English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 07/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

Parable Of Lazarus The Poor Man, & The Rich Man Who Was dressed In Purple & Fine Linen
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 16/19-31/:”‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house for I have five brothers that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 06- 07/2021

Health Ministry: 2,496 new Corona cases, 67 deaths
Protests follow murder of Lebanese anti-Hezbollah activist Luqman Salim
Lebanon activists demand transparent investigation into Lokman Slim killing
Sit-in at Samir Kassir Square in condemnation of Luqman Slim's murder
Protesters Stage Sit-in Condemning Lokman Slim’s Murder
Beirut blast: German firm to clear port of hazardous containers
Report: Berri Says His Initiative Still Applies
FPM Says Its Agreement with Hizbullah Failed at State-Building
Army Detains Two in Arsal over IS Links
Report: French Envoy Expected in Beirut over Government
Report: French Envoy Expected in Beirut over Government
German Firm to Clear Beirut Port of Dangerous Containers
Lebanon Allows Emergency Use of Russian Vaccine
Diab, Fahmi Confirm Lockdown to be Eased on Monday
Israeli and Lebanese musicians unite in healing prayer/Atilla Somfalvi,Liron Nagler-Cohen|/Ynetnews/February 06/2021
Preventing queue jumping in Lebanon’s vaccine rollout needs government transparency/Rabih Torbay/Al Arabiya/February 06/2021
The murder of Tripoli — and attempted murder of Lebanon/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/February 07, 2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 06- 07/2021

Myanmar Anti-coup Protests Grow as Army Broadens Internet Crackdown
Israel’s PM Netanyahu vows to fight ‘anti-Semitic’ ICC ruling
U.S. Moves to End Terror Designation of Yemen Huthis
Libya Embarks on New Transition Phase
Iran to Start Covid Vaccinations Within Week, Says Rouhani
Asylum-seekers Stuck in Cyprus' Cramped Camp Want Out
The UAE sees US credibility over Gulf security at stake
UAE’s FM, US Envoy to Iran discuss ‘reducing’ regional tensions
Filling of Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam in July threatens Sudan's security: Minister
Iran and Middle East focus of high-level White House meeting: US sources
US President Biden maintains tough line on Turkey over Russia arms
Bahrain interior ministry says two attempts to bomb two bank ATMs have been foiled
US will reverse designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a terror organization: Official
 

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 06- 07/2021

Signs that Libya’s new transitional authority had Russian-Turkish stamp of approval/Mona El-Mahrouki/The Arab Weekly/February 06/2021
A glimmer of light in the darkness of Libya/Cornelia Meyer/Arab News/February 07/2021
Even ‘Super Mario’ can’t save Italy/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/February 07/2021
Making the US-UK relationship special again/Alistair Burt/Arab News/February 07/2021
Young people are Turkey’s only hope for the future/Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/February 07/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 06- 07/2021

Health Ministry: 2,496 new Corona cases, 67 deaths
NNA /Saturday 06 February 2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced on Saturday that 2,496 new Corona infections have been registered, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 317,836.
The Ministry also indicated that 67 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

Protests follow murder of Lebanese anti-Hezbollah activist Luqman Salim
Arab News/February 07/2021
BEIRUT: Activists on Saturday protested the murder of anti-Hezbollah activist Luqman Salim, who was found shot dead in his rented car earlier in the week.
They demanded a transparent investigation into his death, and chanted that the one who killed him also assassinated the writer and journalist Samir Kassir and the journalist Gebran Tueni.
A medical report, which Salim's family had requested from a private doctor who examined his body in a Beirut hospital, showed that he was killed at 2 a.m. on Thursday. There were bruises on his body, indicating that he may have been tortured. Salim, who was a leading secular voice in Lebanon’s Shiite community, was routinely threatened because of his stance against Hezbollah. The Popular Nasserist Organization, led by MP Osama Saad, condemned the murder. Saad stressed the “rejection of the methods of political assassination, terrorism, threats, accusations of betrayal, and the approach of oppression, domination and exclusion because that leads to tyranny and political desertification.”
Ali Al-Amin, a journalist and political opponent of Hezbollah, believed that Salim’s assassination had brought about “a state of restlessness” within the Shiite community because there were no articles from Hezbollah supporters gloating over the murder like there had been after other killings.
“In the downturn, the allies usually rise and reconsider their accounts,” he told Arab News. “The position of the (Hezbollah-allied) Free Patriotic Movement and Osama Saad may be in this direction. Saad, who is considered a leader in Sidon, has begun to feel that Hezbollah has erased much of this leadership. The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) believes that its ally is just watching, so the movement decided to reconsider its accounts.”
Although the loyalty of Hezbollah supporters was a “foregone conclusion,” the people inside the Shiite community that usually supported the party's positions were dissatisfied with this crime, he added.
“The most evident proof of this is that the party is defending itself and is surprised at being accused of killing an individual. This means that people are asking: ‘Why did you kill an individual who did not harm anyone?’”
A further sign of trouble in pro-Hezbollah circles came in the form of a statement from the FPM, which is headed by the president’s son-in-law MP Gebran Bassil. It said that an agreement signed with Hezbollah 15 years ago was no longer needed.
The agreement, which transformed the country’s political scene, was signed between the secretary-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and the FPM's leader at the time Michel Aoun, who is now president, in Mar Mikhael Church.
The FPM statement, issued on Saturday, came on the anniversary of the signing of the understanding.
It said: “This understanding has not succeeded in the project of building the state and the rule of law, and it is no longer needed if those committed to it do not succeed in the battle of building the state and the honorable Lebanese victory over the alliance of the corrupt, which is destructive for any resistance or struggle." The FPM has rejected the government line-up that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri handed to Aoun on Dec. 10 because the president was not a partner in choosing the ministers or determining the number of members in the government. It has also refused Hariri as prime minister-designate although its allies, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, are clinging to him as head of the next administration. MP Asaad Dergham, from the FPM, gave a statement to Al Markazia-Central News Agency. He said: “Recently, specifically since the beginning of the era of President Michel Aoun, Hezbollah did not contribute with us to the issues of building the state and fighting corruption. He was satisfied with monitoring and we, as the FPM, were not able to complete the files presented by us in parliament due to Hezbollah's standing by its ally, Speaker Nabih Berri.”

Lebanon activists demand transparent investigation into Lokman Slim killing
Reuters, Beirut/Saturday 06 February 2021
Around a hundred activists rallied in downtown Beirut on Saturday to protest the killing of prominent Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim and to demand a transparent investigation. Slim, a Shia publisher in his late fifties, ran a research center, made documentaries with his wife and led efforts to build an archive on Lebanon’s 1975-1990 sectarian civil war. He was a vocal critic of what he described as armed group Hezbollah’s intimidation tactics and attempts to monopolize Lebanese politics. He was shot dead and found in his car on Thursday in south Lebanon - the first killing of a high-profile activist in years.
Slim had gone missing the night before. He had four bullets in his head and one in his back.

On Saturday morning Slim’s wife, Monika Borgmann, tweeted for the first time since his death, sharing a two-word banner with a black background that said “zero fear” in Arabic. The same two words appeared on a banner at the protest where activists blamed the Iranian-backed Hezbollah for the killing. “If Hezbollah is really innocent of this crime or refuses it and condemns it, then they have to help the security apparatus and Lebanese judicial authorities especially that Lokman Slim was killed in their area of security influence,” said one of the protesters, Youssef Diab. “If that doesn’t happen then they are still suspects.” Hezbollah condemned the killing on Thursday, which Lebanese officials, including the president, called an assassination. “We will not kill him again with our silence,” said one demonstrator who gave her name as Nelly. “My one fear is that people will be scared and remain silent, then Lebanon will be in danger.”

Sit-in at Samir Kassir Square in condemnation of Luqman Slim's murder
NNA/February 06/2021
A number of activists staged a sit-in at "Samir Kassir Square" in downtown Beirut today, denouncing the assassination of Lebanese author and political activist, Luqman Slim.
Delivered words condemned Slim's murder crime, considering him a "free martyr of the word and opinion". Demonstrators stressed that if the countries of the world are betting on Lebanon's military institutions to be a guarantee and a pillar for the rebuilding of the Lebanese state, then they ought to support them with supplies, equipment and weapons. "The time has come for all of Lebanon's friendly countries to offer leaders of the security institutions and the army a message of truth and choice," the activists' emphasized.
They also called on the Lebanese and all opposition forces to unify ranks in the face of tyranny and bloodshed, in order to restore the kidnapped state and re-establish power to reach a civil state that respects the citizen and consecrates the principles of truth and justice. Moreover, they urged the Arab League and its member states, as well as the United Nations Organization and its Security Council to provide the necessary means to protect the Lebanese from the disastrous repercussions of the current authority's practices.

Protesters Stage Sit-in Condemning Lokman Slim’s Murder
Naharnet/February 06/2021
Groups of activists staged a sit-in on Saturday in the Samir Qassir square in downtown Beirut condemning the assassination of renowned activist and researcher Lokman Slim. The protesters urged the Lebanese and dissident forces to unify their ranks to confront “tyranny and bloodshed, in order to restore the hijacked authority of the state,” their statement said. It added that the “United Nations must secure ways to protect the Lebanese from the disastrous repercussions caused by the criminal behavior of a failed and corrupt system.” Slim, a prominent and long-time publisher and vocal critic of Hizbullah was found shot dead in his car on Thursday morning, a brazen killing that sparked fears of a return to political violence in this country gripped by social and economic upheaval. To his friends, Slim was a fearless critic of Lebanon's powerful politicians, Hizbullah and its allies Iran and Syria. Critics, however, accused Slim of sowing sedition, undermining national unity and being a “Zionist” because of his criticisms of Hizbullah.
 

Beirut blast: German firm to clear port of hazardous containers
AFP, Beirut/Saturday 06 February 2021
A German firm has treated 52 containers of hazardous material at Beirut port and will ship them out of Lebanon, the German ambassador said Saturday, months after a monster port blast. Andreas Kindl said on Twitter that the heavy lift transport company Combi Lift “has treated 52 containers of hazardous and dangerous chemical material that had been accumulated over decades and were a threat to the people in Beirut.”“They stand ready to be shipped to” Germany, he added. The August 4 explosion of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertilizer that had been left to languish haphazardly at the Beirut port for years killed more than 200 people, wounded at least 6,500 others and ravaged swaths of the capital. Lebanon’s worst peace-time disaster sparked concerns over remaining shipments of hazardous chemicals still stored at the blast site. In November, Lebanon signed a contract with Combi Lift, which was already working at the port, to clear containers carrying hazardous chemicals. The containers, which include corrosive acids, had been stored in an open-air cargo zone for over a decade under the supervision of Lebanon’s customs authority, officials said at the time. If they catch fire “Beirut will be wiped out”, interim port chief Bassem al-Kaisi said in November. Kindl on Saturday published pictures on Twitter showing fraying containers at the port and what appears to be chemicals leaking from some of them. Lebanese authorities have said Combi Lift will ship the chemicals in special containers as part of a $3.6 million deal, with the port authority reportedly to pay $2 million of that. Lebanon’s army and port authority have said they do not have the expertise to handle such a process. Lebanon has launched an investigation into the August blast amid public anger against a political class widely blamed for the tragedy.
At least 25 people have been arrested, including the port chief and the head of the customs authority, but no politician has been held to account.

Report: Berri Says His Initiative Still Applies
Naharnet/February 06/2021
Speaker Nabih Berri said he does not plan to step back from his “initiative” to ease the government deadlock, praising the American and French stances in this regard, al-Joumhouria daily reported Saturday.
Berri’s initiative “is still on the table,” and the French-Amercian position is favorable, “the American stand beside the French on this, but the ball is in our court as Lebanese, the responsibility lies on our shoulders,” Berri said in remarks to al-Joumhouria. “Our people are suffering, the economy collapsing, and the coming phase could be worse, (depleting) subsidies on basic goods can last for one more month, we therefore have to quickly form a government before it's too late,” he warned. Berri stressed that the government must be formed in agreement between the President (Michel Aoun) and PM-designate (Saad Hariri), and that consultations between the two must continue until they reach common ground. “According to the constitution, the PM stands responsible for the government before the parliament, and therefore sets the government format and submits it to the president of the republic, not vice versa,” he noted. Berri initiative reportedly called on Aoun and Hariri to agree on the ministerial candidates for three contentious portfolios: interior, justice and energy. Under the initiative, the president and the PM-designate were supposed to keep proposing names until they agree on consensual candidates in return for Aoun giving up the demand of getting the one-third veto power for his party. Media reports said Hariri accepted the initiative as Aoun and his son-in-law MP Jebran Bassil rejected it.

FPM Says Its Agreement with Hizbullah Failed at State-Building
Naharnet/February 06/2021
The Free Patriotic Movement said Saturday that an agreement it struck with Hizbullah has failed at achieving a state-building project and the rule of law. “On the anniversary of the Mikhael agreement signed between the FPM and Hizbullah, the political council of the FPM believes this understanding needs to be examined,” the FPM political council said in a statement after an online meeting led by MP Jebran Bassil. It added, the agreement “spared Lebanon the evil of strife and division, safeguarding it from foreign aggression, it deterred Israel and repelled terrorism, but it did not succeed in building the state and the rule of law. “The council considers that developing this understanding in the direction of opening new horizons and hopes for the Lebanese is a condition for its continued viability, as it is no longer needed if those committed to it do not succeed in the battle to build the state and the honorable Lebanese victory over the corrupt alliance that destroys any resistance or struggle,” it added.On 6 February 2006, the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah signed a memorandum of understanding in Mar Mikhael Church located in Beirut. It established an alliance that has been influential in the Lebanese politics since then.

Army Detains Two in Arsal over IS Links
Naharnet/February 06/2021
The Lebanese army arrested two members of the Islamic State jihadist group in the northeastern border town of Arsal, al-Jadeed TV reported Saturday. The military arrested the two Syrian militants during army raids in Arsal. It comes as part of a series of detentions conducted by the army since week, that led to the arrest of 18 members of the IS group, 13 Syrian nationals and 5 Lebanese, added al-Jadeed. The army staged several raids in the last twenty four hours and seized guns and ammunition found in the houses of suspects in Arsal.

Report: French Envoy Expected in Beirut over Government
Naharnet/February 06/2021
All the mediations, initiatives and efforts exerted by Lebanese sides to ease the government impasse have so far “failed,” al-Akhbar daily reported on Saturday. The impetus at present largely depends on foreign efforts, mainly French, to ease the conflict between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Saad Hariri on the formation, presidency sources told the daily. The latest French steps towards Lebanon involved sending "unofficial messages" to the Presidency, revealing that Macron will send a presidential envoy to Beirut "without specifying the program or timing of the visit,” according to Baabda sources.
French officials have also made contacts with Speaker Nabih Berri to learn about the latest developments, they added. France is keen on maintaining their drive to speed a government in Lebanon before Macron visits Beirut as expected.

German Firm to Clear Beirut Port of Dangerous Containers
Agence France Presse/February 06/2021
A German firm has treated 52 containers of hazardous material at Beirut port and will ship them out of Lebanon, the German ambassador said Saturday, months after a monster port blast. Andreas Kindl said on Twitter that the heavy lift transport company Combi Lift "has treated 52 containers of hazardous and dangerous chemical material that had been accumulated over decades and were a threat to the people in Beirut". "They stand ready to be shipped to" Germany, he added. The August 4 explosion of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that had been left to languish haphazardly at the Beirut port for years killed more than 200 people, wounded at least 6,500 others and ravaged swaths of the capital. Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster sparked concerns over remaining shipments of hazardous chemicals still stored at the blast site. In November, Lebanon signed a contract with Combi Lift, which was already working at the port, to clear containers carrying hazardous chemicals. The containers, which include corrosive acids, had been stored in an open-air cargo zone for over a decade under the supervision of Lebanon’s customs authority, officials said at the time. If they catch fire "Beirut will be wiped out", interim port chief Bassem al-Kaisi said in November. Kindl on Saturday published pictures on Twitter showing fraying containers at the port and what appears to be chemicals leaking from some of them. Lebanese authorities have said Combi Lift will ship the chemicals in special containers as part of a $3.6 million deal, with the port authority reportedly to pay $2 million of that. Lebanon's army and port authority have said they do not have the expertise to handle such a process. Lebanon has launched an investigation into the August blast amid public anger against a political class widely blamed for the tragedy. At least 25 people have been arrested, including the port chief and the head of the customs authority, but no politician has been held to account.

Lebanon Allows Emergency Use of Russian Vaccine
Naharnet/February 06/2021
The Lebanese health ministry on Friday issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Russian anti-Covid vaccine Sputnik V. “The scientific and technical committee formed by caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan to look into the registration of vaccines submitted by the private sector has agreed to issue an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Sputnik V vaccine,” the National News Agency said. “Its importation shall be limited to a licensed medicine warehouse,” NNA added. The move allows “the marketing of the vaccine according to applicable conditions and an agreement will be made with the importing companies to guarantee the registration of citizens who receive the vaccine,” the agency said. The committee will study other requests for the importation of additional vaccines, including China’s Sinopharm, in its coming meetings, NNA added. Lebanon will this month launch its anti-Covid vaccination campaign with the arrival of vaccines from U.S. firm Pfizer.

Diab, Fahmi Confirm Lockdown to be Eased on Monday
Naharnet/February 06/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab confirmed Friday that Lebanon will on Monday ease a strict coronavirus lockdown that has been in place since January 14. “The lockdown was aimed at preventing collapse, especially that the number of cases in intensive care units had nearly exceeded the capacity of the Lebanese health sector to deal with it and contain it,” Diab said at the beginning of a meeting for the country’s anti-Covid ministerial panel. “We shut down the country because a lot of people were not abiding by the least requirements of anti-coronavirus precautionary measures,” he added.
“The general lockdown will end on Sunday but Monday will not be an ordinary day, seeing as we will continue to implement measures that prevent a return to the pre-lockdown period,” Diab went on to say. “We will partially reopen the country and we will continue to enforce strict measures. We will continue to shut down some sectors and will allow some sectors to operate according to specific conditions,” Diab confirmed. Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi later confirmed that all sectors will be gradually allowed to operate under a four-phase reopening plan each consisting of two weeks. He however noted that "if the numbers of infections don't go down, we will not move to the second phase." A curfew in place since January 14 will meanwhile continue to be implemented and authorities will be more strict in granting exemptions to those who need to carry out urgent tasks outside their homes.
According to LBCI television, supermarkets, grocery stores in addition to the agriculture, poultry, livestock and dairy sectors will be allowed to reopen in the first stage while banks will operate at 20% capacity. The second stage involves the reopening of car rental agencies, auto repair garages, laundries, construction sites and licensed factories while taxis and buses will be allowed to operate. The third includes the commercial sector while banks and factories will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity. The fourth and last stage includes restaurants, the Casino du Liban, touristic and historical sites, internal pools, beaches, streets, gyms and gaming centers, LBCI added, noting that the education sector and nurseries will not be reopened in the first stage but rather in light of the development of the health situation in the country.
 

Israeli and Lebanese musicians unite in healing prayer
Atilla Somfalvi,Liron Nagler-Cohen|/Ynetnews/February 06/2021
Captivated by Yair Levi's musical version of a Hebrew litany for the sick, Carine Bassili tentatively reaches out, eager to translate the song into Arabic so that she could share it with her people, leading to a haunting collaboration and friendship
An unexpected and moving collaboration between Israeli and Lebanese singers has been made possible due to social media.
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Last spring, when the world was already months into the coronavirus pandemic, Israeli musician Yair Levi wrote and produced a tune to accompany a Jewish prayer for healing, motivated by his grandmother's illness and the pain of many afflicted by the virus. The song went viral overnight, earning tens of thousands of shares and multiple covers by other performers in many different languages.
At the same time Carine Bassili, a young Lebanese singer living in California to earn money to help her struggling family back home, was searching for songs based on scriptures and stumbled across an Instagram post of Yair singing "Al Na Refa La" with Tel Aviv-based musician Shai Sol.
"There was something very powerful about that song," Bassili says. "When I heard it, something happened in my heart, and I said I wished I could do this in Arabic for my people."
Bassili reached out to Levi with some trepidation, as her knowledge of Israelis came only from growing up in war-torn Lebanon. She asked him if she could translate his song into Arabic.
Levi agreed immediately. The two discussed the song and Bassili asked if he would like to sing it with her.
"It took a while to learn how the correct pronunciation of the Arabic words," Levi says. The two worked for two months via Zoom, perfecting their duet.
While Bassili received a slew of condemnation from listeners in the Arab world, not all reactions were negative.
She says she also had a lot of interest and was even approached by a Dubai television station who wanted to interview her and Levi.
"We have to do what we have to do," Bassili says.
"I was born and raised in war and all I've seen is hate. It was a choice that I had to make to be able to make a difference. I cannot just complain about what is happening. If I want to see change, I better do something about it," she says.
"If I want to see change between Israel and Lebanon, I have to do this. Thank God I have the gift of my voice."
Levi says he is thrilled by their collaboration, hoping that the song can truly offering healing and especially at this time of global crisi
https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/SyJ1P68ed

Preventing queue jumping in Lebanon’s vaccine rollout needs government transparency
Rabih Torbay/Al Arabiya/February 06/2021
As the government starts rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination program, it is imperative that vaccination is accessible to everyone in the country based on risk factors and vulnerability, and without any distinction of nationality and residency status. Government transparency will make sure no one jumps the vaccine line because of their political connections, or socio-economic status. The government should immediately appoint a COVID-19 Response Coordinator, and one selected from the medical community based on their qualifications and leadership. The Coordinator, with authority over all aspects of the response, including health, social and financial, should report to the Prime Minister or the President. Lebanon needs a unified and effective response to the pandemic. The multiple crises have taken a major toll on the country’s ability to cope with 1.7 million people now living under the poverty line, and about 22 percent of the population expected to fall into extreme poverty. No one should have to choose between their health and feeding their families. Without a social safety net to make sure people get their basic needs covered, they will have to make these outrageous choices.
Equipped hospitals can receive COVID-19 patients, but they are few. It is incomprehensible that while most COVID-19 designated hospitals are at full capacity, others don’t have any patients. At this time of great emergency, all hospitals across the country should have designated wings to receive, and treat infected patients. Treating everyone is a national priority. In fact, by neglecting its public health sector, Lebanon has failed to protect its population. The country is heavily dependent on the private healthcare sector with 80 percent of the government’s healthcare budget going to private institutions. Lebanese authorities should focus on re-building the public health sector, by investing in its infrastructure, its primary care centers, its public hospitals, and supporting its health workforce. They also need to invest in having a national strategic medical supplies stock for emergencies.
People die every day because of inadequate and insufficient care, leaving it to nurses and doctors to decide who should be put on ventilators or receive oxygen because there are in short supply. If the healthcare sector hasn’t totally collapsed yet, it is on a rapid steep, and dangerous decline. There is a shortage of medication, protective equipment, and beds in hospitals and clinics. With each passing day, the lives of healthcare workers in Lebanon are becoming more unbearable. Not only are they taking greater risks to save infected patients, but they are also witnessing death without receiving the mental, physical, and social support they need. Frontline healthcare workers in Lebanon don’t have time to grieve. Exhausted they don’t know who to turn to in a country in tatters, drained by a financial crisis, political instability, and the pandemic.
With more than 2,400 frontline healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, many still don’t have access to adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). Supplying directly, frontline healthcare workers with PPEs, and ensuring they are not overworked, is essential.
While treating patients and saving lives, healthcare professionals have also seen their income decline by 80 percent as the Lebanese pound depreciated. Like millions of Lebanese, they are struggling to make ends meet, however, paying them their full salaries on time is non-negotiable.
Many have already left the country. Lebanon can’t afford to lose its health workforce. The government should work with both public and private institutions to make sure that doctors and nurses are adequately compensated, and don’t worry about where their next meal is coming from.
Being in a state of economic ruin, the Lebanese government cannot do it by itself. Donor nations and international institutions must continue to support the country financially, and help with donations of ventilators, oxygen equipment, medicines, and medical supplies. Whenever possible, aid needs directed, directly to agencies and hospitals assisting people in need.

The murder of Tripoli — and attempted murder of Lebanon
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/February 07, 2021
Lebanese citizens no longer have jobs to go to. Instead they attend funerals — for the victims of political assassinations, COVID-19 deaths, suicides, malnourished children, victims of state negligence, and those who simply lost the will to live.
With each passing day there is an inferno of new tragedies for a nation that would be flourishing if not for the corrupt criminals who have destroyed Lebanon in pursuit of their own interests, while an uncaring world scarcely pretends to pay attention.
I was shocked to the core by media reports from my home city of Tripoli about a man who offered his three-year-old daughter to the Red Cross because he lacked the financial means to keep her alive, before local benefactors stepped in to help his family. Then there was the footage of young men in floods of tears as they explained that they had emerged to protest because of their inability to feed their children. These painful guestures of humiliated desperation from Tripoli, a city that has been systematically marginalized for too many decades, were almost too painful to watch.
People in Tripoli today are starving — and I use this word in its literal sense. Many have gone an entire year without any stable source of income. Youth unemployment is nearly universal. Education, healthcare, welfare and municipal services are on their knees. Respectable families send their children out begging and selling products on the streets. We can never condone violence, such as rioting and attacks on public and private buildings, but in Tripoli we have reached a point at which broken citizens feel they can manifest their anger only through such desperate measures. Hezbollah’s constellation of media outlets and mouthpieces exploited these acts to discredit the people of Tripoli, with disgusting accusations that protesters are associated with Daesh and other shadowy forces.
After the Beirut port explosion six months ago, Tripoli — at least temporarily — became Lebanon’s principal maritime entry point. However, as a result of endemic corruption, incompetence and inaction, there has been a failure to pump in the necessary infrastructural investment that would allow the city to properly fulfil this role.There are suspicions that certain political forces actively blocked such investments, not wanting Tripoli to escape its chronic marginalization. For decades citizens were fed empty promises that nonexistent investments in the port would fuel an economic boom, but Tripoli’s own representatives failed the city at every turn.
Meanwhile there are accumulating indicators of Turkish ambitions to wield influence in Tripoli. Although this is nothing new, the latest round of Turkish attention follows the Beirut explosion, including high-level delegations and various Turkish NGOs stepping up their welfare activities. Opinions differ between those who predict a new age of Turkish hegemony for northern Lebanon, and skeptics who doubt the competence of Turkish diplomats to turn their ambitions into reality.
With each passing day there is an inferno of new tragedies for a nation that would be flourishing if not for the corrupt criminals who have destroyed Lebanon in pursuit of their own interests, while an uncaring world scarcely pretends to pay attention.
With the Gulf states walking away from their traditional role in supporting Lebanon, other regional powerbrokers can easily exploit this absence. “Nature abhors a vacuum. We will be there to fill it,” one Turkish diplomat boasted. A foothold in northern Lebanon would consolidate Turkish influence in Idlib and northern Syria, affording access to cities such as Homs and Hama. Turkey has also become extraordinarily active in the eastern Mediterranean, challenging Greek and Israeli maritime claims, along with fierce rivalry with Egypt.
Lebanese and Israeli intelligence warnings about Turkish security encroachments include one Beirut source claiming: “The Turks are sending an incredible amount of weapons into the north.” Mossad chief Yossi Cohen warned Arab intelligence chiefs: “Iranian power is fragile ... but the real threat is from Turkey.” Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi claimed last year that $4 million smuggled into Lebanon on a flight from Turkey had been intended to foment unrest. Media outlets cite certain political figures as being in the pay of Ankara, along with alleged Turkish support for pro-Muslim Brotherhood elements.
We can indisputably say that while Lebanese and Arab institutions continue to systematically abandon and marginalize Tripoli, they have only themselves to blame when predatory powers such as Turkey, Iran, China and Russia exploit this vacuum.
Meanwhile Lebanon is in mourning and shock over the assassination of Shiite publisher, journalist and activist Loqman Salim, an outspoken critic of Hezbollah. His murder is an appalling reminder of Hezbollah’s long, bloody trail of assassinations of national figures in the past two decades. Their objective is to intimidate all those who dare to speak with their consciences about how Lebanon is being held hostage to the whims of one faction and its allies. As Loqman’s sister Rasha lamented: “His enemies have lost a noble opponent who lived among them and debated with them intelligently, logically, calmly and lovingly.”
Loqman Salim, Gebran Tueni, Mohamad Chatah, Samir Kassir and other intellectuals were murdered with impunity because they stood up for justice and truth, killed by the death cult that is dragging our joyful, beautiful country into the darkness. The God worshipped by Lebanese Christians, Muslims and Druze alike is a God of love, peace and mercy — not vengeance, anger and death. Who is their jihad against? Israel dominates Lebanon’s skies, while Iran’s proxies contaminate Lebanon’s culture, and both conspire to steal its soul. We want our country back. We will never be silenced, and when we die our children and grandchildren will fight and prevail against these evil, alien forces that desire to keep us in perpetual mourning. For citizens of Tripoli and Lebanon, today it is not a question of fearing death: It’s instead a matter of whether death comes first from COVID-19, starvation, or the assassin’s bullet. For a nation dragged to these depths of humiliation, Hezbollah will soon discover that there can be no intimidation.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 06- 07/2021

Myanmar Anti-coup Protests Grow as Army Broadens Internet Crackdown
Agence France Presse/February 06/2021
Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Saturday with young demonstrators spilling on to the streets to denounce the country's new military regime, despite a nationwide internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of popular dissent. As many as 1,000 demonstrators marched on a road near Yangon University, most holding up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the army takeover. "Down with the military dictatorship!" the crowd yelled, many donning red headbands -- the colour associated with ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party. A large police contingent blocked nearby roads, with two water cannon trucks parked at the scene, according to AFP reporters at the scene. The march came as Myanmar was plunged into its second nationwide internet blackout this week, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders on Monday. Those dawn raids brought a sudden halt to Myanmar's brief 10-year experiment with democracy, and catalysed an outpouring of fury that has migrated from social media to the streets.
Online calls to protest the army takeover have prompted increasingly bold displays of defiance against the new regime, including the nightly deafening clamour of people around the country banging pots and pans -- a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil. Some have shown their opposition by gathering for group photographs with banners decrying the coup and flashing a three-finger salute earlier adopted by democracy protesters in neighbouring Thailand. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a special envoy to the country had made "first contact" with Myanmar's deputy military commander to urge the junta to relinquish power to the civilian government it toppled. "We will do everything we can to make the international community united in making sure that conditions are created for this coup to be reversed," he told reporters on Friday. State media in Myanmar reported Saturday that junta figures had spoken with diplomats the previous day to respond to an international outcry and asked them to work with the new leaders.  "The Government understand the concerns of the international community on the continuation of Myanmar's democratic transition process," International Cooperation Minister Ko Ko Hlaing said in the meeting, according to the report.
'Freedom from fear'
As protests gathered steam this week, the junta ordered telecom networks to freeze users out of access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication. The platform had hosted a rapidly growing "Civil Disobedience Movement" forum that had inspired civil servants, healthcare professionals, and teachers to show their dissent by boycotting their jobs in civil service and hospitals. The military widened its efforts to stifle dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services. Twitter, one of the targeted platforms, said the move was an attack on "the rights of people to make their voices heard." Norway-based Telenor said its local phone company had been instructed to cut access to the platform late on Friday, adding it had "challenged the necessity" of the directive. An apparent ministry document ordering the blockade -- seen by AFP but not verified -- said Twitter and Instagram were being used to "cause misunderstanding among the public". Some internet-savvy users have managed to circumvent the social media block by using VPN services. By Saturday morning, trending hashtags like #WeNeedDemocracy, #HeartheVoiceofMyanmar and "Freedom from fear" -- the latter a famed Suu Kyi quote -- had millions of mentions. An immensely popular figure despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said Friday she was under house arrest and "in good health". US President Joe Biden was among world leaders this week to demand the generals "relinquish power... release advocates and activists and officials they have detained, lift the restrictions in telecommunications, and refrain from violence".

Israel’s PM Netanyahu vows to fight ‘anti-Semitic’ ICC ruling
AFP/Saturday 06 February 2021
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday angrily rejected an International Criminal Court’s ruling that paves the way for a war crimes probe into the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, condemning it as “pure anti-Semitism.” “As prime minister of Israel, I can assure you this: we will fight this perversion of justice with all our might,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “This is pure anti-Semitism.”On Friday, the ICC ruled that it has jurisdiction over the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, paving the way for the tribunal to open a war crimes investigation.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had asked the court for its legal opinion on whether its reach extended to areas occupied by Israel, after announcing in December 2019 that she wanted to start a full probe. The ICC said its judges had “decided, by majority, that the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine... extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.” Palestine is a state party to the court, having joined in 2015, but Israel is not a member. Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War of 1967, and later annexed mostly Arab east Jerusalem. Today they are home to at least five million Palestinians defined by the United Nations as living under Israeli occupation. The Gaza Strip is blockade by Israel and ruled by the Islamist Hamas group. Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh praised the ICC ruling as “a victory for justice and humanity, for the values of truth, fairness and freedom, and for the blood of the victims and their families.”But Netanyahu cried foul against any bid by the ICC to investigate “fake war crimes.”“The court, established to prevent atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people, is now targeting the one state of the Jewish people,” he said. “First, it outrageously claims that when Jews live in our homeland, this is a war crime.”“Second, it claims that when democratic Israel defends itself against terrorists who murder our children and rocket our cities, we are committing another war crime,” he added. He said the ICC should be investigating “brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria who commit horrific atrocities almost daily.”The US State Department said it has “serious concerns” about the ICC ruling, adding that Israel should not be bound by the court as it was not a member.

U.S. Moves to End Terror Designation of Yemen Huthis
Agence France Presse/February 06/2021
The US has moved to delist Yemen's Huthi rebels as a terrorist organization, removing a block that humanitarian groups said jeopardized crucial aid as the country's warring sides cautiously welcomed a push for peace by President Joe Biden. The grinding six-year war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, triggering what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster. A State Department spokesperson said Friday they had "formally notified Congress" of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's intent to revoke the terrorist designations. The move, which will take effect shortly, comes a day after Biden announced an end to US support for the Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen. "This decision has nothing to do with our view of the Huthis and their reprehensible conduct, including attacks against civilians and the kidnapping of American citizens," the spokesperson said.
"Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration," they said, adding the US remained committed to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory against attacks by the rebels. Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo announced the designation days before leaving office last month, pointing to the Huthis' links to Iran, an arch-enemy of Trump, and a deadly attack on the airport in Yemen's second city of Aden in December. Aid groups say they have no choice but to deal with the Huthis, who are the de facto government in much of Yemen, and that the terrorist designation would put them at risk of prosecution in the United States. According to the UN, more than three million people have been displaced and close to 80 percent of Yemen's population of 29 million people need of some form of aid for survival. - Cautious optimism -Biden on Thursday announced the withdrawal of US support for the Saudi-led offensive in his first major foreign policy speech since replacing Donald Trump. Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, welcomed his remarks and stressed the "importance of supporting diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis". It hailed the appointment of Timothy Lenderking as US envoy, describing it as "another important step" taken by the US to "end the war caused by the Iran-backed Huthis". The Huthi rebels also welcomed the approach of the new US administration. "We are cautiously optimistic," Huthi official Hameed Assem told AFP on Friday. But he also warned that "our missiles will not stop until there is a ceasefire... they are the ones who started the war, and they are the ones who should end it." Saudi Arabia -- which has led a military intervention against the Huthis since 2015 -- reacted by reasserting its commitment to a political solution in Yemen. The kingdom welcomed Biden's "commitment to cooperate with the kingdom to defend its sovereignty and counter threats against it," according to the official Saudi Press Agency. But for Yemenis, talk of a solution is very far from their reality. "The war won't end; no one wants it to end. This is just propaganda," said Huda Ibrahim, a 38-year-old housewife from the port city of Hodeida said. "I'm not optimistic and I don't believe anything about ending the war. How will it end when clashes don't stop even for one night."

Libya Embarks on New Transition Phase
Agence France Presse/February 06/2021
Libya embarked Saturday on a new phase of its post-Kadhafi transition after the selection of a unity government to lead the country until December elections following a decade of chaos. In a potential turning point accord widely welcomed by the international community, four new leaders from Libya's west, east and south now face the task of unifying a nation torn apart by two rival administrations and countless militias. Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, a 61-year-old engineer, was on Friday selected as interim prime minister by a forum of 75 Libyan delegates at UN-led talks in Switzerland, the culmination of a process of dialogue launched last November in Tunis. It marked the start of a new chapter for the country after the failure of a 2015 UN-brokered deal that established a Government of National Accord headed by Fayez al-Sarraj. Libya has been mired in violent turmoil with the country riven by divisions between the GNA in Tripoli and a rival administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in the east. Acting UN envoy Stephanie Williams, who facilitated the week-long talks outside Geneva, said she was "pleased to witness this historic moment". "I do believe it is a breakthrough," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States welcomed the interim government, but cautioned it would "have to implement the ceasefire agreement" and offer essential public services to Libyans. Hailing from the city of Misrata, Dbeibah had led the Libyan Investment and Development Company under dictator Moamer Kadhafi, who was toppled and slain in a 2011 revolution. The wealthy businessman has 21 days to form a cabinet, with the period renewable for another three weeks to win a vote of confidence in parliament, by March 19 at the latest. A three-member presidency council has also been chosen to head a unity administration and steer the North African state towards the ballot box on December 24. The vote is part of a complex UN-led process aiming to build on a fragile ceasefire in force since October that has cleared the way for a resumption of oil exports on which the country is dependent.
Scepticism
Libya has been devastated by civil war since the NATO-backed uprising against Kadhafi, during which the coastal city of Misrata was a flashpoint.
Mohammad Younes Menfi from eastern Libya, a former ambassador expelled by Greece in December 2019 in protest at an agreement between Tripoli and Ankara, is to head the presidential council. His deputies are Moussa al-Koni, a member of Libya's long-marginalised Touareg minority from the south of the country, and Abdallah Hussein al-Lafi, from the western city of Zuwara. Analysts have expressed scepticism about the new accord in their initial forecasts. "This new executive authority will have very little traction on the ground," said Wolfram Lacher, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. "They will find it very difficult to exert any influence in eastern Libya and even in western Libya, they will face quite a lot of opposition. So this is not a government that can unite Libya." Dbeibah was considered an outsider in the face of the camps of influential parliament speaker Aguila Saleh and powerful interior minister Fathi Bashagha. Lacher said "the four people who were elected (Friday) don't really have a common interest... other than getting to power and maintaining themselves in power". The selection also came as a surprise to Tarek Megerisi, policy fellow with the North Africa and Middle East programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "#Libya's UN process careened over the line producing a new authority which frankly nobody would have expected," Megerisi tweeted. "This vote can be read as a vote against the favourites," with Libyans long demanding an end to political elitism, corruption, economic mismanagement and poor public services.

Iran to Start Covid Vaccinations Within Week, Says Rouhani
Agence France Presse/February 06/2021
Iran will kick off its coronavirus vaccination campaign within a week, President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday, after the country received its first batch of Russia's Sputnik V jab. The Islamic republic is fighting the Middle East's deadliest outbreak of the coronavirus, with over 58,000 lives lost out of more than 1.4 million cases of infection. Iran has bought two million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told AFP. The first batch arrived in the country on Thursday, and the country is scheduled to receive two more batches by February 28. "Vaccinations will start this very week; this is a real cause for celebration," Rouhani told a televised meeting of Iran's Covid-19 taskforce. He did not give a specific date, only saying that the programme would begin before next Wednesday, which marks the 42nd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution. Health workers would be the first to get the jabs, followed by the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions, Rouhani said. The president expressed hope that the first three categories would be inoculated before the Persian New Year on March 21. Russia registered the Sputnik V vaccine -- named after the Soviet-era satellite -- in August last year, before the start of large-scale clinical trials. In addition to the Russian jab, Iran is expecting to receive 4.2 million doses of a vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca in February. They were purchased via Covax, the mechanism for the equitable distribution of vaccines established by the UN World Health Organization. Iran started clinical trials of one of its own vaccines in late December, and according to Rouhani, they may become available by early summer.

Asylum-seekers Stuck in Cyprus' Cramped Camp Want Out
Associated Press/February 06/2021
Emmanuel Conteh negotiates the muddy, rutted pathways in shorts and torn plastic flip-flops and says he can't sleep in his heavy canvas tent at night because of the cold. He laments the "hellish" conditions in ethnically divided Cyprus' cramped Pournara migrant reception camp, where he's been living for the past two months after flying to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and then clandestinely crossing into the internationally recognized south. He says he fled his native Sierra Leone because he was persecuted for refusing to follow in his father's footsteps and practice a kind of witchcraft.
"The head of this society, they want to train me, but I refused," said Conteh. He wants Cypriot authorities to swiftly process his asylum application and let him and others out of the razor-wire-encircled former military camp near the industrial western fringes of the capital Nicosia that he says feels like prison.
"We're not prisoners. We're asylum-seekers. Let them finish our process and then (free) us," Conteh said. "That's all we're asking." The small eastern Mediterranean island republic is trying to cope with a huge backlog of asylum applications and despite government efforts to expedite the process, migrants say they feel literally left out in the cold. Designed to accommodate 1,000 people at the most, Pournara is a "first instance" camp where in theory asylum-seekers are initially processed and released after three days. But it now houses 1,500 people, some of whom have been there for months. Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said this week that Cyprus remains first among all other European Union member states in asylum applications relative to its population. Last year, the country of around 1.1 million racked up 7,000 asylum applications — most of them from Syrians. Nouris said the government is doing its best to speed up the application process to let in those who qualify and to send back migrants whose application is turned down. Like Conteh, most asylum-seekers enter the island from the Turkish Cypriot north and cross a porous, United Nations-controlled buffer zone into the south. Many hope to transfer to another EU country on the continent. But asylum-seekers say the process is just taking too long amid a slow-down in application processing brought on by COVID-19 restrictions. They insist that they've tested negative numerous times for the coronavirus and want authorities to open the camp's gates so they can seek better accommodation. Hansoa Anyan from Cameroon says the camp's overcrowded conditions, compounded by asylum processing delays, have caused friction between African and Syrian migrants. He claimed that authorities are favoring Syrians, letting them out of the camp sooner and more frequently than Africans.
That frustration boiled over earlier this week when African migrants tried in protest to block Syrians from exiting. Cypriot government officials deny there's any discrimination regarding the timing of migrants' release. Interior Ministry spokesman Loizos Michael said releases must be done gradually and in order of priority, starting with women, children and minors. He said a daily stream of arrivals to the camp is making conditions tougher on those living there, but camp authorities are making "herculean efforts" to improve the situation. But Corina Droushiotou who heads the Cyprus Refugee Council — a group that offers legal help to migrants with their asylum applications — said the migrants' "de facto detention" at Pournara is "completely unnecessary" and is fanning anger among the migrants, some of whom have been living there for as many as five months. Droushiotou said despite continued, island-wide COVID-19 restrictions including a night-time curfew, authorities could have eased tensions by allowing people who found a place to stay outside the camp to leave. Others could have been permitted to leave for short periods on condition they return before the start of curfew. "The situation in Pournara signals a failure by the authorities to effectively address ongoing issues related to migrants and refugees," said Droushiotou, adding that the government lacks a comprehensive migration and integration strategy.

The UAE sees US credibility over Gulf security at stake
The Arab Weekly/February 06/2021
ABU DHABI--On the eve of US President Joe Biden’s State Depatment speech outlining his future policies in the Middle Est and Gulf region, the United Arab Emirates’ chief diplomat reviewed on Thursday issues of common interest between Abu Dhabi and Washington in a telephone conversation with his US counterpart. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan discussed on the phone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “strategic relations and Middle East regional issues,” according to a statement published on Thursday on the UAE foreign ministry website.
They “discussed joint cooperation to confront regional threats, and work to further maintain security and stability in the region,” the statement said.Biden said Thursday that he would stop arms sales related to the Yemen offensive, but gave no immediate details of what that might mean. At the same time, he  reaffirmed that the United States was committed to ensuring the kingdom’s defence. The US president’s decisions reflected his awareness about the threat Iran poses to Gulf and Saudi security, although regional analysts said the new US moves would have been more beneficial had the new administration had enough time to develop a clearer notion of the challenges at hand and held direct talks with the concerned parties starting with Saudi Arabia.
The UAE believes that US credibility in the region is at stake, and that withholding US support from offensive operations in Yemen will only increase wariness that Washington’s policy reviews could go further than regional security requirements would warrant.
The Emirati foreign ministry’s mention of “strategic relations” between Washington and Abu Dhabi is seen as a hint from Abu Dhabi at the type of threats Iran constitutes for countries of the region. This threat is illustrated by Iran’s continuous breaches of the 2015 nuclear deal, its race to arms and the development of ballistic missiles and drones, which often end up in the hands of proxy militias in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. These weapons have been used by the militias to serve Iranian interests and strike at various targets, including Saudi oil installations.
It has become clear that the new US administration will reshape its security arrangements in the Middle East, and make broad changes to its diplomatic organsiation. It is also expected to review the list of the advisory staff in the Defence Department. National Security Council and Foggy Bottom advisers are, on the other hand, mostly constituted by staff from former US President Barack Obama’s administration, which accommodated Iran to the extent of encouraging it to engage in subversive activities. Experts fear that this scenario could unfold again in a manner that threatens Gulf security.
Sources said that the UAE has enough political and diplomatic weight to be able to talk with the new administration without the inhibitions of diplomatic and media-related sensitivities that could stem from dialogue between the Biden administration and its Saudi allies. Even before Biden’s innaguration, the US-Saudi relationship was the target of pressures related to the Jamal Khashoggi case and other cases linked to human rights in the kingdom.
The UAE is seriously looking at the changes that could be introduced by the new US administration. These are likely to include leaving foreign policy issues to the secretary of state and national security advisors, with Biden focusing on restoring political cohesion in the country and confronting the coronavirus pandemic. This is also likely to open the way for attempts to influence US policy positions from traditional allies or countries such as Iran, Turkey and Qatar, or even from Islamist organisations that want to gear new US policies towards reviving their hopes for a new “Arab spring.”
Observers believe that, just as Washington thinks about protecting its interests by adjusting its relationship with Iran, Gulf states are likely to seek to safeguard their security interests, mainly through greater self-reliance. This explains the Emiratis’ desire to acquire F-35 fighter jets and Saudi Arabia’s endeavours to diversify its weapons purchases from more than one country.
Gulf states want to participate themselves within an international umbrella in defending regional security, especially against Iranian threats, not only rely on the United States. The Emiratis believe that their access to advanced aircraft will help them achieve a regional balance that helps establish a lasting relationship with Iran based on peace and stability. UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba expressed his country’s confidence in the expected completion of the sale of F-35 aircraft after the Biden administration reviews some pending arms sales to US allies. “We did everything by the book and they will discover that once the review is complete and it will proceed,” Otaiba told a virtual Washington Institute forum earlier this week, describing the review as “pro forma.”Last month, a US State Department official said Biden’s administration was temporarily pausing the implementation of some pending arms sales to US allies to review them. “Everything is still proceeding while undergoing a review at the same time. I am confident it will end up in the right place,” Otaiba said.“If you are going to have less of a presence and less involvement in the Middle East you can’t at the same time take tools away from your partners who are  expected to do more,” he said. The UAE has inked deals to buy up to 50 F-35 fighters and 18 armed drones and other defence equipment in contracts worth $23 billion.

UAE’s FM, US Envoy to Iran discuss ‘reducing’ regional tensions
Rawad Taha, Al Arabiya English/Saturday 06 February 2021
UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and the US special envoy to Iran Robert Malley discussed the strategic relations between the United Arab Emirates and the US during a phone call, reported UAE’s news agency WAM. WAM reported that Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan affirmed the UAE’s commitment to strengthening relations and working closely with the administration of US President Joe Biden to reduce regional tensions, starting a new dialogue and consolidate cooperation frameworks under the umbrella of the Abraham Accords. Robert Malley, the US special envoy to Iran, discussed the strategic relations between the UAE and the US of America, in addition to developments in the region and several regional and international issues of common interest.

Filling of Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam in July threatens Sudan's security: Minister
Reuters/Saturday 06 February 2021
Sudan is of the view that any unilateral step to fill Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam in July would pose a direct threat to its national security, Sudanese Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Yasser Abbas said on Saturday. Sudan also proposes a mediation role for the United States, European Union, United Nations and African Union in talks about the dam between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, Abbas told Reuters in an interview.

Iran and Middle East focus of high-level White House meeting: US sources
Joseph Haboush & Nadia Bilbassy, Al Arabiya English/06 February 2021
A high-level meeting between senior US officials was held Friday to discuss the Iran nuclear deal as well as the overall situation in the Middle East and Washington’s priorities going forward, according to senior administration officials. Although US President Joe Biden did not attend, secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury were expected to be present. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other top officials also would join, senior US official sources told Al Arabiya. But the Iran deal was not the only topic to be discussed. The ongoing war in Yemen and the need for an immediate end to it was expected to be addressed, as well as the continuous rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia by Iran’s proxies in Yemen. Officials also looked at new ways to approach solutions to the conflict. Biden’s special envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, Iran envoy Robert Malley and White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, were supposed to be at the White House for the meeting. The White House believes that all these issues are related to one another. One US official told Al Arabiya that Washington was in constant contact with Saudi Arabia over the regional matters. Nevertheless, no final decisions were made or announced during Friday’s meeting over how to deal with Tehran going forward, officials said. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters earlier that “it’s not a decisional meeting.” The Biden administration considers it too early to put forth a proposal on negotiations for several reasons, according to officials. Malley has been on the job for less than a week, and although the Iran nuclear deal is a priority for Biden and his team, the president prefers to draw up a complete roadmap that includes Iran’s interference in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. This includes Iran’s ballistic missile programs, officials told Al Arabiya Friday. Following Friday’s meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken virtually met with his counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany to discuss common threats to Europe and the US.

US President Biden maintains tough line on Turkey over Russia arms
AFP/Saturday 06 February 2021
US President Joe Biden’s administration said it wants Turkey to renounce a major Russian missile defense system it controversially bought in 2019, holding the line set by Donald Trump’s government, which imposed rare sanctions on the NATO ally. “Our position has not changed,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We urge Turkey not to retain the S-400 system.” Turkey turned to Russia after failing to agree terms with Barack Obama’s administration about the purchase of US Patriots – the air defense system of choice for most NATO member states. It took delivery of the $2.5 billion S-400 system in defiance of warnings that such military cooperation was incompatible with NATO and would let Russia improve its targeting of Western planes. In retaliation, Washington banned all US export licenses and loan credits for Turkey’s military procurement agency, the Presidency of Defense Industries.
Earlier it had also evicted Turkey from joint efforts in developing the F-35 fighter-jet. “Turkey is a longstanding and valued NATO ally, but their decision to purchase the S-400 is inconsistent with Turkey’s commitments as a US and NATO ally,” Kirby continued during a press briefing. “Turkey had multiple opportunities over the last decade to purchase the Patriot defense system from the United States and instead chose to purchase the S-400, which provides Russia revenue, access and influence,” he noted. Turkey reaches out to US for first time since Biden entered White House. Turkey’s Erdogan hopes for positive steps on F-35 jet program during Biden’s term. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had expressed the hope in January of reaching a compromise with Biden that would allow Ankara to be reintegrated into the F-35 fighter aircraft program, but contacts between the new American administration and Turkey have been limited. While Ankara said on Tuesday that Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and US national security advisor Jake Sullivan had expressed wishes for greater cooperation, on Friday Biden still had not yet spoken with Erdogan since becoming president.

Bahrain interior ministry says two attempts to bomb two bank ATMs have been foiled
Arab News/February 07/2021
LONDON: Two attempts to blow up two ATMs belonging to a national bank have been foiled, Bahrain’s interior ministry said on Saturday. Terrorists tried to blow up two bank ATMs located in Jidhafs and Al-Naim, areas in the Capital governorate, on Wednesday but the attacks were thwarted, the interior ministry said. After securing and examining the two sites and collecting evidence, an investigation has led to the arrest of a number of suspects. The probe continues.

US will reverse designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a terror organization: Official
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Friday 05 February 2021
Washington will reverse a last-minute decision by the Trump administration to designate Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist organization, US officials said Friday. The designation was first made by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shortly before he left office, despite his efforts to push through the designation months before. On Friday, a State Department official told Reuters that Pompeo’s successor, Antony Blinken, would inform Congress of his intention to reverse the move. “Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” the official was quoted as telling Reuters. Humanitarian groups and the United Nations heavily criticized the designation by the Trump administration, saying that it would further worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. Pompeo and the Treasury Department were quick to issue sanctions waivers and licenses to allow humanitarian aid to continue flowing into Yemen. Still, Biden’s team has determined that it will be too difficult for groups and international assistance to deliver assistance. The designation was initially welcomed by US allies in the region, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The Iran-backed Houthis target Saudi Arabia on a near-daily basis with rockets and bomb-laden missiles. The US official stressed that the action had “nothing to do” with the US view of the Houthis and their “reprehensible conduct” and repeated Washington’s commitment to helping Saudi Arabia to defend its territory against further such attacks. On Thursday, Biden announced an end to US support for “offensive operations” inside Yemen but assured Riyadh that Washington would continue to help Saudi Arabia defends its people and its territorial integrity. Meanwhile, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Friday that the US understood the security threats Saudi Arabia faces from Yemen. “So … we’ll look for ways to improve support for Saudi Arabia’s stability, to defend its territory against threats,” he said. - With Reuters

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 06- 07/2021

Signs that Libya’s new transitional authority had Russian-Turkish stamp of approval
Mona El-Mahrouki/The Arab Weekly/February 06/2021
There have been indications that representatives of Haftar, in the talks, voted in favour of the list headed by Dbeibah.
GENEVA – The two leaders of the transitional executive authority in Libya chosen Friday by Libyan delegates in Switzerland are figures known for their loyalty to Turkey.
The two interim leaders who emerged from the vote are Misratan businessman Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, who is close to Ankara. He will serve as prime minister till elections are held in Libya by the end of the year.
Mohammad Younes Menfi will head the presidential council. He is a former ambassador to Greece, who was expelled by Athens after the signing of the maritime border demarcation agreement between Libya and Turkey.
The vote by the members of the Libyan Dialogue Forum, sponsored by the United Nations and held in Chavannes de Bogis, near Geneva, resulted in the victory of a list that included Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, as prime minister, and Mohammad Younes Menfi, as head of the presidential council. The winning list also included Musa Al Kouni, who is a member of the resigning presidential council, and Abdullah Hussein al-Lafi. Both will serve as members of the new council.
Dbeibah’s list won 39 votes against 34 votes for the competing list which included Aguila Saleh, who sought the presidency of the presidential council, with Osama al-Juwaili and Abdul Majeed Saif al-Nasr, who ran for membership of the council, while Fathi Bashagha was a candidate for the office of prime minister. Many Libyans welcomed the election of a new executive authority. They felt this formula dispels fears of a new outbreak of war, as the outcome is bound to satisfy Ankara, the most prominent regional power that has intervened openly, in including militarily, in the Libyan conflict. A number of activists expressed sharp criticism of this winning formula, which they said did not take into account the political and geographical balances in the country, considering that Menfi is a displaced person from Cyrenaica and is known for his opposition to the authorities in the east of the country.
There have been, however, many indications that representatives of the Libyan National Army Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, in the talks, voted in favour of the list headed by Dbeibah. This is believed to be a reflection of Haftar’s acceptance of Menfi. It also reinforced speculations that the list was agreeable to Russia.
Those objecting to Dbeibah’s election seem to be among the supporters of Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh, who was running for the presidency of the presidential council.
Political activist Sulaiman al-Bayoudi said, commenting on the election of the new executive authority, “The new authority will not be a tool of war or one of its causes. Rather it will be a basis for comprehensive national stability.”
He added, “I do not expect the collapse of the situation and drift towards return to war, even if there are expectations of short-lived outbursts of violence sparked by political anger.”
Political analyst Muhammad al-Jarih, who opposed the results of the vote, said that “any delegate who asks Libyans to accept the results of the vote coming from the Dialogue Forum follows his personal interests or is influenced by ideological reasons or by a misunderstanding of the situation and inability to read it properly, because these results mean the end of the Libyan entity as we know it. It cannot be accepted. Everyone must reject these results”.
Political activist Nevin Al-Swehli, who supports Fathi Bashagha, said that “Menfi is based in Tripoli and does not represent the eastern bloc. This list will increase the pace of recruitment of mercenaries, and no one will leave, and the 5 + 5 committee will fail.”
Activists had spoken in recent days about a visit by Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba to Rajma and his meeting there with Haftar, which strengthened speculation about the existence of understandings between the two parties about the executive authority.
The failure of the list, which included Aguila Saleh and Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, surprised many observers, as they were expectations of an international and regional agreement in favour of the two figures’ leading the new executive authority.
But a victory of the Aguila -Bashagha list was difficult from the start despite local and external support, as it seemed that the talks were under the control of Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah and his uncle Ali Dbeibah, the Libyan billionaire, who was accused at the beginning of the talks of offering bribes to buy the votes of the members of the Forum. But he denied the allegations calling upon the UN mission’s acting chief to open an investigation into the charges. It is possible, according to sources, that the failure of Aguila -Bashaga’s proposed list was caused by lack Russian support, which has reinforced speculations that Russia will continue to side with Haftar despite talk during the last period of a cooling in relations between both sides after Turkish-Russian understandings forced the army to withdraw from Tripoli.
It is clear that the reason for Russia’s rejection of the Aguila -Bashaga formula was Fathi Bashagha, who was mentioned in the news at the end of last year as mulling a visit to Moscow. Since the visit did not take place, it was presumed that was facing strong Russian objections.
Aguila Saleh, who has encountered disagreements with Haftar during the last period, will be one of the biggest losers from this settlement formula. He had himself promoted the formula hoping to head the new presidential council. But he will be now removed from the position of parliament speaker in and replaced by a figure from the south (Fezzan).
Newly-elected President Abdul Hamid Dbeibah will have 21 days to form his government and submit it to the house of representatives for approval. It parliament does not approve it, the government will be submitted for approval by the 75 members of the Dialogue Committee.
The UAE and Turkey were among the first countries to welcome the success of the Libyan factions in choosing a new Libyan authority.
*Mona El-Mahrouki is a Tunisian writer.

A glimmer of light in the darkness of Libya
Cornelia Meyer/Arab News/February 07/2021
Libya has begun a new phase of its post-Qaddafi transition with the selection of a transitional unity government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, a wealthy 61-year-old businessman from Misrata, as interim prime minister. In addition, Mohammad Younes Menfi from eastern Libya will head a three-person presidential council, which also includes MoussaAl-Koni from the Touareg minority in the south of the country, and Abdallah Hussein Al-Lafi from the western city of Zuwara.
While this appears to be a major step forward in bringing stability to a country torn apart by a vicious civil war, that may not be quite so easy.
First, the selection of those four men by a forum of 75 Libyan delegates at talks in Switzerland was by wafer-thin margins, and was part of a UN-run process rather than the result of reconciliation. Second, Libya remains unstable and different global powers continue to support opposing factions. Finally, the council has only 21 days in which to form a transitional government of national accord in a country where two heavily armed sides, the eastern government under Khalifa Haftar and the Government of National Accord under Fayez Al-Sarraj, still face off against each other in a tenuous cease-fire.
In order to understand the situation, we need to go back to 2011, when long-time ruler Muammar Qaddafi was deposed by NATO-backed forces. Ever since then, this vast and tribal country, which has Africa’s largest oil reserves, has descended into chaos and civil war without a day of peace or quiet.
Tribes, and religious and military factions, have all fought for dominance. Barack Obama admitted in 2016 that neglecting to prepare Libya for what happened after Qaddafi was overthrown was the “worst failure” of his presidency.
While that may be so, the people paying the price are everyday Libyans. According to the UN refugee agency, 1.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, more than 200,000 are internally displaced and over 43,000 have been registered as asylum seekers. These are the official numbers only. All the refugees are eager to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, putting pressure on the EU. That is a lot of human suffering, which comes on the back of a geopolitical dance by world powers.
Haftar is supported by Russia, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and France, while Al-Sarraj has the backing of the UN, Italy, Turkey, Qatar and several Western countries. Russia and Turkey sent mercenaries, and many others sent weapons.
While everybody is hoping that the cease-fire will last, and that the transitional unity administration will be able to prepare Libya for a successful presidential election at the end of the year, many obstacles stand in the way.
Since October last year there has been a tenuous UN-brokered cease-fire in place. It led to Libya reopening its oil taps, which was good for the country and posed a challenge to the strict output regime introduced by OPEC+, the oil producers’ alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, which was necessary to rebalance oil markets during the coronavirus crisis. In light of Libya’s difficult internal situation, OPEC exempted the country from its production cuts.
While everybody is hoping that the cease-fire will last, and that the transitional unity administration will be able to prepare Libya for a successful presidential election at the end of the year, many obstacles stand in the way.
First, Haftar and Al-Sarraj will need to cede power, which may prove particularly difficult for the former, who values his reputation as a military strongman.
Second, tribal and sectarian conflicts may flare up again at any time. Few can forget Daesh’s foray into Sirte in 2016, and the terrorists carried out up to 100 attacks in Tripoli and elsewhere as recently as 2018 and 2019. Daesh may have retreated to neighboring Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso, but neither they nor other extremist groups are out of the fray and we can expect them to exploit every domestic weakness in Libya that they can.
Foreign powers may exercise restraint for the time being. The rapprochement between Qatar and other Gulf states is a good sign, as is the fact that Saudi Arabia and others are holding unofficial conversations with Turkey. Nevertheless, especially for Russia and Turkey, Libya is crucial in terms of demonstrating regional influence. Europe has every interest in Libya finding internal peace, for several reasons. It is a near neighbor, and the EU is still grappling with the inflow of migrants, many of whom cross the Mediterranean from the Libyan coast. Europe also benefits from Libya’s oil and gas exports. Oil production in particular came to a standstill at the height of the Haftar-Sarraj impasse.
The world at large has an interest in calming down the geopolitical tensions in Libya and elsewhere in North Africa. Outside the Gulf states, the greater Middle East region is a powder keg of potential armed conflict. Overlay Libya’s importance as an exporter of hydrocarbons and the origin of streams of refugees and it becomes clear that we all want to see the transitional presidential council and December’s presidential elections succeed. And please let us also not forget the plight of the Libyan people themselves, who deserve a more peaceful and prosperous decade than the one they have just had to endure.
*Cornelia Meyer is a Ph.D.-level economist with 30 years of experience in investment banking and industry. She is chairperson and CEO of business consultancy Meyer Resources. Twitter: @MeyerResources

Even ‘Super Mario’ can’t save Italy
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/February 07/2021
As president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi was the leading central banker of his generation, but even his formidable technocratic and economic expertise may not be enough to turn around Italy’s political fortunes as he prepares to become prime minister.
Dragi, nicknamed “Super Mario” after the hero in the Nintendo video game, made his reputation in 2012 when the future of the European single currency was in peril. With three simple words — “whatever it takes” —he changed market sentiment by pledging massive intervention to defend the euro in what was perhaps the decisive moment of the economic crisis.
His call for governments to establish a substantial bailout fund was initially met with resistance from Germany. But it paid off, economies began to grow and no country left the eurozone, even the exceptionally troubled Greece.
As perhaps the only Italian technocrat or politician with genuine global standing, Draghi is a respected and popular pick to head a new coalition government. Former prime minister Matteo Renzi went as far as to say: “Draghi is the Italian who saved Europe, and I think now he is the European who can save Italy.”
While there is no doubt that Draghi can lead the “high-profile government” that President Sergio Mattarella now wants, the expectations heaped on him are ones that even Super Mario may struggle to deliver on.
Italy is facing its worst crisis in the postwar era. Not only has it been one of the hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis, with at least 90,000 Italians dead, but Draghi is also facing deep recession and political uncertainty following the collapse last month of the 66th Italian government since 1945.
He will now seek to form an administration to break the parliamentary impasse. While he has much goodwill, Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star movement, which has been in government since 2018, has already said that it will not back him. While there is no doubt that Draghi can lead the “high-profile government” that President Sergio Mattarella now wants, the expectations heaped on him are ones that even Super Mario may struggle to deliver on.
One immediate political challenge will be finding political consensus, amid the continuing popularity of anti-establishment politics, on how Italy should spend over 200 billion euros in EU recovery funds, the largest single chunk of a continent-wide 750 billion euro post-pandemic stimulus. This was the key issue that brought down the last administration.
The renewed political squabbling in Rome has not just been unsettling for Italians. Internationally, too, there is mounting concern because the third largest economy in the eurozone poses perhaps the biggest threat to the single currency area. Italy has the second-biggest debt load in the eurozone, and its banking sector is under significant stress with massive under-performing loans. It is in its fourth recession in about a decade and last month the government forecast its debt will soar to a new postwar record level of 158.5 percent of GDP this year. While Italy is less systemically important to the eurozone than France or Germany, international concerns about it stem from its status as a key G7 nation. This renewed economic angst comes in a wider context of public worry over corruption, and double-digit unemployment and low growth. Indeed, only Greece has fared worse in the eurozone over the past two decades.
And the spike in economic angst comes even before Italy’s chronic political instability is fully factored in. Despite Draghi’s formidable credentials, questions remain over how long he can stay in power and how capable he will prove to be at securing the longer-term structural reforms that the country badly needs in the 2020s. This point was made last month by Renzi when he called for bolder post-pandemic changes, saying Italy was “wasting its biggest opportunity since the Marshall Plan.”
One of the central challenges for Italy is the unlikelihood of strong majority governments emerging, thus encouraging political paralysis. In part, this is because of the introduction in recent years of a relatively new voting system that is two-thirds proportional representation, and one-third first past the post, making it harder for any single party to win an outright majority. The threshold is now around 40 percent of the vote, which no party has come close to.
Collectively, these challenges pose a massive headache for Draghi and it remains unclear whether he has the political skills to turn around Italy’s fortunes. What is needed is not just another caretaker administration, but one that can drive through a historic reform program.
*Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics

Making the US-UK relationship special again
Alistair Burt/Arab News/February 07/2021
If there were a meter that ranked satisfaction at 10 Downing Street, London, on a scale from one to 10, I can guarantee that it was registering about 15 the other day, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first world leader outside the Americas to receive a phone call from new US President Joe Biden. The call demolished two myths at an early stage: That Biden’s Irish heritage and some careless remarks made by Johnson years ago would make the president ill-disposed toward the UK and its leader; and that the decision of the UK to leave the EU redefined it as less relevant to both US and world politics.
Both nations can be pleased at such an early reset, which is beneficial to each. Although for different reasons, the US and the UK both started the year with reputational issues that needed addressing. The US is seen very differently after four traumatic years of Donald Trump. The world has changed, and the storming of the Capitol suggested the US has changed too — but no one is quite sure where it is going. Re-establishing its relationships, particularly with long-standing allies, is a vital precursor to facing the challenges ahead.
Brexit led to questions surrounding the wisdom of the UK in untethering itself from the EU in its never-ending search for a post-empire role. Accordingly, recognizing the UK’s formidable reach through that early call is highly significant. The US establishment’s acknowledgement of the UK’s strategic importance — beginning with the country’s leadership of the UN Security Council (UNSC) this month and its hosting of the G7 and COP26 summits later this year, while also still containing an institutional intelligence and defense alliance with the US ranking above all others — will have been noticed. In a world that badly needs evidence of the like-minded coming together, an unnecessary rift between Washington and London would sit ill.
But what real difference might this alliance and relationship make? Clues might be found in the just-published agenda of the UNSC for the UK presidency, and in Joe Biden’s subsequent first foreign policy speech. Both highlighted areas, not only of national priority to each, but also where only concerted international action will pull the world back from potential disaster and disruption. They had a welcome symmetry, and the UK will have noted where it might have influence in common causes.
The first item is climate change, and no one should underestimate just how important this issue is to both leaders. I strongly suspect that Biden sees it as perhaps the real legacy issue for his administration, not just making up for Trump, but putting a revived US green economy firmly behind the radical changes required. “Empires fall,” as the musical “Hamilton” reminds us, but “oceans rise” and we do not get a second chance with the planet. Johnson feels the same, and has long championed the environment and wildlife in his career. COP26 is his legacy issue, and the two of them urging each other on further could be one of the year’s stories. The Middle East should be pleased with this emphasis, where attention to renewables, sustainability and new technologies in some countries is making it a key partner.
The second UNSC agenda item of the British is the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and there are opportunities here for joint action. The need to avoid vaccine nationalism, and the world’s poor being blighted by non-delivery, will grow urgent this year. The UK’s lead as a major donor in global health sustainability, through Covax and Gavi, must be well supported by a US returning to multilateral action. It is not too late to heed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for COVID-19 to be a bridge between nations, for conflicts throughout the Middle East to be brought to a close, and for states in the region faced with threats from disease beyond their borders to work collectively, not least for the self-interested principle that my neighbor’s virus could kill me. Those who reach out to help others will be remembered.
Bringing the like-minded together, and challenging the reluctant and skeptical, will be easier, and more successful, now that 'America is back.'
Thirdly, the politics of the Middle East, another element of President Biden’s speech, features high on the UK’s UN agenda, with Syria, Iraq and Yemen named specifically. These issues provide an early opportunity to gauge the new Biden team, which is full of previous administration experience, and for them to demonstrate that they know the world they have returned to is not 2016 anymore. Their appetite for involvement will be scrutinized. I think the UK will want to encourage the US in terms of a clear-eyed negotiation over Iran, recognizing the interests of Arab partners and Israel, but will also perhaps press for a realistic new approach between Israel and Palestine in light of the changed region and world.
Global challenges abound. The UK will be at the center of the diplomatic machinery setting a course for the post-COVID-19 world. Bringing the like-minded together, and challenging the reluctant and skeptical, will be easier, and more successful, now that "America is back."
*Alistair Burt is a former UK Member of Parliament who has twice held ministerial positions in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office — as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State from 2010 to 2013 and as Minister of State for the Middle East from 2017 to 2019. Twitter: @AlistairBurtUK

Young people are Turkey’s only hope for the future
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/February 07/2021
The ongoing demonstrations at Bogazici University in Istanbul, one of the nation’s top-ranking universities, are at the heart of the public debate in Turkey at the moment. They were triggered when Melih Bulu, a former member of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, was appointed rector of the university on Jan. 2. Many students and professors have been protesting against his appointment, and demanding his resignation, since Jan. 4.
As if Turkey’s other problems, including the deepening polarization in the country, were not enough, tensions have risen further as a result of the handling of the protests. A few hours before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on national television to implement political reforms, including a new constitution, security forces carried out mass arrests and detentions of protesters at the university. This sparked further protests, with students across the country supporting the calls for Bulu’s resignation. Every day, faculty members perform silent protests by turning their backs on the office of the rector.
Traditionally academics elect the rector from within their own ranks but Bulu was appointed by Erdogan rather than through traditional university election procedures. This outside appointee, whose academic credentials are said to be lacking and tarnished by allegations of plagiarism, is seen by critics as an attempt by the government to increase its influence on Turkish academia.
Bogazici University, one of the most prestigious establishments in Turkish academia, was a rare left-leaning institution that had avoided government influence for years. The current protests are not only about the appointment of Bulu, but also general opposition to a process introduced in 2016 under which the Turkish president approves one of three rectoral candidates for universities.
Undoubtedly, Bulu will not be happy with the cold shoulder he has received at the university. Many people believe the only way to ease the growing tension is for him to resign but he has made it clear he will not step down and believes that things will get back to normal within six months. This could be an eternity when we consider the polarization and tensions in the country.
During a meeting of the ruling AK Party on Monday, Erdogan said young people in the country should be “a youth repairing broken hearts.” He added: “You will carry this nation to the future with the power of our glorious past.” But let us go back in time a few years, to 2015, when he said to the nation’s youth: “Do not bow before posts, whether it is the president or prime minister. Bowing brings flattery and this will never suit the youth of this nation.”
In 2017 he said: “We don’t need a youth who comply without questioning, but a youth who knows what it wants and why.” Critical readings of the government’s education policies and the political discourses of Erdogan on youth argue that there is an emerging myth about youth that aims to control the future through reshaping the young. Every period in Turkish history created its own myth of youth. According to academic Demet Lukuslu, the AK Party’s “pious generation” is part of its project to reshape society and national identity. This reformatting is realized in the three interrelated domains of: political discourse of youth, state youth policies, and national education.
Erdogan stated on Thursday that the number of students in Turkish universities has grown to 8 million, and that the country now ranks top in Europe in terms of access to universities. However, what do these numbers matter when the majority of those students end up unemployed after graduation? The issue of youth employment is increasingly critical as growing numbers of young people lose hope for the future in their own country and seek opportunities abroad.
A generation has grown up with the AK Party as the ruling party. Known as “Generation Z,” it knows no other country other than one that is under the party’s control. This is also a generation that is highly engaged with social media. Turkey is a young country: About half of those eligible to vote are under the age of 30. The nation’s next parliamentary and presidential elections are due in 2023, when about 6 million members of Generation Z will be eligible to vote for the first time.
The nation’s next parliamentary and presidential elections are due in 2023, when about 6 million members of Generation Z will be eligible to vote for the first time.
These young voters and the views they hold will determine the outcome of the coming elections and, most importantly, the future of their country. These young voters — whether conservative or secular — might have different visions for their country’s future; but at the end of the day they are the future of the country.The Bogazici protests are a reflection of their fear for their future. The blame for this fear lies with the government, first and foremost, then all the political parties and institutions who share the responsibility to build the future. That is why Turkey needs an urgent normalization and must embrace its own young people rather than alienate them.
*Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkey’s relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz