English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 22/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.january22.21.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying:
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,† and cast out demons. Freely you received, so
freely give.
Matthew 10/05-15/:”5 Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying,
“Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.
Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying,
‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,† and cast
out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. Don’t take any gold, silver, or
brass in your money belts. Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor
sandals, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food. Into whatever city or
village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there until you go on.
As you enter into the household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your
peace come on it, but if it isn’t worthy, let your peace return to you. Whoever
doesn’t receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that
city, shake the dust off your feet. Most certainly I tell you, it will be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for
that city.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 21-22/2021
Ministry of Health: 4,594 new corona cases, 67 deaths
Cyprus Earthquake Felt in Lebanon, Syria
Lebanon Extends All-day Lockdown Until Feb. 8
Abiad: Lebanon Coronavirus Level Moved to 4
World Bank to Fund Covid Vaccine Rollout in Lebanon
Aoun chairs Supreme Defense Council meeting: Extending total lockdown until
February 8
Aoun Congratulates Joe Biden on U.S. Election Win
Diab Says Lebanon is Only 2nd Nation to Enforce 'Harsh' Lockdown
Diab congratulates Biden, contacts Iraqi PM following Baghdad blast
Rahi meets Jreissati, Egyptian ambassador
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry deplores Baghdad twin suicide attack
Salameh Denies Transfer of BDL Capital to Switzerland
Wazni Orders Unloading of MSC Ship Cargo but Not Sodium Sulfide
Wehbe meets Kubis, raises issue of Lebanese detainees in UAE with Shamsi
Geagea Seeks 'Opposition Rescue Front’ to Push for Early Polls
Lebanese American Commission for Democracy (LACD) congratulates US President Joe
Biden
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900
Kassem Kassir’s Hezbollah outburst is not a turning point for Iran’s Lebanon
proxy/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 21/2021
Hezbollah’s Global Threat/Emanuele Ottolenghi/FDD/January 21/2021
From Trump to Biden Monograph/Tony Badran/FDD/Published on January 14/2021
Titles For The
Latest
English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
January 21-22/2021
Pope Deplores 'Senseless Act of
Brutality' after Iraq Attack
Twin Suicide Bombing in Baghdad Kill 32, Wound 110
At Packed Hospitals, Iraqis Lament Blast as Bitterly Familiar
Magnitude 5 Earthquake Shakes Cyprus
Biden Opens Administration with War on Covid
US says it seeks stronger, longer ‘nuclear constraints on Iran’
Saudi FM Optimistic Ties with U.S. Will be 'Excellent' under Biden
FBI Asked to Investigate Parler over Attack on U.S. Capitol
Wary EU Eyes Improved Turkey Ties as FM Visits
French Troops Kill over 20 Jihadists in Burkina Faso
US review of Houthi terrorist designation raises questions
UN sets dates for Libyan transitional government selection
UK pledges $55 million in aid to Sudan
Israel, UAE sign renewable energy agreement
UN Secretary-General welcomes US steps to re-enter Paris Agreement on Climate
Change
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 21-22/2021
Defining 'Metrics' to Measure Radical Islam is Vital to
Defeating It/Tawfik Hamid/Gatestone Institute/January 21/2021
“Maximum Pressure” removal will ramp up Iranian aggression/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al
Arabiya/January 21/2021
West’s view of Iran’s ‘balancing’ role now obsolete/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab
News/January 22/ 2021
Expect more belligerence from Iran under Biden administration/Dr. Majid
Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 22/2021
Biden Rescinds Trump’s “Muslim Travel Ban” as “Inconsistent with American Values”/Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/January 22/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 21-22/2021
Ministry of Health: 4,594 new corona cases, 67 deaths
NNA/January 21/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced 4,594 new cases of coronavirus
infection, which raises the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 269,241.
67 deaths have been registered over the past 24 hours.
Cyprus Earthquake Felt in Lebanon, Syria
Naharnet/January 21/2021
An earthquake rocked the island nation of Cyprus on Thursday and was felt across
nearby Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run National Center for Geophysics said a
5.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Cyprus at 4:27pm Beirut time.
Citizens in various Lebanese regions, especially Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Akkar,
Tripoli, Western Bekaa, Keserwan, Sidon and the South felt the quake, the
National News Agency said. The earthquake was also felt in several Syrian
regions according to media reports.
Lebanon Extends All-day Lockdown Until Feb. 8
Naharnet/January 21/2021
Lebanon extended a total all-day lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus
until February 8, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
"The total lockdown is extended to February 8, 5 am," the Higher Defense
Council, Lebanon's top security body, said in a statement. The complete lockdown
had initially been due to run from January 14 to January 25. But daily infection
rates have remained exceptionally high and Covid-19 death tolls are spiking.
Lebanon began a daytime and nighttime curfew on January 14 where all public and
private cars were banned from the streets.
All citizens are to remain at home with few exceptions, including health
professionals, journalists, those working in the food sector and other essential
workers, the statement added. All public and private institutions and commercial
banks will meanwhile be closed while supermarkets and restaurants will be
allowed to offer delivery services from 5am till 5pm. The National Social
Security Fund, medical and foodstuffs factories, wholesale foodstuff markets,
flour mills, bakeries, pharmacies, medical labs, clinics, money exchange and
transfer shops, fuel stations and insurance companies will meanwhile be allowed
to operate during certain times of the day. Authorities had vowed to re-examine
some exemptions amid an outcry from industrialists and businessmen about the
impact of closures on the economy. Lebanon recorded 4,332 cases on Wednesday
raising the tally to 252,812 since the first case was detected in February last
year. It also registered a total of 2,084 deaths. The World Bank announced
Thursday it will put $34 million into a program to provide coronavirus vaccines
for more than two million people in Lebanon, which is experiencing a major surge
in Covid-19 cases.
Abiad: Lebanon Coronavirus Level Moved to 4
Naharnet/January 21/2021
Firas Abiad, director general of the state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital,
which is leading the coronavirus fight, said on Thursday that “Lebanon’s
coronavirus alert level is moving to 4,” meaning transmission is rising rapidly.
“The recommendation by the Corona committee yesterday to extend the lockdown for
another two weeks was based on: the intensity of the community transmission of
the virus, and the current capacity of the healthcare system,” said Abiad on
Twitter. “One of the main indicators of the spread of the virus in the community
is the test positivity rate, which is the % of daily PCR tests done that is
reported positive. A rising %positivity indicates worse community spread,” said
Abiad in his tweet, noting that graphs show the sharp increase over the past two
weeks. “In particular, ICU bed occupancy is a good indicator of the response
capacity of the health system. Despite the recent increase in hospital beds,” he
said, adding that data provided by the WHO and the Health Ministry in Lebanon,
“clearly show hospitals working at almost full occupancy due to a sharp rise in
demand.” Abiad regretted that: “As per the World Health Organization criteria,
Lebanon currently is at situational Level 4: An uncontrolled epidemic with
limited additional health system capacity available, thus requiring extensive
measures to avoid overwhelming health services and substantial excess morbidity
and mortality.” “Last week, Lebanon recorded the worst death toll since the
start of the pandemic. Lifting or easing the lockdown at this time will surely
lead to a collapse of the health system and result in more deaths. This is
unacceptable and unconscionable. The spread has to be contained,” he emphasized.
“However, the negative effects the lockdown may have on the general welfare of
society and individuals should not be ignored. A healthy dialogue with the
different business sectors can help guide policy,” the Doctor stated. “A longer
lockdown also requires supporting vulnerable households and populations at risk.
Despite our financial troubles, this will be necessary. The road ahead is
demanding. We should remember though, that help, whether from kinsmen, friends,
or vaccines, will surely come,” Abiad concluded.
World Bank to Fund Covid Vaccine Rollout in Lebanon
Agence France Presse/January 21/2021
The World Bank announced Thursday it will put $34 million into a program to
provide coronavirus vaccines for more than two million people in Lebanon, which
is experiencing a major surge in Covid-19 cases. "This is the first World
Bank-financed operation to fund the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines," the
Washington-based institution said in a statement. Lebanon, a country of more
than six million, has been logging some 5,500 cases a day since the start of the
year, the Bank said. It entered a strict 11-day lockdown last Thursday after
recording a 70-percent uptick in infections in one of the steepest increases in
transmission worldwide. Under the World Bank plan, the vaccines would arrive by
early February. It did not specify which lab it was partnering with. The $34
million are being reallocated under the existing Lebanon Health Resilience
Project, funded by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Beyond the human toll, the pandemic is exacerbating the economic crisis in
Lebanon, the World Bank said. The vaccine will go first to "priority groups":
high-risk health care workers, those over the age of 65, "epidemiological and
surveillance staff," and those aged 55-64 with underlying conditions. "Fair,
broad, and fast access to Covid-19 vaccines is critical to protecting lives and
supporting economic recovery," World Bank President David Malpass said. "This is
an important first operation and I look forward to continuing our support to
many more countries in their vaccination efforts." The vaccination drive will be
carried out in coordination with the Lebanese government, the statement read.
Aoun chairs Supreme Defense Council meeting: Extending
total lockdown until February 8
NNA/January 21/2021
The Supreme Defense Council convened, today at 12:00pm at Baabda Palace, in an
extraordinary session chaired by President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun,
and decided to extend total lockdown decision, until next February 8, and
requested military and security apparatuses to strictly implement this decision.
The Council also presented the study prepared by the National Authority to
implement Lebanon’s obligations towards international agreements related to
chemical, biological and radiological materials on radioactive materials in the
temporary storage at the headquarters of the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission,
where the request was made to the relevant ministries and the administrative,
technical and military agencies necessary to take the necessary measures.
At the beginning, President Aoun considered that “The response to the total
lockdown decision was positive and recorded high commitment rates, despite the
presence of some violation which need to be addressed”, stressing the need to
continue the taken measures and strictly implement these measures.
For his part, Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, stated that the decision of
closure will be extended until the morning of February 8, pointing out that “The
measures taken by the Government have made Lebanon the second country in the
world which harshly applies the measures that must be adopted to combat Corona”.
The Prime Minister also referred to the quest to increase the number of special
beds with care for those infected with Corona virus, which will be distributed
to areas with dense populations and recorded injuries. PM Diab then pointed out
that “All financial and administrative measures have been taken to ensure the
arrival of vaccines, during the specified period”.
In addition to Prime Minister Diab, Deputy Prime Minister and National Defense
Minister, Zeina Akar, and Ministers of: Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Charbel
Wehbe, Finance, Ghazi Wazny, Interior and Municipalities, Mohammed Fahmy,
Economy and Trade, Raoul Nehme, Justice, Mary-Claude Najem, and Energy, Raymond
Ghajar, attended the meeting.
Also attending were: Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, Director General of
the Lebanese Presidency, Dr. Antoine Choucair, Director of General Security,
Major General Abbas Ibrahim, Director General of Internal Security Forces, Major
General Imad Othman, Director General of State Security, Major General Tony
Saliba, Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council, Major General Mahmoud
Al-Asmar, Governmental Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Fady Akiki,
Chairman of the Supreme Council of Customs, Brigadier General Assad Toufaili,
Acting Director General of Customs, Mr. Raymond Khoury, Chairman of the Council
of Development and Reconstruction, Engineer Nabil Jesser, Assistant Director
General of State Security, Brigadier General Samir Sannan, Director of Army
Intelligence, Brigadier General Antoine Kahwajy, Head of ISF Information Branch,
Brigadier General Khaled Hammoud, Head of the “Lebanese Atomic Energy
Commission”, Dr. Bilal Nsouly, and the Security and Military Advisor of the
President, Ret. Brigadier General Paul Matar.
Statement:
After the meeting, Major General Al-Asmar, read the following statement:
“At the invitation of His Excellency, the President of the Republic Michel Aoun,
the Supreme Defense Council convened in an extraordinary session, attended by
the Prime Minister, a number of concerned Ministers, heads of security
apparatuses, Government Commissioner to the Military Court, Head of the
Development and Reconstruction Council, and Chairman of the Lebanese Atomic
Energy Authority. At the beginning, His Excellency the President discussed the
adopted measures to address Corona pandemic spread, and considered that
responding to the lockdown decision was positive and recorded high commitment
rates, despite the presence of some violations which need to be addressed. The
President pointed out that the number of injuries is increasing day by day, as
well as the number of people who fall victims to this dangerous pandemic, which
forces the continuation of measures and their strict implementation. In
addition, His Excellency praised the efforts exerted by the medical body in
treating the injured, and commemorated the memory of those doctors and nurses
who died while carrying out their duties.
Then, the Prime Minister discussed the results of the measures taken during the
past weeks within the framework of the total lockdown in the country, referring
to the extension of this decision until the morning of February 8th. The Prime
Minister also referred to the high number of victims and injuries, expressing
his hope that the continuation of the total closure will help limit the spread
of this pandemic. “The measures taken by the Government have made Lebanon the
second country in the world to harshly apply the measures which should be
adopted to combat this pandemic, especially since exceptions aren’t numerous,
but are rather limited to the necessity to secure vital facilities and will
continue during the next closure period” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the electronic platform established in the
Grand Serail, to consider special or emergency cases which necessitate granting
exceptions to the decision, noting that it will continue its work and study
requests carefully and responsibly, according to the actual need to give such
exceptions.Afterwards, the Prime Minister reviewed the measures taken in
hospitals to increase the number of private beds caring for those infected with
Corona, referring to the quest to increase the number of beds which will be
distributed to areas with densely populated areas and in which injuries were
recorded. Finally, the Prime Minister explained that all financial and
administrative measures have been taken to secure the arrival of Corona
vaccines, during the specified period in accordance with the agreements
concluded with the supplying company”.
-Afterwards, the Prime Minister informed the Secretary General and member of the
Supreme Defense Council, of the decision to extend total lockdown (Decision
No.26/m), from 11/1/2021 until Monday 8/2/2021 5am, and the request was made to
Military and Security agencies to strictly implement this decision, issued
pursuant to the exceptional approval (No.46/m.s, on 21/1/2021).
-The Study prepared by the National Commission for the implementation of
Lebanon’s obligations towards international agreements related to chemical,
biological and radiological materials was also discussed, based on the
recommendation issued by the Supreme Defense Council, on 12/3/2020, on
radioactive materials in the temporary storage at the Lebanese Atomic Energy
Commission’s headquarters.
The request has been made to relevant ministries and necessary administrative,
technical and military agencies to take all necessary measures.
Questions & Answers:
Then a dialogue took place between Major General Al-Asmar and the journalists,
where he was asked about exceptions, especially regardingsupermarkets in light
of the need for people to buy their necessities. Major General Al-Asmar said
“People buy their needs without any problem, indicating that last time citizens
were given three days to buy their needs, but they went within hours, and this
resulted in a second crisis. Matterswill remain as they were, but if an
exceptional decision is taken, it will be circulated to everyone”.
Asked about the purpose of extension and whether the previous ten days were not
enough, he replied“It was certainly not enough. Did the hospitals relax? Did the
medical staff relax? Did the number of injured and deaths decreased? We still
continue in this atmosphere, as hospitals and medical teams are still in a state
of fatigue, and the number of injured and deaths is increasing. These data are
enough, in addition to others. The Ministry of Health and hospitals are doing
their work to improve medical response, so that we can treat all people and
reduce numbers of injuries and deaths”.
In response to another question, Major General Al-Asmar confirmed that “The same
measures would be applied during the phase of extending closure”.
As for assessing the status of hospitals and their readiness, he stated that
“Some of them were equipped and others were not, but now the largest part is
equipped and it is required to prepare more”.
Regarding social assistance, he concluded sayingthat it was approved last time,
and its distribution must have started.-- Presidency Press Office
Aoun Congratulates Joe Biden on U.S. Election Win
Naharnet/January 21/2021
President Michel Aoun congratulated Joe Biden on Thursday for winning the US
election over incumbent President Donald Trump. “I look forward to working with
your Excellency within a framework of mutual understanding and respect, while
adhering to the basic values of truth, integrity, justice, freedom, and
democracy that we share with the friendly American people, many of which you
referred to in your presidential speech after your swearing in,” said Aoun in a
cable to Biden.
Biden was inaugurated in Washington Wednesday succeeding incumbent President
Donald Trump.
Diab Says Lebanon is Only 2nd Nation to Enforce 'Harsh'
Lockdown
Naharnet/January 21/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Thursday announced that Lebanon has
become the second country in the world to implement “harsh” measures to curb the
spread of coronavirus. “The measures that are being implemented by the
government have made Lebanon the second nation in the world to harshly implement
the measures that are necessary to combat this pandemic,” Diab said at the
beginning of a Higher Defense Council session. “We are also seeking to increase
the number of coronavirus beds in hospitals,” he added. President Michel Aoun
for his part said that “compliance with the full lockdown decision was positive
and recorded a high rate despite the presence of some breaches that need to be
addressed.”The Defense Council later prolonged the total lockdown by two weeks
to stem an unprecedented rise in coronavirus cases and protect the collapsing
health sector. The strict restrictions include a round-the-clock curfew and
limit grocery shopping to home deliveries. The complete lockdown had initially
been due to run from January 14 to January 25. But daily infection rates have
remained exceptionally high and Covid-19 death tolls are spiking. The health
ministry said late Wednesday that a record 64 people had died from the disease
in the previous 24 hours. Firass Abiad, the head of Lebanon's main state
hospital treating coronavirus, backed the new extension. Lebanon has reached the
stage of "an uncontrolled epidemic with limited additional health system
capacity available," he said. Intensive care units are near full, with occupancy
rates of 91 percent nationwide and more than 97 percent in Beirut on Wednesday,
the World Health Organization said. Lebanon has recorded 264,647 coronavirus
cases and 2,084 deaths since February 2020 in total. Cases skyrocketed after
families gathered during the end-of-year holidays and authorities allowed
revelers to gather in bars until 3 am, despite warnings from health
professionals. Lebanon is expecting its first vaccines next month.
Diab congratulates Biden, contacts
Iraqi PM following Baghdad blast
NNA/January 21/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, congratulated US President, Joe Biden,
via telegram, on assuming his presidential responsibilities in the United States
of America. The telegram reads: "I am delighted to convey to your Excellency my
warm congratulations on your inauguration as the 46th President of the United
States of America. It is my firm belief that the universal values and ideals you
laid out in your speech not only make the United States greater in building and
forging the Union but also International Relations friendlier and the World
Order peaceful and safer. In our country Lebanon, which enjoys historic and
close relations with the United States, we are convinced that democracy is
indeed tested when only practiced. We too are determined to preserve and
strengthen our democracy, in unity and diversity. We look forward to cooperating
with your Administration, hoping that with a strong and trusted partner for
peace, progress and security, we can win the battle over the cascading crises
facing us and the world." Afterwards, Diab made a phone call to Iraqi Prime
Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, in which he expressed his condemnation of the two
terrorist bombings that took place in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing and
wounding several persons. Premier Diab voices his full solidarity with the Iraqi
government and people against the criminal attacks. PM Diab offered condolences
to Premier Al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi government and the brotherly Iraqi people,
mourning the victims, and wishing a speedy recovery for the injured. ----Grand
Serail Press Office
Rahi meets Jreissati, Egyptian ambassador
NNA/January 21/2021
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rai, on Thursday received in
Bkerke, President of the Republic’s Advisor, former Minister Salim Jreissati, as
part of his efforts to accelerate the formation of a new government. Patriarch
Rahi also met with Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon, Dr. Yasser Alwi, with talks
between the pair reportedly touching on most recent developments on the local
and regional arena.On emerging, Ambassador Alwi said that the purpose of the
visit was to express appreciation for the national position of the Patriarch and
the patriarchal edifice as the protector of the constitution and the main
guardian of the constitutional norms and national interests while rejecting the
ongoing vacuum in the country.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry deplores Baghdad twin suicide attack
NNA/January 21/2021
Lebanon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on Thursday vehemently
deplored in a statement the twin suicide attack which rocked the Iraqi capital,
Baghdad, and claimed the lives of a number of innocent people and injured
dozens. The Foreign Ministry denounced in its statement the targeting of safe
citizens and the destabilization of the brotherly Republic of Iraq. The Ministry
reiterated Lebanon's full support and compassion with the Republic of Iraq,
people and government, in the wake of this tragic assault. The Ministry offered
sincere condolences to the Iraqi people, in general, and the families of fallen
victims, in particular, wishing the injured speedy recovery.
Salameh Denies Transfer of BDL Capital to Switzerland
Associated Press/Agence France Presse
The governor of Lebanon's Central Bank denied on Thursday that he had made any
transfers of the bank's funds following a probe by Swiss authorities into money
laundering and embezzlement. Gov. Riad Salameh's statement was released after he
was questioned by Lebanon's prosecutor general, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, based on
a Swiss investigation for aggravated money laundering in connection with
possible embezzlement in the bank. Salameh also said he was ready for any
further questioning. A Lebanese judicial source has said the probe was looking
into $400 million purportedly transferred out of Lebanon, by Salameh, his
brother, his assistant and financial institutions linked to the central bank,
allegations Salameh's office has denied. A judicial source said that Salameh
mentioned only "transfers not exceeding 240 millions dollars made since 2002
from personal accounts to fund a company founded with his brother". The
prosecutor will request the central bank provide the records of these transfers,
including the amount and date of each transaction, before it replies to the
Swiss attorney general, the same source said. Salameh said he would be happy to
travel to Switzerland to defend himself against any accusations, the source
said. According to Lebanon's Al-Akhbar daily newspaper, the probe is part of a
wider effort spearheaded by France, Britain and the United States to investigate
shady dealings by Lebanese officials, including Salameh. The office of
Switzerland's attorney general said Tuesday it had asked Lebanon for cooperation
into a probe it started into possible money laundering and embezzlement at the
central bank. It was not clear what prompted the investigation in Switzerland.
The Swiss attorney general's office declined to offer further details. There
were media reports in Lebanon that billions of dollars have left the country
after banks blocked transfers abroad. Some media singled out transfers made by
Lebanon's Central Bank governor himself. Salameh was quick to deny the
allegations. "I asserted that no transfers were made from the accounts or the
budget of the central bank," Salameh said in Thursday's statement. He added that
he reserves the right to pursue legal actions against "those who spread
tendentious rumors and defamation that target me personally and the financial
reputation of Lebanon."
Lebanon is facing a crippling financial crisis that was in full throttle last
year, when private banks enforced informal capital controls, limiting
withdrawals and blocking transfers abroad. The value of Lebanon's currency
tumbled against the dollar amid an unprecedented shortage of foreign currencies.
The government defaulted on its foreign debts and began talks with the
International Monetary Fund for a rescue package. Amid the chaos, reports
surfaced of capital transfers, including by government officials. Caretaker
Prime Minister Hassan Diab has held Salameh responsible for the currency crash,
accusing him of pursuing "opaque" policies that sent the Lebanese pound on its
downward spiral against the dollar. A government-commissioned international
audit of the central bank faltered after the New York-based company hired to do
it said it was unable to acquire needed information and documents. Salameh, who
has held the central bank post since 1993, has defended his role, alleging a
systematic campaign meant to hold him responsible for the country's financial
crisis.
Wazni Orders Unloading of MSC Ship Cargo but Not Sodium
Sulfide
Naharnet/January 21/2021
Caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni on Thursday instructed the Higher Customs
Council to “facilitate the process of unloading the cargo of the ship MSC Masha
except for the containers carrying the sodium sulfide substance.”Wazni also
asked the Council to “implement the customs laws” and to “search and inspect
unloaded containers to confirm that they do not contain any dangerous chemical
substance, in cooperation with the army and the port’s
administration.”Statements issued by the Defense Ministry and the Public Works
and Transport Ministry on Wednesday suggested that the containers of sodium
sulfide were not destined for Lebanon or for transit to Syria through Lebanon,
after a Lebanese lawmaker issued a warning in that regard. The ship is also
carrying goods for Lebanese merchants according to statements by the two
aforementioned ministries. MP Georges Okais of the Lebanese Forces-led Strong
Republic bloc had warned Wednesday that “the scenario of the port explosion
might be repeated.” “It seems that this ruling authority does not want to learn
from the August 4 massacre,” Okais cautioned in a statement. “Coming from China,
the ship MSC MASHA 3 is preparing to dock at a Lebanese port (Beirut or Tripoli)
to unload chemical material, sodium sulfide, with the aim of transferring it as
a transit shipment to Syria via Lebanese territory,” the MP said. “We have the
right and the Lebanese people have the right to ask: who guarantees to us that
the chemical material will not be emptied and stored inside Lebanese territory
in a dreadful repetition of the ammonium nitrate tragedy?” the lawmaker asked.
He also noted that “the sodium sulfide substance is an explosive substance
according to studies publicly available through electronic search engines.”
Wehbe meets Kubis, raises issue of Lebanese detainees in UAE with Shamsi
NNA/January 21/2021
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Charbel Wehbe, received
this Thursday the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Hamad Al-Shamsi, on a
farewell visit marking the end of his diplomatic duties in Lebanon and his
appointment as his country's ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt.
The media office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Minister Wehbe
had raised with his guest "the issue of the Lebanese detainees in the Emirates,
whereby Ambassador Shamsi confirmed that the matter is being addressed within
the proper legal frameworks." Minister Wehbe also met UN Special Coordinator for
Lebanon Jan Kubis, on a farewell visit.
Geagea Seeks 'Opposition Rescue Front’ to Push for Early Polls
Naharnet/January 21/2021
Lebanese Forces party chief Samir Geagea said his party has been recently
holding contacts in a bid to swiftly form an “opposition rescue front, with the
main goal of pushing for early parliamentary elections.”In a statement released
Thursday, Geagea said the “rescue front aims to push for early parliamentary
elections that would lead to the election of a different parliamentary majority,
president, and rescue government.”“The negativity, obstacles, and indifference
that some have been placing in the path of the emergence of this front only lead
to prolonging the tenure of the ruling parliamentary majority, and thus
prolonging the crisis and the path of the Lebanese people’s torture,” Geagea
warned in his statement,” he added.
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling
price at LBP 3900
NNA/January 21/2021
The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed
to money changing companies and institutions Thursday’s USD exchange rate
against the Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3850
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3900
Kassem Kassir’s Hezbollah outburst is not a turning point for Iran’s Lebanon
proxy
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/January 21/2021
Kassem Kassir, a pro-Hezbollah commenter and political analyst, surprised all as
he momentarily stepped out of character during a talk show and underscored the
concerns held by many Lebanese in general, and the Shiite community in
particular, but have been too afraid to publicly air.
Kassir’s comments unleased a gale of comments by both pro-Hezbollah and
anti-Hezbollah voices, with the former attacking Kassir and accusing him of
selling out, while the latter embraced his act of repentance as indicative of a
much bigger crisis Hezbollah was undergoing.
The truly alarming fact is the zealous manner in which the anti-Hezbollah crowd
fully embraced Kassir’s so-called retrospection, without keeping in mind that
such statements can be part of a ploy directed by Hezbollah, or that these
remarks, if genuine, do not exempt them from fielding a true political front to
put Iran’s proxy back into its proper place and to challenge Hezbollah’s
alliance with the ruling oligarchs. These same Kassir zealots were quick to miss
his pro-Iranian performance a few days before the release of his clip over the
Iranian Arabic-speaking Al Alam news channel, in which Kassir went all out to
defend Hezbollah against a fabricated American-sponsored media campaign to
discredit it and tarnish Hezbollah’s reputation as a real resistance movement.
“Hezbollah has two main problems it needs to address, first its relationship
with Iran as it cannot continue in its current mechanism and keep repeating “I
am under the command of the Supreme leader”, second Hezbollah cannot continue
alone in its resistance, it needs to fall under a national defense strategy …
after the start of the Syrian crisis Hezbollah was forced to go outside Lebanon,
but now it is time to come back,” Kassir said on January 6.
For many, Kassir was perhaps thinking out loud when he uttered his few remarks,
which might well be part of a larger debate occurring among the Hezbollah
milieu, especially given that Lebanon’s dire economic conditions are partly the
victim of Iran’s regional expansionist program.
While Kassir was quick to retract his words through a statement published on his
social media account, and later in a number of media outlets, the whole affair
has much deeper meaning than merely a stray member of the flock who was soon
brought in line by the shepherd. Instead, the outburst represents the public
airing of a deep internal battle inside Hezbollah, between those that wish for
Hezbollah to remain a proxy group at the behest of Iran or those that want to
sever the cord with the Islamic Republic. Kassem Kassir, by his own admission,
is a notable Shiite scholar, and an expert on Islamic movement. His pro-Iran
credentials are spotless. As such, his remarks on Hezbollah’s current
predicament might be part of a tug-of-war between the hawkish and moderate
factions within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which Kassir aired out in
public to later backtrack.
In reality, Kassir was asking Hezbollah to sever its umbilical cord with Iran,
an impossible request which in fact would end Hezbollah as we know it. Hezbollah
was founded by the IRGC to be its executive arm in Lebanon – a role which
Hezbollah has outgrown with its involvement in Iran’s various wars in the region
and beyond. Any hope of them transforming into the Lebanese party Kassir was
peddling is nothing short of wishful thinking, not to say delusional.
Regardless, what Kassir’s two minutes of fame might tell us is that wagering on
an Iranian or Hezbollah change of heart is a losing bet, especially given that
the logic of armed militias boils down to “might is right” – a fact many still
refuse to acknowledge, making Lebanon’s rude awakening a more painful feat.
Lebanese American Commission for Democracy (LACD)
congratulates US President Joe Biden
NNA/January 21/2021
The Lebanese American Commission for Democracy (LACD) congratulated US President
Joe Biden, via letter, on assuming his presidential responsibilities in the
United States of America.
The letter reads: "On behalf of the Board and members of the LACD, please accept
our warm congratulations on your victory and best wishes for your success as you
prepare to take up the responsibilities and challenges of your high office. Your
election comes at a time of crisis for the United States and the whole world,
and we want to offer our full support for your efforts and plan to restore our
country’s stability and unity. The Lebanese American Commission for Democracy (LACD)
is powered by those in the Lebanese-American community who are dedicated to
restoring Lebanon’s democracy, stability, integrity, and sovereignty. We strive
to build awareness of Lebanon within the American government, media, and
culture. The LACD is dedicated to providing policy makers, diplomats, and
journalists with facts, scholarly research, and commentaries on issues relating
to Lebanon and the Middle East. Fundamental to the LACD’s activity is the
indisputable notion that the Lebanese and American people share the same
patriotic values; namely, cherishment of democracy, liberty, tolerance,
coexistence, peace, and human rights, and therefore, the Lebanese and American
people are natural partners. The LACD strives to impact formulation and
implementation of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, on the basis of
safeguarding Lebanon as a strategic ally. The LACD believes that Lebanon is a
vital element in overcoming terrorism and democratizing the Middle East, and
that the U.S. should highlight Lebanon’s role in the Middle East as a paradigm
for a free, progressive, and stable Middle Eastern democracy. In this way, the
LACD seeks to, positively influence relations between Lebanon and the United
States, solidify the bond between their respective peoples, and strengthen the
long-term security of both countries. Subsequently, as you embark on this
patriotic journey, we kindly ask you to please support all foreign policies that
enhance the work of the Lebanese Presidency in fighting corruption and ensuring
accountability. Lebanon is stricken by severe corruption and we acknowledge that
the role of the US in eradicating it is simply paramount, specifically by
implementing forensic audit and restoring looted funds. Mr. President, Lebanon
has always been (and will continue to be) a strong ally of the United States. It
has historically depended on the support and aid of the US to maintain its peace
and strong army. As such, we ask you to please sustain the US aid to the
Lebanese Armed Forces, as we believe they are the only entity capable of
enforcing the law and establishing/preserving peace. Again, we send you our best
wishes and thank you in advance for believing in our causes and in the future of
our beloved homeland."
Hezbollah’s Global Threat
Emanuele Ottolenghi/FDD/January 21/2021
إيمانويل أوتولينغي/مؤسسة الدفاع عن الديموقراطية: تهديد حزب الله العالمي
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The Trump administration early on recognized the
national security dangers posed by the convergence of organized crime and terror
finance, and in particular the threat from Lebanese Hezbollah’s global criminal
syndicate. The administration undertook a number of important initiatives to
disrupt Hezbollah’s illicit operations.
At the center of Hezbollah’s criminal enterprise is the group’s Business Affairs
Component, a branch of its External Security Organization, which is also in
charge of overseas terror plots. On February 9, 2017, Trump signed an executive
order1 directing federal law enforcement efforts to combat Hezbollah’s global
illicit finance networks. In May 2020, to reduce money laundering risks, the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also renewed its Real Estate Geographic
Targeting Orders for 12 metropolitan areas in the United States,2 requiring
title insurance companies to identify the individuals behind shell companies
used in all-cash purchases of residential real estate.
The Trump administration also reinvigorated efforts to prosecute Hezbollah’s
global money laundering operations, especially after a Politico investigation in
December 2017 found that the Obama administration had put the Drug Enforcement
Administration’s (DEA’s) Hezbollah-focused Project Cassandra on the backburner.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered an inquiry into whether Project
Cassandra had been stymied, and sought to revive it by creating a new DOJ task
force of prosecutors. DOJ also designated Hezbollah as a transnational criminal
organization in October 2018.3
In 2017, Morocco arrested and extradited to the United States Kassim Tajideen, a
top Hezbollah financier who was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in
2009 and was wanted on fraud, money laundering, and terror finance charges.
Tajideen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering
and was sentenced in 2019 to five years in prison. In May 2020, a federal judge
ordered Tajideen’s early release, ostensibly for health concerns arising from
the COVID-19 crisis, but reportedly as part of a prisoner swap deal.4 Two months
later, he was deported to Lebanon.5
Alongside concerted action against the terror group’s financial flows, the
administration aggressively pursued Hezbollah in the diplomatic arena, seeking
to persuade allies to declare it a terrorist organization. Diplomatic efforts
focused on helping allies build law enforcement capacity to increase the number
of investigations overseas and facilitate cooperation among agencies tracking
illicit finance.6
In Latin America, the administration organized periodic summits,7 as well as
regular working groups and seminars, designed to bring together practitioners
from the region. The events provided investigators, prosecutors, judges, and
other members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies with enhanced
opportunities to network and share information. The administration also
increased the frequency of trips to the region by senior officials and more
generally heightened the visible presence of U.S. law enforcement.
Finally, the president signed Executive Order 133188 in December 2017 to enforce
the December 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. He also
signed the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act (HIFPAA)
in October 2018. Both measures were designed to strengthen policy and law
enforcement actions against not just Hezbollah financiers and networks but also
their enablers, including corrupt officials in foreign jurisdictions who
facilitate Hezbollah’s criminal and terror finance activities. Using HIFPAA,
Magnitsky, and prior authorities, the administration continued to use sanctions
to publicly identify Hezbollah cutouts both abroad and in Lebanon to constrain
their ability to conduct financial activities on the terror group’s behalf. The
administration also designated Hezbollah’s allies in Lebanon, sanctioning the
country’s outgoing Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil for corruption.9
Assessment
The Trump strategy to isolate Hezbollah through diplomatic work with allies
enjoyed important successes. At U.S. urging, Argentina, Colombia, Estonia,
Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Paraguay, Slovenia,
Serbia, Sudan, and the United Kingdom passed a variety of measures against
Hezbollah – from the creation of public registries of designated terror groups
and their members to outlawing all Hezbollah activities on their soil. They
joined Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the
Arab League, all of which previously designated Hezbollah.
Unfortunately, the administration failed to persuade the European Union to
extend its partial designation of Hezbollah to the entire terror organization.
Nor was it able to convince close Latin American partners such as Brazil, Chile,
Panama, and Peru, even though they are all theaters of ongoing Hezbollah illicit
activities.
The Trump administration did make progress on the sanctions front. Some of its
most important designations included two Lebanese financial institutions –
Jammal Trust Bank and three of its subsidiaries (designated under E.O. 13224 on
August 29, 2019), as well as Chams Exchange and its owner, Kassem Chams
(designated under E.O. 13224 on April 11, 2019).10 The administration also
targeted suspected Hezbollah financier Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi (who sued Treasury
over his designation.) While the Jammal Trust action marked the first time a
Lebanese bank had been designated since 2011, it still left the bulk of
Lebanon’s troubled banking sector untouched. The administration instead pursued
a largely unsuccessful strategy of cooperating with Lebanon’s central bank to
address the sector’s massive exposure to Hezbollah’s illicit activities.
On the law enforcement front, DOJ brought to fruition several ongoing
investigations against suspected Hezbollah financiers. These investigations led
to the arrest of multiple suspected Hezbollah External Security Organization
operatives inside the United States11 and the extradition of two suspected
Hezbollah financiers from Paraguay, along with the indictments of some of their
U.S.-based co-conspirators.12 An important case out of Florida’s Miami-Dade
County also received new momentum when Ghassan Diab, one of the three indicted
co-defendants, was extradited from Cyprus in July 2020.13
While the administration’s decision to revive Project Cassandra was commendable,
it led to some sub-optimal results. DOJ’s decision to create a task force of
prosecutors was accompanied by a shift of authority over Hezbollah
investigations from the DEA to the FBI. While the DEA remains heavily involved
in targeting financial crimes linked to drug trafficking and money laundering,
the shift (according to law enforcement officials) led to increased difficulties
in information sharing. Trump’s failure until May 2020 to appoint a new DEA
administrator also hindered the agency’s effectiveness.
The case of Kassim Tajideen – the Hezbollah financier released from jail just
half-way through his sentence, likely as part of a prisoner swap, underscored
the shortcomings of the administration’s approach to prosecutions. He returned
to a hero’s welcome in Lebanon. His case illustrates the downsides of a strategy
built on targeting white-collar crimes, which all too often results in long
investigations that yield light sentences, frequently watered down by plea
bargains. Rather than serving as an example to deter others from colluding with
Hezbollah, the relative ease with which money launderers jump off the hook
demonstrates little downside to working with the terror group.
Recommendations
Do not reinvent the wheel, but focus on achieving better results. The Trump
playbook for fighting Hezbollah’s global criminal networks does not lack inputs
but is wanting in terms of outputs. Rather than creating a completely different
strategy, the Biden administration should focus on making better use of the
means already at hand to target the terror group’s networks. Critically, the
Biden administration should not repeat the mistake of the Obama administration:
Pursuing Hezbollah terror financing should continue independent of diplomatic
agreements with Iran and Lebanon.
Make more frequent Treasury designations. Targeting more entities and
individuals requires strengthening the capabilities, including manpower, of
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and
Financial Intelligence, and the Department of State, which are chiefly
responsible for these actions.
Target Lebanon’s banking system more aggressively. Lebanon’s economic collapse
in 2020 underscored the extent to which the country’s central bank is part of
the problem, including when it comes to ridding its financial sector of abuse by
Hezbollah’s global criminal network. U.S. strategy should move toward a more
sector-wide approach rather than targeting individual banks once every several
years.
Make more extensive use of HIFPAA and executive orders in support of the Global
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and against transnational organized
crime. These authorities allow the United States to punish enablers and
financial supporters not necessarily affiliated with Hezbollah who nevertheless
act as facilitators through corruption and white-collar crime. The incoming
administration should use these authorities to aggressively pursue Hezbollah and
their global illicit financial network.
Provide more resources to DOJ to increase its investigative and prosecutorial
capacity to pursue Hezbollah-linked cases. DOJ needs to ramp up indictments if
it is to make a dent in Hezbollah’s global money laundering networks. This
cannot be achieved unless more resources are allocated to beef up
investigations, including more personnel and better language training for field
agents.
Revise laws regarding white-collar crime with a clear nexus to designated
terrorist groups. For successful deterrence, those convicted of assisting
Hezbollah’s illicit financial flows need to receive longer jail sentences.
Increase diplomacy to convince more allies to issue meaningful terrorist
designations of Hezbollah. Such efforts should focus on going beyond mere
declarations that Hezbollah is a terrorist group. They must establish national
legal frameworks that allow its networks to be targeted by law enforcement. With
respect to the European Union, in particular, an effort to improve transatlantic
relations could significantly increase U.S. leverage on this critical national
security issue.
Focus on reducing interagency rivalries and maximizing information sharing. The
challenges that affected the intelligence and law enforcement communities on the
eve of 9/11, which also impacted the DEA’s ability to pursue Hezbollah cases
under Project Cassandra, continue to hinder information sharing across the
board, diminishing the effectiveness of policy and prosecutorial actions against
Hezbollah networks.
From Trump to Biden
Monograph
Tony Badran/FDD/Published on January
14/2021
طوني بدران/مؤسسة الدفاع عن الديموقراطية/دراسة:
من ترامب إلى
بايدن
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/95145/%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%b5%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%af%d9%86-%d9%83%d9%8a/
Current Policy
The Trump administration sought to escalate pressure on Hezbollah while
continuing its predecessors’ policy of attempting to strengthen Lebanese state
institutions and insulate Lebanon’s financial system. Yet Washington could not
forestall Lebanon’s banking sector meltdown and currency collapse or Hezbollah’s
open domination of the state.
After parliamentary elections in May 2018, Hezbollah dictated Lebanon’s
government-formation process over the following eight months. By allowing Saad
Hariri to return as prime minister, Hezbollah provided a fig leaf to cover its
dominant position. Hariri resigned nine months later amid mass demonstrations
against the widespread corruption that brought the government to the edge of
complete financial collapse. Hezbollah replaced him with Hassan Diab, a minor
figure who resigned seven months later, paving the way for another Hariri
nomination.1
With bipartisan support, the Trump administration pursued a campaign of
sanctions designations targeting Hezbollah’s financial networks and money
laundering operations. Beginning in 2019, the administration drew on the
expanded powers granted by the bipartisan Hizballah International Financing
Prevention Amendments Act.
In April 2019, the Treasury Department designated a Lebanese financier for
laundering narcotics proceeds and facilitating money movements for Hezbollah.2
The following July, Treasury designated two Hezbollah members of parliament and
the group’s security chief, Wafiq Safa.3
These sanctions set the stage for the August 2019 Treasury designation of Jammal
Trust Bank – the only Lebanese bank to be sanctioned since the Lebanese-Canadian
Bank in 2011.4 In early 2020, the Trump administration designated a network
linked to Hezbollah’s Martyrs Foundation.5 Treasury later sanctioned two
Hezbollah-allied former ministers as well as a Hezbollah Executive Council
official and two companies subordinate to Hezbollah.6 In October 2020, Treasury
designated two senior members of Hezbollah’s Central Council.7
In Europe, the Trump administration convinced key allies to eschew the false
distinction between Hezbollah’s so-called “political” and “military” wings and
instead treat the group in its entirety as a threat. In January 2020, the United
Kingdom designated all of Hezbollah as a terrorist entity.8 In April, Germany
banned all Hezbollah activities.9 The Trump administration also persuaded Kosovo
and Serbia to blacklist Hezbollah as a whole.10 By the end of November 2020,
Slovenia and Latvia also joined the list.11
Driven by popular anger against the entire political class, large-scale Lebanese
protests that began in October 2019 challenged the U.S. policy of supporting the
Lebanese state. In a failed attempt to quell the demonstrations, security
personnel and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) began beating and detaining
protesters, dismantling their encampments, and forcibly opening blocked roads.
Washington lamentably avoided criticism of the LAF’s behavior.12
The State Department
even rushed to release frozen aid.13 Over four years, the administration
provided around $2.2 billion in assistance, including some $680 million in
military and security assistance.14
The administration insisted that any international bailout for Lebanon would
depend on structural reforms, both political and financial. Yet after a massive
explosion at the Beirut Port in August 2020, the administration seemed to
welcome a French initiative, coordinated with Hezbollah, that required only
limited reforms in return for French-backed financial assistance. Shockingly, a
top State Department official said the administration would not oppose
Hezbollah’s participation in government so long as that government undertook
reforms.15
Washington also acceded to Paris’ request for the UN Security Council to renew,
without effective changes, the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL). Finally, the State Department sought to bolster the Beirut
government by facilitating an Israeli-Lebanese framework agreement for
negotiating the demarcation of the two countries’ maritime border.16 By late
November, the talks stalled and were postponed, as the Lebanese government only
hardened its maximalist position.17
Assessment
While the Trump administration made some progress in Lebanon, it operated under
the mistaken belief that there is a difference between Lebanese state
institutions and Hezbollah. It failed to realize that any effort to strengthen
the Lebanese state ultimately strengthens Hezbollah while undercutting American
efforts to exert pressure on the group.
The Trump administration continued to pour money into the LAF even though the
army did nothing to address Hezbollah’s military build-up. In September, the
Israeli government released intelligence showing that Hezbollah had built three
facilities in Beirut and the neighboring area to its south for the assembly of
precision-guided missiles.
To its credit, the Trump administration implemented a robust sanctions policy
against Hezbollah. By contrast, Washington was slow to sanction corrupt
political leaders, whether openly or tacitly partnered with Hezbollah. After the
country’s financial collapse, a full year passed before Treasury employed Global
Magnitsky authorities to designate former minister Gebran Bassil for
corruption.18 Bassil, the Hezbollah-allied son-in-law of the Lebanese president
and a leading contender to succeed him, was the only prominent political figure
targeted.
While Treasury’s designation of Jammal Trust Bank was a milestone, Hezbollah’s
penetration of the financial system runs much deeper than the U.S. government
has been willing to publicize. According to a civil complaint filed in New York
federal district court, 11 additional commercial banks in Lebanon “knowingly
provid[ed] extensive and sustained material support, including financial
services to Hezbollah and its companies, social welfare organizations,
operatives, and facilitators.”19
The State Department also supported courses of action that benefited Hezbollah,
such as the French initiative to form a new government, which was coordinated
directly with Hezbollah.20 Letting Paris lead the way was doubly self-defeating
given that France remains the main impediment to an EU-wide designation of
Hezbollah. That said, the administration deserves ample credit for decisions by
the United Kingdom, Germany, and others to blacklist Hezbollah in toto.
Another example of strategic incoherence is the State Department’s ill-timed and
unnecessary pursuit of maritime border demarcation talks between Lebanon and
Israel.21 The talks offer the Hezbollah-dominated system in Lebanon the prospect
of future revenue from offshore gas in return for nothing – other than allowing
a consortium led by Total, the French oil major, to begin operations and
investment in Lebanese waters.
The pursuit of maritime talks potentially opens the door to relitigating the
matter of Shebaa Farms, a small strip of land in the Golan Heights claimed by
Lebanon, over which the Trump administration recognized Israeli sovereignty.
Similarly, the State Department offered the French and the Lebanese another gift
when it assented last August to the renewal, without changes, of the UNIFIL
mandate. UNIFIL has been an unmitigated failure at keeping its area of
operations south of the Litani River free of armed personnel, assets, and
weapons and at preventing Hezbollah from employing the area as a launchpad for
aggression. Since the United States has been unable to reform UNIFIL, the
administration should not have renewed its mandate.
Finally, the U.S. Congress deserves credit for passing the Sanctioning the Use
of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act of 2018 (“Shields Act”), which
authorizes the president to impose sanctions on Hezbollah, Hamas, and associated
entities responsible for the use of human shields to protect their military
assets. For example, the three clandestine missile factories exposed by Israeli
intelligence are all located beneath residential apartment buildings. However,
in the two years since the passage of the Shields Act, the administration did
not issue any designations, despite laudable efforts to employ other kinds of
sanctions to exert pressure on Hezbollah.
Recommendations
Hezbollah is more than a client or proxy of the Islamic Republic of Iran; it is
an extension of the regime. Since the group’s founding at the hands of Iran’s
Islamic revolutionary cadres in Lebanon, Hezbollah has served as Tehran’s long
arm and as the prime export of the regime’s ideology and revolutionary model.
That premise should inform all aspects of U.S. policy. Furthermore, with the
group now holding the commanding heights of the country and firmly ensconced in
the government apparatus, the United States should jettison the artificial
distinction between the Lebanese state and Hezbollah.
01/Do not deal with, let alone fund, a government that includes or is directly
influenced by Hezbollah. Supporting the Lebanese government inevitably makes the
United States complicit, as Hezbollah shapes and determines the policy of
Lebanon’s government and has access to its budget.
02/Escalate pressure on Hezbollah. Washington should pursue this policy
regardless of Lebanon’s financial crisis or any regional diplomatic initiative.
03/Craft U.S. sanctions, whether Hezbollah-related or targeting other members of
the political class under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act,
to reflect the fact that Hezbollah and the Lebanese state are indistinguishable.
Washington should not employ sanctions as a tool to micromanage Lebanese
politics in the service of some version of state building. Rather, sanctions
should aim to squeeze Hezbollah’s financial networks and the corrupt oligarchic
system that facilitates and partners with Hezbollah.
04/Continue to pressure the European Union to designate all of Hezbollah as a
terrorist organization, but also recognize that increased French investment in
Lebanon will likely harden Paris’ opposition to such a designation. Hezbollah
itself rejects the EU distinction between its so-called military and political
wings. No part of Hezbollah should have license to operate in Europe.
05/Do not extend development and reconstruction aid to Lebanon, whether
bilaterally or in the context of an international donor conference. So long as
the existing sectarian political order, dominated by Hezbollah, remains in
place, such aid only subsidizes Hezbollah and its corrupt partners.
06/Suspend all aid to the LAF. The armed forces continue to collaborate with
Hezbollah and have failed to take any action to restrain it, even against
exposed Hezbollah missile facilities or arms depots in civilian areas.
07/Move swiftly to employ sanctions pursuant to the bipartisan Shields Act. The
use of human shields is a war crime. The United States should target Hezbollah
officials and associated entities as well as any Lebanese political and security
officials implicated in placing Hezbollah military assets in civilian areas.
08/Insofar as reforming the UNIFIL mandate is not on the table, veto its renewal
at the UN Security Council when the mandate expires in August 2021. Absent a
major overhaul, UNIFIL is incapable of serving as anything more than a fig leaf
for Hezbollah control of UNIFIL’s area of operations.
09/Do not allow Israeli-Lebanese maritime border demarcation talks to drag on
through 2021. As Lebanon has now hardened its maximalist position, the United
States should pull the plug on the ill-conceived process. In addition,
Washington should reassert publicly its position that the Shebaa Farms are not
Lebanese, but part of the Golan Heights, which should remain firmly under
Israeli sovereignty.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 21-22/2021
Pope Deplores 'Senseless Act of Brutality' after Iraq
Attack
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
Pope Francis, who hopes to visit Iraq in March, on Thursday deplored as a
"senseless act of brutality" a suicide bombing in Baghdad that left at least 32
people dead. "His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the bomb
attacks on Tayaran Square in Baghdad this morning," the Vatican said in a
statement sent to Iraqi President Barham Saleh in the pope's name. "In deploring
this senseless act of brutality, he prays for the deceased victims and their
families, for the injured and for the emergency personnel in attendance." The
statement said the pontiff prayed that "all will continue work to overcome
violence with fraternity." The 84-year-old pope is planning a historic visit to
Iraq between March 5 and 8, including Baghdad as well as Mosul, once the
stronghold of the Islamic State group. It would be the first trip ever by a
pontiff to the Middle Eastern country, whose historic and diverse Christian
communities have been devastated by the sectarian warfare of the last two
decades. The Vatican this week opened the process of accrediting media for the
visit, but the pope himself has warned it could be cancelled because of the
coronavirus pandemic. Recalling how the spread of Covid-19 forced him to cancel
his foreign trips last year, he said this month: "I don't know if the upcoming
trip to Iraq will happen." He added: "I cannot in all conscience encourage
gatherings."
Twin Suicide Bombing in Baghdad Kill 32, Wound 110
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
A rare twin suicide bombing killed 32 people and wounded 110 at a crowded market
in central Baghdad on Thursday, Iraq's health ministry said, the city's
deadliest attack in three years. The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling
market in the capital's Tayaran Square by claiming to feel sick, then detonated
his explosives belt, the interior ministry said. As more people then flocked to
the scene to help the victims, a second suicide bomber set off his explosives.
The open-air market, where second-hand clothes are sold at stalls, had been
teeming with people after the lifting of nearly a year of Covid-19 restrictions
across the country. An AFP photographer at the scene said security forces had
cordoned off the area, where blood-soaked clothes were strewn across the muddy
streets and paramedics were rushing to take away the casualties. The health
ministry said those who lost their lives had died on the scene of the attack,
and that most of the wounded had been treated and released from hospital. The
attack was the bloodiest in Baghdad since January 2018, when a suicide bomber
killed more than 30 people in the same square. The attack was not immediately
claimed but suicide bombings have been used by jihadist groups, most recently
the Islamic State group. They were commonplace in Baghdad during the sectarian
bloodletting that followed the US-led invasion of 2003 and later on as the IS
swept across much of Iraq and also targeted the capital. But with the group's
territorial defeat in late 2017, suicide bombings in the city became rare.
Baghdad's notorious concrete blast walls were dismantled and checkpoints across
the city removed.
'Despicable act'
President Barham Saleh led political figures in condemning Thursday's attack,
saying the government would "stand firmly against these rogue attempts to
destabilize our country." Pope Francis, who hopes to visit Iraq in March,
deplored the "senseless act of brutality." The United Nations' Iraq mission also
offered condolences to the victims and said in a statement: "Such a despicable
act will not weaken Iraq's march towards stability and prosperity." The attack
comes as Iraqis prepare for an election, events often preceded by bombings and
assassinations.
The 2018 attack took place just a few months before Iraq's last round of
parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi had originally set
this year's general election for June, nearly a year ahead of schedule, in
response to widespread protests in 2019. But authorities are in talks over
rescheduling them to October, to give electoral authorities more time to
register voters and new parties.
The IS seized a third of Iraq in 2014 and was dangerously close to the capital,
but a ferocious three-year fight by Iraqi troops pushed them back. Still, the
group's sleeper cells have continued to operate in desert and mountain areas,
typically targeting security forces or state infrastructure with low casualty
attacks. Still, the U.S.-led coalition that had been supporting Iraq's campaign
against IS has significantly drawn down its troop levels over the past year,
citing the increased capabilities of Iraqi troops. The United States, which
provides the bulk of the force, has 2,500 troops left in Iraq -- down from 5,200
a year ago.
They are mainly in charge of training, providing drone surveillance and carrying
out air strikes while Iraqi security forces handle security in urban areas.
At Packed Hospitals, Iraqis Lament Blast as Bitterly Familiar
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
Frantically dashing between hospital beds, Baghdad residents tried to track down
relatives who may have died Thursday in a twin suicide blast -- the deadliest
attack in years. Grieving mothers, hysterical brothers and wailing children
packed the halls at the Sheikh Zayed hospital, less than three kilometers (two
miles) away from Tayaran Square. There, in the morning, two suicide attackers
detonated their explosives in an open-air flea market where huge crowds,
including day laborers, usually gather. Clusters of young men had done just that
on Thursday, desperate for a day's wages as Iraq struggles through its most dire
fiscal downturn in years. Many of them remain unaccounted for. "My brother is
married and has two children. He went out this morning to earn a living for his
little ones and now he's nowhere to be found," Abbas Samy, 25, told AFP. Samy
rushed to Sheikh Zayed hospital after the blast in an attempt to locate his
brother -- to no avail. "How will his kids live?" he cried out. Iraq's Health
Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said at least 32 people had lost their lives in the
attack and 110 were wounded, most of them treated and sent home by the country's
worn-down medical facilities. He spoke at Al-Kindi hospital, where nurses in
blue navigated a wounded man on a stretcher between families running in the
hallways. Tamimi leaned down to speak to a man struggling to breathe through a
ventilator. The minister did not say how many people were still missing.
A brief respite
Mazen al-Saadi, 34, said he was lucky to be alive. He was shopping in Tayaran
Square with a good friend when the blasts ripped through the market around them.
"He was just a few meters (yards) in front of me. After the blast, he just
vanished and I wasn't able to find him -- until now," Saadi told AFP.
After a few hours of searching, he had just located his friend's body at the
Sheikh Zayed morgue. With a sense of bitter resignation, Saadi said he had
anticipated a return to violence in his native Baghdad. "We were always thinking
about the explosions coming back -- we thought they could return at any moment,
especially as the elections were getting closer," he said. Iraq's Prime Minister
Mustafa al-Kadhemi had planned to host early parliamentary elections in June,
but authorities are discussing a delay to October to allow voters and parties
more time to register. Elections in Iraq have often been preceded by months of
instability, including the last legislative vote in 2018. In January of that
year, a suicide attack in Tayaran Square left more than 30 people dead. In the
preceding years, a normal day in Baghdad could see 15 car bombs blow up across
different neighborhoods. But since then, Baghdad's residents have largely grown
accustomed to quiet, with attacks becoming rare and concrete blast walls across
the city being dismantled. "Now, we're afraid it'll go back to the way it was
before," said Saadi.
'Iraqis are cannon fodder'
Abu Zeinab, 40, said his brother died in hospital. "Where are the intelligence
services? How did the attackers infiltrate the heart of Baghdad?" screamed
40-year-old Abu Zaynab, whose brother died in the blast. "Iraqis are just cannon
fodder for corruption and political infighting." An intelligence source who
spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity admitted there was a shortcoming. "We had
been on high alert for the end of the year, waiting for an attack then. But when
nothing happened, we let our guard down," he said. That provided little relief
for victims of the attack or their families. At Sheikh Zayed, families could be
heard lamenting that they had searched a half-dozen hospitals in the city for
their loved ones in vain. "They won't pick up their phones and we have no idea
what happened to them," one man cried out. Abbas Samy, still searching for his
brother, grew desperate. "Poverty and the economic situation were getting worse,
and today we're going back to the explosions," he told AFP. "Life has become
impossible in this country."
Magnitude 5 Earthquake Shakes Cyprus
Associated Press/January
21/2021
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5 shook Cyprus on Thursday,
frightening some people who fled from their homes. No injuries or damage was
reported. The temblor struck at 4:27 p.m. (1427 GMT or 9:27 a.m. EST), Cyprus'
Geological Survey said, and was felt across the island. Its epicenter was in
Cyprus' southeastern corner at a depth of 55 kilometers (34 miles). The quake
was also felt in neighboring Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Turkey. Many people in
Cyprus took to social media to say how strongly they felt the quake with
furniture shifting and lamps swaying, especially in high-rise buildings.
Cyprus' parliament, which was in session at the time to vote on the country's
budget, halted proceedings after the speaker asked lawmakers to step out. Cyprus
lies in an active seismic zone where it's estimated that 15% of the world's
earthquakes occur. The last major quake, measuring 6.8, happened in 1996 and was
the island's strongest in the previous 120 years.
Biden Opens Administration with War on Covid
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
On his first full day in the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday
took aim at his number one priority -- the raging Covid-19 pandemic and
stumbling efforts to vaccinate Americans. With the death toll passing 400,000
just before Biden took office, the new administration says it has been shocked
to discover the true scale of the crisis. "What we're inheriting is so much
worse than we could have imagined," Jeff Zients, the new White House Covid-19
response coordinator, told reporters. Biden has been busily signing executive
orders and other directives to jumpstart a national emergency strategy in the
wake of Donald Trump's departure from the White House on Wednesday.
Communications Director Kate Bedingfield told CNN that Biden was invoking
emergency legislation to increase industrial production and "just to make sure
that we have the material that we need to get these vaccinations into arms
around the country." Biden took office Wednesday in ceremonies heavily marked by
the Covid-19 crisis, with only a few spectators at his swearing-in and everyone,
from the military band to his wife Jill, looking on from behind face masks.
Biden has identified mask wearing, a revamped vaccination program, and a massive
new stimulus bill to help Americans' Covid-hit finances as his top goals for
bringing the multi-layered crisis under control. But he also faces multiple
other challenges including the aftershocks of a giant government computer hack
blamed on Russia, and searing Trump-era divisions -- an issue that could soon
take center stage in a Senate impeachment trial of the ex-president. Biden and
his vice president, Kamala Harris, began their day by participating in an
inaugural prayer service -- virtually, because of the coronavirus. The new
president was due to make afternoon remarks on his Covid plans.
- Instant change -
Already in his first hours on Wednesday, Biden entered the Oval Office and
signed 17 executive orders rolling back and canceling a raft of Trump policies,
as well as launching some of his own. Notable among these was a mandate on mask
wearing in federal buildings and new protections for so-called "Dreamers" --
children of illegal immigrants who have now grown up in the country and had been
shielded from deportation. Another big blast at his predecessor's record was to
immediately put the United States back into the Paris climate accord.
- Narrow majority -
Although Biden won comfortably on November 3, Trump's efforts to persuade tens
of millions of followers that the election was stolen has left the veteran
Democrat with a hostile opposition. Democrats now control both chambers of
Congress, but the existing majority in the House of Representatives narrowed in
the November election. In the Senate, the two parties are split 50-50, with a
tie-break vote by the new vice president giving Democrats the most razor-thin of
margins. That landscape ensures Biden's administration an uphill climb to get
things moving. Even confirmation of his cabinet nominees risks getting tied up.
Late Wednesday, he got his first cabinet-level confirmation: Avril Haines, the
director of national intelligence. And on Thursday, transportation secretary
pick Pete Buttigieg, a former rival of Biden in the fight for the Democratic
presidential nomination, appeared for a Senate confirmation hearing.
US says it seeks stronger, longer ‘nuclear constraints on Iran’
The Arab Weekly/January 21/2021
WASHINGTON - The United States seeks to lengthen and strengthen the nuclear
constraints on Iran through diplomacy and the issue will be part of President
Joe Biden’s early talks with foreign counterparts and allies, White House Press
Secretary Jen Psaki said. Biden has said that if Tehran resumed strict
compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement – under which Iran restrained its
nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions – Washington would
too. “The president has made clear that he believes that through follow-on
diplomacy, the United States seeks to lengthen and strengthen nuclear
constraints on Iran and address other issues of concern. Iran must resume
compliance with significant nuclear constraints under the deal in order for that
to proceed,” Psaki said in a briefing. “We would expect that some of his earlier
conversations with foreign counterparts and foreign leaders will be with
partners and allies and you would certainly anticipate that this would be part
of the discussions,” Psaki added. Former President Donald Trump abandoned the
Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and Iran in return has gradually breached its key
limits, building up its stockpile of low enriched uranium, enriching uranium to
higher levels of purity and installing centrifuges in ways barred by the deal.
On Tuesday, Biden’s nominee for secretary of state Antony Blinken said
Washington did not face a quick decision on whether to rejoin the nuclear deal
and the Democratic president would need to see what Iran actually did to resume
complying with the pact. He also highlighted US concerns about Iran’s ballistic
missiles program and its behaviour in the region.
Saudi FM Optimistic Ties with U.S. Will be 'Excellent' under Biden
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan voiced optimism
Thursday that relations between Riyadh and Washington will be "excellent" under
new U.S. President Joe Biden. The appointments made by Biden for his new
administration "showed (an) understanding of the common issues," Prince Faisal
told Al-Arabiya television, without elaborating. Prince Faisal's comments comes
despite Biden's pledge during his election campaign to treat the kingdom as a
"pariah" over its human rights failings and to end U.S. support to a Saudi-led
military campaign in war-ravaged Yemen.
FBI Asked to Investigate Parler over Attack on U.S. Capitol
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
A lawmaker on Thursday asked the FBI to investigate the role
conservative-favored social network Parler played in the deadly attack on the
U.S. Capitol early this month. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the
Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter to the director of the FBI
calling for it to look into Parler as well as ties it may have to Russia.
Maloney asked that the investigation of the January 6 attack include "robust"
scrutiny of Parler, including "as a potential facilitator of planning and
incitement related to the violence," according to a released statement. Parler,
which was forced offline by Amazon's web hosting division after the riot, could
also hold evidence related to the attack, or of foreign governments financing
civil unrest in the US, Maloney contended. Some Parler users have been charged
with threatening violence against elected officials or for taking part in the
attack, according to Maloney. She gave the example of a Texas man criminally
charged for posting on Parler that he would return to the U.S. Capitol and "hunt
these cowards down like the traitors that each of them are." Maloney said the
oversight committee is conducting its own investigation and requested a meeting
with FBI officials on the matter. Apple suspended all downloads of the Parler
app following the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, citing postings on
the platform that could incite further violence. Google and Amazon also cut ties
with the company. Speaking to Fox News early this week, Cook justified
suspending Parler, favored by supporters of former president Donald Trump. "We
looked at the incitement to violence that was on there, and we don't consider
that free speech and incitement to violence has an intersection," Cook said.
Parler sued Amazon after Amazon Web Services cut off the platform's access to
internet servers. Parler's popularity skyrocketed after Twitter permanently
banned Trump following the Capitol attack, which has been condemned as an attack
on U.S. democracy. Parler, which launched in 2018, operates much like Twitter,
with profiles to follow and "parleys" instead of tweets. In its early days, the
platform attracted a crowd of ultraconservative and even extreme-right users.
But more recently, it has signed up many more traditional Republican voices.
Wary EU Eyes Improved Turkey Ties as FM Visits
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
The EU and Turkey pushed Thursday to mend ties strained by tensions in the east
Mediterranean as Ankara's foreign minister held talks with a string of top
officials in Brussels. Mevlut Cavusoglu met EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and
top diplomat Josep Borrell, after conciliatory gestures from President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan sparked hope of an uptick in relations. "Dialogue is essential,
but we also expect credible gestures on the ground," tweeted von der Leyen after
a "brief exchange" with Cavusoglu. Tensions between the EU and Turkey reached
new levels last year after Ankara repeatedly sent a ship to search for gas
deposits in disputed waters, angering the bloc and its member states Greece and
Cyprus. But both sides have softened their rhetoric in the weeks since Turkey
withdrew the vessel, the Oruc Reis, in November and Brussels announced plans to
expand sanctions last month. In an important move, Turkey and Greece agreed to
hold exploratory talks on their maritime dispute in Istanbul on January 25,
resuming consultations suspended in 2016. Erdogan insisted he wants to "turn a
new page" in Ankara's relations with Brussels in a phone call this month with EU
Commission President von der Leyen. Cavusoglu said he was in Brussels to hammer
out details for a visit by von der Leyen and council president Charles Michel to
Turkey following an invitation from Erdogan. "It is very important to create a
positive atmosphere and agenda but in order for that agenda to be sustainable we
need concrete steps by both sides," he said at the start of talks with foreign
policy chief Borrell. The EU has a raft of major issues with Turkey, including
Ankara's role in the Syria, Libya and Nagorny Karabakh conflicts. But it was
spiraling tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, during which gunboats from NATO
allies Turkey and Greece collided, that threatened to strain ties to breaking
point. Greece and Cyprus, backed up by France, pressed for broad punitive
measures against Turkey. EU leaders in December settled on expanding a sanctions
blacklist of individuals involved in drilling in Cypriot waters, which currently
contains two Turkish energy company bosses. It remains unclear when new names
will be formally be added, but an EU diplomat said there could be a provisional
agreement on them at a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers next week.
Two months to convince
More ominous for Ankara is that EU leaders also tasked Borrell to come up with
options for tougher punishment before their next summit in March in case Ankara
resumes what Brussels called its "unilateral actions and provocations".
While France, Greece and Cyprus pushed hardest for a tough line on Turkey,
others led by economic powerhouse Germany have been far keener for a more
diplomatic approach. Many are anxious to keep Ankara on side, as the EU still
relies on it to prevent refugees from Syria heading into the bloc under a shaky
2016 deal. Cavusoglu said that he and Borrell would discuss updating that
agreement, as well as convening a multilateral conference on the eastern
Mediterranean. He also said he would focus on long-term concessions demanded by
Ankara -- visa-free travel with the EU and modernizing a customs union between
the two. Ankara's top diplomat is also set to meet Michel and NATO chief Jens
Stoltenberg on Friday. European diplomats say that major economic woes at home
and the departure of Erdogan's ally Donald Trump as U.S. president are pushing
the Turkish leader to take a more conciliatory approach. Turkey launched talks
to join the EU in 2005, but they became frozen as Erdogan began taking a more
confrontational path. Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn insisted to
AFP that the EU wanted a "lasting detente" with Ankara but that Brussels
remained "determined to defend its interests and those of its member states."
"Nobody intends to wipe the slate clean," he said ahead of the visit.
French Troops Kill over 20 Jihadists in Burkina Faso
Agence France Presse/January
21/2021
More than 20 jihadists have been killed by French troops this month in Burkina
Faso near the border with troubled Mali, the French military said Thursday. One
of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso is struggling with a
ruthless insurgency by armed Islamists who swept in from neighboring Mali in
2015. Almost 1,100 people have died and more than a million people have fled
their homes. French Tigre helicopters on Saturday "neutralized" a "suspicious
convoy of 30 motorcycles" on Burkinabe territory near the Mali town of
Boulikessi in which some 10 jihadists were killed, said Colonel Frederic Barbry,
spokesman for the French defense staff. The same day, a French drone struck a
four-wheel drive vehicle heading for Mali, he said. On Sunday, French
helicopters fired on a convoy of 40 motorbikes "allowing us to stop the convoy
and neutralize more than 10 armed terrorists and destroy about 10 motorbikes,"
Barbry added. France has deployed troops in the region to fight jihadists.
US review of Houthi terrorist designation raises questions
The Arab Weekly/January 21/2021
ADEN – Statements by Antony Blinken, US President Joe Biden’s nominee for
secretary of state, announcing the administration’s intent to reconsider the
listing of the Houthis as a terrorist organisation, have rekindled speculation
about possible shifts in Washington’s position on Yemen.
Yemeni analysts said that Washington’s potential reversal of the Houthi
designation is likely to send a negative message to the Yemeni government and
the Saudi-led Arab coalition, and could take the Yemeni issue back to the stage
it was at during the period of former US Secretary of State John Kerry, whose
positions, analysts say, provided a cover for the Houthis’ activities. Blinken’s
statements during his congressional confirmation hearing were marked by
ambiguity and incomplete political vision regarding the hot issues of the Middle
East, especially the Yemen war, as he revealed that the new administration
intends to halt US support for the war in Yemen, even if “the Houthis bear
significant responsibility for what’s happened in Yemen.” Blinken’s comments
came hours after the US designation of the Houthis went into effect. The
decision was met with UN and European objections under the pretext of potential
humanitarian repercussions, despite the US exempting the United Nations and
international relief organisations from the sanctions, as stipulated in a
statement published on the US Treasury’s website. “Houthi commanders need to be
held accountable, but designating the whole organisation will only inflict more
suffering on Yemeni people and impede diplomacy critical to end the war,”
Biden’s pick for national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, wrote on Twitter.
Lawyer Mohammed Allaw, president of the Maonah association for human rights and
migration, said Blinken’s statements are not surprising given the new Democratic
administration’s priorities, which include pressing to settle problems of the
Middle East through political solutions and negotiations. “Blinken did not
object to the Houthis’ designation as a terrorist group that deserves in
principle to be listed as such, as he linked his position to fears that the
designation would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis after pressure from some
European and Arab countries, either allied or friendly to the Houthis. These
countries have raised this issue to spark fears,” Allaw told the Arab Weekly.
Allaw pointed out, “Some countries, organisations and groups that fall within
the orbit of Iranian interests are behind the undeclared but well-orchestrated
move to try to pressure Washington to cancel its decision to designate this
group as a terrorist organisation, due to the fact that the decision tightly
restricts the Houthis and their internal and external movements.”
Allaw did not rule out the presence of “wings within the Yemeni government that
support the cancellation of the designation and want to continue exploiting the
conflict for their personal interests, and have for years expressed a stance
against the listing of the Houthis as a terrorist organisation, and have in fact
visited the US for this purpose, and this includes leaders in the legitimacy
camp.”
He expected that “any request to review the designation decision will take a
long time and will follow complicated procedures to address the reasons that
necessitated the issuance of the decision, which are quite many, and the Houthis
will not be able to abide by or implement them (…), and that the Arab coalition
countries will exert pressure to maintain this decision valid.” There are
expectations that the new US administration’s stance on the Yemeni file will
nudge closer to the European position that presses for an end to the war and
pushes the concerned parties towards a political settlement based on the peace
efforts of UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths. While the European vision sees
the Yemeni file as part of the dialogue with Iran and the implications of the
nuclear deal, observers believe that the new US position on the Yemeni crisis
and the means of its settlement are likely to be more complicated. This
settlement may take longer than expected, given the Biden administration’s
general foreign policy orientations that still include many reservations about
Tehran’s nuclear activities, and the connected concerns about protecting the
security of Israel and Washington’s allies in the region.
Washington needs to reconcile its desire to end the war with the need to protect
its interests and the strategic interests of its allies in the region in a way
that curtails the expansion of Iranian influence. US policy has wavered over the
past few years between supporting Europe’s humanitarian vision and calling for
political negotiations between the Yemeni parties, on the one hand, and
supporting the Arab coalition on the political and military levels, on the other
hand. But the coming period, Yemeni analysts say, may see a return to the basis
of a settlement adopted by the administration of former President Barack Obama
in its final stages. This vision, which is expected to make a clearer come-back,
centres on the initiative of Kerry, who has once again returned to the fore as a
special envoy.
Informed political sources confirmed to The Arab Weekly that the proposals
adopted by Kerry in 2016 during unannounced consultations in the Omani capital,
Muscat, which at that time were rejected by the Arab coalition and Yemen
internationally recognised government, were again included in Griffiths’
initiative known as the “Joint Declaration.”The initiative includes confidence
building and ceasefire mechanisms between the Yemeni government and the Houthis,
as well as transitional period arrangements that Yemeni observers believe would
grant the Houthi militias the right to keep their political and military gains
and participate in running the state. The Houthis have succeeded in exploiting
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis to exert pressure on the international community, in
addition to threatening to target Western interests in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab
Strait.
The latest Houthi signals in this direction came through the leader of the
group, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, who hinted at planning to disrupt international
trade lanes in response to the group’s listing as a terrorist organisation by
the US State Department. Houthi wrote on Twitter, “We will study notifying the
Supreme Political Council and the Yemeni government about considering the use of
our sea lanes as territory belonging to the Republic of Yemen and that should be
exploited as such.”
UN sets dates for Libyan transitional government selection
Reuters/Thursday 21 January 2021
The United Nations Libya mission said on Thursday that nominations for
leadership of a new unified transitional government must be made within a week
and voting on candidates would take place in early February. Libya has been
divided since 2014 between rival administrations in the capital Tripoli, in the
west, and in the country's east. Maneuvering over the new government has raised
fears that powerful figures who stand to lose influence could attempt to
sabotage the process. The UN in November gathered 75 Libyan participants in a
political dialogue in Tunis aimed at setting a roadmap to national elections
that they set for late December. After weeks of wrangling, the dialogue members
this week agreed on rules for selecting a new three-member presidential council
and a prime minister to oversee the run-up to the election. The UN said on
Thursday that dialogue members would vote on candidates for the new government's
leadership positions in Switzerland from Feb. 1-5. Jan Kubis, currently the UN
Special Coordinator for Lebanon, was recently tapped to be new envoy on Libya.
UK pledges $55 million in aid to Sudan
AFP/ KhartoumThursday 21 January 2021
Britain announced almost $55 million in aid to Sudan during a visit by its
foreign secretary to Khartoum, the embassy said Thursday. Dominic Raab announced
“the disbursement of 40 million pounds ($54.9 million) to the Sudan Family
Support Programme - to provide 1.6 million people with direct financial
support,” the embassy said in a statement. Raab arrived in Sudan late Wednesday
on the first visit by a British foreign secretary to the East African country in
over a decade. The visit, the embassy said, shows the UK’s “support” for Sudan’s
transition following the April 2019 ouster of president Omar al-Bashir following
months of mass protests against his rule. Britain’s top diplomat met with Prime
Minister Abdalla Hamdok, the head of Sudan’s ruling council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan,
and other officials. During his meeting with Hamdok, Raab said the UK was ready
to “support Sudan’s debt relief once economic reforms are implemented.” Sudan
has been undergoing a rocky transition since the ouster of Bashir whose
three-decade rule was marked by economic hardship, internal conflicts and
international sanctions. The post-Bashir government has sought to improve its
standing among the international community. In October, it signed a peace
agreement with the country’s main rebel groups in the hopes of ending
long-running conflicts. It has also been forging closer ties with the US, and
last month, Washington removed Khartoum from its blacklist of “state sponsors of
terrorism.”
Raab’s visit to Sudan comes after days of deadly clashes in the country’s
troubled Darfur region that left more than 200 people dead and scores wounded.
Earlier this month, Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding with the US to
clear Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank. “This move will enable Sudan to regain
access to over $1 billion in annual financing from the World Bank for the first
time in 27 years,” the government said.
Israel, UAE sign renewable energy agreement
The Arab Weekly/January 21/2021
ABU DHABI – Israeli and Emirati companies have signed an inaugural agreement on
renewable energy, officials said Wednesday, as Israel forges ahead with plans to
become a global leader in the sector. The deal is one of a raft of commercial
ties to be formed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the two
nations established ties in September, in a normalisation drive dubbed the
Abraham Accords. The principal corporate signatories of the energy agreement are
Abu Dhabi-based Masdar and EDF Renewables Israel, a subsidiary of French utility
giant EDF. According to market estimates, the initial investment will be $100
million and this amount will likely grow over the years depending on the number
of projects launched. The strategic cooperation between EDF Renewables and
Masdar will include the Abu Dhabi investment fund’s entry into existing projects
as well as future projects under tenders issued by Israel. Muhammad Jamil al-Ramahi,
head of Masdar, lauded a “new era of cooperation” in clean energy ventures
between the two countries. “These are the first fruits of the Abraham accords in
the energy sector,” said Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz on Twitter,
predicting the collaboration would allow his country to become a global leader
in solar energy within six years. EDF Renewables Group Senior Executive
president Bruno Bensasson said the agreement will “create synergy between the
various subsidiaries of the EDF Group operating in the countries of the region.”
Masdar and EDF are already partners in similar projects in the Middle East and
North Africa, including the Al Dhafra project in the UAE, which will be the
world’s largest solar energy field with a 2,000 megawatt capacity. The companies
are also cooperating on the third stage of the Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum
solar energy park in Dubai, which will generate 800 megawatt and the Dumat al
Jandal wind farm in Saudi Arabia, the largest such project in the Middle East,
which will produce 400 megawatts.
Masdar and EDF Renewables are also partners in eight renewable energy projects
in the US.
UN Secretary-General welcomes US steps to re-enter Paris
Agreement on Climate Change
NNA/January 21/ 2021
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, on Thursday welcomed in the following
statement the US steps to re-enter the Paris Agreement on Climate Change:
“I warmly welcome President Biden’s steps to re-enter the Paris Agreement on
Climate Change and join the growing coalition of governments, cities, states,
businesses and people taking ambitious action to confront the climate crisis.
Following last year’s Climate Ambition Summit, countries producing half of
global carbon pollution had committed to carbon neutrality. Today’s commitment
by President Biden brings that figure to two-thirds. But there is a very long
way to go. The climate crisis continues to worsen and time is running out to
limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and build more climate-resilient
societies that help to protect the most vulnerable. We look forward to the
leadership of United States in accelerating global efforts towards net zero,
including by bringing forward a new nationally determined contribution with
ambitious 2030 targets and climate finance in advance of COP26 in Glasgow later
this year. I am committed to working closely with President Biden and other
leaders to overcome the climate emergency, and recover better from COVID19.”
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 21-22/2021
Defining 'Metrics' to Measure Radical Islam is Vital to Defeating It
Tawfik Hamid/Gatestone Institute/January 21/ 2021
Al-Azhar, the most respected Islamic university and organization in the Sunni
world, is not – by their own definition – a terrorist organization. Yet the
question remains. Is al-Azhar truly moderate, or could it be radical? If we fail
to establish clear definitions, we can create chaotic situations that result in
our asking radical institutions to help us counter radicalism.
It is notable in this context to mention that French President Emmanuel Macron
met with the Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar University, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and
called for all French imams to be trained at the Al-Azhar religious institution.
The President of France probably has asked for this form of training without
determining if Al-Azhar itself was a radical organization or a moderate one.
Other metrics of Islamic radicalism such as accepting child marriage,
considering the lives of Muslims to be more precious than the lives of
non-Muslims, and accepting force or violence to impose Islamic religious values
upon others can be also included.
Based on these metrics, if any person or Islamic organization fails to reject
such abhorrent ideological values, they should not be called moderates. Instead,
they should be called what they are: Islamic radicals. We urgently need to
detect and expose ideological radicalism before it turns – as it inevitably will
– into acts of terrorism.
French President Emmanuel Macron met with the Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar
University, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and called for all French imams to be trained at the
Al-Azhar religious institution. The President of France probably has asked for
this form of training without determining if Al-Azhar itself was a radical
organization or a moderate one.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks by 19 radical Islamists, the main response
by many governments – as well as the United States – has been conducting direct,
kinetic warfare to fight the threat of Islamic terrorism. No doubt there is a
need to use kinetic force to fight militant jihadists; however, failing to fight
the ideology that drives them ensures an endless supply of such individuals who
will fight eternally against what they believe are infidels.
Things get more complicated when we realize that what we call radical Islam is
not clearly defined – there are no standard metrics by which to measure it. In
other words, we are fighting an undefined enemy. It is like fighting or trying
to treat diabetes without applying metrics to the disease to determine who is
diabetic and who is not, and who has improved with treatment.
The lack of metrics to measure Islamic radicalism is further confounded by the
fact that the word "radicalism" can be such a relative term. We could argue
about it forever as long as we do not have clear metrics for it. In other words,
people can disagree whether an Islamic organization is moderate or radical if
they lack the means to determine what is radicalism.
Take the recent, shall we say, war of words between French President Emmanuel
Macron and Ahmed al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar University, Egypt's
highest Muslim authority, over a controversy involving free speech and the
re-publication of cartoons deemed offensive to Muslims. President Macron
condemned the beheading of an innocent professor by the hand of an Islamic
radical in an incident related to the cartoon controversy. Tayeb responded by
threatening to sue France in international court. For outsiders, at least, the
situation clearly illustrates the need for the metrics of radicalism. Al-Azhar,
the most respected Islamic university and organization in the Sunni world, is
not – by their own definition – a terrorist organization.
Yet the question remains. Is Al-Azhar truly moderate, or could it be radical? If
we fail to establish clear definitions, we can create chaotic situations that
result in our asking radical institutions to help us counter radicalism. It is
notable in this context to mention that Macron met with Tayeb and called for all
French imams to be trained at the Al-Azhar religious institution. The President
of France probably has asked for this form of training without determining if
Al-Azhar itself was a radical organization or a moderate one.
How can we make such a determination?
First, we must establish which Islamic organizations are truly moderate and
which are 'radical'. This can greatly help direct our resources to support the
former instead of the latter.
Second, the existence of metrics for radicalism can help create new categories
for organizations that do not fully fit with or meet our criteria for terrorist
groups. Designating a group as radical allows us to design new laws and rules to
deal with it more effectively to protect our national security.
Third, the presence of such metrics can significantly help to measure the level
and extent of radicalism in societies and organizations, and thus allows us to
evaluate the effectiveness of anti-radicalization measures.
Fourth, metrics can help us detect radicalization in vulnerable areas such as
virus laboratories or nuclear and military facilities. A single mistake in such
places due to our failure to detect signs of Islamic radicalism can cost us and
the world a lot – it already has. We need to remember the Fort Hood, Texas,
massacre by Nidal Hasan that resulted in the murder of 13 people. If another
radical Muslim exists in a virology lab, the outcome could be much worse than
Fort at Hood.
Based on my own experience as former Islamic radical who joined the group Jammaa
Islameia in Egypt in the late 1970s, I have developed practical metrics to
define Islamic radicalism. I call my approach the Radical Islam Support Test (RIST):
Apostates: Do you support killing them? Should leaving the faith of Islam be
punishable by death?
Barbaric treatment of women: Is beating women ever acceptable and, if not, do
you reject the decrees of Islamic law that sanction the beating of women? Do you
also accept stoning women to death for committing adultery?
Calling Jews pigs and monkeys: Do you believe that Jews are in anyway subhuman
and, if not, do you reject the Quranic interpretations that claim (Qur'an 5:60)
they are?
Declaring holy war: Do you support declaring war against non-Muslims to
subjugate them to Islam? Do you believe it is fair and reasonable to offer
non-Muslims the three options -- of conversion, paying the jizya tax or death?
Enslavement: Do you support the enslavement of non-Muslim female prisoners and
having sex with them as concubines? If not, do you reject those interpretations
in Islamic law governing ma malakat aymanukum ("whom you own"), which justifies
such actions?
Fighting Jews: Do you support perpetual war against Jews to exterminate them
and, if not, should those Muslims who incite such war be punished?
Killing gays: Do you believe it is acceptable to kill homosexuals and, if not,
do you reject those edicts in Sharia law which claim it is permitted?
Other metrics of Islamic radicalism such as accepting child marriage,
considering the lives of Muslims to be more precious than the lives of
non-Muslims, and accepting force or violence to impose Islamic religious values
upon others can be also included.
Based on these metrics, if any person or Islamic organization fails to reject
such abhorrent ideological values, they should not be called moderates. Instead,
they should be called what they are: Islamic radicals. We urgently need to
detect and expose ideological radicalism before it turns – as it inevitably will
– into acts of terrorism.
*Dr. Tawfik Hamid, a medical doctor, is the author of Inside Jihad: How Radical
Islam Works, Why It Should Terrify Us, How to Defeat It.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
“Maximum Pressure” removal will ramp up Iranian aggression
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Al Arabiya/January 21/2021
Under President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy, Iran never enriched
uranium to levels that violated the nuclear deal. Tehran agreed in August to let
IAEA inspectors visit two previously, inaccessible nuclear sites.
Now, with the election of Joe Biden as US president, who signaled his intent to
end Trump’s pressure, Tehran has started enriching uranium to the prohibited
level of 20 percent. It has seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker, and jailed
an Iranian-American on charges of spying.
While the behavior of the Iranian regime seems counterintuitive, Tehran knows
exactly what it is doing. When faced with a tough American administration, Iran
hunkers down and remains on its best behavior. When faced with a US
administration that looks to remove sanctions through negotiation, Tehran
becomes aggressive. Iran’s seemingly inexplicable behavior is governed by rules
of negotiation. Tehran has measured Biden’s dovish administration, to reverse
Trump’s foreign policy as the cornerstone of its strategy.
As part of Biden’s Middle East policy, differentiating between Iran’s nuclear
program and its destabilizing activity is key. This issue encompasses Tehran’s
development of missiles, and sponsorship of global terrorism, including its
support of militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
The Biden administration will emphasize Iran’s nuclear threat to global
security, doing so before Iran has raised its uranium enrichment to alarming
levels.
Pro-Iran voices have also tried to accelerate the deal by threatening Biden that
the window for restoration is closing. With Iranian elections, scheduled for
June, the current “moderate” government might be replaced with a “radical” one
is argued.
The pro-Tehran voices underestimated the devastation that Trump’s “maximum
pressure” inflicted on Iran. With the restoration of unilateral US sanctions
following Trump’s withdrawal from the deal, in May 2018, its economy has been in
free fall.
To support the narrative of inflated Iranian nuclear danger, and the existing
inconsequential US sanctions, Tehran is aware that under Biden its belligerency
will go unchecked. According to news reports, talks have already started between
Tehran and Washington.
In an attempt to suspend US sanctions, Tehran will place its level and stock of
enriched uranium to pre-May 2018 quantities. For good measure, and
confidence-building, Iran will release Western hostages, just as it did before
signing the nuclear deal in October 2015.
By increasing hostility, Tehran not only inflates its nuclear danger to make it
the only pressing issue worth negotiating, it helps their own propaganda. The
day that Iran knew that Biden was bound to succeed Trump, it pushed the story
that Trump could never break them; they had remained defiant in the face of US
aggression. If there are any lessons from Trump’s policy on Iran, it is that the
nuclear deal never defused the threat; it only froze it. Even then, the freeze
remained incumbent on the West giving Tehran what it wanted.
The nuclear treaty with Iran was dependent on a balance of power. When America
flexed its muscles, through sanctions and military activity, including the
assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Tehran retreated.
As Washington reverses its policy of aggression to negotiation, Tehran is
stepping forward. The Biden team has so far promised to update the nuclear deal
with Iran to include restrictions on Iran’s missile program. Iranian officials,
however, have responded saying that missiles are not up for negotiations.
Biden’s policy to curb the missile program does not look promising, as the
crucial policy for Washington is removing sanctions in return for a nuclear
deal, and the exchange of prisoners. If Iran’s missile program isn’t reigned in,
Washington will not succeed in curbing Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and
militias. Biden has promised nothing about this. For the coming four years, the
world should expect a bumpy ride on Iran.
West’s view of Iran’s ‘balancing’ role now obsolete
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/January 22, 2021
There seems to be an undeclared Western foreign policy rule of avoiding direct
confrontation or war with Iran. No matter the Iranian regime’s destabilizing
actions in the Middle East, war is always to be avoided. In short, for the same
actions taken by Saddam Hussein or Muammar Qaddafi, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei will never face the same destiny as these despots. Both met the violent
end of their actions. The Iranian regime, which operates within the same rules,
has been able to avoid this outcome.
The main reason for this seems to be a Western view that the Iranian regime, no
matter how badly it behaves, is needed to maintain balance in the Middle East.
Western policymakers believe that, without Iran, there would be more extremism
in the region. The Iranian regime is aware of this equation and has used it to
its advantage.
Indeed, this Western desire for balance has been broken by this regime, yielding
the opposite result. This regime does not bring more stability, but rather
pushes toward more extremism and insecurity. The Iranian regime’s expansionist
policies and support for proxies all over the region has created a favorable
environment for other non-state actors. It has exacerbated extremism on all
sides and, as a result, made the region less stable and less prosperous. The
actions of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria and of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi in Iraq have
increased Sunni extremism in these countries and put all other minorities in
danger.
It has also become clear that Iran has chosen to make the rest of the region its
enemy, and is pushing for this enemy to be represented by extremism. Despite its
so-called hatred of the West and the US in particular, the Iranian regime is
trying to send a message that it represents stability and is a mature partner,
whereas the Sunni Arab side is uncontrollable and led by extremists. It is
amusing that, for a country that declares its rejection of Western influence, it
has quite a lot of lobbyists in Washington and the European capitals promoting
this message.
One should also investigate the capacity of the Iranian regime to infiltrate
terrorist organizations such as Daesh and push them toward greater extremism.
Indeed, what is the reason for the presence of Al-Qaeda members in Iran? What is
the relationship between the Iranian regime and some Sunni extremists in
Tripoli, Lebanon? The answer relates to Iran choosing its enemy and sending a
message to the West.
The Western approach is, therefore, flawed and should be amended. If we look
back at the geopolitical order of the 1980s, one might say that Iran was indeed
surrounded by enemies, with Saddam in Iraq and a hostile regime in Afghanistan.
This could justify keeping the balance by allowing an aggressive Iranian policy
to ensure regional interests. However, this gave way to the export of the
Iranian revolution in the most aggressive manner possible. Today, the region has
changed, as the regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan are now favorable to Iran, but
one can only notice that the Iranian regime has not changed or adapted its
policy. Quite the opposite, in fact, as even the trust-building Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal made it even more emboldened and
aggressive, sending support and troops beyond its borders and destabilizing
entire Arab countries.
This regime’s leitmotif has always been a catalyst for less cooperation and more
instability in the region, under the declared mission to protect Shiite
minorities. However, do Shiites in Iran or the Arab world need Tehran’s
protection today? The answer is clearly no. Has the regime made Shiites’ lives
better in Iran or the Arab world? Also no.
This regime’s leitmotif has always been a catalyst for less cooperation and more
instability in the region.
Clear examples for this are Lebanon and Iraq. In Lebanon, a country of equal
minorities, Hezbollah is continuously challenging the state’s sovereignty and
holding its community and the entire country hostage. Iraq is an even clearer
example of the Iranian regime’s true objectives. It is also a country of
minorities, in which the Shiites are the largest group, but Iran has not helped
protect the Shiite community or bring stability to Iraq. It has exclusively
supported its own proxies and eliminated all other lines of thought from within
the Shiite community. Its objective is to challenge the state’s sovereignty and
keep the country under its control. It is not seeking positive bilateral
relations with a stable Iraq; it is simply seeking domination.
I will not absolve Arabs and Sunnis from all wrongdoing. It is true that we have
also made mistakes. Yet, when one looks at the direction Arab countries have
taken, they have moved forward from the 1980s’ geopolitical tit-for-tat deadlock
and have put forward their national interests and the interests of their entire
population regardless of ethnicity and religion. Spending on building better
infrastructure and social programs that are for all their citizens are clear
examples.
This contrasts with the cash-strapped Iranian regime, which chooses to send
financial support to its extremist proxies all over the region instead of
spending on its own citizens. Moreover, the only countries where minorities are
threatened by extremists on all sides are the ones where the Iranian regime has
a strong foothold, such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
It is, in that sense, clear that the Western approach to Iran is obsolete. The
Iranian regime is using the desire for balance to its own advantage, with the
sole objective of receiving a Western green light for regional domination and
nuclear military power. The Middle East is badly in need of a great reset, and
Arab countries are open to this. Will the Iranian regime change its line of
action and choose to integrate a new Middle Eastern architecture of cooperation?
The answer will be key to the region’s stability, especially as some regional
powers might now challenge this Western concept of balance.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the
editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
Expect more belligerence from Iran under Biden administration
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 22/2021
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei surprisingly ordered all factions of Iraqi
armed groups to stop attacking US interests in Iraq late last year. A senior
commander of an Iranian-backed armed group involved in such attacks told Middle
East Eye: “Khamenei’s orders were straightforward and clear. All attacks
targeting US interests in Iraq must stop.”
This was not a strategic shift but a tactical one. The regime was fearful that
the Trump administration would attack Iran if US entities were targeted. Some
Iranian leaders thought the White House was looking for an excuse to attack. As
a result, the theocratic establishment halted its provocations in order to avoid
giving Donald Trump a political victory and risk its own hold on power.
Now, however, with the Biden administration in power, the Tehran regime is
tactically shifting gears again. It has already ratcheted up its military
adventurism and threats. Just five days before President Joe Biden’s
inauguration, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted a
military drill that involved “suicide drones” hitting targets and exploding. The
drones reportedly strongly resembled those used in the attack on Saudi Arabia’s
oil installations at Abqaiq and Khurais in 2019. It also fired long-range
ballistic missiles into the Indian Ocean on the second day of its military
exercise. IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami boasted that the objective was
to “use long-range ballistic missiles against enemy warships, including aircraft
carriers,” according to state media.
Iran possesses the largest and most diverse ballistic missile arsenal in the
Middle East, and no other country has ever acquired long-range ballistic
missiles before obtaining nuclear weapons. Tehran’s ballistic missile capability
is one of the most critical pillars of the regime’s national security policy.
They can be used for offensive or defensive purposes, but sophisticated missiles
are mainly developed as delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons. The regime’s
expansion of its ballistic missile program poses a threat to the stability of
the region and the national interests of other countries too.
Such military tests create a sense of insecurity and inevitably lead to further
destabilization, militarization and an arms race in the region. In addition,
while the Iranian leaders argue that they are not breaching any international
laws by test-firing ballistic missiles, Tehran is clearly violating UN Security
Council Resolution 2231. This calls on Tehran “not to undertake any activity
related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear
weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.” The
resolution adds that Iran should not undertake any ballistic missile activity
“until the date eight years after the JCPOA Adoption Day (Oct. 18, 2015) or
until the date on which the IAEA submits a report confirming the broader
conclusion, whichever is earlier.”
The Iranian leaders are also demanding the release of $7 billion in funds frozen
in South Korean banks in order to release a South Korean-flagged ship, which it
recently seized in the Gulf.
The Iranian leaders are emboldened partially because they have learned in their
four-decade history that US Democratic administrations do not want a war with
Iran. And this is not any new Democratic administration — it is one that Iran is
familiar and comfortable with, as Biden was vice president at the time the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal was reached.
The Iranian leaders have learned in their four-decade history that US Democratic
administrations do not want a war with Iran.
Unfortunately, Biden’s announcements concerning his intention to return to the
nuclear deal have already made the Iranian regime more emboldened to pursue its
hegemonic ambitions. If Biden had not stated that he wants to rejoin the nuclear
deal, Tehran would have been more cautious.
Biden has also appointed Wendy Sherman, a professor and director at the Center
for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, as undersecretary
of state. She was a key negotiator in the talks that led to the nuclear deal.
Biden even pointed to this issue in his statement announcing her nomination:
“She has successfully rallied the world to strengthen democracy and confront
some of the biggest national security challenges of our time, including leading
the US negotiating team for the Iran deal.” This further sends a strong message
to Tehran that the US wants to return to the nuclear deal.
Expect more aggression, belligerence and military adventurism from the Iranian
regime under the Biden administration.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Biden Rescinds Trump’s “Muslim Travel Ban” as “Inconsistent with American
Values”
01/20/2021 by Raymond Ibrahim 5 Comments
Biden Rescinds Trump’s “Muslim Travel Ban” as “Inconsistent
with American Values”
Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/January 22/2021
No sooner did Joseph Biden enter the White House on January 20, 20201, when he
began rescinding some of his predecessor’s strong immigration policies.
Consider the so-called “Muslim ban.” In 2017, Trump issued travel restrictions
into the U.S. from various nations. They are currently eight: Chad, Iran,
Somalia, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Although North Korea
and Venezuela have nothing to do with Islam, and although dozens of other Muslim
nations were not included, in an effort to present Trump’s policy as “Islamophobic,”
then and now his enemies refer to it as a “Muslim ban.” Or, in the words of the
Biden White House, a policy “rooted in religious animus and xenophobia.”
In reality, Trump banned entry from those eight nations because they were all to
various degrees involved in terrorism and/or posed a serious security threat to
the U.S; most or all of them regularly appear on the State Department’s list of
“countries of particular concern,” while others are known state sponsors of
terrorism. Interestingly, and perhaps even more tellingly, most of these eight
nations appeared on another list just a few days ago. On January, 14, 2021, Open
Doors, an international human rights organization that annually ranks the 50
worst nations that persecute Christians, published its latest findings. Six of
the eight nations affected by Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban”—that is, 75 percent
of them—are on this list.
North Korea (#1) is the worst: “Being discovered as a Christian is a death
sentence.” The other nations—Somalia (#3), Libya (#4), Yemen (#7), Iran (#8),
Syria (#12)—are not much better. As with North Korea, they too, as part of the
absolute worst 12, are all categorized as nations where “extreme persecution”
occurs. For the record, Open Doors, which compiled this list, is critical of
Trump, i.e., its findings are not politically motivated.
Of course, you may not be nor care much about what happens to Christians; even
so, rest assured that these aforementioned nations that persecute Christians do
so less because they care about Christianity and more because they simply hate
and prey on “the other”—that is, you, if you’re not Muslim.
Despite all this, Biden has denounced Trump’s strict travel measures against
these eight nations as “inconsistent with American values.” Moreover, and as one
of his very first acts, Biden has just issued an order that “instructs the State
Department to restart visa processing for affected countries and to swiftly
develop a proposal to restore fairness,” as well as to increase “information
sharing” with foreign governments and nations.
Only time will tell what the ramifications of this ease on travel restrictions
will be.
By the way, and in closing, that six of the eight nations on Trump’s “ban” are
Muslim—and that nearly 80 percent of the nations that persecute and maul
Christians and other minorities are Islamic—is and always has been less a
reflection of “Islamophobia” and more a reflection of why fear of Islam exists
in the first place.