English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 20/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
But this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Letter to the Philippians 03/07-14:”Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 19-20/2021
Health Ministry: 104 new Corona cases, 4 deaths
EU threatens Lebanese politicians with sanctions over crisis
EU Links Aid to Government, Says Sanctions on the Table
Lebanese Politicians May Face Sanctiobs Unless Crisis Solved, EU Says
EU's Borrell tours Lebanese officials
President Aoun meets with top Representative of European Union for Foreign, Political and Security Affairs
Reforms represent main battle the new government will fight after removing internal, external obstacles hindering the formation process
Borrell affirms European Union's sustainable support for Lebanon, stresses need to form a new government, launch negotiations with the International Monetary Fund
Berri, Borrell discuss prevailing Lebanese situation: Obstacles to government formation are purely internal
Diab welcomes Borrell
Hariri reviews prevailing conditions with Borrell
Akar reviews with Borrell prevailing situation, crisis of the displaced
EU's Borrell tours Lebanese officials
Lighting of 2,000 candles on the beach of Ramlet alBaida to commemorate World War II
Karaki to NNA: No amendment to hospital tariffs before financing is secured, dossier in Akar's custody, malicious campaigns will not stop NSSF's ongoing march
Annual Synod meeting concludes its works in Bkirki
Geagea accuses FPM of "lying" when they claim to work for Christians' rights
Report: Egypt Urges Formation of Govt in Lebanon
Lebanon Seizes Captagon Pills Bound for SA
All Means All’s message to Lebanese leaders: Get lost/Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/June 20/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 19-20/2021
Ultraconservative Raisi Elected Iran President as Rivals Concede
Amnesty Calls for Iran's Raisi to Be Investigated over Rights
Russia's Putin congratulates Iran's Raisi on presidential election win
Tehran Summons UK Ambassador Over 'Difficulties' for Iranians Voting in Britain
U.S. Cutting Forces, Missile Batteries in Middle East
US sees ‘wildfire of terrorism’ sweeping from Sahel to Horn of Africa
Amnesty International slams Kurdish clamp-down on dissent

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 19-20/2021
The Biden Administration’s Iran Policy: All Carrots, No Stick/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/June 19/2021
Is the 'hardliner' talking point about Iran’s Raisi a whitewash?/Seth J. Frantzman/ Jerusalem Post/June 19/2021
Biden’s multilateralism is all very nice. But now let’s see action/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/June 20/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 19-20/2021
Health Ministry: 104 new Corona cases, 4 deaths
NNA/June 19/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced, in its daily report on Saturday, the registration of 104 new infections with Coronavirus, which raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 543,371. It added that 4 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

EU threatens Lebanese politicians with sanctions over crisis
Arab News/June 20/2021
BEIRUT: The European Union’s foreign policy chief Saturday berated Lebanese politicians for delays in forming a new Cabinet, warning the union could impose sanctions on those behind the political stalemate in the crisis-hit country. Josep Borrell made his comments at the presidential palace near the capital Beirut after meeting with President Michel Aoun. It was the first meeting in a two-day visit to Lebanon. Borrell said Lebanese politicians should quickly form a new government, implement reforms and reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund to start getting the tiny country out of its paralyzing economic and financial crisis. Lebanon’s economic crisis — triggered by decades of corruption and mismanagement — began in late 2019 and has intensified in recent months. The World Bank said earlier this month the crisis is likely to rank as one of the worst the world has seen in more than 150 years, adding that the economy contracted 20.3 percent in 2020 and is expected to shrink 9.5 percent this year. A power struggle between premier-designate Saad Hariri on one side, and Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil on the other, has worsened the crisis despite warnings from world leaders and economic experts of the dire economic conditions tiny Lebanon is facing. Hariri was named to form a new government in October and has not succeeded so far. The government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned days after a massive blast in Beirut on Aug. 4, that killed 211 people and injured more than 6,000.
“We cannot understand that nine months after the resignation of a prime minister, there is still no government in Lebanon,” Borrell said. “Only an urgent agreement with the International Monetary Fund will rescue the country from a financial collapse.”“There is no time to waste. You are at the edge of the financial collapse,” he said in English. Borrell said the EU stands ready to assist Lebanon and its people but warned that if there is further obstruction to solutions “we will have to consider other courses of actions as some member states have proposed.” “The council of the European Union has been including other options, including targeted sanctions,” Borrell said. He added: “Of course we prefer not to go down this road and we hope that we will not have to but it is in the hands of the Lebanese leadership.”Borrel rejected claims by some Lebanese politicians that refugees are the cause of the crisis, saying it is “homemade.” “It is not fair (to say) that the crisis in Lebanon comes from the presence of refugees,” he said referring to a nearly 1 million Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country to Lebanon.

EU Links Aid to Government, Says Sanctions on the Table
Naharnet/June 19/2021
The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stressed after talks with President Michel Aoun on Saturday that introducing reforms and forming a new government are imperative for any assistance the crisis-hit country could receive from foreign countries. He also said that sanctions on parties obstructing the formation of a government are “on the table.”“Reforms in Lebanon and the formation of a government are conditional for any EU assistance for Lebanon,” said Borell, noting that it was his first official visit as EU representative. “We are extremely concerned about the economic crisis in Lebanon. I am here today on behalf of the EU to express support for the Lebanese people. We are ready to continue to support Lebanon and its people,” he said. He said the EU has provided millions of euros in assistance for Lebanon in 2020 that amounted to around one million euros per day.
“In coordination with the US we provided direct help for the Lebanes people. We have other tools to help the Lebanes as soon as we see tangible progress in the government,” he added, stressing no assistance without a cabinet line-up. The “EU is willing to provide more help but we have to see tangible reforms. We are ready to study and look into the loas and aid assistance programs to relaunch the Lebanese economy.”Borrell said the crisis in Lebanon is self-made and “local” with grave consequences on the Lebanese people. “Lebanese leaders must shoulder their responsibility and place needed measures without any delay.”On reported sanctions the EU and France plan to impose on Lebanese officials obstructing the formation process, he said: “We prefer not to have to resort to sanctions, but this is all in the hands of the Lebanese leadership.”“Sanctions are on the table and we are studying them, if they are implemented, it will be to motivate the political class to find solutions,” he said. On the refugees file, he said the EU “understands the burden they have on Lebanon. Lebanon has been a haven for refugees from war-torn neighboring countries.”However, he noted that the presence of refugees must not be blamed for Lebanon’s crisis which is the result of mismanagement.

Lebanese Politicians May Face Sanctiobs Unless Crisis Solved, EU Says
Agence France Presse/June 19/2021
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Saturday that Lebanese leaders could face sanctions unless they pull the country away from financial collapse and strike a deal with the IMF. Lebanon is facing what the World Bank has described as one of the world's worst economic crises since the 1850s. A political crisis has left the country without a functioning government since the last once resigned after a massive explosion killed dozens and destroyed swathes of Beirut in August 2020. Speaking in Beirut after talks with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Borrell said he had "a message of firmness to all Lebanese political leaders on behalf of the EU". "The crisis Lebanon is facing is a domestic crisis, is a self-imposed crisis, not a crisis coming from abroad or from external factors," he said. "The Lebanese leadership must take its responsibility... a government must be formed and key reforms implemented immediately." The EU's foreign policy chief said the bloc was willing to help Lebanon engage in reforms but only after a deal is struck with the International Monetary Fund. "Only an urgent agreement with IMF will rescue the country from a financial collapse... and there is no time to waste," he said. "You are on the edge of a financial collapse."But Borrell added that should "further obstructions to solutions" emerge, the EU "will have to consider other courses of action as some member states have proposed". "The council of the EU has been including other options, including targeted sanctions... we prefer not to go down this road... but it is in hands of the Lebanese leadership," Borrell said. In April France imposed sanctions by restricting the entry on its territory of Lebanese figures it says are responsible for the political crisis. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said at the time that talks were underway with France's EU partners on how to increase pressure on Lebanese who are "obstructing a way out of the crisis".

EU's Borrell tours Lebanese officials
LBC/June 19/2021
President Michel Aoun met on Saturday with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell at the Baabda Presidential Palace. Following the meeting, Borrell expressed the European Union’s solidarity with the Lebanese people, voicing readiness to provide support.  “But we cannot provide assistance without reforms," he added. “We have great resources and our intention is to help Lebanon to re-launch its economy,” Borrell went on by saying.
“But before doing so, we have to see the implementation of reforms and the Lebanese leaders must assume their responsibilities and form a government,” he stressed. He pointed out that "Lebanon is on the verge of falling into financial collapse due to mismanagement,” adding that “it is not fair to say that the crisis in Lebanon is caused by the refugees."  He also voiced hopes that things will not reach the stage of imposing sanctions on Lebanese leaders, adding however the matter requires cooperation from Lebanon. On another note, he said that the parliamentary elections should take place on time, adding that the EU is ready to monitor if an invitation to do so was received.
Borrell then met with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh. During the meeting, Berri said that the obstacles hindering the formation of a new government is internal only. Borrell and the accompanying delegation then headed to the Bayt al-Wasat where he met with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Discussions focused on the latest political developments in the country and the bilateral relations between Lebanon and the EU. The EU's envoy also met with Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab at the Grand Serail, heading a delegation which included: the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon Ambassador Ralph Tarraf, Mr. Pedro Serrano, Head of Borrell’s Cabinet Mr. Carl Hallergard, Deputy Managing Director of North Africa, Middle East, Arab Peninsula, Iraq and Iran at the European External Action Service Mr. Rafael Daerr, EC Member of Cabinet Ms. Esther Orsini-Rosenberg, EC Communication Advisor, and Ms. Hannah Severin, Political Officer at the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, in the presence of Ministers Raoul Nehme and Ramzi Musharrafieh, as well as PM Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs Ambassador Gebran Soufan.
During the meeting, Diab briefed the delegation on the difficulties that Lebanon is going through, namely on the financial and economic levels, especially since the delay in forming the government, as a result of political bickering, exacerbates the crises and increases the suffering of the people, hoping to speed up the approval of the draft ration card by the Parliament, which was previously sent by the government with securing its funding sources to support about 750 000 vulnerable families; PM Diab requested the European Union's assistance in this regard.
Diab also stressed that the key solution to the financial, economic and living crisis lies in the formation of a new government that would resume the negotiations that the current government had started with the International Monetary Fund, and on the basis of the financial recovery plan developed by the government and that needs to be updated first. Diab added that the caretaker government did not fail to fulfill its duties, in accordance with the Constitution, to facilitate citizens' lives and alleviate their suffering.
He also praised the bilateral relations and partnership between Lebanon and the European Union. For his part, Borrell affirmed the European Union's interest in taking stock at the prevailing situation in Lebanon, and examining the various governmental, economic and social challenges and their repercussions at all levels. He also expressed the European Union's readiness to help Lebanon and its people in overcoming the difficult crises.

President Aoun meets with top Representative of European Union for Foreign, Political and Security Affairs: Reforms represent main battle the new government will fight after removing internal, external obstacles hindering the formation process
Borrell affirms European Union's sustainable support for Lebanon, stresses need to form a new government, launch negotiations with the International Monetary Fund
NNA/June 19/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met with the Higher Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and the Vice-President of the European Union, Josep Borrell, at Baabda palace and informed him of the government formation process, stressing the distinctive Lebanese situation. The President thanked Mr. Borrell for the European Union's interest in Lebanon and the aid presented during the difficult times covering of the Beirut port explosion and the crises that burden the Lebanese people, such as the Syrian displacement and Corona pandemic.
In addition, President Aoun asked Mr. Borrell to continue providing aid to Lebanon, pointing to the importance Europe's assistance in recovering the smuggled money to European banks. President Aoun then stressed the importance of conducting forensic financial audit despite the obstacles placed to hinder the work to combat corruption, which is backed by a system that includes officials, politicians, economists, financiers and businessmen. "The forensic financial audit is the first step required in the rescue initiatives and aid programs from the concerned countries and international bodies, without it reforms and the restoration of external confidence in the Lebanese financial reality cannot be achieved" the President indicated. Then, President Aoun emphasized that "Lebanon welcomes any support provided by the European Union in the formation of the new government, which must be credible and capable of carrying out reforms based on constitutional principles, traditions and practices that have emerged for years which we want to be based on the foundations of national reconciliation". Afterwards, President Aoun pointed out that the support Lebanon seeks from the international community is not only in the humanitarian field, but also in development, reiterating Lebanon's call for the return of displaced Syrians to their country, especially after the stable and secure situation in most of the Syrian territories, because Lebanon is no longer able to bear the repercussions of this displacement in all sectors. For his part, Mr. Borrell assured President Aoun during the meeting, which was attended by a delegation that included members of the Commission and the European Mission in Lebanon, of the continued support of the European Union, focusing on the importance of forming a new government and launching talks with the International Monetary Fund, which would achieve the flow of European aid to support the Lebanese economy.
Borell's Statement:
"Good morning,
I am very happy to be here in Lebanon again, because a couple of years ago I was here as Foreign Affairs Minister of Spain and I had also the honour to be received by the President of the Republic [Michel Aoun]. But this is my first visit to Lebanon as European Union High Representative. Lebanon is a neighbour, and close, long-standing partner of the European Union. We are very concerned by the current economic and political crises that Lebanon is facing. I am here today to express, on behalf of the European Union, our solidarity and support to the Lebanese people, but also our concern to their political authorities.
We, in the European Union, are ready to do our part to provide continued support to Lebanon and to its people. In 2020, last year, we provided 333 million euros in assistance to Lebanon. This means almost one million euros every day. Together with the United Nations, we have established a framework to help the Lebanese people directly. We have several other instruments at our disposal to help the Lebanese government, and we are willing to mobilise them as soon as we see tangible progress on the necessary reforms.
We cannot provide this help without progress on the reform process. Reforms that the country needs to undertake to overcome the current crisis. So, let me be clear: we have the resources and the willingness to help more. But in order to help more, we need the process of reforms to continue, to accelerate and to be able to overcome the current situation. Let me put an? example, as soon as an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme will be in place, we will be able to look at concessional lending and guarantees, provide trade measures and a macro-financial assistance programme. This will mean an important amount of money and measures that will help boost the Lebanese economy.
But I also want to pass a message of firmness to all Lebanese political leaders. A message on behalf of all the European Union and also of the Member States. The crisis Lebanon is facing is a domestic crisis. It is a self-imposed crisis. It is not a crisis coming from abroad or from external factors. It is a homemade crisis. It is a crisis done by yourselves. And the consequences for the population are very much dire: 40% unemployment rate and more than half of the population living in poverty. These are dramatic figures.
The Lebanese leadership must take its responsibility and adopt the necessary measures without more delay: a government must be formed and key reforms implemented immediately. We cannot understand that nine month after the designation of a Primer Minster, there is still no Government in Lebanon. Only an urgent agreement with the International Monetary Fund will rescue the country from a financial collapse. In order to avoid a financial collapse, Lebanon needs an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. There is no time to waste. You are at the edge of a financial collapse.
I have just had a moment ago a frank exchange with His Excellency President [of the Republic of Lebanon, Michel] Aoun on these matters and I will continue my discussions with other members of the Lebanese leadership, notably with Prime Minister-designate [Saad] Hariri, with Caretaker Prime Minister [Hassan] Diab and with Speaker of the House [of Representatives, Nabih] Berri.
Let me insist. We stand ready to assist, if this what you want. But if there is further obstruction to solutions to the current multi-dimensional crisis in the country, we will have to consider other courses of action, as some Member States have proposed. The Council of the European Union has been discussing options, including targeted sanctions. Of course we prefer not to go down this route and we hope that we will not have to. But it is in the hands of the Lebanese leadership.
I also want to say a few words on the refugees in Lebanon ahead of the World refugee day, tomorrow. We are going to talk about refugees and we have to praise the Lebanese for all this, for the strong support that the Lebanese people have provided to the refugees. Ahead of the World refugee day tomorrow we have to praise this effort and we are very much aware of the burden the refugee population has placed on Lebanon, notably those that came from neighbouring Syria. Lebanon has been a place of refuge for people fleeing a savage conflict, for the sake of humanity. From the beginning, the European Union has provided substantive support, to both the refugees and the hosting communities and we are ready to do more. We are ready to support more Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, the countries that are receiving and taking care of the refugees.
Also, on that matter, we trust that the Lebanese authorities will continue to respect the principle of non-refoulement. We will continue providing support for refugees and for Lebanese communities hosting a large part of the refugee population. Let me underline that the economic crisis Lebanon is currently facing is the result of mismanagement, and not linked to the presence of refugees. It is not fair to say that the crisis in Lebanon comes from the presence of refugees.
Another consideration on the Lebanon resources. Despite the brain drain triggered by the crisis, Lebanon has precious human capital. Human capital is the most important capital. And Lebanon can count on it. I am looking forward to my meeting with various activists and civil society organisations -not only with the political leadership and institutions, also with activists and civil society- to listen to their take on the current situation and discuss ways of supporting their efforts.
I think that Lebanon has a vibrant civil society and thanks to this vibrant civil society and to all Lebanese who each day fight for the future of their country, thanks to that, I am convinced there is a way out of the crisis".
[Presidency Information Office]

Berri, Borrell discuss prevailing Lebanese situation: Obstacles to government formation are purely internal
NNA/June 19/2021
House Speaker Nabih Berri met today at Ain El-Tineh Palace with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, and his accompanying delegation, in the presence of European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf. Talks centered on the Lebanese situation with its ramifications and repercussions, particularly the government crisis. Speaker Berri provided the European delegate with a detailed explanation of his initiative aimed at overcoming the governmental crisis, the stages it has crossed and where it stands today, stressing that "the obstacles that prevent the government's formation are purely internal." The Speaker also outlined the reform laws endorsed by the Parliament and what is underway in this context, to keep pace with the forthcoming government in its expected reform and rescue mission. Berri thanked the European Union for its role and efforts, as well as the French initiative in supporting Lebanon out of its crises. On a different note, Speaker Berri cabled the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei, in wake of the completed Iranian presidential elections, pointing out that "the Islamic Republic of Iran, as it is great in creating its steadfastness and prevention in the face of the blockade, and in its steadfastness in supporting and aiding vulnerable peoples and nations, it is also great at making and preserving its options and constitutional deadlines."

Diab welcomes Borrell
NNA/June 19/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, today welcomed at the Grand Serail, Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union For Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission (EC), heading a delegation which included: the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, Ambassador Ralph Tarraf, Mr. Pedro Serrano, Head of Borrell’s Cabinet, Mr. Carl Hallergard, Deputy Managing Director of North Africa, Middle East, Arab Peninsula, Iraq and Iran at the European External Action Service, Mr. Rafael Daerr, EC Member of Cabinet, Ms. Esther Orsini-Rosenberg, EC Communication Advisor, and Ms. Hannah Severin, Political Officer at the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, in the presence of Ministers Raoul Nehme and Ramzi Musharrafieh, as well as PM Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs, Ambassador Gebran Soufan.
Premier Diab briefed the delegation on the difficulties that Lebanon is going through, namely on the financial and economic levels, especially since the delay in forming the government, as a result of political bickering, exacerbates the crises and increases the suffering of the people, hoping to speed up the approval of the draft ration card by the Parliament, which was previously sent by the government with securing its funding sources to support about 750 000 vulnerable families; PM Diab requested the European Union's assistance in this regard.  Prime Minister Diab also stressed that the key solution to the financial, economic and living crisis lies in the formation of a new government that would resume the negotiations that the current government had started with the International Monetary Fund, and on the basis of the financial recovery plan developed by the government and that needs to be updated first. Diab added that the caretaker government did not fail to fulfill its duties, in accordance with the Constitution, to facilitate citizens' lives and alleviate their suffering. The Prime Minister also praised the bilateral relations and partnership between Lebanon and the European Union. For his part, Borrell affirmed the European Union's interest in taking stock at the prevailing situation in Lebanon, and examining the various governmental, economic and social challenges and their repercussions at all levels. He also expressed the European Union's readiness to help Lebanon and its people in overcoming the difficult crises. Grand Serail Information Office

Hariri reviews prevailing conditions with Borrell
NNA/June 19/2021
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri received this afternoon at "Center House" the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, at the head of a delegation accompanied by European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf, and in the presence of former Minister Ghattas Khoury and Hariri's Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs Bassem el-Chab. Talks during the meeting dwelt on the latest political developments, the general situation in the country, and the relations between Lebanon and the European Union.

Akar reviews with Borrell prevailing situation, crisis of the displaced
NNA/June 19/2021
Deputy Prime Minister, Caretaker Minister of Defense and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Zeina Akar, welcomed today the European Union's Higher Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, along with his accompanying delegation and the European Union's Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf, upon their arrival at Rafic Hariri International Airport. Akar then held a meeting with Borrell, which included a working lunch in the presence of Ambassador Tarraf; his Office Director Pedro Serrano; Deputy Director of the Department for Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula for European External Action Karl Hallegard; Member of the European Commission Office Raphael Dyer; Director of Political Affairs at the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Ghadi Khoury; Director of International Organizations, Ambassador Caroline Ziadeh; Director of Protocols Abeer Ali; and Head of the Europe Department Youssef Jabr. According to Akar's office, talks centered on the situation in Lebanon in light of the current stifling conditions and the crisis of the displaced Syrians, in addition to the results of the conference in support of the Lebanese Army, which was held at the invitation of France and with the participation of the International Support Group and the United Nations. Minister Akar explained to Borrell "the deteriorating economic, social and living situation in Lebanon," and commended "the role of the European Union and the aid it provides, most notably the aid that arrived after the explosion of the Port of Beirut," stressing "the importance of supporting Lebanon in all ways and the need to help it with the available means to get out of its crises."

EU's Borrell tours Lebanese officials
LBC/June 19/2021
President Michel Aoun met on Saturday with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell at the Baabda Presidential Palace. Following the meeting, Borrell expressed the European Union’s solidarity with the Lebanese people, voicing readiness to provide support.  “But we cannot provide assistance without reforms," he added. “We have great resources and our intention is to help Lebanon to re-launch its economy,” Borrell went on by saying.
“But before doing so, we have to see the implementation of reforms and the Lebanese leaders must assume their responsibilities and form a government,” he stressed. He pointed out that "Lebanon is on the verge of falling into financial collapse due to mismanagement,” adding that “it is not fair to say that the crisis in Lebanon is caused by the refugees."  He also voiced hopes that things will not reach the stage of imposing sanctions on Lebanese leaders, adding however the matter requires cooperation from Lebanon. On another note, he said that the parliamentary elections should take place on time, adding that the EU is ready to monitor if an invitation to do so was received.
Borrell then met with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh. During the meeting, Berri said that the obstacles hindering the formation of a new government is internal only. Borrell and the accompanying delegation then headed to the Bayt al-Wasat where he met with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Discussions focused on the latest political developments in the country and the bilateral relations between Lebanon and the EU. The EU's envoy also met with Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab at the Grand Serail, heading a delegation which included: the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon Ambassador Ralph Tarraf, Mr. Pedro Serrano, Head of Borrell’s Cabinet Mr. Carl Hallergard, Deputy Managing Director of North Africa, Middle East, Arab Peninsula, Iraq and Iran at the European External Action Service Mr. Rafael Daerr, EC Member of Cabinet Ms. Esther Orsini-Rosenberg, EC Communication Advisor, and Ms. Hannah Severin, Political Officer at the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, in the presence of Ministers Raoul Nehme and Ramzi Musharrafieh, as well as PM Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs Ambassador Gebran Soufan.
During the meeting, Diab briefed the delegation on the difficulties that Lebanon is going through, namely on the financial and economic levels, especially since the delay in forming the government, as a result of political bickering, exacerbates the crises and increases the suffering of the people, hoping to speed up the approval of the draft ration card by the Parliament, which was previously sent by the government with securing its funding sources to support about 750 000 vulnerable families; PM Diab requested the European Union's assistance in this regard.
Diab also stressed that the key solution to the financial, economic and living crisis lies in the formation of a new government that would resume the negotiations that the current government had started with the International Monetary Fund, and on the basis of the financial recovery plan developed by the government and that needs to be updated first. Diab added that the caretaker government did not fail to fulfill its duties, in accordance with the Constitution, to facilitate citizens' lives and alleviate their suffering.
He also praised the bilateral relations and partnership between Lebanon and the European Union.
For his part, Borrell affirmed the European Union's interest in taking stock at the prevailing situation in Lebanon, and examining the various governmental, economic and social challenges and their repercussions at all levels. He also expressed the European Union's readiness to help Lebanon and its people in overcoming the difficult crises.

Lighting of 2,000 candles on the beach of Ramlet alBaida to commemorate World War II
NNA
The Lebanese team, "Victory Volunteers", is organizing a commemorative event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II, at 8 p.m. upcoming Monday, with the support of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Lebanon and the Russian Cultural Center in Beirut. Two thousand candles will be lit in the form of a plane on an area of 10 x 10 meters, on the beach of Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida, along with the word "Normandy".


Karaki to NNA: No amendment to hospital tariffs before financing is secured, dossier in Akar's custody, malicious campaigns will not stop NSSF's ongoing march
NNA/June 19/2021
Director-General of the National Social Security Fund, Mohammad Karaki, confirmed Saturday, in an interview with the "National News Agency", that "there will be no amendment to the hospital tariffs in the event that the necessary funding for these increases is not secured," noting that "the file is now in the custody of the Deputy Prime Minister, Caretaker Minister of Defense Zeina Akar, to follow up with the stakeholders in the Health, Labor and Finance Ministries."
Karaki denied the circulated rumors that the National Social Security Fund has begun rationing admissions to hospitals, criticizing what he called "the process of lying, slander and fraud."
"All talk about the bankruptcy or withering away of NSSF has no scientific foundation, and we say to all the skeptics that the march of NSSF is continuing and will not be stopped by all the malicious campaigns," Karaki underlined.
In this connection, he explained that NSSF merely advised physicians to to be prudent in controlling unjustified admissions to hospitals and work to write off procedures that do not require hospitalization or convert them to external coverage in which the Fund contributes 80%. He stated that this step comes in an attempt to control needless spending by preventing the insured, whose health condition does not require admission to the hospital, from being admitted. "The aim is to control health spending to the maximum extent possible, especially since the conditions of the country no longer allow for any flaring policies, and we are now living on aid from brotherly and friendly countries, and this measure approved by the Fund's management was welcomed by the main stakeholders in the field of public health in the country, particularly the Minister of Public Health and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee," Karaki maintained.
Regarding the end-of-service indemnity, Karaki indicated that "the NSSF recently conducted 3 financial studies, all of which proved that the financial sustainability in this section is guaranteed, until at least 2065, and that the solvency ratio in this Fund exceeds 200%, meaning that the Fund is able today to compensate all those insured at once, and therefore there is no problem with the type of end-of-service indemnity, neither today nor in the future, and all talk contrary to that is misleading."Asked about family compensations, he said: "This section has absorbed the accumulated deficit, which was estimated at about 300 billion LBP, and as of this year, it will achieve annual savings of up to 50 billion LBP."
Referring to the financial status of the disease and maternity section, Karaki said: "We have previously indicated that the accumulated deficit in this branch is about 4250 billion pounds by the end of 2020, while the accumulated debts of the Lebanese state are around 4800 billion by the end of 2020. Thus, the financial condition of this section and its continuity is related to the extent to which the state fulfills its duties in terms of paying the accumulated debts to NSSF and the funds allocated to it in the public budgets, the most recent of which is the budget for the year 2021, estimated at 460 billion, of which only 50 billion LBP has been paid to-date."
"We affirm that if the state pays all the funds allocated in the 2021 budget, there will be no problem with the health insurance offerings throughout this year," Karaki reassured.
The NSSF Director-General concluded by reiterating that all talk about the bankruptcy or deterioration of the National Social Security Fund is groundless and is not based on any scientific or accurate information whatsoever.

Annual Synod meeting concludes its works in Bkirki
NNA/June 19/2021
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, held a Mass service on Saturday in Bkirki marking the end of the annual retreat for the Synod of Bishops. In an issued statement following the Synod meeting, the conferees thanked Pope Francis for his interest in Lebanon, the preservation of its entity, and his keenness for Lebanon to remain a country of mission and a model of coexistence and the restoration of its role. Synod members also expressed their support for the move of Patriarch Rahi, which aims to save Lebanon after the failure of the formation of the government and obstruction of the horizon, by calling for Lebanon's neutrality and holding an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations.

Geagea accuses FPM of "lying" when they claim to work for Christians' rights
NNA/June 19/2021
Lebanese Forces Chief, Samir Geagea, accused the Free Patiotic Movement (FPM) of "lying" when they claim to work for the rights of Christians, saying: "It is a new lie when the Free Patriotic Movement claims to work for the rights of Christians after the lies of liberation, the sovereignty of the Lebanese state, the prevention of illegal weapons, and after the lies of reform and change." Geagea criticized the FPM's understanding with its allies during the past four years, saying: "You shared quotas with them and exchanged barter with them, which led to the ruin of the country and the Christians along with it." "Those who say that they are working to achieve the rights of Christians must work first to establish sovereignty, restore the strategic decision of the state and enable it to play its role, because here are the actual rights of Christians, and they have to watch over the management of the state away from theft, corruption, neglect, clientelism and self-interest," he added. "Contrary to what some have suggested about the nature of the current crisis, the prevailing problem is not one of powers between presidencies or a sectarian problem, but rather a conflict of narrow interests, influence and power," Geagea concluded.

Report: Egypt Urges Formation of Govt in Lebanon
Naharnet/June 19/2021
Egypt believes Lebanon should quickly form a much-needed new government, and that any further delay could aggravate the crises in the country, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday. “Egyptian diplomats” have come to believe that “every delay in the Lebanese agreeing on a government will further exacerbate the burdens of the crisis that Lebanon is going through,” according to information obtained by the daily. They believe that the “situation in this brotherly country requires the Lebanese to meet quickly to assess Lebanon’s interest. Egypt encourages the brothers in Lebanon to reach a way out and an understanding of a government in accordance with the initiatives put forward.” They say a new government reserves Lebanon’s stability and civil peace, avoids the dangers and challenges that threaten it, and restores its position and role alongside the Arab and international family.

Lebanon Seizes Captagon Pills Bound for SA
Naharnet/June 19/2021
Lebanese authorities seized Friday millions of Captagon pills in the port of Beirut, placed in two containers loaded with stones and prepared for smuggling to Saudi Arabia. Caretaker Minister of Interior Mohamed Fahmi on Friday revealed that the shipment was bound for Jeddah. Security forces have doubled down to prevent smuggling from Lebanon, regularly carrying out drug busts on its soil. Fahmi asked all countries to have trust in Lebanon and asked the citizens in Lebanon to join their efforts with security forces in order to help restore confidence in Lebanon. He congratulated the port’s Customs on seizing millions of Captagon pills, pointing to coordination between all security agencies, contributing to curbing the scourge of smuggling. He stated that security agencies arrested the masterminds involved in drug smuggling, and that efforts are ongoing to track more sides involved. In May, Saudi Arabia banned Lebanese fruit and vegetable imports after seizing 5.3 million banned Captagon pills hidden in a consignment of pomegranates reportedly from Lebanon. Lebanon urged Saudi Arabia to rethink the ban on Lebanese fruit and vegetable imports.

All Means All’s message to Lebanese leaders: Get lost
Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/June 20/2021
There is an abstract, intangible dimension to a revolutionary slogan like “All Means All” in Lebanon. It is deliberately irrational and expresses a denunciation, by a new generation, of everybody and everything. It goes beyond the need for an explanation, and purposefully embodies many contradictions, almost defying rationality.
“All Means All” — “Killon ya3ni Killon,” or KYK for short — is a nihilistic rejection of anything that could have contributed to where we are. Think of the Paris revolts of August 1968 and its slogans like “Y’en a Marre” (I am fed up), “Elections pieges a cons” (Elections, traps for idiots), “Soyez realistes, demandez l’impossible” (be realistic, demand the impossible). KYK epitomizes the lot and much more. KYK is a three-letter word that says to the establishment, get lost, we’re not playing your games, we don’t accept your rules and we don’t recognize your divisions. They are against the sectarian system, against the wheeling and dealing of political parties, symbols of corruption and nepotism. They are against the split between the March 14 and March 8 political camps. There is something millennial and non-binary that deliberately defies any logic attached to the system.
This is a post-civil war generation that remembers the 2005 cedar revolution being hijacked by corrupt and compromising politicians, and experienced the failure of previous revolts. In 2015, the You Stink movement went nowhere and was later decimated by political divisions when it got real. It was a revolt against politicians who had failed to provide basic of services such as electricity and garbage collection.
In 2015, the golden child of civil society was a group called Beirut Madinati (Beirut my city), composed of nonpolitical academics and technocrats. They had significant support when they fought the municipal elections against the candidates of established political parties. But later a seemingly unified civil society disintegrated when they were confronted with political questions and gained only one single seat in the 2018 parliamentary elections. Politicians could not be beaten at their own game, so KYK said we’re not playing that game this time, and beating the establishment (all of it) became the only game.
KYK symbolizes unity against an abstract enemy that comes under different names. It is sometimes called the political class (all of it), or the establishment (Al-Manthoumeh), or the Oligarchy by the more pretentious. Gradually it was getting focused on a definition of what constitutes “the authority” (the Sulta) and this became code for Hezbollah and its allies. But the H word remains the most divisive and many abstain from using it directly and stick to KYK in order not to fall into the political trap again and splinter the movement.
The origin of KYK is in the 2015 You Stink protests. There was a poster then with a caricature image of all the main politicians: Hariri, Berri, Jaajaa, Aoun, Jumblatt, Gemayel, and also including Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah among them. After a visit from Hezbollah’s blackshirts, they were “persuaded” to remove Nasrallah’s image. It was after that incident that the slogan “All means All” started appearing — it was code for Nasrallah himself.
The 2015 You Stink protests were mainly confined to activists in Beirut, and in the 2018 elections the only civil society candidate that won was also from Beirut. But the Oct. 17, 2019 revolts were nationwide and included cities and towns from the far north to the south. Tripoli, Saida, Nabatiyeh all joined in and the principal unifying slogan was KYK.
KYK is a unifying slogan, but it is also ambiguous, confused and inconsistent when it comes to direct political confrontation. It has an esoteric, almost mystical, dimension in its attempt to purify itself from the dirty business of politics.
The underlying assumption was that revolts were localized and every local group was protesting against its own leaders to avoid any sectarian tensions. Hence KYK became the unifying slogan of a national movement for the first time and that the description of that movement was upgraded from a revolt to a revolution. KYK symbolizes the Lebanese revolution or the thawra.
There are similarities with Iraq, the protests there use the same vocabulary and use code when they refer to Iranian sponsored militias or the equivalent to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In 2019, protesters in Basra and Najaf sent messages to those in Mosul asking them not to criticize the Shiite militias in order to avoid giving them the opportunity to turn it into a sectarian confrontation and rallying support. The protests are similarly against a sectarian establishment riddled with corruption and nepotism and which is unable to provide basic services and employment. But increasingly the revolts are focused against “the militias” which is also code for Iranian influence.
There are deeply rooted cultural features of Lebanese society also encapsulated in KYK. One of them is that politics is historically considered as an exclusive club of political families rarely penetrated by outsiders. After the civil war, Militia leaders and returned billionaire businessmen joined that club but maintained its impenetrability. Another historical feature is the culture of compromise and of turning the page. The slogan that ended the civil war in 1860 was “mada ma mada” or “what is past is past,” and there was a refusal to cooperate with an intervention by European countries to introduce accountability through a tribunal. A similar spirit was encapsulated in the slogan “no winner and no loser” after the mini-civil war of 1958 and in the Amnesty Law of 1991 that was passed by parliament after the Taif agreement that also turned the page over the civil war.
In 2005, protesters in Beirut demanded “the Truth” and the establishment of an international investigation and tribunal over the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. When the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued its judgment in August 2020 clearly demonstrating Hezbollah links to the assassination, the verdict was ignored, just as it was in 1860. KYK is a unifying slogan, but it is also ambiguous, confused and inconsistent when it comes to direct political confrontation. It has an esoteric, almost mystical, dimension in its attempt to purify itself from the dirty business of politics. The real test it will face will be in the elections of 2022, if they are allowed to happen.
• Nadim Shehadi is executive director of the LAU Headquarters and Academic Center in New York and an associate fellow of Chatham House in London.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 18-19/2021
Ultraconservative Raisi Elected Iran President as Rivals Concede
Agence France Presse/June 19/2021
Congratulations poured in for ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi Saturday on winning Iran's presidential election as his rivals conceded even before official results were announced. The other three candidates in the race all congratulated him for his victory, which had been widely expected after a host of heavyweight rivals had been barred from running. "I congratulate the people on their choice," said outgoing moderate President Hassan Rouhani without naming Raisi. "My official congratulations will come later, but we know who got enough votes in this election and who is elected today by the people." The other two ultraconservative candidates -- Mohsen Rezai and Amirhossein Qazizadeh Hashemi -- explicitly congratulated Raisi, as did the only reformist in the race, former central bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati. Raisi, 60, takes over from Rouhani in August as Iran seeks to salvage its tattered nuclear deal with major powers and free itself from punishing US sanctions that have driven a sharp economic downturn. Raisi, the head of the judiciary whose black turban signifies direct descent from Islam's Prophet Mohammed, is seen as close to the 81-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate political power in Iran. Friday's voting was extended by two hours past the original midnight deadline amid fears of a low turnout of 50 percent or less. The ballots were counted overnight, and authorities were yet to release the official result or turnout figures. Many voters chose to stay away after the field of some 600 hopefuls including 40 women had been winnowed down to seven candidates, all men, excluding an ex-president and a former parliament speaker. Three of the vetted candidates dropped out of the race two days before Friday's election, and two of them quickly threw their support behind Raisi. Populist former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of those who were barred from running by the Guardian Council of clerics and jurists, said he would not vote, declaring in a video message that "I do not want to have a part in this sin".
'Save the people'
On election day, pictures of often flag-waving voters dominated state TV coverage, but away from the polling stations some voiced anger at what they saw as a stage-managed election aiming to cement ultraconservative control. "Whether I vote or not, someone has already been elected," scoffed Tehran shopkeeper Saeed Zareie. "They organise the elections for the media." Enthusiasm was dampened further by spiralling inflation and job losses, and the pandemic that proved more deadly in Iran than anywhere else in the region, killing more than 80,000 people by the official count. Among those who queued to vote at schools, mosques and community centres, many said they supported Raisi, who has promised to fight corruption, help the poor and build millions of flats for low-income families. A nurse named Sahebiyan said she backed him for his anti-graft credentials and on hopes he would "move the country forward... and save the people from economic, cultural and social deprivation". Raisi, who holds deeply conservative views on many social issues including the role of women in public life, has been named in Iranian media as a possible successor to Khamenei. To opposition and human rights groups, his name is linked to the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988. The US government has sanctioned him over the purge, in which Raisi has denied playing a part.
'Maximum pressure'
Ultimate power in Iran, since its 1979 revolution toppled the US-backed monarchy, rests with the supreme leader, but the president wields major influence in areas from industrial policy to foreign affairs. Rouhani, 72, leaves office in August after serving the maximum two consecutive four-year-terms allowed under the constitution. His landmark achievement was the 2015 deal with world powers under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. But high hopes for greater prosperity were crushed in 2018 when then-US president Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and launched a "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. While Iran has always denied seeking a nuclear weapon, Trump charged it was still planning to build the bomb and destabilising the Middle East through proxy groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. As old and new US sanctions hit Iran, trade dried up and foreign companies bolted. The economy nosedived and spiralling prices fuelled repeated bouts of social unrest which were put down by security forces. Iran's ultraconservative camp -- which deeply distrusts the United States, labelled the "Great Satan" or the "Global Arrogance" in the Islamic republic -- attacked Rouhani over the failing deal. Despite this, there is broad agreement among Iran's senior political figures, including Raisi, that the country must seek an end to the US sanctions in ongoing talks in Vienna aimed at rescuing the nuclear accord.

Amnesty Calls for Iran's Raisi to Be Investigated over Rights
Agence France Presse/June 19/2021
Ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who was declared Iran's next president Saturday, should be investigated for alleged crimes against humanity and a "spiralling crackdown" on human rights, Amnesty International said. "That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance and torture, is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran," Amnesty said in a statement. Amnesty said Raisi was a member of the "Death Commission" that forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret thousands of opposition prisoners in 1988 while serving as Tehran's deputy prosecutor. Asked in 2018 and again last year about the executions, Raisi denied playing a role, even as he lauded an order he said was handed down by the Islamic republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to proceed with the purge.
Amnesty said the "fate of the victims and the whereabouts of their bodies are, to this day, systematically concealed by the Iranian authorities, amounting to ongoing crimes against humanity". The London-based pressure group said Raisi had "presided over a spiralling crackdown on human rights" while serving as Iran's judiciary chief for the past two years. It said the crackdown had seen "hundreds of peaceful dissidents, human rights defenders and members of persecuted minority groups arbitrarily detained". "Under his watch, the judiciary has also granted blanket impunity to government officials and security forces responsible for unlawfully killing hundreds of men, women and children." It had also subjected "thousands of protesters to mass arrests and at least hundreds to enforced disappearance, and torture and other ill-treatment during and in the aftermath of the nationwide protests of November 2019.
"We continue to call for Ebrahim Raisi to be investigated for his involvement in past and ongoing crimes under international law, including by states that exercise universal jurisdiction," it said. Amnesty called on the UN Human Rights Council's member states to take "concrete steps to address the crisis of systematic impunity in Iran". It said they should establish "an impartial mechanism to collect and analyse evidence of the most serious crimes under international law committed in Iran to facilitate fair and independent criminal proceedings".

Russia's Putin congratulates Iran's Raisi on presidential election win
NNA/Reuters/June 19/2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday congratulated hardline Iranian judge Ebrahim Raisi on winning Iran's presidential election, RIA news agency cited a press officer at the Russian embassy in Tehran as saying. Putin also expressed hopes for the "further development of a constructive bilateral cooperation", it quoted the source as saying. ---[Reuters]

Tehran Summons UK Ambassador Over 'Difficulties' for Iranians Voting in Britain
NNA/June 19/2021
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that Britain's envoy to the country had been summoned amid certain difficulties created for those Iranians who voted in the United Kingdom. According to the Islamic Republic, there was an attempt to disrupt the vote in the UK, as several Iranian citizens faced insults and physical attacks at polling stations across the country. President Hassan Rouhani previously congratulated Raisi as the winner of the vote, while Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei praised the election as a victory over "enemy propaganda". Raisi, who was Rouhani's opponent during the previous election in 2017, received more than 17.8 million votes out of the 28.6 million that have been counted by this moment, the Interior Ministry announced. --- Sputnik News

U.S. Cutting Forces, Missile Batteries in Middle East
Agence France Presse/June 19/2021
The Pentagon said Friday it was cutting the number of troops and air defense units deployed to the Middle East, confirming a Wall Street Journal report that eight Patriot batteries were being moved out from the region. The move comes as President Joe Biden's administration seeks to ease tensions with Iran after they heated up in 2019 and saw a strong escalation in the US military presence across the region. The Wall Street Journal said the Patriot anti-missile batteries were being removed from Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and that a separate anti-missile system, called THAAD, was being transferred from Saudi Arabia as well. Each battery requires hundreds of troops and civilians to operate and support them. Pentagon spokesperson Commander Jessica McNulty said that some of the units were being redeployed to other countries and some were returning to the United States for maintenance. She would not say where the redeployed units were being moved to. "This decision was made in close coordination with host nations and with a clear eye on preserving our ability to meet our security commitments," she said in an email. "We maintain a robust force posture in the region appropriate to the threat and are comfortable that these changes do not negatively impact our national security interests," McNulty said. "We also retain the flexibility to rapidly flow forces back into the Middle East as conditions warrant."The US military is rapidly adjusting its global footprint as it pulls out of Afghanistan entirely and sees a greater threat from China in the Asia-Pacific region. The Pentagon also slashed its troop presence in Iraq last year to 2,500, supporting Iraqi forces in their fight against the Islamic State group. Iran is still viewed as a major threat across the Middle East, but the Biden administration is in negotiations to restore the agreement on Tehran halting its nuclear development program, which would also see some sanctions on the country lifted. "The Defense Department maintains tens of thousands of forces in the Middle East, representing some of our most advanced air power and maritime capabilities, in support of US national interests and our regional partnerships," McNulty said.

US sees ‘wildfire of terrorism’ sweeping from Sahel to Horn of Africa
The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021
RABAT/ TUNIS— A senior US general warned Friday that the “wildfire of terrorism” is sweeping across a band of Africa and needs the world’s attention. He spoke at the close of large-scale US-led exercise with American, African and European troops.
The African Lion war games, which lasted nearly two weeks, stretched across Morocco, with smaller parts held in Tunisia and Senegal. The annual drills were skipped last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, head of the US Africa Command, praised the work accomplished in joint operations, and painted a dark picture of threats besetting parts of Africa. “I am concerned about the security situation across a band of Africa,” from the Sahel region in the west to the Horn of Africa, Townsend told reporters. He noted deadly attacks by al-Qaida- and Islamic State-linked jihadis and al-Shabab. “All of them are on the march,” he said. African neighbours are helping governments deal with the threat, but, he added, “all of that does not seem to be sufficient enough to stop what I call … (the) wildfire of terrorism that’s sweeping that region.”
African Lion saw more than 7,000 troops from seven countries and NATO carry out air, land and sea exercises together. “It has helped our interoperability, our joint capabilities, and provided readiness and a good opportunity to build cohesion across the forces,” said Maj. Gen. Andrew Rohling, commander of the US Army’s Southern European Task Force Africa. He spoke Friday in the desert town of Tan-Tan. There was a hitch at the start, with Spain withdrawing from the war games citing budgetary reasons. Press reports attributed the move to Spain’s poor relations with Morocco, a former key partner.
The two countries have been at loggerheads since Spain took in the leader of the Polisario Front for COVID-19 treatment in a Spanish hospital earlier this year. During the exercise, Morocco held some airborne operations near the Western Sahara and not far from Polisario refugee camps in Tindouf, in neighbouring Algeria. “Those activities have been perfectly conducted and agreed upon between the two militaries,” Moroccan Brigadier Gen. Mohammed Jamil told The Associated Press. The participating countries in African Lion were the US, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Italy, The Netherlands and Britain. Observers also attended from countries including Egypt, Qatar, Niger and Mali.

Amnesty International slams Kurdish clamp-down on dissent
The Arab Weekly/June 19/2021
LONDON--The authorities in Kurdistan have been clamping down on protests and criticism, arresting and detaining illegally journalists and demonstrators, claims Amnesty International in a new report. The organisation has called subsequent trials a travesty of justice with defendants later being further charged for claiming in court that they had been tortured when in custody. Individuals had disappeared into custody and friends and relatives were unable to establish their whereabouts, sometimes for months.
“Authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) must put an end to their ongoing crackdown of protests by way of arbitrary arrests and harassment and they should immediately release those detained, including those already sentenced following unfair trials, in relation to their participation in protests or related activism or professional practice, said Amnesty International.
In mid-August 2020, widespread protests erupted in the KR-I, mainly in Sulaimaniyah, Duhok and Erbil, demanding an end to corruption, better public services and the payment of overdue salaries of government employees. In the aftermath, authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government launched a mass campaign of arrests against activists, protesters and journalists covering the protests under the pretext of preserving “national security”. Amnesty reported: “According to lawyers and human rights workers interviewed by Amnesty International between March 2020 and April 2021, Kurdish security forces reportedly arrested over 100 individuals in Duhok governorate alone and specifically in the Badinan area, northwest of the governorate. Most individuals were released shortly after, but at least 30 remain in detention.”
Amnesty said between February and May 2021 it had interviewed 21 of the detained, their family members, lawyers, human rights workers and journalists. It had also reviewed official court documents including arrest warrants and court verdicts. It documented the cases of 14 individuals from Badinan (three journalists and 11 civil society and political activists), all arrested between August and October 2020 and found that in all cases, Asayish, the KRG’s primary security and intelligence agency and members of Parastin, the intelligence agency of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP, had arbitrarily arrested, detained and in six cases, “disappeared”, individuals, in connection to their participation in protests, their criticism of local authorities or to their journalistic work.
“All 14 individuals were held incommunicado for periods ranging between a few days to five months” said Amnesty, “Six were subjected to enforced disappearance, a crime under international law, for periods of time ranging between ten days to over three months. Of the 14 individuals, three were released but went into hiding for fear of renewed reprisals and one went into hiding after receiving threats; five remained in detention without charge or known charges and five individuals were sentenced to six years in prison following an unfair trial” Amnesty said it had also found four cases where family members of the detained were harassed or intimidated and said a defence lawyer had been approached by an Asayish operative asking about the case in which he was involved. He took this encounter as a clear threat over his involvement in the defence of his client.
Amnesty said that on February 16 2021, the second Erbil Criminal Court sentenced five activists and journalists Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari, Hariwan Issa, Ayaz Karam and Shvan Saeed, to six years each, over acts deemed to be prejudicial to the security and sovereignty of the KR-I.
“They were accused of ‘spying on account of foreign actors; of having supplied the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) with sensitive information, placed the lives of senior Kurdistan regional authorities and foreign officials at risk by gathering information about them and collected arms with the intention of supplying them to an unidentified armed group”. Amnesty continued: “Their trial was marred by serious violations of their right to a fair trial, including concerns around sentences based on statements extracted under duress, failure to provide in a timely manner the case documents allowing defence lawyers to adequately prepare their defence and failure to order investigations into the defendants’ claims of torture. Their families were not allowed to attend the sessions”.
According to lawyers and to the United Nations Assistance Mission on Iraq (UNAMI), who attended the hearings, all five defendants claimed in court that Asayish had extracted their “confessions” under torture. In eight of the cases Amnesty said it documented, individuals were reportedly made to sign confessions or confess on video-tape under duress. “Do not believe what is said on the video. When you see it, know that this was not me. I didn’t do anything. They [Asayish] made us do it,” Suleiman Kamal Suleiman told his family in a phone call in reference to a video-taped “confession” which he maintains was extracted under duress.
Amnesty continued:“ In the case of the five sentenced individuals, the court then relied on these so-called confessions, as well as documents found on the electronic properties confiscated, as well as on (the evidence of) two informants, one of whom remained anonymous. In one case, the sentenced individual faced additional charges of defamation for his claims of torture made in court. But the judge dismissed all these claims and ignored a range of procedural violations which the defence lawyer raised during the hearing. ”Amnesty International maintained that in none of the cases were lawyers give access to the files ahead of the hearing and so could not prepare adequate defences. In addition these lawyers were not allowed to challenge prosecution evidence which was made up of the defendants’ confessions and the secret informant who was not produced in court, even despite an order from the judge.
Further evidence against the journalist Sherwani was produced from his electronic devices. Amnesty said “the main evidence brought against him in court was the creation of a messenger group, which he was accused of creating for espionage purposes and for sharing sensitive governmental information.”When contacted by Amnesty International this March, Office of the Coordinator for International Advocacy (OCIA) of the Kurdistan Regional government claimed that the convictions of the three journalists were not related to their work. However the human rights organisation said that it had examined the chat group messages and concluded that they were indeed used for journalism. Sherwani was later prosecuted again for claiming in court that he had been tortured in detention. Amnesty International has said the Kurdish authorities must immediately release all those kept in arbitrary detention and those given unfair trials unless they are charged with a crime that is recognisable in international law. The organisation is further demanding that “reprisals, intimidation and harassment of journalists, human rights defenders, activists and their families must end”. It also wants the KR-I to amend ill-defined and vague laws that have been used a tool to limit freedom of expression.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 18-19/2021
The Biden Administration’s Iran Policy: All Carrots, No Stick
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/June 19/2021
ماجد رفي زاده/معهد جيتستون: سياسة إدارة بايدن تجاه إيران هي عبارة عن شوالات جزر ولا حتى عصا واحدة
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/99875/majid-rafizadeh-gatestone-institute-the-biden-administrations-iran-policy-all-carrots-no-stick-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%87-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d8%ac/
Secretary of State Antony Blinken… stated at his inauguration hearing that he had “deep concern about the designation” of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, in that “at least on its surface it seems to achieve nothing particularly practical in advancing the efforts against the Houthis and to bring them back to the negotiating table….” One wonders if the same thinking would apply to Al Qaeda or Islamic State.
In yet an additional form of appeasement, the Biden administration has been strenuously ignoring the Iranian regime’s aggression and destabilizing behavior….. now, [Iran] is sending a destroyer… and a support vessel… to Venezuela.
“If the boats [seven Iranian high-speed missile-attack craft] are delivered, they may form the core of an asymmetrical warfare force within Venezuela’s armed forces. This could be focused on disrupting shipping as a means of countering superior naval forces. Shipping routes to and from the Panama Canal are near the Venezuelan coast.” — H I Sutton and Sam LaGrone, USNI News, U.S. Naval Institute, June 1, 2021.
Tehran has not only been using Venezuela for military cooperation, but also, it seems, to advance its nuclear program…. Iran’s ruling mullahs, in fact, appear to have been using Venezuela as part of a larger agenda for increasing Iran’s influence and the presence of its proxies in Latin and North America.
Instead of confronting Iran’s predatory regime, the Biden administration, has been forging ahead with the failed 2015 “nuclear deal” — which permits Iran to become a legitimate, full-blown nuclear power in just a few years. The Biden administration is also turning a blind eye to the regime’s alarming and increasing human rights violations.
Since the Biden administration assumed office, it has been increasingly appeasing the Iranian regime, which in return, is further emboldening and empowering the mullahs. Pictured US President Joe Biden (right) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (second from right) in Geneva on June 15, 2021.
Since the Biden administration assumed office, it has been increasingly appeasing the Iranian regime, which in return, is further emboldening and empowering the mullahs.
The first appeasement came when the administration changed the previous administration’s policy of maximum pressure to a policy of appeasement toward the Iran’s proxy militia group, the Houthis. Even as evidence — including a report by the United Nations — showed that the Iranian regime is delivering sophisticated weapons to the Houthi militia group in Yemen, the Biden administration suspended some of the sanctions against terrorism that the previous administration imposed on the Houthis. The previous US administration had designated Iran’s proxies, the Houthis, a terrorist group.
The Houthis have been committing crimes against humanity, including taking over Yemen’s capital, Sana’a; arbitrarily detaining and forcibly disappearing people; recruiting children, seizing hostages; dispatching “numerous indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes, killing thousands of civilians and hitting civilian structures in violation of the laws of war,” according to Human Rights Watch; as well as using banned antipersonnel landmines, and firing “artillery indiscriminately into cities such as Taizz, killing and wounding civilians,” and “launching indiscriminate ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia.” The Houthis have also been inflicting extreme forms of torture such as beating detainees with metal bars and rifles, and hanging them from walls with their arms tied behind them.
According to Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2020:
“Since September 2014, all parties to the conflict have used child soldiers under 18, including some under the age of 15, according to a 2019 UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen report in 2019. According to the secretary general, out of 3,034 children recruited throughout the war in Yemen, 1,940—64 percent—were recruited by the Houthis.”
The Houthis are also using landmines that kill civilians in Yemen, according to Human Rights Watch. In addition, more than 40 drones and missiles were reportedly launched by the Houthis at Saudi Arabia in the month of February alone.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken nevertheless stated at his inauguration hearing that he had “deep concern about the designation” of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, in that “at least on its surface it seems to achieve nothing particularly practical in advancing the efforts against the Houthis and to bring them back to the negotiating table….” One wonders if the same thinking would apply to Al Qaeda or Islamic State.
On February 12, 2021, in yet a further appeasement of Iran, the Biden administration revoked the designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist group altogether. The Biden Administration handed Iran’s regime an undeserved political victory.
Then, right before heading to Vienna to negotiate rejoining the disastrous 2015 nuclear deal, which, incidentally, Iran never signed, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that America was prepared to lift sanctions against Iran:
“We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA. I am not in a position here to give you chapter and verse on what those might be”.
Iran’s mullahs, nevertheless, did not actually have to wait until the revival of the nuclear deal; last week, on June 10, the Biden administration lifted sanctions on three former Iranian government officials and two Iranian companies involved in the country’s oil industry.
“Biden cravenly lifted sanctions on Iran,” former US President Donald Trump commented.
“Now, they’re actually asking for money. Here we go again. Remember? They got $150 billion plus $1.8 billion in cash. Now, they’re actually asking for money. They never asked me for money. It’s unbelievable. It’s so sad to see.”
Indeed, Iran’s leaders are now emboldened and most likely assume that they can extort even more concessions from the Biden administration because they successfully did so in the past — when Biden was Vice President during the Obama administration. As Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told a forum organized by New York’s Council on Foreign Relations last fall, he wants a new deal. “A sign of good faith is not to try to renegotiate what has already been negotiated,” he said, adding that the US must “compensate us for our losses” before any new talks.
Iran’s top judicial body had already demanded a year earlier that the US pay $130 billion in “damages.”
In yet an additional form of appeasement, the Biden administration has been strenuously ignoring the Iranian regime’s aggression and destabilizing behavior. Iran’s regime not only threatened to destroy US warships in the Persian Gulf last April; now, it is sending a destroyer, the Sahand, and a support vessel — the intelligence-gathering Makran — to Venezuela. The Makran set sail on the mission “with seven high-speed missile-attack craft strapped to its deck,” according to a report published by the U.S. Naval Institute. The report continued:
“If the boats are delivered, they may form the core of an asymmetrical warfare force within Venezuela’s armed forces. This could be focused on disrupting shipping as a means of countering superior naval forces. Shipping routes to and from the Panama Canal are near the Venezuelan coast.”
Tehran has not only been using Venezuela for military cooperation, but also, it seems, to advance its nuclear program. Venezuela has been accused of covertly assisting Iran with the production of raw material for nuclear weapons as well as ballistic missiles. The ruling mullahs, in fact, appear have been using Venezuela as part of a larger agenda for increasing Iran’s influence and the presence of its proxies in Latin and North America.
The Biden administration should be seriously concerned about Iran-backed Hezbollah’s increasing presence in Venezuela. As Ambassador Nathan Sales, former Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department, said:
“We’re concerned that Maduro has extended safe harbor to a number of terrorist groups, the ELN [National Liberation Army] in particular, but also FARC [the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] dissidents who rejected the peace accord, as well as supporters and sympathizers of Hezbollah.”
Instead of confronting Iran’s predatory regime, the Biden administration has been forging ahead with the failed 2015 “nuclear deal” — which permits Iran to become a legitimate, full-blown nuclear power in just a few years. The Biden administration is also turning a blind eye to the regime’s alarming and increasing human rights violations.
The Biden administration’s policy towards the Iranian regime can fairly be characterized, then, as all carrots, no stick.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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Is the 'hardliner' talking point about Iran’s Raisi a whitewash?
Seth J. Frantzman/ Jerusalem Post/June 19/2021
Is the term accurately a descriptive for Iran’s far-right extremist theocratic leaders, or is it used to whitewash and excuse Iran’s politics?
A global narrative among major media outlets uses the term “hardliner” to describe Ebrahim Raisi, the winner of Iran’s presidential election announced Saturday.
The term “hardliner” was invented by major media to describe the far-right in Iran. It is generally not used to describe any other form of politics in the world. For instance, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Japan, Spain or the Congo don’t have “hardliners” – only Iran.
Does the term accurately describe Iran’s far-right extremist theocratic leaders, or is it used to whitewash and excuse Iran’s politics, the way “militants” is used to describe extremist groups that mass murder civilians?
Major media that use the term “hardliner” also explain to the readers what it means – sometimes. The BBC notes that “Iran’s hardliners will seek to reinforce a puritanical system of Islamic government, possibly meaning more controls on social activities, fewer freedoms and jobs for women, and tighter control of social media and the press. The hardliners are suspicious of the West, but both Raisi and Supreme Leader Khamenei favor a return to an international deal on Iran’s nuclear activity.”
BBC’s headline on June 19 was that “hardliner Raisi will become president.”
CNN also says that Raisi is the “hardliner” who will be the next president. However, CNN’s headline also calls him “ultraconservative.”
The article notes that “From 2018 onwards, [former President Donald] Trump unleashed a torrent of sanctions that crippled Iran’s economy and emboldened hardliners. The tiny window of opportunity granted by the clerical class to the moderate government of President Rouhani to engage with the US and Europe began to quickly close. Trump had proven the hardliners’ skepticism about the West correct, Iran’s conservatives repeatedly said.”According to France24, Raisi is an “ultra-conservative” who is replacing a “reformist” in the current President Hassan Rouhani. Under Rouhani, people were persecuted for not covering their hair, for protesting, and for other minor offenses. A well-known wrestler was murdered under Rouhani’s supposed “reform” leadership. Foreign tourists were kidnapped and kept in prison. Journalists and dissidents were hunted down abroad. CBS also calls Raisi a hardliner, as does Turkey’s TRT.
With the term “hardliner” cemented as the only normative term that can be used to describe Raisi, it is worth wondering what else is going on.
Is there any substantial difference between the regime under the “hardliners” than under the “reformers”?
IRAN ALLOWS some diversity of thought. Its media has more interesting stories than the totally totalitarian media in Turkey, where only pro-AKP views are aired on state media and where criticism of the president can land people in prison.
Iran’s regime is more open than the regimes Iran supports in Damascus and the thugs it supports among Hezbollah and the Houthis, as well as militias in Iraq.
However, Raisi may be even worse than what Iran has seen in the past. On June 19, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said that “Ebrahim Raisi’s election as Iran’s new president was a blow for human rights and called for him to be investigated over his role in what Washington and rights groups have called the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988,” according to Reuters.
It looks like Raisi is not just a “hardliner” or “conservative” but was responsible for mass murder. That would put him on par with other murderous regime leaders. Accusations of crimes against humanity are not usual for a ruler of a country.
Amnesty noted that, “in 2018, our organization documented how Ebrahim Raisi had been a member of the ‘death commission’ which forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret thousands of political dissidents in Evin and Gohardasht prisons near Tehran in 1988.” This sounds like a lot more than just “hardliner.”
THE REASON the term “hardliner” was invented was largely as a foil for narratives in the West. The Western countries needed the far-right extremist Iranian regime that hangs innocent people to have a good side, so “reformers” were conjured up.
Then “hardliners” were said to oppose them. But the reality was that Iran’s regime, run by Ayatollah Khamenei and the IRGC, was already one of the most extremist regimes in the world.
But Western governments wanted to make a deal with it in the run-up to the 2015 JCPOA. To do this, a narrative was created – through focus groups and various lobbying groups that were close to governments and media – to push narratives about the so-called “Iran Deal” and the need to “empower moderates.”
This created a narrative whereby anyone opposing the Iran deal was “empowering hardliners” by not giving Iran’s regime everything it wanted.
It didn’t matter if Iran’s regime was imprisoning people and giving them “lashes” for music videos or kidnapping Western tourists and accusing them of spying for no reason other than to use them as hostages – the regime had “moderates” and “hardliners.”
During the Trump era, the narrative worked to portray him as “empowering hardliners.” When the Biden administration came into office, there were attempts to argue that the administration should rush back to the Iran deal or the “hardliners” might win the June elections. Now we have seen the “elections” in which basically only “hardliners” were allowed to run.
It stands to reason that Iran has “hardliners” the way other countries do. Iran doesn’t exist on the moon; its politics are linked to those in Iraq, Lebanon and the rest of the region. It may be the only Shi’ite theocracy, but its version of political Islam is not so different from that of the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood who run Turkey’s AKP.
It is a “revolutionary” power, but largely in a reactionary way. This leaves many questions as to why it has “hardliners” while other countries often do not, at least consistently the way Iran’s politics is said to be divided.
This brings to mind how Western countries are often said to have a “far right,” much as Israel has a “far right” – while in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan or Malaysia there are fewer references to the “far right.”
This is because Western media often lacks a lexicon to discuss non-Western political systems. In such cases, arbitrary terms like “hardliner” are used. This is in place of local terms.
When it comes to Raisi it’s not clear if the term “hardliner” is enough to describe a man now potentially wanted for crimes against humanity.

Biden’s multilateralism is all very nice. But now let’s see action
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/June 20/2021
For international correspondents, the last couple of weeks represented a gourmet meal of global summits, bilateral meetings and multilateral fora. But what does all this frenzied diplomatic activity mean for the real world? Among Western leaders, there have been smiles and backslapping aplenty, with the G7 and NATO meetings functioning therapeutically as a dance upon Trumpism’s grave — and good riddance! Leaders can once again see eye-to-eye and hold civilized debates on issues that matter.
The question is whether these global powers today collectively possess the unassailable diplomatic clout they once enjoyed in an international environment where authoritarian leaders are running amok, entire regions are afflicted by disintegrating states and human rights are trampled upon on an industrial scale.
One of the most visible tests of Biden’s fledgling presidency was whether or not he could stand up to figures like Putin and Erdogan, both of whom exploited the anarchy of the Trump years to invade a handful of states and aggressively project personal power inside and outside their borders. How did Biden do?
A single meeting was never going to compel Putin to admit the error of his ways, and many commenters dismissively condemned the encounter as an opportunity for the Russian president to bask in his own self-importance. They simultaneously criticized Biden for naivety and stubborn optimism.
However, Biden used the summit to establish ground rules on issues like cyber-warfare, his implied message being: We don’t want to have to hurt you! Perhaps a textbook example of the diplomatic art of speaking softly while wielding a big stick would do? We’ve already seen tin-pot dictators like Erdogan moderating their behavior in the knowledge that the current US administration will no longer tolerate flagrant warmongering and demagoguery.
With these latest summits taking place in rarefied locations like Geneva, Brussels and Cornwall, it’s easy to miss the fact that our planet sits atop a live volcano.
Given that much of Putin’s aggressive behavior apparently stems from a sense of personal and national inferiority, there is no harm in offering him respect and cordiality as part of this reset. The world is sick to death of unearned excessive Western superiority and over-confidence. The West can deservedly earn superiority if its human rights and governance record remains superior, but let’s see an era of greater modesty, honesty and respect for non-Western civilizations, coupled with a pragmatic readiness to genuinely set the world to rights and address existential challenges like climate change, regional instability and extreme poverty.
The Trump regime inflicted lasting damage upon the credibility of American democracy, and Europe is asking: What will happen in four years’ time? Will anything Biden signs be torn up by a bellicose successor?
These summits were a glorious triumph of style over substance. Leaders took pains to proclaim their unity versus China, but regrettably, Secretary of State Blinken isn’t being imitated by many other foreign ministers when he defines Beijing’s actions against the Uyghurs and other minorities as genocide.
Only fleeting exposure was granted to chronic instability in locations like Syria, Yemen, Burma, Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. Have Western leaders surrendered responsibility for far-flung areas of the world engulfed in quasi-permanent conflict and turbulence — ungoverned spaces that relentlessly export mass migration, terrorism and anarchy? This is the pervading situation throughout much of conflict-wracked Africa, while Lebanon and Iraq — sitting precariously on either side of Syria — are a mere step away from the abyss. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s impending disintegration risks dragging Central Asia into compounded turmoil. Why scarcely a word about these disaster zones?
France is currently withdrawing 5,000 troops from the Sahel region at the worst conceivable moment, following a succession of coups in Mali, with neighboring states still confronting a jihadist onslaught. Britain is equally disastrously slashing funding for the world’s poorest states, abandoning millions to starve. None of this is unrelated to the West’s current obsession with China and Russia, with both states profiting from such chaos to aggressively expand their global footprint. Recent reports spotlighted the embroilment of Russian mercenaries in appalling human rights atrocities in the Central African Republic.
Why is the US withdrawing its Patriot anti-missile batteries from the Middle East at the exact moment that Khamenei has engineered the coronation of grizzled hardliner Ebrahim Raisi for the presidency? Raisi is a dangerous extremist who has built his national profile upon the mass executions of political prisoners, blatantly heralding a new phase of terrorism and mischief-making on a global scale.
Hence, it’s all very nice for Biden and Western leaders to waffle passively and complacently about cooperation and multilateralism, but to what end? Where is the commitment to promoting good governance, fighting poverty and supporting failing states? It is difficult to envisage Western pressure having any meaningful influence on Putin and Xi’s style of governance, but what about the dozens of states where they could have an impact through vigorous diplomatic pressure and well-targeted developmental support?
With these latest summits taking place in rarefied locations like Geneva, Brussels and Cornwall, it’s easy to miss the fact that our planet sits atop a live volcano.
The world is an infinitely less stable place than just a decade ago. Climate change threatens to render vast regions uninhabitable. Conflict-resolution and international law institutions like the UN Security Council are broken beyond repair.
Mass refugee movements and polarized political discourse will continue rocket-fueling the same xenophobic, anti-immigrant backlashes that swept Trump and other repugnant far-right tendencies to power.
Hence, if Biden, Trudeau and Macron don’t want to be swept away by a new tsunami of anti-democratic populist barbarians, enough of the platitudes and backslapping. Roll up your sleeves and start seriously putting this broken world to rights!
* Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the media services syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.