches for ISIS Cells Between Kirkuk, Saladin
Abbas Asks U.N. for International Mideast Conference Next Year
Blocking Dahlan’s rise motivates Istanbul deal between Fatah, Hamas
Mahmoud Abbas calls for 2021 Israeli-Palestinian peace conference

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 25-26/2020

The ‘Nevertheless’ Club and the World/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 25/2020
Power, not principle, at stake in US Supreme Court fight/Dr. John C. Hulsman/Arab News/September 25/2020
Peace may remain elusive despite Afghanistan talks/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/September 25/2020
European nations should do the right thing and bring home the extremists they exported/Peter Welby/Arab News/September 25/2020
Question: "Do the ends justify the means?"/GotQuestions.org/September 25/2020
Pushing Back on Iraqi Militias: Weighing U.S. Options/Michael Knights/The Washington Institute/September 25/ 2020
Europe Out of the Loop in New Middle East/Jonathan Spyer/EURACTIV/September 25, 2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 25-26/2020

Adib Meets 'Two Khalils', Impasse Reportedly Continues
Naharnet/September 25/2020
Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib held talks Friday night with Hussein al-Khalil and Ali Hassan Khalil -- the political aides of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Speaker Nabih Berri. TV networks said the meeting did not achieve any progress regarding the hurdles related to Shiite representation in the new government. “The two Khalils did not submit any names and Adib did not inform them whether or not he intends to step down tomorrow,” LBCI TV reported.
LBCI had earlier reported that the conferees would discuss merging Adib's list of Shiite candidates with that of the Shiite duo in order to “pick the common names.”
Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile reported that there were efforts to “convince the Shiite duo to name the finance minister and accept that Adib name the other Shiite ministers.” MP Sami Fatfat of al-Mustaqbal bloc told LBCI that Adib “has a ready cabinet line-up” and that “the ball is in the court of the President and the parliament speaker.”Ex-PM Najib Miqati meanwhile warned in remarks to MTV that Adib might step down on Saturday should the deadlock continue.
The PM-designate is scheduled to meet with President Michel Aoun at 11am Saturday. He also held a 40-minute meeting with Aoun on Friday afternoon.

Army Arrests Fugitive Involved in al-Beddawi Troop Killings
Naharnet/Naharnet/September 25/2020
The army on Friday arrested a fugitive member of the extremist cell that killed four troops and three civilians in two incidents in the North. “The Intelligence Directorate, in coordination with army units deployed in the Zgharta area of Haylan, today arrested the terrorist Ahmed Samir al-Shami, who belongs to the cell of slain terrorist Khaled al-Tellawi, one of those involved in the August 21 crime in Kaftoun,” an army statement said. “Shami is involved in the crime of killing four soldiers during the search of the apartment of the detainee Abdul Razzaq al-Rizz in the Jabal al-Beddawi area on September 13,” the statement added. The leader of the cell, Tellawi, was a member of an extremist group that had links to the Islamic State group. Earlier in September, the army said troops chased Tellawi and two of his aides into the countryside, where soldiers later killed Tellawi. Shami was one of the aides who managed to flee. Tellawi is believed to have fought in Syria with extremist groups in the past. Authorities blamed Tellawi and three of his aides last month for a shooting in the predominantly Christian village of Kaftoun in north Lebanon that killed three men. Security forces identified the four and tried to arrest one of the suspects, a Syrian citizen, in late August. The Syrian blew himself up by detonating explosives he had to avoid arrest.

MP Says Adib Has Agreed to Give Finance Portfolio to Shiite Duo
Naharnet/September 25/2020
Thursday’s meeting between PM-designate Mustafa Adib and the representatives of Hizbullah and Amal lasted half an hour and the talks tackled ex-PM Saad Hariri’s initiative and its “positive” impact, MP Qassem Hashem said on Friday.
“Adib expressed his desire for communication and said that he had not yet reached a vision for the government but acknowledged that the finance portfolio will go to the Shiite duo,” Hashem, who is a member of Speaker Nabih Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc, told al-Jadeed TV.
“The PM-designate asked the Shiite duo for some time and postponed his meeting with President (Michel) Aoun to continue his own contacts and consultations,” the MP added. Hashem also warned that the new government “should be formed by Monday or Tuesday at the latest or else Hassan Diab’s government will stay until after the U.S. elections and we would be plunged into the unknown.”

Lebanon MP says FPM, Shia factions at odds over government formation
MEM/September 25, 2020
Lebanese lawmaker, Mario Aoun of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), said his movement has clear differences with Shia factions over the formation of the next government, in reference to Hezbollah and the Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. However, Aoun said in a statement that despite the differences, the alliance between the two sides “exists and has not been affected”, El-Nashra news site reported. “The government file was preceded by disagreements about approaches to reform and corruption files, but the collapse that occurred at all levels did not leave us the luxury of expressing our dissatisfaction with the way Hezbollah approached these files, although we are convinced that a healthy country free of corruption is much better for the resistance,” he added. During his visit to Lebanon after the Beirut explosion in August, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need to modify the country’s system, while conditioning aid to the country on changes in the ruling political class. The Lebanese political system is based on the division of powers and sovereign positions according to religious and sectarian affiliations.
The larger Shia blocs, Hezbollah and Amal, have insisted they hold the Finance Ministry in any new government.

DNA tests on 5 bodies washed up on shores of Lebanon
AP/Arab News/September 25/2020
BEIRUT: DNA tests were on Thursday being carried out on five bodies washed up on Lebanon’s northern coast.
Examinations were expected to reveal if the dead were among the latest victims of a migrant boat tragedy or some of the nine people still missing following the Aug. 4 Beirut port blast. The bodies of two children from an illegal boat full of people fleeing Lebanon for Cyprus were among those recently swept ashore.
The vessel, capable of carrying a maximum of 30 passengers, had set out for Cyprus from Al-Burj beach on Sept. 7 with 50 individuals on board, most of them Lebanese from impoverished neighborhoods in Tripoli along with two Syrian families. After sailing for two hours, the boat’s illegal handler abandoned the passengers taking with him their belongings including food, drinks, and mobile phones. The boat drifted in the Mediterranean for five days and a number of bodies have since been found on the Lebanese coast. A 20-month-old boy reportedly died in his mother’s arms before his father put his body into the sea. Others vanished after attempting to swim to safety although the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force pulled one young man alive from the water and was able to rescue those who had stayed on board. On Thursday, a security meeting chaired by Lebanese President Michel Aoun discussed an increase in illegal attempts to help people flee Lebanon by boat. Aoun called for “combating the networks that organize this type of transport across the sea, which is against the law, and taking appropriate measures in this regard.”

Geagea: No Hope in Anything with This Ruling Majority
Naharnet/September 25/2020
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday lamented that “day after day, it becomes more evident that with this ruling parliamentary majority there can be no hope in anything.”His remarks come as the government formation deadlock continues despite reported progress. The head of the LF communication and media unit, Charles Jabbour, meanwhile told MTV that “there is a drive that indicates that something is in the making regarding the government.”
“But it can’t be known whether or not it will produce a government,” Jabbour added, noting that Hizbullah and Amal Movement “could have issued an official statement in response to ex-PM Saad Hariri’s initiative.”“We support the French initiative as a rescue solution and we did not name Mustafa Adib out of our prior knowledge that the other camp will put the same obstacles as in the past,” the LF official went on to say. “We are fully convinced that Lebanon can’t be rescued amid the presence of the current ruling authorities and what’s happening today confirms LF’s viewpoint,” he added.

Qabalan: Yes, We Insist on Naming the Shiite Ministers
Naharnet/September 25/2020
Grand Jaafarite Shiite Mufti, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan insisted on Friday that Shiite ministers in the delayed government will only be named by Shiite officials. “We insist on naming our ministers and refuse to have them named by anyone else,” said Qabalan, noting that “its either a non-sectarian system for all in Lebanon away from quotas, otherwise let each sect name its representative in the government.”“Yes, this is our position as long as we live in a State of sects and Taef (accord), and until everyone is convinced of a civil state away from sectarianism and fanaticism into a state of law, institutions, rights and duties on the basis of competence,” added Qabalan. In reference to the latest international and regional flurry towards Lebanon after Beirut’s port explosion, Qabalan said: “We have a national battle to protect the country from novel international and regional brokers in order to prevent the country from further collapse.”

Salameh Says Bonus Claims ‘Unfounded’
Naharnet/September 25/2020
Central Bank governor Riad Salameh denied allegations he received a four-month bonus on his salary as reported in al-Joumhouria daily on Friday. Salameh issued a statement saying “he did not and will not receive any bonus on his salary,” describing the claims as unfounded. The governor’s salary witnessed reductions in 1998, said the statement and that no raise was applied since, except for the legal additions. On Friday, al-Joumhouria said a four-month bonus has allegedly been approved for Salameh and his newly appointed vice-governors, for members of the Banking Control Commission and all BDL employees.
Lebanon is witnessing an unprecedented economic crisis that saw banks impose restrictions on both dollar and Lebanese pound and on transfers abroad.

Over $66 Mln to Compensate for Beirut Blast Lost Homes, Businesses
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
Lebanon on Thursday unveiled a compensation program for the thousands of homes and businesses devastated by the August 4 mega-blast at Beirut's port. President Michel Aoun signed a decree allocating 100 billion Lebanese pounds (more than $66 million at the official exchange rate, or $13 million on the black market) to the program, his office said. It added that the army and Beirut municipality would be tasked with setting up a mechanism to distribute the funds. The compensation will go to owners of homes and businesses damaged in the explosion that left more than 190 dead and devastated swathes of the capital, a source at the presidency said. According to an assessment by the army, the blast caused by a consignment of ammonium nitrate damaged almost 61,000 homes and over 19,000 businesses. The explosion compounded Lebanon's worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. On August 9, the international community pledged around $300 million in emergency aid at a conference jointly organized by France and the United Nations. The UN is to coordinate the aid to ensure it reaches those in need directly rather than through Lebanese government bodies, which are widely accused of corruption.

This time, too, the blame is on the Italians
Yair Ravid/Friday, 25 September, 2020
A well-known rule is in Lebanon, no one ever takes responsibility for mishaps, disasters and omissions. Disregard and alienation, have reached the level of art in this country.
Success is known to have many fathers ,but failure, is an poor orphan.
And if it is a disaster or malfunction which is greatly damaged which cannot be hidden or ignored, it is customary in this cases to lay the blame on the Italians. "Al hak ala al Talien", it is common to say. Why the Italians ? you will ask . And the answer is, because Italy is far away, and it is clear that the Italians are guilty. Equally, by the way, the blame can be placed on the Hottentots or the Indians. But it turns out, that it is not just the Lebanese who go as far as Italy in imposing responsibility and blame.
The decision of the International Court of Justice, which has been investigating the assassination of the late Prime Minister Rafik Al- Hariri, and who for about six years investigated, examined, and discussed hundreds of witnesses, at unprecedented financial costs, finally came to a conclusion, that the blame for Hariri's murder, and with the deaths of dozens of innocent civilians, falls on one man, his name is Salim Ayash. Not a single word about the Syrian regime that initiated the assassination, or Hezbollah, which carried out the murder. In other words, and in the spoken Lebanese language, this time too, the blame is on the Italians.The citizens of Lebanon, and certainly its political leaders, know very well who is responsible, But no one dares to talk about it, for fear that Hezbollah, the true ruler of Lebanon, will silence him forever.
This situation of lack of real guilt in the assassination of the popular leader, paves the way for the return of Saad al- Hariri, the son of the assassinated prime minister, and the one who replaced him.
And if that is the case, then Saad Hariri will be forced to follow the instructions he receives from Hezbollah. Otherwise, he will join his late father, this time from the hands of "another Italian".
*The author, Yair Ravid, a former Israeli intelligence officer, commanded the establishment of ties between the Staite of Israel an Christians in Lebanon in 1976, and served as the head of the Mssad's operational station in Beirut.
 

Lebanese, Palestinian Ambitions vs. Israeli Obstacles on Gas
Walid Khadouri/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 25/2020
The first gas exploration works in the eastern Mediterranean basin began during the second half of the 1980s in Egypt, when the Egyptian petroleum authorities granted the operating companies equal privileges for discovering gas and oil.
Until the seventies, the wellhead would be closed when gas was discovered due to the insufficient demand. However, with the rise in oil prices since the early 1970s, gas consumption gradually increased to become the preferred fuel in electricity generation, petrochemical and heavy industries. The demand for gas improved due to its low carbon dioxide emissions compared to the emissions from oil. Egypt attracted major international oil companies in its gas industry, such as Shell, Eni, Total, British Petroleum and British Gas, in addition to many smaller companies. Oil companies were interested in Egypt for several reasons, including the history of explorations in its vast land and waters, its exploration and development contracts, and the availability of a skilled local labor force, not to mention its local market, which employs about 100 million people.
Egypt was among the first Arab countries to install gas pipelines for domestic consumption. In 2015, Eni discovered the giant Zohr field - the largest gas field in the Mediterranean that has been found so far. The discovery of this particular giant field, in addition to other offshore fields, helped Egypt become self-sufficient in natural gas, even for limited years (until about 2025).
Israeli Obstacles
Egypt’s exploration success in its exclusive economic zone north of Alexandria and Port Said encouraged neighboring countries to explore in the geological zone of the Nile Delta. In 1999, the Palestinian Authority took the initiative to sign an exclusive contract with British Gas to search for oil in Gaza waters. The Gaza Marine field was discovered in 2000, with proven reserves amounting to around 1.50 billion cubic meters, which are enough to meet the demands of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. However, Israel refused to give approval for the start of operations and the field remains undeveloped to this day.
Both Cyprus and Lebanon have adopted oil exploration policies following discoveries in the neighboring regions. Cyprus took the initiative to demarcate its maritime borders with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel. When trying to demarcate the borders with Lebanon, an obstacle emerged, represented by the undefined borders in the north with Syria and in the south, with Israel. The maritime borders between Lebanon and Syria are not demarcated, based on a Damascus decision. On the other hand, Lebanon is at war with Israel and direct negotiations over this matter cannot take place at the current time. Therefore, the Lebanese-Cypriot border was drawn up in a non-final way, with the stipulation in the border agreement that neither party (Lebanese or Cypriot) has the right to agree with a third party without obtaining the prior consent of the other side. In parallel, the Lebanese government sent a memorandum to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres documenting its maritime borders according to international agreements and norms; but Cyprus and Israel agreed on a common maritime border between them, which led to Israel seizing control of a large area of southern Lebanese maritime blocks 8, 9 and 10. The US is currently undertaking a mediation between Beirut and Tel Aviv to solve the problem. Indirect talks between the two sides are ongoing. Lebanon and Cyprus divided their exclusive economic zones into maritime blocks. Lebanon divided its area into 10 blocks. One well has been drilled so far by a consortium led by French Total in Block 4. The consortium is expected to start exploration in Block 9 in the southern waters off the coast of Tire the end of the year. Cyprus has also taken the initiative, despite the continuing Turkish threats, to implement an ambitious exploration program that has attracted a number of major international oil companies (Total, Eni, ExxonMobil, Qatar Petroleum and Noble Energy). The Aphrodite field was discovered with a reserve of about 5 billion cubic meters of gas, in addition to several other fields.

'It Wasn't Supposed to Be This Way'...Story Behind Beirut Blast Photos
Asharq Al-Awsat/September 25/2020
When Mustafa Kinno felt the ground shake and heard the deafening blast toward the port, he frantically called his brother living nearby. No reply. He tried a neighbor, who said the family was sitting outside their apartment across from the port when it exploded. Terrified, Mustafa ran more than two miles (four kilometers) to his brother, glass crunching under his feet. When he arrived, first he spotted his niece Sedra's head poking out of the rubble. He collapsed and crawled toward her but couldn't move her. Then he found his younger niece, Hoda, slung her over his shoulder and started walking.
An image of the two, captured by Associated Press (AP) photographer Hassan Ammar, has come to symbolize the devastation of the Aug. 4 blast at the Beirut port, which took 193 lives and wounded 6,500. In the photo, a dust-covered Hoda, 11, holds her body stiffly against her uncle's shoulder, a gash bleeding from her forehead, eyes half-closed and face set in a grimace.
The story behind the photo reflects the particular pain of Syrian refugee families like Hoda's. At least 43 Syrians were among those who died in the explosion, plunging a war-weary community into further misery. Lebanon now hosts nearly one million Syrian refugees — about one in five people.
"It was always bad even before the explosion, but we were getting by," said Mahmoud, the girls' older brother. "Now, life is unbearable."It wasn't supposed to be this way. Ali Kinno, 45, moved from the Aleppo region of Syria to Lebanon in 2008 to find work, determined to provide a better life for his family. The residential tower facing the port was still under construction then, and he soon got a job as a concierge.
In 2011, after Syria's civil war erupted, he fretted for his family's safety. A year later, after northern Aleppo became a frontline, he asked them to join him in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. But the family never quite settled there. Syrian refugees faced resentment and discrimination — his daughter was harassed on the street, and his sons found it increasingly difficult to get jobs, he said. The situation got worse as the country's economic crisis set in, culminating in a local currency collapse. Ali was so protective and scared for his children, especially the two girls, that he didn't let them go to school, despite Sedra's pleas. Cooped up in their tiny apartment, the children grew closer. The girls became inseparable. Because their mom suffered back pain and asthma, they took care of the apartment, especially Sedra. "She cooked, made tea, she looked after her younger brother Ahmad, gave him his bath. She was everything," said Ali's wife, Fatima, choking on the last sentence, AP reported.
It was just after 6 p.m. on Aug. 4 when Ali Kinno asked his son Qoteiba to turn off the generator which provides electricity to their 20-floor residential building. He also asked 15-year-old Sedra to prepare the tea. It was that time at the end of the day when the sun begins to soften, and Ali and his family sit outside the building where he works as a concierge, drinking tea and watching the highway that runs parallel to the port. Only this time, smoke was pouring out of the facility.
Sedra brought the tea and put it on a small table but didn't pour it - the family was animatedly discussing the pink-tinged smoke. The flames grew bigger, and the fire began making popping sounds. A convoy of red fire engines, sirens screaming, zipped past on the highway.
Alarmed, Ali's wife called for them to go inside the apartment. That's when they heard the first explosion. But it was the second blast seconds later that seemed to lift the earth under the port and throw it in their direction. "It was as if the port came to us," says Ali. In a flash, the middle-class neighborhood housing the headquarters of one of Lebanon's most famous fashion designers turned to a hell on earth, tossing everyone and everything in the air and showering them with debris. "Tiles, stones, aluminium, glass. Everything fell on us," said Ali, who suffered brain hemorrhage, several broken ribs, loss of vision in his left eye and damaged hearing in his right ear that day.
Sedra, who was standing near the entrance to the apartment, died instantly, pinned by tile cladding that rained down from the building. Hoda suffered a fracture in her neck and other injuries. Fatima fractured her spine, shattered a leg and could not move. That was the scene Mustafa saw when he arrived from across town and carried Hoda away. Another of Ammar's photos captured Sedra's dead body, in a long flowered dress, carried by her older brother Qoteiba and brother-in-law Fawaz. In the chaotic aftermath of the explosion, the Kinno family separated, each of them taken to a different hospital.
A man with a scooter offered to take Sedra to the hospital, and Fawaz jumped behind him with Sedra in the middle. But she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Mustafa put Hoda in an army vehicle that was ferrying the injured to the hospital. But the hospital was so overwhelmed with victims that they couldn't operate on her neck and advised that he take her elsewhere. Eventually he took her in a taxi to a hospital in the Bekaa region, miles away. Later that night, a Syrian man sat on the pavement in tears outside the hospital where Hoda was initially taken. He said one of his sisters was killed, another sister's neck was fractured. He didn't know where his injured mother and father were taken and was making calls trying to track them down. It was Mahmoud, Ali and Fatima's eldest son. He had been at his job as a foreman in Kfour, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut. Unable to reach any of his family in the wake of the explosion, he sat in a taxi for 45 minutes to Beirut. When the traffic got blocked, he abandoned the car and ran the remaining few miles home.
"I saw people dead in their cars along the way... The more I saw the more I imagined something horrible has happened to the family," he said. That's when Fawaz called him and broke the news that Sedra had died. A month after the explosion, the family has been reunited in temporary shelter in an apartment south of Beirut. They are devastated, still getting treated for injuries and trying to make ends meet as the medical bills pile up. Hoda, wearing a neck brace, barely speaks. She said she doesn't remember the explosion and its aftermath, AP reported.
Fatima, her mother, said Hoda is obsessed with watching video clips of the blast on social media. She wakes up several times at night, sometimes crying.
Fatima is dealing with her own demons.
"Everything scares me now, I see a door and imagine it will collapse on me," she said, seated on a sofa with a bandaged leg and a back brace.
Mahmoud, the 21-year-old eldest brother, is saddled with responsibilities, now that his father has lost his job. With his own 4-year-old son to worry about, he said he is looking to smuggle himself out of Lebanon, joining others escaping poverty who recently began attempting to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe. "I don't want to stay here another day," he said.
The youngest child, 6-year-old Ahmad, was sleeping at the time of the blast, and miraculously escaped virtually unscathed even though the glass in the apartment shattered and his room was badly damaged. But he is now very quiet. He told his father that when the family gets well, they will go back home and bring Sedra. Ali keeps going back in his mind to that moment when he lost control over his family's life, feeling utterly helpless. Ten days after the explosion, he went to the building, stood in front of it and cried for his daughter. "She was always in the kitchen. She loved to cook," he said. "I imagined her there."
 

Hezbollah’s Growing Terror Network in Europe/Con Coughlin/

Gatestone Institute/September 25/2020
كون كوغلين/معهد كايتستون: شبكة الإرهاب المتنامية لحزب الله في أوروبا
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/90735/hezbollahs-growing-terror-network-in-europecon-coughlin-gatestone-institute-%d9%83%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%83%d9%88%d8%ba%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa/

According to Nathan Sales, the U.S. State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, Hezbollah has been steadily building up its weapons stockpiles in Europe with the aim of preparing for any future acts of terrorism that may be ordered by Tehran.
Describing Hezbollah’s arms build-up in Europe as posing a “clear and present danger to the US” and its allies, Mr Sales said that US intelligence reports showed that Hezbollah had weapons based in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, while “significant” ammonium nitrate caches had either been discovered or destroyed in France, Greece and Italy.
Further evidence of Hezbollah’s expanding terrorist presence in Europe has emerged in Ireland, where ten members of an Irish dissident group known as the New IRA (NIRA) were arrested on terrorism charges last month, following claims they met with Hezbollah officials at Iran’s embassy in Dublin.
At a time when tensions are increasing between Iran and the West over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme, the expansion of Hezbollah’s terror operation in Europe should certainly be a major cause for concern. Iran, after all, has a long history of resorting to terrorism to put pressure on its adversaries, and Europe is an obvious target for future Iranian terror attacks.
The conviction in absentia of two terrorists with links to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia for murdering five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in 2012 has shed new light on the organisation’s expanding terror network in Europe. Pictured: A truck carries the bus damaged in the attack on Israeli tourists at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, on July 19, 2012, the day after the bombing.
The conviction in absentia of two terrorists with links to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia for murdering five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in 2012 has shed new light on the organisation’s expanding terror network in Europe.
The convictions, which were announced earlier this week by the Specialised Criminal Court in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, relate to a suicide bomb attack against a bus carrying Israeli tourists on July 18, 2012.
The attack took place at the airport in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Burgas, killing five Israelis, as well as the bus driver.
Bulgarian investigators subsequently identified two prime suspects in the case, Meliad Farah, a Lebanese-Australian, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Lebanese-Canadian, whom they claimed carried out the attack on behalf of Hezbollah.
While Hezbollah has consistently denied any involvement in the murders, the court nevertheless found the two men guilty of the attack, and sentenced them to life imprisonment without parole.
As the whereabouts of the convicted men is unknown, they are unlikely ever to serve their sentences. The evidence uncovered by Bulgarian prosecutors, however, pointing to Hezbollah’s involvement in the attack has been sufficient to persuade European Union officials to place the organisation’s so-called military wing on its terrorism blacklist.
The convictions, moreover, shed fresh light on Hezbollah’s burgeoning terror network in Europe, which US officials believe is part of Iran’s attempts to expand its global terror capabilities.
In the early years of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the regime mainly confined its terrorist activities to the Middle East. But since the 1990s, Tehran has gradually been expanding its global terror network, the most infamous example being the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds.
This means that today Iran has a global network ranging from Latin America, where Hezbollah has been accused of involvement in lucrative drug-smuggling activities, to Africa and Asia.
Now new evidence has emerged that suggests Hezbollah, with the help of its Iranian backers, is busy expanding its terror network in the heart of Europe.
According to Nathan Sales, the U.S. State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, Hezbollah has been steadily building up its weapons stockpiles in Europe with the aim of preparing for any future acts of terrorism that may be ordered by Tehran.
Speaking during a video appearance at the American Jewish Committee earlier this month, Mr Sales warned that recent American intelligence reports showed that Hezbollah was storing caches of weapons in countries throughout Europe.
This included stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, the same material responsible for the devastating explosion at Beirut’s port last month.
Describing Hezbollah’s arms build-up in Europe as posing a “clear and present danger to the US” and its allies, Mr Sales said that US intelligence reports showed that Hezbollah had weapons based in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, while “significant” ammonium nitrate caches had either been discovered or destroyed in France, Greece and Italy.
“We have reason to believe that this activity is still underway,” Mr Sales said. “Why would Hezbollah stockpile ammonium nitrate on European soil? The answer is clear. It can conduct major terror attacks whenever its masters in Tehran deem it necessary.”
Further evidence of Hezbollah’s expanding terrorist presence in Europe has emerged in Ireland, where ten members of an Irish dissident group known as the New IRA (NIRA) were arrested on terrorism charges last month, following claims they met with Hezbollah officials at Iran’s embassy in Dublin.
A joint undercover operation mounted by British and Irish security officials found that the group was attempting to acquire Iranian-made weapons for use against the British security forces.
The ten people charged with a variety of terrorism offences include a Palestinian activist, Dr Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, who travelled to Ireland to give lectures on the Palestinian territories.
Two NIRA supporters who were arrested during the operation are reported to have attended a commemoration event at the Iranian Embassy in Dublin held following the death of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian terrorist mastermind killed by a US drone strike in January.
At a time when tensions are increasing between Iran and the West over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme, the expansion of Hezbollah’s terror operations in Europe should certainly be a major cause for concern. Iran, after all, has a long history of resorting to terrorism to put pressure on its adversaries, and Europe is an obvious target for future Iranian terror attacks.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph’s Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Lebanon's Hell: People of Boats, Slaves to Jobs
Hussam Itani/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 25/2020
Today, the best success criteria in Lebanon is the ability to leave it and distance one’s children from it; sending them somewhere safer where they can continue their lives and studies without worrying about the obstacles created by the aggravating domestic crisis. Second-tier success is measured by one’s ability to circumvent the crisis’s difficulties by getting some hard currency, especially through relatives residing abroad, which allows for the persistence of their old standard of living, which is a sweet dream to most citizens.
Today, the Lebanese can admit that their country is no longer suitable for living. Others find themselves trapped amid poverty, inflation, disease, and death, without any hope for attaining any of the new forms of “success” determined by the recent developments. The majority of the Lebanese will not emigrate and will not manage to send their youths off to places where they can live a life worthy of the term. Instead, they will suffer from various ramifications of societal and state disintegration. Vulnerable and marginalized segments of society will suffer from the dissolution of the traditional forms of social solidarity, be at the level of the family, neighborhood, or village, which used to provide them a little protection. Society as a whole has been drained by the disaster’s consequences, which are ravaging the population as a whole in a way never seen by “Greater Lebanon” since its inception 100 years ago.
If we adopt the term “public” to characterize the Lebanese whose conditions resemble those described above, then the “privileged’” live in another world. This privilege is not limited to luxuries that the Lebanese had never known in their lives; adopting a different conceptualization of the country’s state of affairs is this group’s characteristics. Their perception stems from being totally out of touch with reality. The crisis, in their minds, does not call for saving citizens from their daily agony and aggravating humiliating oppression, but finding a way to share power in a way that reduces the risk of their regime’s collapse.
With few exceptions that confirm the rule, the Lebanese political class had never been known for being interested in solving ordinary people’s suffering, nor in these people’s hopes for a decent life, their children’s education, and improving their standard of living through genuine work. These are trivialities that do not concern politicians. Crisis, per their customs, call for managing perpetual sectarian conflicts, embezzling public money, and satisfying their foreign funders.
The problem faced by the “privileged” is working out a framework that best allows for the perpetuation of their positions, seated on the necks of their followers and slaves. They work on convincing these followers that some bad behaviors are an inevitable tax to ensure that others do not take the humble jobs and services that the sectarian leader allocates to them. These bad acts are the limits of Lebanese politics.
Meanwhile, the decline of public services, the breakdown of public order, and the increase in violent crimes, while no breakthrough looms in the horizon, after nearly a year since the economic and political crisis started, do not boost people's enthusiasm for popular protests to make a change in the political scene. Paradoxically, the verse in Nizar Qabbani’s poem that proclaims, “the revolution is born out of the womb of despair”, which the authorities recently censored in a festival last month, has lost its viability. The call for transforming despair into a revolutionary drive does not work in Lebanon. Here, misery will only bring about more misery, people are fleeing and letting go of the seemingly futile attempts to change the regime by protesting, singing, and organizing sit-ins.
It is hell, as the president of the republic said in his recent statement, warning against the failure to form a government and the obstruction of France’s initiative. But the dazed and confused president had missed the fact that his citizens are living this hell, despite the alleviation stemming from him and his counterparts’ opportunistic and limited awareness of the limits this hell can reach. With security services either absent or colluding with the smugglers, hundreds of desperate poor people looking for jobs or a morsel of bread jump aboard the rundown boats that are taking off every day. Dozens of them died and did not receive much attention from Lebanon’s politicians and media. The sea is still tossing around their snatched corpses after human monsters deprived them of their right to live.
The Lebanese are divided between two groups. The first group belongs to the “people of the boats”, who are looking for a place in this world where they could survive. The second group embraces followers of angry and armed sects, who see nothing but their sectarian chief’s radiant face leading them to painful bloody days under the banners of pride, victory, and defending gains.
All of this comes amid unanimous agreement among analysts who devote to choosing neckties and falsifying reality on television and in written press, saying that the situation will worsen before the US elections and that Lebanon will pay the price for this fight until the Americans and Iranians reach a settlement allowing the Lebanese to lick their open wounds and prepare for a new dance between graves.

New IRA links confirm Hezbollah’s growing terror threat in Europe
Con Coughlin/The National/September 25/2020
The Lebanese militia is investing in its network across the continent in a variety of ways on behalf of Iran
The map details Hezbollah activity in the Middle East. Courtesy of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The latest allegations that senior representatives of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia met with members of a breakaway Irish terrorist group have highlighted the growing extent of the Iranian-backed organisation’s operations in Europe.
For decades, Hezbollah's primary focus has been the Middle East, where the terrorist organisation – working in conjunction with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – has been responsible for conducting attacks designed to create political instability and discord. In recent years, however, it has gradually expanded its operations farther afield, with its terror cells operating from locations in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Now there is fresh evidence that it is investing in its terrorist network in Europe by establishing arms caches in several countries and building links with terrorist and criminal organisations on the continent. The most recent proof of this has emerged after members of an Irish dissident group were arrested on terrorism charges last month following claims they met with Hezbollah officials at Iran’s embassy in Dublin.
Will Lebanon finally gather the strength to oust Hezbollah?
As The National reported this month, Irish and British security officials believe that former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) sought to revive long-standing contacts with Hezbollah in an attempt to obtain finance and weapons for the New IRA (NIRA), a fanatical offshoot of the Irish republican movement that is bitterly opposed to the Good Friday Agreement between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
Dissident Irish republicans have been waging a militant campaign against the police and security forces in Northern Ireland since 2009, and were held responsible for the killing of Irish journalist Lyra McKee in April last year.
According to officials investigating the Hezbollah plot, Irish dissidents were seeking advanced bomb-making technology previously used by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraq. They were in advanced talks with Hezbollah to strike a deal that would have greatly enhanced NIRA’s ability to attack British security forces, including the use of sophisticated improvised explosive devices.
Nine NIRA members have now been arrested following a long-running operation by MI5, the British security service.
Among those detained was Dr Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, a Palestinian, who has been charged with terrorism offences. At least two of those detained are said to have attended a commemoration ceremony at the Iranian embassy in Dublin following the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani by a US drone strike in January. From the IRA’s perspective, the claims that NIRA members are attempting to link up with terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah should not come as a big surprise. Irish republicans have a long history of associating with global terror groups and rogue regimes. In the past, the IRA received weapons and other forms of support from the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the Libyan regime of Muammar Qaddafi, Colombian insurgents Farc and Basque terrorist group ETA.
The suggestion, however, that senior Irish republicans have been attempting to form a terror pact with Hezbollah is an illustration of the organisation’s growing influence among Europe’s criminal and terrorist networks.
This month, the US State Department accused Hezbollah of storing caches of weapons and ammonium nitrate, the same material responsible for the devastating explosion at Beirut’s port last month, at bases throughout Europe. According to Nathan Sales, the State Department’s counterterrorism co-ordinator, Hezbollah has been steadily building up its weapons stockpiles on the continent with the aim of preparing for terrorist acts that may be ordered by Tehran.
Describing it as a “clear and present danger to the US” and its allies, Mr Sales said that intelligence reports showed Hezbollah had weapons in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, while “significant” ammonium nitrate cashes had either been discovered or destroyed in France, Greece and Italy.
“We have reason to believe that this activity is still under way,” Mr Sales said in a recent video briefing in Washington. “Why would Hezbollah stockpile ammonium nitrate on European soil? The answer is clear. It can conduct major terror attacks whenever its masters in Tehran deem it necessary.”
The threat to European security posed by the growth of Hezbollah’s terrorist network was highlighted this week following the conviction of two suspected terrorists for the murder of five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in 2010.
Meliad Farah, a Lebanese-Australian, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Lebanese-Canadian, were found guilty of helping plan the bombing of an Israeli tourist bus in an operation prosecutors claim was carried out on the orders of Hezbollah. The organisation has denied any involvement in the attack, and the whereabouts of the two convicted men are not known. But European Union officials accepted that there was sufficient evidence to point to its involvement in the attack, and responded by placing its military wing on its terrorism blacklist.
The latest revelations come against a deepening background of tensions between the US and Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. This week, the Trump administration announced it was re-imposing sanctions against Tehran, a move that prompted fierce opposition from other members of the UN Security Council committed to maintaining the nuclear deal struck with Iran in 2015.
But while the European signatories to the deal – Britain, France and Germany – have opposed Washington’s decision, the introduction of fresh sanctions against Iran by the US could provoke Tehran to launch a fresh wave of terror attacks, including against targets in Europe.
*Con Coughlin is a defence and foreign affairs columnist for The National

Adib presents government proposal to Aoun as Hezbollah pressure grows
Najia Houssari/Arab News/September 25/2020
PM-designate continues efforts to form a new govt ‘that satisfies everybody’
Economic experts said on Friday that the continuing debates about the formation of the government are a “waste of precious time,” which is a luxury Lebanon does not have
LEBANON: As Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib continues his efforts to form a new government, on Friday he presented to President Michel Aoun a proposal for “distributing the ministries to various sects before setting a final formula on who will be nominated to these ministries,” sources said. The two men will meet again on Saturday for further discussions. Adib is facing sustained pressure from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, who have raised their demands to insist that all ministerial positions are filled by Shiites, and not only the key role of minister of finance.
This has jeopardized his efforts to form a “government that satisfies everybody,” based on a French initiative that calls for the appointment of a small team of independent specialists representing all religious sects, who are not members of the main political parties.
Government sources said: “Adib, during his meeting with representatives of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement on Thursday evening, refused to accept from them a list of names of Shiites from which to choose a minister of finance.”
During his Friday sermon the following day, the Grand Jaafari Mufti Ahmad Qabalan said: “We insist on nominating our ministers and we refuse to accept that anyone else will do that for us, no matter who he is.”
Economic experts said on Friday that the continuing debates about the formation of the government are a “waste of precious time,” which is a luxury Lebanon does not have. They criticized the continued prioritization of political interests over the best interests of the country and warned that “it is a matter of life or death for the Lebanese people.”
FASTFACT
The new prime minister is facing sustained pressure from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, who have raised their demands to insist that all ministerial positions are filled by Shiites. They pointed out “thousands have lost their businesses and tens of thousands have lost their jobs, and 55 percent of the Lebanese people are living below the poverty line. There is a shortage of essential products, and the reserves of the Banque du Liban (the Lebanese Central Bank) have withered away.” Meanwhile there has been a brain drain of professionals and businessmen leaving the country, “which threatens to deprive Lebanon of one of its strongest and most important assets.” Adib faced further obstacles from Hezbollah allies on Friday when Suleiman Frangieh, leader of the Marada Movement, announced that he does not agree that the Prime Minister-designate should choose who represents his party in the government without consulting with him. Meanwhile, Talal Arslan, leader of the Lebanese Democratic Party, called on Adib to “show respect to parliamentary blocks.”Others warned that the president cannot approve a list of ministers he does not know, and that giving a Shiite party the finance portfolio must not deny other sects the right to ministries that they claim. “The French initiative is blocked due to the conflict between particular interests and regional and international calculations,” said Lebanese MP Bilal Abdallah. “The country cannot stand this any more and it might collapse if things continue the way they are.”
He added that he hopes Adib will continue his efforts to form a government and give the French initiative a chance. Lebanese academic Dr. Hares Sleiman said: “The options of Hezbollah and Amal Movement are determined by their priorities: do they want to defend Iran’s quota … or do they want to have the livelihood of the Lebanese people as their priority, including their supporters and the Shiites of Lebanon?”He added: “(Amal Movement leader and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih) Berri wants the Ministry of Finance at a time when there is a shortage of money, and the international community is demanding the dismissal of those who are corrupt and the implementation of reforms to save the Lebanese economy. “So would Berri accept an independent government that satisfies the demands of protesters in the streets so that Lebanon would enjoy internal, Arab and international support? If he does that, he would be conspiring against Hezbollah and its allies in power. If he does not, then the caretaker government of Hassan Diab will stay, and the crisis and the sanctions will continue.”
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 25-26/2020

Text of State Department press release: Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announces fresh sanctions on Iran
Major New Human Rights-Related Listings and Accompanying Sanctions on Iran
PRESS STATEMENT
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
The Iranian regime must respect the human rights of the Iranian people. Despite its obligations and commitments, the regime continues to subvert its justice system to fuel fear and repression. The United States is committed to holding accountable those who are denying freedom and justice to the people of Iran, and today we are taking major new actions which support the Iranian people.
Today, the United States sanctioned several Iranian officials and entities for gross violations of human rights. Pursuant to Section 106 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (CAATSA), I determined that Judge Seyyed Mahmoud Sadati, Judge Mohammad Soltani, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz, and Adelabad, Orumiyeh, and Vakilabad Prisons were responsible for certain gross violations of human rights. This includes prior incidence of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detentions, and denials of the right to liberty of those seeking only to practice their faith, peacefully assemble, or to express themselves.
These listings and sanctions come as Judge Sadati and Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court were reported to be involved in the appalling case of Navid Afkari, a young athlete who was imprisoned and brutally executed on September 12, 2020, by Iranian authorities. Navid was 27-years old with a promising wrestling career ahead of him. He was arrested in 2018 after participating in protests. Accused of murder, he was later subjected to trials that were rushed and grossly unfair, one of which was reportedly overseen by Judge Sadati of Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court. Prior to his execution, which was done in secret, Navid reported being tortured by Iranian officials at Adelabad Prison. His confession, which he later stated was provided under duress, was aired on Iran’s state television.
The United States joins with nations around the world in mourning Navid’s execution and condemning the Iranian regime. His killing was an unconscionable act. The United States calls upon all nations to promote accountability for this regime by imposing sanctions like the ones announced today. Navid had previously competed in Iran’s National Wrestling Championship and he had so much more to accomplish in life. Too often, the Iranian regime targets, arrests, and kills the brightest and most promising Iranians, thereby depriving Iran of its greatest asset – the skill and talent of its own people. Navid’s death must not be in vain: peace-loving nations should condemn his execution and Iran’s egregious human rights violations, and reaffirm respect for the freedom, dignity, and equality of every person.
The United States also sanctioned Judge Mohammad Soltani of Iran’s Revolutionary Court system as well as Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, Iran and Orumiyeh Prison in Orumiyeh City, Iran. Judge Soltani is responsible for sentencing Baha’is in Iran on dubious charges related to their exercise of freedom of expression or belief. Vakilabad Prison, which is where the wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Michael White was held, has also arbitrarily detained trade union activist and teacher Mohammad Hossein Sepehri for simply exercising his human rights. Orumiyeh Prison has subjected members of ethnic and religious minority groups and political prisoners to abuse, including beatings and floggings.
The actions taken today by the United States expose Iran’s Revolutionary courts and their judges for what they really are: tools designed to enforce the Iranian regime’s brutal ideology and suppress dissent. They do not fairly administer justice, but rather seek to deprive the Iranian people of due process as well as their human rights and fundamental freedoms. This same system of injustice wrongfully detains three Americans: Baquer and Siamak Namazi, and Morad Tahbaz. We will continue to make every effort to bring them home. The United States will continue to stand with the Iranian people and demand the regime treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Two journalists stabbed near Charlie Hebdo’s old offices in Paris
The Arab Weekly/September 25/2020
Pakistani-born 18-year old suspect is arrested.
PARIS - Two journalists were stabbed in Paris on Friday near the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Pakistani-born 18-year old suspect was reported to have been arrested.
Prime Minister Jean Castex, who rushed to the scene, said the main alleged attacker had been arrested. A second person was also in custody. “I was in my office. I heard screams in the road. I looked out of the window and saw a woman who was lying on the floor and had taken a whack in the face from what was possibly a machete,” a witness told Europe 1 radio. Castex said the two wounded were attacked at random when taking a cigarette break. The life of neither was in danger, he said. “This attack happened in a symbolic place at the time when the trial of the terrible attacks on Charlie Hebdo took place,” he said. Europe 1 radio quoted police officials as saying the main suspect was 18, was known to security services and was born in Pakistan.One police source said a machete had been found at the scene. Another police sources said a meat cleaver had been found there. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said it was investigating the case. Fourteen people went on trial in Paris on September 2, accused of being accomplices in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in January 2015 that killed 12 people. The court heard that they had sought to avenge the Prophet Mohammad, nearly a decade after the weekly published cartoons mocking him. Police moved Charlie Hebdo’s head of human resources from her home this week after threats against her life. On Friday, TV footage showed ambulances, fire trucks and police cordoning off the area around Charlie Hebdo’s former offices. Images on social media showed a person being carried away on a stretcher. Paul Moreira, a journalist from Premiere Ligne media production company told BFM TV that two of his colleagues had been wounded. “It’s somebody who was in the road with a meat cleaver who attacked them in front of our offices. It was chilling,” he said. The Paris metro closed lines in the area and school children were initially kept inside in an area around the attack, a city hall official said. France has experienced a wave of attacks by Islamist extremists in recent years. Bombings and shootings in November 2015 at the Bataclan theatre and other sites around Paris killed 130 people, and in July 2016 an Islamist militant drove a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86.

Two Critically Hurt in Knife Attack near Charlie Hebdo ex-Offices
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 25/2020
A man wielding a knife seriously wounded two people in Paris on Friday in a suspected terror attack outside the former offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, three weeks into the trial of suspected accomplices in the 2015 massacre of the newspaper's staff. Charlie Hebdo had angered many Muslims around the world by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, and in a defiant gesture ahead of the trial this month, it reprinted the caricatures on its front cover.
Twelve people, including some of France's most celebrated cartoonists, were killed in the January 7, 2015, attack by Islamist gunmen. Paris police said two people were "critically wounded" in Friday's attack near the paper's former offices in the 11th district. The magazine's current address is kept secret for security reasons. The Premieres Lignes news production agency, which has its offices in the block, said the two wounded were its employees. One witness said they had been attacked with a machete. The attack is being investigated by specialist anti-terror prosecutors who have opened a probe into charges of "attempted murder related to terrorism" and "conspiracy with terrorists."Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said "the main perpetrator has been arrested" after being caught near the Place de la Bastille square, not far from the scene. A second person was also detained later in the Bastille area and held for questioning, though Heitz did not give any details on what role the individual may have played.
'Two colleagues wounded'
The founder and co-head of Premieres Lignes, Paul Moreira, told AFP that a man attacked two employees -- a man and a woman -- who were taking a cigarette break outside the building. "They were both very badly wounded," he said.
The production company specializes in investigative reports and produces the prize-winning Cash Investigation program. "Two colleagues were smoking cigarettes in the street. I heard screams. I went to the window and saw a colleague, bloodied, being chased by a man with a machete," added another employee, who asked not to be named. Five schools in the area immediately went into lockdown, and half a dozen nearby metro stations were closed. The school lockdown was lifted shortly before 3:00 pm. "Around noon we went for a lunch break at the restaurant. As we arrived, the manager started shouting 'Go, go there is an attack ...' We ran to lock ourselves and stay inside our shop with four customers," Hassani Erwan, a barber aged 23, told AFP. Prime Minister Jean Castex, visiting the scene with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said the lives of the two victims "are not in danger, thank God."He reiterated the government's "firm commitment to combat terrorism by all possible means."In a Twitter post, Charlie Hebdo expressed its "support and solidarity with its former neighbors... and the people affected by this odious attack."
Charlie threatened -
The stabbing came as the trial is underway in the capital for alleged accomplices of the perpetrators of the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo by brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi and claimed by a branch of al-Qaida.
A female police officer was killed a day later, followed the next day by the killing of four men in a hostage-taking at a Jewish supermarket by gunman Amedy Coulibaly.The 14 defendants stand accused of having aided and abetted the perpetrators of the 2015 attacks, who were themselves killed in the wake of the massacres.The trial has reopened one of the most painful chapters in France's modern history, with harrowing testimony from survivors and relatives of those who died. The magazine, defiant as ever, had marked the start of the trial by republishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that had angered Muslims around the world. Al-Qaida then threatened Charlie Hebdo with a repeat of the 2015 massacre of its staff. More than 100 French news outlets on Wednesday called on people to support Charlie Hebdo, taking aim against the "enemies of freedom."Police moved the head of human resources at Charlie Hebdo, Marika Bret, from her home following death threats received last week.
- Trial resumes -
The trial in Paris had resumed Friday following a day's pause after a suspect's coronavirus test came back negative. The hearing for the fourteen suspects, which opened on September 2, was postponed Thursday after Nezar Mickael Pastor Alwatik fell ill in the stand. He was back in the box on Friday, after the presiding judge informed defense and prosecution lawyers by SMS late Thursday that the test results allowed for the trial to go ahead. The January 2015 attacks heralded a wave of Islamist violence that has left 258 people dead and raised unsettling questions about modern France's ability to preserve security and harmony for a multicultural society.

Iran Guards open new naval base for ‘dominance’ over Hormuz
The Arab Weekly/September 25/2020
TEHRAN - Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have unveiled a new naval base aiming to project “dominance” over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state media reported, following months of tensions with the United States.
The “Martyr Seyed Majid Rahbar” base lies in the southern province of Hormozgan, near the entrance to the narrow Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of world oil output passes. The vital shipping lane and nearby Gulf waters were the scene of heightened US-Iranian tensions late last year when ships were mysteriously attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized. “This base has been built with the purpose of total dominance over the entry and exit of extraterritorial aircraft and naval vessels” at the entrance to the Gulf, Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami said on Wednesday. “This location is one of the country’s most strategic defensive points,” he added, quoted by state TV’s website. The Guards’ navy, which operates separately from the Iranian armed forces, “now has a very powerful naval base” six years in the making, Salami said. His remarks come days after a US aircraft carrier passed the waterway to enter the Gulf , amid Washington threats to enforce United Nations sanctions on Iran — a move other world powers have dismissed as legally void. The Guards on Wednesday released on their official Sepah News website drone-captured photos reportedly showing the USS Nimitz. In June last year, Iran shot down a US Global Hawk drone over the strait after it allegedly violated the Islamic Republic’s airspace, a claim the US has denied. The two countries have twice come to the brink of direct confrontation since then. Washington and international experts have blamed Tehran for last year’s suspicious attacks against oil tankers in the nearby Gulf of Oman as well as an attack on Saudi oil facilities, with Iran denying all charges.

Israeli Sources Reveal Possible Netanyahu-Burhan Meeting in Uganda
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudan's Sovereignty Council chair General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan are likely to meet in Uganda soon, political sources in Tel Aviv said Thursday although a government spokesperson refused to confirm the news. Television channel i24NEWS said the meeting would come as part of a normalization process between the two countries. It added that the Sudanese-Israeli Friendship Association will be launched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and that the event, where media will be invited for coverage, will set off a normalization process between the two states.
Khartoum is taking practical steps with Israel to establish diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv and reach a financial settlement with victims of terrorism. Those steps are essential for the US administration to remove Sudan from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudan is most likely to sign a normalization accord with Israel in the coming days, taking steps similar to that of UAE and Bahrain. Meanwhile, former British prime minister Tony Blair said at The Jerusalem Post conference Thursday that peace between Israel and the Palestinians will come through Israel establishing relations with Arab states.
“The foundation of the approach in the region, that Israelis and Palestinians negotiate peace and then the rest of the region joins, is the diametric opposite of what should happen,” Blair said. “Actually, what you need to do is create peace between Israel and the Arab nations and include the Palestinian issue in that peace.” US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft said on Wednesday that another country will recognize Israel “in the next day or two.”

Syria War Losses Exceed $442 Billion
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
By the end of the eighth year of conflict in Syria, economic losses had exceeded an estimated $442 billion, according to a report issued by the National Agenda for the Future of Syria (NAFS) program of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Center for Syrian Studies at the University of St Andrews. However huge, this number alone does not epitomize the suffering of a population among which 5.6 million people were registered as refugees and 6.4 million as internally displaced; 6.5 million were experiencing food insecurity, and 11.7 million were still in need of at least one form of humanitarian assistance. The report, entitled “Syria at War: Eight Years on”, reveals that nearly 3 million children inside the country were out of school during the 2017-2018 academic year. The conflict has torn the social fabric and caused losses in human development, downgrading Syria’s status from medium human development to low human development. In their foreword, ESWA and the University of St Andrews point out that “the consequences of the conflict for the economy and social fabric pose daunting future challenges: whether it is production, investment or human development, the conflict has cost the country its hard-won socioeconomic gains”. The report shows that 82% of conflict-induced damage was accumulated in seven of the most capital-intensive sectors, namely housing, mining, security, transport, manufacturing, electricity, and health. It estimates the value of physical capital destruction at $117.7 billion and the loss in gross domestic product (GDP) at $324.5 billion, thus placing the macroeconomic cost of conflict at about $442.2 billion. The report also cites official data according to which, by the end of 2018, real GDP had lost 54% of its 2010 level. As for trade, the report underlines that Syrian exports witnessed a collapse, from $8.7 billion in 2010 to $0.7 billion in 2018, resulting from disrupted production and trade chains. Infrastructure damage, the restrictive unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the United States of America and the European Union, and physical, financial, and human capital flight out of the country are among the contributing factors to this collapse. Imports, however, did not witness a comparable fall, which has widened the trade deficit and generated increasing pressure on the value of the Syrian pound (SYP).
The report also provides an overview of the repercussions of the conflict on governance and the rule of law, and of the different manifestations of its internationalization. It outlines some principles of peacebuilding, highlights challenges for recovery then suggests ways out of the deadlock.

Lavrov, Zarif to Enhance Measures on Implementation of Resolution 2254 on Syria
Moscow - Raed Jaber/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed Thursday with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the situation in Syria. “The interest will be focused on resolving the crisis in Syria and the initiatives taken in the framework of Astana process in line with Resolution 2254,” Lavrov said following his meeting with Zarif in Moscow. The Russian minister stressed that launching the Syrian constitutional committee does not constitute a substitute for the political process and the implementation of 2254. "We confirmed our willingness to continue close cooperation in the Russia-Iran-Turkey format, which includes support for the processes of political settlement within the framework of the meeting of the constitutional committee in Geneva," he said. Zarif said the Syrian war needs special coordination. The Syrian conflict “requires special coordination between Iran and Russia, and we also need to coordinate with Turkey in the framework of the Astana process,” he said. In 2017, Russia, Turkey and Iran initiated a process of peace talks in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), involving the government and a delegation of the Syrian opposition. Separately, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Gennadiy Gatilov, told Sputnik on Thursday that the next session of Syria's constitutional committee could be held in October, adding that the exact date will depend on the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee has recently convened for negotiations. “It was quite a success, as there were contacts, the sides discussed the agenda, and it was agreed that the next session would be held approximately in October,” he said. According to the Russian diplomat, the date will depend on many factors, including the pandemic.

Damascus Accuses Opposition of Preparing Chemical Attack
Damascus, London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
The Syrian Foreign Ministry has accused rebels in Idlib province of preparing a chemical attack and frame it on the country’s army. In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry said: "terroristsof the so-called “Tahrir al-Sham", in cooperation with the White Helmets group, supported by their operators, and in coordination with the Turkish regime, are planning to carry out a play using chemical weapons against civilians in Idlib."SANA quoted an official source at the Foreign Ministry as saying that two tons of chemical substances have been brought to a village over the past two days as part of the preparation for the attack. The Ministry urged the countries supporting the rebels to stop such “games that have only left civilian victims”. It also reiterated the government’s stance that the Syrian forces do not possess chemical weapons and have never used them. “The Syrian Arab Republic will hold the countries which support terrorism, particularly the US, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Turkey responsible for using those toxic materials and killing innocent civilians without any moral deterrent,” the statement added. The new claim comes as shelling resumed between the Syrian army and the rebels on Wednesday in the southern countryside of Idlib. Idlib has emerged as the last major rebel stronghold in Syria. In March, Turkey and Russia brokered a ceasefire between the Syrian forces and opposition groups. owever, clashes and shelling continued between the Syrian army and the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the umbrella group of the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Turkey Seeks Arrest of Kurdish Politicians Over 2014 Riots
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
Turkish prosecutors have issued warrants for the detention of 82 people, including a number pro-Kurdish former lawmakers, as part of an investigation into deadly riots six years ago by Kurds angered at what they perceived to be the government´s inaction against ISIS group militants who had besieged the Syrian border town of Kobane, state media reported Friday. The three days of clashes in early October 2014 were the worst in Turkey in recent years, resulting in 37 deaths and leaving hundreds of others - police and civilians - injured. The protests were called by leaders of Turkey´s pro-Kurdish People´s Democratic Party, or HDP, who were angered by what they considered to be Turkish support for ISIS militants. At least 18 of the suspects were detained in simultaneous police raids in seven provinces on Friday, Anadolu Agency reported. They include Ayhan Bilgen, the current mayor of the eastern city of Kars, six former HDP lawmakers, and other former party executives, the agency said. It was not immediately clear why the investigation against the 82 people was launched six years after the rioting. HDP´s jailed former leaders, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, have already been charged over the riots, which spread across the country, including Ankara and Istanbul. The government accuses the HDP of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers´ Party, or PKK, which is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the US, and the European Union. Turkish officials say the HDP leaders took instruction from the PKK for a "rebellion" against the state. The government has frequently cracked down on the political movement, stripping lawmakers of their legislative seats and arresting and removing elected mayors from office. Several HDP lawmakers have been jailed alongside Demirtas and Yuksekdag, on terror-related charges.
 

At Least 13 People Drown in Migrant Shipwreck off Libya
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
Over a dozen migrants trying to reach Europe drowned in the Mediterranean Sea when their small dinghy capsized off the coast of Libya, the United Nations reported Friday, the latest shipwreck to underscore the deadly risks facing those who flee the war-afflicted North African country.
Libyan fishermen spotted the sinking boat late Thursday, said the International Organization for Migration, and managed to pull 22 people from the water, including those from Egypt, Bangladesh, Syria, Somalia and Ghana.
But at least 13 of the other passengers were missing and presumed drowned. Three dead bodies were found floating in the water, including one Syrian man and woman. The boat had set off from the town of Zliten, east of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, late on Wednesday. The Libyan Coast Guard said that it had ordered the rescue, and that search teams were scouring the area for more victims. "So many boats are leaving these days, but autumn is a very difficult season," said Commodore Masoud Abdal Samad. "When it gets windy, it's deadly. It changes in an instant." Following the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants hoping to get to Europe from Africa and the Middle East. Smugglers often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that stall and founder along the perilous Central Mediterranean route. At least 20,000 people have died in those waters since 2014, according to the UN. Those who survived Friday´s disaster were taken to the Tripoli port, where they received medical care for their burns, a common consequence of leaked engine fuel mixing with saltwater, said Safa Msehli, an IOM spokeswoman.
The shipwreck, the second to be recorded by the UN in as many weeks, "signals the need now more than ever for state-led search and rescue capacity to be redeployed and the need to support NGO vessels operating in a vacuum," said Msehli. Since 2017, European countries, particularly Italy, have delegated most search-and-rescue responsibility to the Libyan Coast Guard, which intercepts migrant boats before they can reach European waters. Activists have lamented that European authorities are increasingly blocking the work of nongovernmental rescue organizations that patrol the Mediterranean and seek to disembark at European ports.

Iftaa Egypt Warns Against Media Weaponized by Extremist Groups
Cairo- Walid Abdulrahman/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
Egypt’s Al Azhar warned against fake social media accounts that claim they are linked to its Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb, saying they are actively engaged in misinformation. “Many fake social media accounts claiming the name of Tayeb have been spotted, and they are spreading false news and controversial information,” a source from Al-Azhar told Asharq Al-Awsat. Al Azhar Media Center, on its official Facebook page, posted a confirmation that Tayeb only ran two accounts on social media, one on Facebook and another on Twitter. It also pointed out that verified Azhar-linked accounts can be found on its official social media pages. In other news, Dar al Ifta, an Egyptian Islamic advisory, justiciary, and governmental body, issued a statement in which it said that paid propaganda is one of the most dangerous weapons used by extremist groups.
It said that extremists use propaganda to distort the truth and incite sedition. Last August, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi accused propagandist channels of seeking to damage and destroy peoples. Sisi chided the channels as “Always seeking to question what we do, and claiming that we are demolishing mosques. I tell them that you are sabotaging and destroying people, but we are building and reconstructing.” Grand Mufti Shawki Allam warned that Egypt is fighting a fierce battle against media which is funded to serve certain agendas. He said that those platforms were the most destructive weapons used by misleading groups seeking to ruin Egypt. Allam underlined the importance of having strong national media to defend national issues and state institutions, hailing the patriotic efforts exerted by national media. He added that more efforts should be exerted by audio, visual, and printed media as well as social media to ensure that people get righteous information, not fake news purported by some media.

Iraqi Army Searches for ISIS Cells Between Kirkuk, Saladin
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 25 September, 2020
The dispute over the US military presence in Iraq has raged and the attacks on the US embassy in the Green Zone in central Baghdad have not abated as the Iraqi army continues to pursue ISIS cells in western and northern provinces. The leader of the Sadrist Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, warned about what he called “losing Iraq” amid rocket attacks and assassinations carried out by some factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). “You should know that the things some armed groups affiliated with this broad force (the PMF) are doing is weakening Iraq, its people and state, which means strengthening the external forces, on top of which is the great evil America.” The Fatah Alliance led by Hadi Al-Amiri condemned attacks that targeted diplomatic missions and official institutions. In a statement released on Thursday, the Alliance said: “These actions undermine the state and its authority.”
"The PMF has always been the primary defender of Iraq, its unity and its sovereignty, alongside our brothers in the security forces." He urged its fighters to abide by the law and distance themselves from everything that harms Iraq. In turn, the spokesman for the US-led international coalition fighting ISIS, Colonel Wayne Marotto, said that the groups who launched the attacks are “outlaws”.He pointed out that their attacks do not threaten coalition forces in as much as they threaten Iraqi forces, adding that all necessary self-defense measures are being taken. In its update on counterterrorism efforts, the Security Media Cell announced a search mission for ISIS remnants in the borders between Kirkuk, Saladin and Diyala on two axes. Led by the Fifth Division of the Federal Police and its local units, “the first axis comprises searching the area between the Zghaitoun Valley and the Hemrin mountain range.”As for the second axis, it sets out to search the area between the Qori Al-Shay Bridge to the Sarh Bridge, [and is led by] the divisions of the Infantry Brigade 52, Rapid Intervention Brigrade/ Brigade 3 and Al-Hashd Brigade 52.”

Abbas Asks U.N. for International Mideast Conference Next Year
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 25/2020
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appealed Friday to the United Nations to arrange an international conference early next year on the peace process, in the wake of two Gulf Arab states' recognition of Israel."The conference should have full authority to launch a genuine peace process based on international law," Abbas told the UN General Assembly in a recorded address.

Blocking Dahlan’s rise motivates Istanbul deal between Fatah, Hamas
The Arab Weekly/September 25/2020
Palestinian movements announced Thursday that they agreed to hold legislative and presidential elections within six months.
ISTANBUL – A Palestinian leader in the Fatah movement attributed the Istanbul agreement between Fatah and Hamas to the two movements’ feeling that the next stage in the Palestinian file will belong to a new leadership able to keep pace with developments on all levels, especially with regard to the peace issue.
There is also the consideration that that the two movements are seeking to block the rise of Mohammed Dahlan, the leader of the reformist movement in Fatah, as an alternative supported at the Arab and international levels.
This latest development in Istanbul came amid tense relations between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with Egypt and Saudi Arabia due to the former’s reliance on Turkey and Qatar and alliance with Hamas. Abbas is making these connections in an attempt to circumvent his presidency’s lack of legitimacy after having extended his term in office without holding elections as required by Palestinian law.
The Fatah leader told The Arab Weekly that the Palestinian Authority’s leadership and some influential people in the central committee of the Fatah movement now consider their main enemy to be Dahlan and the United Arab Emirates, in particular, hence the Istanbul agreement with the Turkish-Qatari current in Hamas, which today is concentrated in the leadership of the West Bank and those abroad. This current is, in turn, seeking to isolate Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader who had reached understandings with Dahlan in Cairo in 2018 to allow Fatah’s reformist movement to freely organise and be active in the Gaza Strip.
He added that Hamas members abroad and in the West Bank are preparing to overthrow Sinwar in internal elections next March after he led a “cleansing” campaign inside the movement against corruption and abuse of power.
In his campaign, Sinwar did not spare Ismail Haniyeh, head of the movement’s political bureau, whom he accused of managing businesses in Turkey registered under his childrens’ names. He also accused Khaled Meshaal of refusing to hand over the movement’s budget reports since he left the movement’s political bureau. Some Palestinian Authority and Fatah leaders view Sinwar’s insistence on including the name of the captive Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti at the top of the list of prisoners to be exchanged with Israel as a form of interference in Fatah’s internal affairs, as Barghouti is far more popular than current leaders. Fatah and Hamas announced Thursday that they had agreed to hold legislative and presidential elections within six months, provided that legislative elections be held first, followed by presidential elections and then the elections of the PLO’s National Council.
“There is a preliminary agreement between the two sides to hold elections within a period of six months,” said Sami Abu Zahri, a Hamas official, from Istanbul, where officials from both sides held meetings during the past two days.
Jibril Rajoub, a Fatah official, confirmed the existence of the agreement and said Abbas would issue a decree with a date for the elections.
Analysts believe that Abbas does not only aim to neutralise Dahlan and prevent him from succeeding him at the helm of power, but also wants to shield himself with the agreement with Hamas from European pressure forcing him to hold elections, as the European Union is threatening to cut off its aid to the Palestinian Authority if legislative and presidential elections are not held.
Upcoming elections are expected to be held on the basis of proportional representation and not the mixed system that allowed Hamas to win in 2006. The Palestinians have not held general elections since 2006, and the internal division began a year later after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force.
Earlier this month, Abbas chaired a meeting, the first in years, of secretaries-general of Palestinian factions following the announcement of the UAE’s and Bahrain’s normalisation agreements with Israel.
However, many observers believe that reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is still blocked, as leaders are making calculations only about governance and have not yet addressed the risks to the Palestinian cause because of regional transformations.
Palestinian writer Mohamed Masharqa, director of the London-based Centre for Arab Progress, said: “The two sides of the rift are experiencing a crisis of confidence with the Palestinian street due to the difficult living conditions of the vast majority of citizens and the reductions in salaries, as wages have gone down by 50% for the sixth consecutive month.”In a statement to The Arab Weekly, Masharqa did not rule out that Fatah and Hamas would return to the formula that was proposed in the 2015 dialogues, namely entering elections with a unified list aimed at preserving their positions in power. He also did not give much merit to the idea that the Istanbul understandings could pave the way for an end to the division.
Masharqa said the rift could not end between the two Palestinian rival organisations becuase of “the existence of two different programs, one of which is ideologically linked to the Islamic caliphate project and its centre is in Turkey, which means turning their backs to Egypt and the rest of the Arab countries, and the second is the program of the Fatah movement which leads the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and is traditionally allied with what is known as the Arab moderate countries.”
He added that the Fatah movement, and mainly Abbas, by choosing Turkey as a mediator, is reversing its alliances and giving wrong signals to Cairo and Riyadh, a position that constitutes a departure from the political principles that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) has always adopted, which are moving away from Arab axes and polarisations and that Palestine is above all Arab differences. Palestinian writer Adly Sadiq said that Palestinians view both sides’ intentions with suspicion due to their long experience with them, and that social elites have grown convinced that Fatah and Hamas make a distinction between reconciling and ending the divisions between each other, and that they do not share the same understandings of these two concepts.
Sadiq, who is a former Palestinian diplomat, added, “The two parties are already reconciled, and are in the habit of exchanging niceties on joyous and less joyous occasions, but they have remained keen to maintain the division and do not want to end it, because neither of them wants to give up in its region any of its power in favour of a national strong level-headed system, capable of facing the existing challenges.”He considered that what emerged from the visions of the two parties about implementing the Palestinian reconciliation is not encouraging, especially when it has been rumoured that Fatah and Hamas will be running in the elections with one list. If that is true, it would be equivalent to committing a sin, except for those who intend to weasel on the issue, according to Sadiq. “What is required from a Palestinian perspective in these days is some humility and some realism, and not a sudden transition from betrayal, demonisation and nasty fatwas, to unbridled mutual love,” Sadiq added. “It did not take long for the Fatahists in Gaza to be accused of deviance and treason, just because they came to terms with Hamas on a reconciliation for the sake of the community. Those who had made these accusations are the ones who now make up the Fatah delegation to the Turkish talks, and those who had vehemently objected are their buddies who make up the delegation of the other side, who are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood abroad.”“When both movements run in the elections on one list, it means that one side’s methodology and approach match the methodology and approach of the other side, and this is not and could not be true. So claiming it in this manner simply and objectively eliminates the concept of democratic competition,” Sadiq stressed.

Mahmoud Abbas calls for 2021 Israeli-Palestinian peace conference

The International/September 25/2020
World leaders address UN's 75th General Assembly with online speeches
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas used his speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday to call for a conference on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to be held early next year. Mr Abbas asked: "How long do we have to wait until there is a solution to the Palestinian question?"He said the Palestinian aim at the conference would be to see Palestinian independence established along the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as the capital, and to settle the refugee issue. Pope Francis and Tunisia are also due to speak on the fourth day of the UN General Debate, with the UAE to address the assembly on Tuesday.
The event this week has seen impassioned moments from several world leaders. US President Donald Trump blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman used his first UNGA address to call for a comprehensive international solution to Iran's nuclear arsenal.
The 75th General Debate is scheduled for September 22 to 26, and the Assembly concludes on September 29.
 

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 25-26/2020

The ‘Nevertheless’ Club and the World
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 25/2020
For the past few years hosting the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, has developed into an annual ritual of the New York based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). This year, however, CFR’s invitation to Zarif raised a storm of protest beyond the bubble in which American foreign policy junkies play games, indulge in fantasies, and address their principal task which is fund-raising.
What triggered the storm was the alleged murder in a Tehran prison of Navid Afkari, a popular wrestling champion and a pro-democracy protester. The killing sent shock waves throughout Iran, including even among some elements of the Khomeinist establishment.
The CFR received many emails and telephone calls demanding that, as a show of sympathy with Iranians, Zarif be disinvited.
The CFR, however, refused to do so. Its director Richard Haas, a former State Department official, published this tweet: “Like many others I condemn the execution of Navid Afkari. I also hold the view that human rights constitute an important dimension of US foreign policy. Nevertheless, I believe that CFR is correct to meet with Iran’s foreign minister.”
The tweet contains interesting indicators to how Haas tries to dodge the issue. He presents Afkari’s killing as a judicial “execution”, enabling Zarif to say “well, you have executions in some states of the US as well.” Yet, Tehran authorities themselves speak of “qissas” (retribution) while Afkari’s lawyers insist that neither he nor they were informed that there would be an execution. Next, Haas tries to soften Zarif’s image by presenting him as Foreign Minister of “Iran” rather than of the Islamic Republic.
But the most interesting part of Haas’s tweet is “nevertheless” because it puts Afkari’s tragic end and CFR’s supposed regard for human rights on the same level as the importance of offering a platform to a Khomeinist propagandist. The excuse is “nevertheless, we have to hear the other side”.
To be sure, the CFR didn’t invent the “nevertheless” club whose members are morally incapable, in Aristotle’s term “akates”, of understanding that it is wrong to assume equivalence between an ethically sound position and its sophistic negation.
Haas’s “nevertheless” reminds one of other “nevrethelesses” in literature and history. There is Achilles saying to Priam at the end of the Trojan War: “Nevertheless, old man! You, too, were once happy.”
In November 1938, a few days after Kristallnacht, the French ambassador to Berlin Robert Coulondre reported the event to Paris, describing the savagery in the heart of Europe, concluding that “nevertheless (neanmoins in French) one should understand German grievances against the Jews.”
Western intellectuals who visited the Soviet Union under Stalin tacitly admitted that thousands were killed by the regime and millions starved to death but, using the “nevertheless” talisman, they also concluded that all was for the best in that best of all worlds. British parliamentarian Konni Zilliacus used “nevertheless” first to justify his adulation for Stalin and then, after Nikita Khrushchev denounced the tyrant’s cult of personality, against him. Edgar Snow was not myopic enough not to notice the savagery of the gangs unleashed by his idol Mao Zedong. But, again using “nevertheless”, he justified playing the role of propagandist for Chinese Communism in the United States.
French journalist Jean Lacouture used “nevertheless” to justify his support of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Yes, the Khmer were killing millions. Nevertheless, we could not condemn them because they were fighting American imperialism, always a noble cause.
Years ago, we asked the then German Foreign Minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, why he pretended that the Islamic Republic in Tehran was just like any other regime, albeit a bit more naughty. He claimed that, although there was a mountain of evidence there was, nevertheless, not enough information to make a judgement. Some members of the “nevertheless” club use the quest for “more information” as an excuse for a “critical dialogue” with the Khomeinist regime and other weird actors on the international scene. They remind one of Jacob Bernhardt’s mocking of those seeking “unwanted facts and useless information” (Quisquilienforschung in German).
Haas, too, talks of how listening to Zarif would help us better understand the power structure in the Khomeinist regime. And that reminds one of Montaigne’s quip: “They are wonderfully acquainted with Galen but know nothing of the disease of the sick man.”
Members of the “nevertheless “club also talk of the need for nuances to lubricate diplomacy, always a rough machinery. But, nuances may make sense only if a melody has been established. In this case one needs an overarching view of the Khomeinist regime to guide a long-term policy. Since the “nevertheless “club cannot develop such a policy its talk of nuances is an excuse for serving as an echo chamber for the Tehran mullahs.
Anyway, in his expose at the CFR meeting, Zarif repeated the same claims, not to say lies, that he has been dishing out to the illustrious audience for years. And it seems that they gobbled it up with the same appetite as before. To hoodwink his audience, Zarif never used the term “Islamic Republic” and pretended that “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei doesn’t exist. Nor did he talk of Islam and Tehran’s strategy to “export the Islamic Revolution” to the whole world, including New York where the CFR is located.
Portrayed by Zarif, the Khomeinist regime is a peace-and-love enterprise where the judiciary is independent, all freedoms are respected, and the strategic aim is to establish peace and harmony across the globe. There are no political prisoners in Iran. Tehran’s support for Hezbollah and Hamas is cultural and Iranian presence in Syria is only advisory at the invitation of the Syrian government. There are, of course, no American and other foreign hostages in Iran. If there is trouble in the Middle East it is the fault of the United States, OK, not of good Americans like John Kerry and Barack Obama but of people like Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo. In the CFR echo chamber the airing of opinions without an ethical barometer is, at best, a trivial pursuit, and, at worst, a betrayal of scholarship.
(Full disclosure: I have been invited to address the CFR twice, both times on Iraq, never on Iran!)

Power, not principle, at stake in US Supreme Court fight
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Arab News/September 25/2020
As the great American essayist, cynic and newspaperman H.L. Mencken put it: “When somebody says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.” There is also a modern Washington version of this sage piece of advice: “When someone tells you it’s not about power, it’s about power.”
With the startling death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, long the liberal bulwark of the US Supreme Court, both the Democrats and Republicans have gone into full self-serving, hypocritical mode, concealing from absolutely no one that, rather than being about high constitutional principle, the raging battle to fill her seat is instead about low political cunning.
One need only go back to February 2016 to make this entirely clear. Then, President Barack Obama, in the waning days of his eight years in power, put forward the eminently qualified jurist Merrick Garland to fill the late right-wing giant Antonin Scalia’s seat on the court. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the ranking Republican in Washington at the time, refused to even schedule hearings to debate Garland’s fitness for the post.
Piously, McConnell “discovered” the new precedent — written nowhere in the constitution — that, with only eight months remaining in the Democrat Obama’s term, and with the Republican Senate fearful Garland’s pro-Obama leanings would decisively shift the court to the left as a whole, it was better to await the outcome of the November 2016 election to clarify this political logjam. Only after the people had their say, McConnell gravely intoned, could the court nomination move forward. Republicans were then for slowing down and awaiting the verdict of the people, while the Democrats were for moving ahead with Garland’s nomination, and quickly. Now, hilariously, the two parties, just four years later, find themselves in diametrically opposed positions, with the Republicans racing to fill Ginsburg’s left-wing seat with a young right-wing jurist and the Democrats hewing to the go-slow McConnell line they so hated just four years ago. It is, indeed, about the power. If anything, the Ginsburg replacement is even more important for the court’s general direction over the next generation. If President Donald Trump and McConnell succeed in filling the seat with a convinced conservative, the court will swing to a decisive 6-3 right-wing majority, potentially shaping much of American life for the coming generation.
Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, so this in-built conservative majority would have a massive say over workers’ rights, civil and women’s rights, the constitutionality of Obama’s health care law, abortion rights, environmental regulations, immigration issues, and tax regimes. Obviously, given this comprehensive list, it is easy to see why this unexpected court battle is being played for the highest stakes.
At present, it looks as though Trump and McConnell have the votes in the Senate to quickly push their nomination through. Republicans enjoy a 53-47 seat advantage, meaning they can lose three of their senators and still prevail, as Vice President Mike Pence, serving in his usually titular constitutional role as president of the Senate, can be counted on to vote with the majority party. Only two Republican senators, moderates Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have publicly announced their intention to defect. Most of the other usual suspects known for defecting from the Trump fold, such as Mitt Romney of Utah, have stayed within McConnell’s ranks. So this momentous sea change seems likely to happen.
As for the presidential election, the dramatic infusion of the nomination fight into the contest seems a wash to me. Trump and his supporters are happy to change the general conversation away from his publicly panned handling of the coronavirus pandemic, even as support for a third conservative court nominee in Trump’s four years will excite his evangelical, conservative base. Likewise, the Biden camp has used the super-charged atmosphere to raise yet more campaign money.
But, frankly, the electoral impact of the nomination seems overblown. According to detailed polling by the Pew Research Center, Supreme Court nominations were already “very important” to 70 percent of Republicans in 2016, and a still impressive 61 percent now. Likewise, 62 percent of Democrats felt them a vital voting issue in 2016, with a hefty 66 percent believing so in 2020. The issue was already crucial to both sides, so its new-found media prominence is unlikely to change much of anything. For example, Pew went on to record in a July survey that fully eight in 10 white, evangelical Protestants who are registered voters are already planning to vote for Trump in any case. The Supreme Court narrative merely heightens the political trends on both sides that were already strongly established — Trump must be re-elected to safeguard the court’s rightward trajectory or he must be defeated to stop the court’s conservative drift in its tracks — it does not change the story. So we come back to Mencken. The court nomination is not about the constitutional rights and wrongs of the question, nor is it about any immediate political advantage to be gained through the fight; in the end, it is about the awesome power the Supreme Court wields and the chance Republicans have to harness this power for the next generation.
*Dr. John C. Hulsman is the president and managing partner of John C. Hulsman Enterprises, a prominent global political risk consulting firm. He is also senior columnist for City AM, the newspaper of the City of London. He can be contacted via www.chartwellspeakers.com.

Peace may remain elusive despite Afghanistan talks
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/September 25/2020
Abdul Ghani Baradar, leader of the Taliban delegation, and Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 29, 2020. (Reuters)
As Afghan leaders this month descended on the plush confines of one of Doha’s leading hotels, many were surprised as long-term foes embraced one another. The Taliban and the Afghan government are engaged in talks to decide no less daunting a prospect than the future of Afghanistan.
How a country that has been ravaged by war for more than four decades will be able to chart a course toward peace and prosperity is the central issue for the conference. With the Taliban’s deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar claiming that he wants “a free, independent, united and developed country,” many have been left wondering what sort of future the Taliban will agree to — if indeed it does at all.
Since 1979, Afghanistan has been host to almost perpetual conflict. The displacement of many millions and the deaths of some 2 million have been the human cost of the country’s turbulence. In more recent times, the American engagement in Afghanistan has cost it just short of $1 trillion, as US forces struggled to grapple with the infamously turbulent central Asian state.
Having struck an agreement with the Taliban in February, the US has followed the lead of its president and chosen to turn its back on one of the “forever wars” in which the US was engaged. However, the “peace” that has followed has been tenuous at best. As Afghan leaders gather to negotiate in Qatar, the country essentially remains in a state of civil war.
As bloodshed continues without any sort of peace deal on the horizon, many are concerned as to whether this round of negotiations will be different from any of the countless others that preceded it. American diplomats have been hesitant to give the talks their full backing. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was keen to link future US aid to peaceful negotiations, saying: “Your choices and conduct will affect the size and scope of future US assistance.” This may be the encouragement that either side needs, though the Taliban is incredibly more long-term in its approach and has long awaited a US withdrawal, knowing full well that it can rule Afghanistan with few challenges and much like it did in the 1990s.
After two decades of the most advanced military equipment and billions of dollars of aid being ploughed into Afghanistan to try and change the country’s political dynamics, the Taliban is now, in fact, larger than it was in 2001. With a monopoly over violence, it has been able to belittle the efforts of the government while simultaneously making itself a potential partner for negotiation and a central pillar to peace. The very fact that the US sat down with the Taliban to negotiate is testament to the group’s strength and influence on the ground.
Where the internationally supported Afghan government has shown itself to be victim to the venal and corrupt practices of its unlikely leadership, the Taliban has shown itself to be resolute in its almost sacred defense of Afghanistan in the eyes of many Afghan people. However, despite the conflict with which Afghanistan is synonymous, fatigue has set in, encouraging both sides to look toward taking a real step to the future.
Both sides came to the negotiations with a great amount of skepticism; not knowing what the other side’s agenda was in calling for the talks. The government side was skeptical that the Taliban was pursuing the negotiations to distract American interests, while the Taliban was concerned that the government would deliberately delay while waiting for a change in US administration and thereby a change in attitudes.
Come November, the deal that the Americans reached with the Taliban will very much come into effect, as troop numbers are expected to be down to 4,500. The strategic reality of this has been that the Taliban thought to take part in these negotiations only to play for time ahead of the American withdrawal. The group is perhaps using this time to regroup as part of a broader attempt at taking central control and conducting an all-important march on Kabul. With American forces reduced to a token number, the country’s capital and delicate democracy will be open to manipulation. Given the billions that have been spent by the international community on aid and reconstruction, the idea that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan could come back into existence is incredibly concerning.
Synonymous with public executions, acts of terror and indeed as a harbor for splinter terrorist organizations, ending Taliban rule in Afghanistan was the focus of international military and political efforts in the country. However, the Taliban has remained and both earlier this year and now, during negotiations in Doha, its leaders seem incredibly coy about their plans for Afghanistan.
Many are concerned about what the Taliban policy will be toward Afghan women. Having only just been given the opportunity to educate themselves and participate in Afghan society, many fear that a Taliban government would cause a return to rigid fundamentalist rules and values, akin to the former “emirate.”
With the government and its President Ashraf Ghani viewed by many as foreign puppets, there is a real possibility that the Taliban will be able to exploit this standpoint with a view to re-establishing its writ across the war-torn country. There is, however, an issue with this: The Taliban represents the views of the conservative and martial Pashtun people and their heartland in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Whether or not the views of this particular demographic will be forced upon the rest of the country remains to be seen.
Afghanistan has for decades been a source of great instability, with the long-suffering Afghan people its victims. Blessed with an important location, significant natural resources and upright and hardworking people, only through peace can the country be expected to fulfill its potential.
*Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator, and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view

European nations should do the right thing and bring home the extremists they exported
Peter Welby/Arab News/September 25/2020
The case of El-Shafee El-Sheikh was back in the news this week. He is one of the most notorious terrorists produced by the West in recent decades, although many will not be familiar with his name.
Together with Mohammed Emwazi, Alexanda Kotey and Aine Davis, he was allegedly one of four British extremists fighting for Daesh, collectively known as “The Beatles,” who were assigned to guard foreign hostages. Their notoriety comes from the fact that they are believed to have murdered, on camera, at least 29 people, including two Americans, two Britons, two Japanese and 22 Syrians.
El-Sheikh does not deny being a member of Daesh, although he denies the allegations of murder and torture. He and Kotey were captured by Kurdish forces in Syria in 2018 and handed over to the US. They remain in military custody in Iraq.
This week, El-Sheikh’s mother lost a final legal battle in her efforts to prevent British intelligence services from handing over evidence they gathered against El-Sheikh and Kotey to US authorities ahead of a trial.
In the absence of that evidence, the US was threatening to transfer the pair into Iraqi custody, where they would likely face a rapid trial and possible execution.
El-Sheikh’s mother also lost a case before the English High Court last year during which it was argued that the transfer of evidence to authorities in the US breached data protection rights. She appealed to the Supreme Court, and won on the grounds that her son might face the death penalty. Since then, however, the US government has given assurances that it will not seek the death penalty in the case, which is why the latest court ruling cleared the way for the evidence to be handed over.
There is another aspect to this case. Just as in the cases of Shamima Begum and a number of other Britons who traveled to join Daesh, El-Sheikh and Kotey were stripped of their British citizenship. “Not our problem,” was the attitude of the British government. It was, in effect, throwing its own dirty laundry into a neighbor’s garden.The UK is not alone in doing this; other European states have done the same. Flushed with relief that these men and women left their own country to wreak carnage in someone else’s, European governments acted to make sure they could not come back.
These kinds of policies are popular but that does not make them right. There are two principles at stake: Justice and fairness. Neither of these principles apply directly to the extremists themselves. Although many who have been interviewed since capture express regret and remorse for their actions, they have no grounds to complain about the consequences that they face, however hard they may be. But the principles of justice and fairness apply more widely.
Justice is the demand of civilized society as a whole that there should be clearly defined consequences for wrongdoing, applied as consistently as possible and in which there is accountability for one’s actions. It is justice that demands a fair trial during which the defendant can present their best defense, and in which their guilt must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. It is justice that reassures victims and their families that however random a crime, there is still a sovereign authority that is capable of imposing order.
The principle of fairness demands that countries should take responsibility for their own citizens. When a country grants citizenship, whether through birth or long-term residence, it is not only giving an individual a passport and a collection of rights and duties. It is also making a statement to the world: “This person is now one of ours. We are responsible for them.”
When countries do not take the process of granting citizenship seriously, they are left with obligations they regret. But it should not be possible simply to disown those obligations.
The US is not innocent of this sort of behavior, either. But it does take the principle of citizenship more seriously than most European states. In February 2019, President Donald Trump tweeted about his disappointment that European countries were refusing to take back their extremists.
In the case of El-Sheikh and Kotey, the US has an interest in prosecuting them because their alleged crimes involved US citizens. However, the Americans cannot prosecute every Daesh fighter they capture, and nor should they.
Trump’s way of making his points on Twitter, without couching them in diplomatic language, is not popular in Europe. But, as with his grumbles about contributions to NATO, his complaint that European countries are not pulling their weight in the pursuit of global security is not without merit.
It is right that criminals should face justice in the country where they commit their crimes. But the Iraqi judicial system has clearly been overwhelmed by the number of cases it is processing.
There are two alternatives to the US prosecuting European extremists in its custody: Hand them over to local law enforcement in the countries where they were captured, or release them.
If Iraqi or Syrian law enforcement had the capacity or the will to provide fair, open and thorough trials for the hundreds of European extremists in custody, this might be the most appropriate option. It is right that criminals should face justice in the country where they commit their crimes. But the Iraqi judicial system has clearly been overwhelmed by the number of cases it is processing.
Releasing the prisoners, on the other hand, would exacerbate the security situation in the region and pose threats to their countries of origin as well. There is a simple solution to this dilemma: European states should make arrangements, introducing new laws if necessary, to bring the extremists home to face their nation’s justice.
*Peter Welby is a consultant on religion and global affairs, specializing in the Arab world. Twitter: @pdcwelby

Question: "Do the ends justify the means?"
GotQuestions.org/September 25/2020
Answer: The answer to this question depends on what the ends or goals are and what means are being used to achieve them. If the goals are good and noble, and the means we use to achieve them are also good and noble, then yes, the ends do justify the means. But that’s not what most people mean when they use the expression. Most use it as an excuse to achieve their goals through any means necessary, no matter how immoral, illegal, or unpleasant the means may be. What the expression usually means is something like: “It doesn’t matter how you get what you want as long as you get it.”
The “ends justifying the means” usually involves doing something wrong to achieve a positive end and justifying the wrongdoing by pointing to a good outcome. An example would be lying on a resume to get a good job and justifying the lie by saying the larger income will enable the liar to provide more adequately for his family. Another might be justifying the abortion of a baby to save the life of the mother. Lying and taking an innocent life are both morally wrong, but providing for one’s family and saving the life of a woman are morally right. Where, then, does one draw the line?
The ends/means dilemma is a popular scenario in ethics discussions. Usually, the question goes something like this: “If you could save the world by killing someone, would you do it?” If the answer is “yes,” then a morally right outcome justifies the use of immoral means to achieve it. But there are three different things to consider in such a situation: the morality of the action, the morality of the outcome, and the morality of the person performing the action. In this situation, the action (murder) is clearly immoral and so is the murderer. But saving the world is a good and moral outcome. Or is it? What kind of world is being saved if murderers are allowed to decide when and if murder is justified and then go free? Or does the murderer face punishment for his crime in the world that he has saved? And would the world that was saved be justified in taking the life of the one who had just saved them?
From a biblical standpoint, of course, what is missing from this discussion is the character of God, God’s law, and the providence of God. Because we know that God is good, holy, just, merciful and righteous, those who bear His name are to reflect His character (1 Peter 1:15-16). Murder, lying, theft, and all manner of sinful behaviors are the expression of man’s sin nature, not the nature of God. For the Christian whose nature has been transformed by Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), there is no justifying immoral behavior, no matter the motivation for it or the outcome of it. From this holy and perfect God, we get a law that reflects His attributes (Psalm 19:7; Romans 7:12). The Ten Commandments make it clear that murder, adultery, stealing, lying and greed are unacceptable in God’s eyes and He makes no "escape clause" for motivation or rationalization. Notice that He doesn’t say, “Don’t murder unless by doing so you will save a life.” This is called "situational ethics," and there is no room for it in God’s law. So, clearly, from God’s perspective there are no ends that justify the means of breaking His law.
Also missing in the ends/means ethics discussion is an understanding of the providence of God. God did not simply create the world, populate it with people, and then leave them to muddle through on their own with no oversight from Him. Rather, God has a plan and purpose for mankind which He has been bringing to pass through the centuries. Every decision made by every person in history has been supernaturally applied to that plan. He states this truth unequivocally: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do” (Isaiah 46:10-11). God is intimately involved in and in control over His creation. Furthermore, He states that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). A Christian who lies on a resume or aborts a baby would be violating God’s law and denying His ability to provide for a family and preserve a mother’s life if He purposes to do so.
Those who do not know God may be forced to justify their means to an end, but those who claim to be children of God have no reason whatsoever to break one of God’s commandments, deny His sovereign purpose, or bring reproach to His Name.
 

Pushing Back on Iraqi Militias: Weighing U.S. Options
Michael Knights/The Washington Institute/September 25/ 2020
Although halting the escalation of militia attacks on American personnel is crucial, simply evacuating the Baghdad embassy and downscaling the bilateral relationship would allow Iran to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
On September 20, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly warned the Iraqi government that unchecked militia attacks could spur the United States to shutter its embassy and launch powerful strikes on Iran-backed militia leaders. Since then, Iraqi officials and even some militia figures have scrambled to placate Washington, with various armed groups publicly distancing themselves from attacks on diplomatic facilities. At the same time, however, the warning shocked an embattled Iraqi government that had served up some powerful blows against Iranian proxies in recent weeks, including the September 17 arrest of suspected militia financier Bahaa Abdul-Hussein, who controls a multi-billion-dollar e-payment service.
The episode underlines the corrosive effect that even nonlethal militia harassment attacks can have on the bilateral relationship, an issue that the author has previously provided analysis and updates on in July, March, and February. Prior to the most recent incidents outlined in the list below, relations had been improving markedly, with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visiting Washington in August and the Trump administration agreeing to start reducing U.S. forces from 5,200 to a sustainable level of around 3,000. To defuse any tensions that may sprout from Pompeo’s stark warning, the next step is to agree on practical measures to reassure Washington that the Iraqi government is providing as much protection as it can realistically muster at this time—keeping in mind that not even the U.S. military could completely stop such attacks when it had 165,000 troops on the ground.
TALLYING RECENT MILITIA ATTACKS
The number and scope of operations against American, coalition, and Iraqi targets has expanded recently:
Logistical convoys. The U.S. embassy and coalition military forces rely on the import of many pieces of equipment and consumables, some of which are destined for disbursement to Iraqi security forces. Attacks on the Iraqi truck convoys that transport this materiel increased from 14 in the first quarter of 2020 to 27 in Q2 and 25 in Q3. The quality of these attacks has increased as well, including the use of passive infrared triggers for more accurate targeting and, in recent days, daisy-chained explosively formed penetrators (EFPs).
Foreign security details. On August 26, a roadside bomb damaged a UN World Food Programme vehicle in the operating area of an Iran-backed militia east of Mosul, wounding one occupant. On September 15, another roadside bomb exploded alongside a British embassy armored vehicle in Baghdad, causing no injuries. These attacks came almost a year after the last such bombings: a 2019 spate of militia attacks on oil company convoys in Basra.
Rockets and drones. U.S. targets suffered 27 rocket and drone attacks in Q3, higher than Q2 (11 attacks) and Q1 (19). No U.S. casualties were caused in this quarter’s attacks; the last U.S. fatalities occurred on March 11. Yet the most recent strikes have been more accurate, aimed to land inside the U.S. embassy grounds. On September 15, the embassy’s counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) system destroyed a salvo of rockets projected to strike the complex. As for drones, one was found on a roof near the embassy on July 22, apparently readied for attack with a bomb equivalent to a medium (81-82 mm) mortar shell. On September 2, a similar combination was used to attack the G4S security company at Baghdad airport, striking very accurately but causing no casualties. Some armed groups have accused this U.S.-British company of providing intelligence that pinpointed the location of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and militia kingpin Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed by a U.S. airstrike near the airport on January 3.
U.S. RESPONSE OPTIONS
The above review paints a picture of a very active Iran-backed militia threat that is evolving in worrisome ways. The United States does not want to go through another period like that seen in December-January, when its embassy was besieged, major new deployments had to be made to the region, and the risk of broader conflict with militias and Iran was quite real. The Trump administration understandably wants to break the current momentum, since the last time such a surge of attacks occurred, the results were the death of an American in December, U.S. airstrikes, mob attacks on the embassy, the forceful but risky decision to target Soleimani and Muhandis, and an Iraqi parliamentary motion to remove U.S. forces. Pompeo’s warning might also have been spurred by classified information.
Whatever its impetus, the U.S. threat to close the embassy is a very problematic policy option, notwithstanding its immediate utility in galvanizing Iraqi attention on militia issues. Shuttering the embassy is the exact outcome that every Iran-backed militia dreams of achieving. It would be a propaganda victory of epic proportions for Tehran and its proxies, undercutting all of the progress achieved in Iraq since Soleimani and Muhandis were killed. It would also represent an even more complete withdrawal from Iraq than the one undertaken by the Obama administration in 2011, which helped pave the way for al-Qaeda’s reemergence as the Islamic State and, later, militia control over broad swaths of the Iraqi state. Not only would all U.S. diplomatic and military operations in Iraq end, but all other coalition operations would cease as well given their dependence on the U.S. presence. Many foreign powers would likely mimic Washington’s full departure—except for Iran, Russia, and China. In no scenario would this outcome serve U.S. interests.
Washington should therefore avoid invoking such an extreme measure in the future, instead working with the Kadhimi government on other kinds of intensified response options. In particular, to better protect the embassy when U.S. threat warnings indicate impending attacks, Iraqi forces could temporarily close parts of the International Zone and reinforce protection there. Similar arrangements could be made for the airport and the main airport road under certain conditions. Although completely halting rocket fire is unrealistic anytime soon, the embassy was built to withstand such attacks and is protected by the potent C-RAM system, which the Iraqi government allows to operate over the capital despite the extreme noise and occasional stray shells it generates.
Moreover, if U.S. officials have specific intelligence about a new militia threat—say, the introduction of advanced precision rocket systems—they should share this data on condition that Iraq quickly mounts an operation against it. Prime Minister Kadhimi is still the titular head of the highly capable Iraqi National Intelligence Service, and partner nations regularly trust him and his inner circle (largely INIS personnel) with sensitive information.
If the U.S. government needs to see visible signs of Iraq pushing back on militias, Baghdad’s action should be purposeful in some broader sense than just placating Washington. Rather than goading Iraqi officials into an over-ambitious “rush to failure” (e.g., attempting a military takedown of a key militia), the smartest approach is to help them take back the International Zone. Incrementally removing militias from this key piece of real estate would be deeply symbolic on a national level and, more important, protect the most sensitive Iraqi, U.S., and coalition facilities. Gradually weeding thousands of militiamen and heavy weapons out of the zone would be highly confrontational, but at least it would be worth the risk—unlike arresting a few individual militia leaders, which would have limited impact. Kadhimi is already making many positive changes to the zone’s security arrangements with U.S. assistance, so the moment is ripe for a “neighborhood by neighborhood” effort to remove fighters and weapons. Washington should rally vocal support for such a move, not only among international players with embassies in the zone, but also among moderate Shia, secular, Kurdish, and Sunni political blocs in Iraq.
While waiting for these and other measures to be implemented, the embassy is quite capable of protecting itself, as it did during last December’s showdown. Moreover, the U.S. presence has been decreased and consolidated since then—it is now concentrated at six sites rather than fourteen, each with active defenses against missiles, rockets, and drones. This multi-billion-dollar investment gives brave American personnel the resilience to weather harassment fire when unavoidable, and although the protective umbrella does not extend to supply convoys, those transport functions are fulfilled by equally brave Iraqis, not Americans. Securing the International Zone and starting the campaign to push militias out would give the embassy even firmer ground to stand on as it helps Baghdad hold fast against Iranian threats.
*Michael Knights, a senior fellow with The Washington Institute, has conducted extensive on-the-ground research in Iraq alongside security forces and ministries. He is the coauthor (with Hamdi Malik and Aymenn Al-Tamimi) of the Institute study Honored, Not Contained: The Future of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces.

Europe Out of the Loop in New Middle East
Jonathan Spyer/EURACTIV/September 25, 2020
This is an abridged version of the original article, "Europe and the New Middle East," with slight edits.
European countries have become increasingly irrelevant or invisible in Middle East diplomacy.
In the capitals of Europe, there is as yet only limited understanding of the new and emergent strategic realities of the Middle East. As a result, European countries are increasingly irrelevant or invisible in the diplomacy of the region.
The still dominant perspectives in Europe belong largely to the era now fading: the supposed centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Mideast stability, the desire to return to the Iran nuclear agreement, a more general preference for formal and multi-lateral agreements, while the region favours the tacit, the pragmatic and the bilateral.
As a result, European countries have played no part in the emergence and crystallization of the tacit alliance of pro-Western countries of which Israel and the UAE form a part. This alliance has emerged through bilateral connections, but with the quiet encouragement and tutelage of the US.
Europe played no part in the emergence of the tacit pro-Western alliance led by Israel and the UAE.
Similarly, the US policy of maximum pressure on Iran, strongly supported by pro-Western regional states, is opposed by key European countries. They favour a return to the JCPOA. In so doing, again, Europe will advance not its interests, but rather its irrelevance.
On the issue of Turkish aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean, France and Greece are playing a vital role. No united European stance has been forthcoming, however. Italy, one of the EU's other leading powers sits on the opposite side to France, remaining aligned with Turkey.
The fear of President Erdogan's use of Syrian migrants as a tool of intimidation apparently remains.
**Jonathan Spyer is director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis and a Ginsburg/Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum.