English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 03/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.october03.21.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.Take note, I have told you beforehand
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 24/23-31: “If anyone says to you, “Look! Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!” do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, “Look! He is in the wilderness”, do not go out. If they say, “Look! He is in the inner rooms”, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 02-03/2021
Say Loudly NO, To Parliamentary Elections Under Hezbollah Occupation/Elias Bejjani/September 02/2021
Ministry of Health: 702 new injuries and 8 deaths
Tenenti to NNA: Abducted shepherd released
High-level US delegation, including Hochstein, to visit Lebanon
Crisis-hit Lebanon inaugurates its pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai in a message of hope
UK Army to Deliver Petrol from Monday amid Fuel Crisis
U.S. Foreign Relations Committee 'Extremely Concerned' by Port Probe Suspension
Mikati receives phone call from Erdogan
Chamoun: Decentralization is the solution
Bou Habib: Lebanon is grateful for China's support in international forums
FPM warns against amending electoral law, attempting to obstruct the Beirut port investigation
Bou Nassar presents his credentials to President of Belarus as non-resident ambassador to Minsk
Mawlawi meets with Al-Asmar, Tlais
Energy Minister meets U.S. Ambassador
La révolution est morte, vive la Résistance/Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 03/2021
Cancer of corruption is destroying Lebanon’s soul/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/October 02/2021
LIC Statement on Suspension of Investigation in the Beirut Port Explosion
In Syria and Lebanon, the cost of impunity is too heavy to bear/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 02/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 02-03/2021
Iran asked US to unfreeze $10 bln to show good will: Iran FM
France’s Macron discussed Tunisia situation with President Saied
Ankara slams Greek-French defence pact as way of ‘isolating’ Turkey
In defiance of president’s orders, Ghannouchi says parliament in session
Iraqis rally to mark second anniversary of mass protests
Rival Libyan factions end meeting in Morocco with no sign of agreement
Tripoli raids: War on drugs or mass migrant round up?
Qatar’s first legislative elections see 44 pct voter turnout
Algeria recalls ambassador to France as tensions rise over Macron comments
Sudan factions form new alliance as splits deepen from main bloc
U.S. Surpasses 700,000 Covid Deaths

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 02-03/2021
Nuclear Armed Iran More Dangerous Than North Korea/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/October 02/2021
All eyes on Africa in the great power game/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/October 02/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 02-03/2021
Say Loudly NO, To Parliamentary Elections Under Hezbollah Occupation
Elias Bejjani/September 02/2021
Quite frankly, those citizens and politicians who are going blindly to participate in any Parliamentary Elections while the terrorist Hezbollah is occupying Lebanon, are not actually pro sovereignty, independence, freedom or democracy, but mere Dhimmitude and Trojans who with a dead conscience are legitimizing the Iranian occupation that is destroying and prostituting every thing that is civilization and Lebanese. It is time grasp this plain fact

Ministry of Health: 702 new injuries and 8 deaths
NNA/October 02/2021
In its daily report on the latest COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health announced today the registration of 702 new infections with the Corona virus, which raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 625,445. It added that 8 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

Tenenti to NNA: Abducted shepherd released
NNA/October 02/2021
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said that the shepherd apprehended by Israel yesterday was returned to Lebanon and back to his father. He added: “UNIFIL liaison team coordinated his return at Ras Naqoura while the HOM FC was in touch with the parties to secure the safe return of the boy.”

High-level US delegation, including Hochstein, to visit Lebanon
A State Department official confirmed recent reports that Hochstein would be the new point person for indirect border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/02 October ,2021
A high-level US delegation, including the new diplomat tasked with mediating the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border dispute, is expected to visit Beirut later this month, sources familiar with the matter said. Amos Hochstein, who US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tapped in August as a senior advisor for energy security, will travel to Lebanon with a delegation from Foggy Bottom, a US official told Al Arabiya English. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland is also likely to make the trip after Blinken’s visit to Paris, scheduled for next week. Speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, the official confirmed recent reports that Hochstein would be the new point person for indirect border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The State Department said it could not confirm the trip at this point. A State Department spokesperson later confirmed Al Arabiya English’s earlier reporting that Hochstein would take on the new role. “We can confirm that Amos Hochstein will resume his role as US mediator for the Israel-Lebanon maritime border talks, which he held during the Obama Administration. He looks to build upon the strong work done by Ambassador John Desrocher over the last year,” the official said in an email. Government sources in Lebanon said they had heard reports of the trip, but that they did not have anything officially scheduled. Lebanese officials recently formed a government after going for over a year without one. Decades of mismanagement, sectarianism and corruption led to an unprecedented financial and economic crisis. The coronavirus pandemic and the Aug. 4 Beirut blast exacerbated the crisis, which has led to thousands of Lebanese fleeing the country. The United States and much of the international community have pledged billions of dollars of aid, soft loans and grants; however, most of the money is contingent upon implementing anti-corruption reforms. With the Afghanistan withdrawal presenting a massive headache and challenge for President Joe Biden and a priority of countering Russia and China, Lebanon has fallen down to the list of priorities for the White House. Nuland and Hochstein would be the most senior delegation to visit Beirut under the Biden administration. Pentagon officials have made trips to Lebanon, and the military-to-military relationship remains a robust one, according to officials.
Border dispute
Israeli-born Hochstein will take over the role, which was being carried out by John Desrocher, former ambassador to Algeria and current US Charge d’Affaires in Qatar. Talks between Beirut and Israel have stalled after an initial few rounds of negotiations held under the auspices of the UN and brokered by Washington. The discussions have solely been focused on the disputed maritime border where large deposits of natural gas are believed to be.
The US has tried to mediate a solution for years but to no avail. Under the Trump administration, officials from both sides finally agreed to sit in one room and begin hashing out their differences. Hochstein brings to the table experience in the matter as he briefly tried to mediate while the State Department’s special envoy for international energy affairs from 2014-2017.
*This has been edited to include a statement from the US State Department, sent after Al Arabiya English published this article, on Amos Hochstein.

Crisis-hit Lebanon inaugurates its pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai in a message of hope
Rawad Taha, Al Arabiya English/02 October ,2021
Crisis-hit Lebanon has inaugurated its pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai in a message of hope. The launching ceremony started with the Lebanese and UAE national anthems under the supervision of the Tania Kassis Academy in a performance by 50 Lebanese children residing in Dubai.
The Lebanon pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is organized by the Federation of Lebanese Chambers, commissioned by the Lebanese government, and in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Trade. The pavilion includes the Together We Walk concept, an art gallery, a concept store, and a wine bar. Together We Walk is an invitation for the visitor to join the collective walk of the Lebanese people that refers to the principles of synergy and solidarity, of encounter and connecting minds, that creates change and opportunity. The itinerary continues through the second space which is a temporary exhibition space where Lebanese artists participate in thematic rotational exhibitions on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, selected accordingly to a main theme covering traditional visuals arts as ceramics, sculpture, paintings, as well as the most comprehensive digital art creations. Its objective is to showcase the moving and incredibly creative Lebanese art scene.
Exhibits exquisite artisanal products, souvenirs, and ready-to-wear fashion clothes specially created by famous international Lebanese designers. The concept store is also meant to promote Lebanese fashion, which is mainly elitist and an Haute Couture one, and invest its prestige for an added value ready-to-wear production, accessible to the larger public. The Winebar features the Lebanese Wine Industry with more than 19 internationally renowned brands. Wine tasting and initiation to enology will take place in the Wine bar with prominent Lebanese sommeliers.
At the outset, Lebanon’s Ambassador to the UAE Fouad Dandan delivered a speech in which he said, “It is necessary to point out thanks and gratitude to a generous initiative from the UAE and the organizers of this event, who provided Lebanon with this pavilion’s land, designs, and construction. This shows their eagerness to participate in Lebanon’s active participation, despite its economic, monetary, and financial crises, which it is going through.” “I would like to thank Her Excellency Mrs. Reem al-Hashemi, through her position as Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director-General of the Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, for the leadership of the UAE and its rational government for this support and appreciation,” Dandan added. Dandan added that the team will strive to make this pavilion a platform for every Lebanese, to offer his contributions in various creative, artistic, cultural, intellectual, technical, economic, and commercial fields. The Lebanese Pavilion was completed under the supervision and management of ONCE Entertainment Services. Lebanon’s State Commissioner for Expo Dr. Mohammad Abu Haidar delivered a speech in which he said, “In the time of the Lebanese drought and the hope of a resurrection. We have come to the United Arab Emirates bearing our grains that bow humbly but proudly before the world.”“We have come to tell the world that we are a people whose will is solid and unbreakable as long as its children strive hard and work to preserve the legend of the phoenix,” Abu Haidar added. Abu Haidar added that the pavilion confirms that Lebanon is strong as long as its Arab brothers are the bond and the evidence for that is the support of the [brothers] in the Emirati leadership.

UK Army to Deliver Petrol from Monday amid Fuel Crisis
Agence France Presse/02 October ,2021
The British army will begin delivering petrol to fuel stations on Monday after fears over tanker driver shortages led to panic buying and forced the government to offer visa waivers to foreign truckers to plug the shortfall. "Almost 200 military tanker personnel, 100 of which are drivers, will be deployed from Monday to provide temporary support as part of the government's wider action to further relieve pressure on petrol stations and address the shortage of HGV drivers," the government said in a news release.  Motorists queued at fuel pumps across Britain at the beginning of the week, draining tanks and fraying tempers. "Thanks to the immense efforts of industry over the past week, we are seeing continued signs that the situation at the pumps is slowly improving," said business minister Kwasi Kwarteng. "It's important to stress there is no national shortage of fuel in the UK, and people should continue to buy fuel as normal. The sooner we return to our normal buying habits, the sooner we can return to normal," he added. The government says a lack of tanker drivers to deliver fuel and unprecedented demand is behind the crisis. Demand for fuel has stabilized throughout the week and stations are gradually stocking up again, but some parts of the country still face severe shortages. The Petrol Retailers Association on Thursday said 27 percent of stations had run dry -- down from earlier in the week, but the same as on Wednesday. "PRA members are reporting that whilst they are continuing to take further deliveries of fuel, this is running out quicker than usual due to unprecedented demand," association chief Gordon Balmer said. The military drivers were put on standby at the beginning of the week, and have since received specialized training. "The government has taken decisive action to tackle the short term disruption to our supply chains, and in particular the flow of fuel to forecourts," said minister Steven Barclay. "We are now seeing the impact of these interventions with more fuel being delivered to forecourts than sold and, if people continue to revert to their normal buying patterns, we will see smaller queues and prevent petrol stations closing," he added. The government has already made a U-turn on tighter post-Brexit immigration policy, offering short-term visa waivers to foreign truckers to help plug the shortfall. Fuel operators, including Shell, BP and Esso, said there was "plenty of fuel at UK refineries" and expected demand to return to normal soon. But following a week of queues, drivers in many parts of the country are still unable to get fuel, stoking concern about the effects on the wider economy. Critics blame government inaction on tackling shortages of lorry drivers after Britain's departure from the European Union in January and the pandemic, which saw many foreign truckers leave the country. As well as fuel deliveries, the shortage has led to empty supermarket shelves and raised fears about deliveries of food and toys for Christmas.

U.S. Foreign Relations Committee 'Extremely Concerned' by Port Probe Suspension
Naharnet/September 02/2021
U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Bob Menendez, ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have released a statement in reaction to the suspension of Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the 2020 Beirut port blast in the wake of legal motions calling for his dismissal. “We are extremely concerned by the suspension of Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the devastating August 4, 2020, explosion at the Port of Beirut which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands more. The Lebanese people, many of whom continue to suffer physical and economic impacts of the blast, deserve accountability for this tragedy,” they said in the statement. Furthermore, Risch and Menendez said they are “alarmed by Hizbullah’s reported role in driving the decision to suspend this critical investigation.”“Judge Bitar is a respected, and by all accounts impartial, jurist with over a decade of service to his country as a judge. It is incumbent upon the Lebanese government to ensure that judges and other investigators can safely carry out their duties and complete this investigation,” the senators added

Mikati receives phone call from Erdogan
NNA/October 02/2021
Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday received a phone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who congratulated him on the government's gaining the Parliament's confidence and hoped for Lebanon's swift recovery.
Erdogan also invited Mikati to visit Turkey for talks over Lebanon's needs amid this critical time. Separately, the Prime Minister chaired a ministerial meeting devoted to discussing the academic year and the demands of public schools' teachers. Mikati later met with Minister of Public Health Firas Abiad.

Chamoun: Decentralization is the solution
NNA/October 02/2021
Head of the National Liberal Party, Camille Dori Chamoun, tweeted today saying: "100 million dollars, a new advance for electricity with the same futile policies…There is no solution but to resort to the private sector in the regions. Decentralization is the solution, so let's start with electricity…failures are those energy thieves!"

Bou Habib: Lebanon is grateful for China's support in international forums
Chinese Ambassador: We will continue to support Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity
NNA/October 02/2021
The Chinese Embassy held virtual celebrations marking the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and China. Participating in the occasion, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib delivered a word on behalf of Lebanon, in which he congratulated "the Chinese people and leadership on the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China," wishing it "more prosperity and progress."
“Today we also celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and China, which were established in November 1971, and it is a commemoration of great importance to us because it strengthens our ties with a great country, rich in its culture, history and contributions to humanity over time,” Bou Habib said.
He added: “For fifty years, Lebanon's relationship with China has been characterized by friendship, continuity and mutual respect. Lebanon is grateful for China's support for its just causes in international forums, especially the liberation of its land from Israeli occupation, rejection of aggression, and preservation of its rights, resources, security and stability, through its participation in the UNIFIL peacekeeping forces and its commitment to consolidating Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence and refusing to interfere in its internal affairs. Lebanon also appreciates China’s support in helping it face the burden of hosting the refugees and displaced brethrens despite its difficult economic and financial situation, and in working for their return to their homes whenever conditions permit.”
Bou Habib continued to indicate that Lebanon respects China's unity and affirms mutual cooperation in a manner that preserves the higher interests of both countries and strengthens the ties between them.
“The people of Lebanon also appreciate the Chinese assistance during crises, especially after the August 4 explosion, and in confronting the Corona pandemic by providing hundreds of thousands of vaccines and other medical aid to contain and overcome this virus and reduce its negative repercussions,” he added.
“Lebanon considers China a primary trading partner for its economy, and looks forward to strengthening its position with it within the framework of the Belt & Road Initiative, and hopes to expand cooperation by arranging for mutual investments, especially in vital areas, and working to increase trade exchange with it, providing facilities, overcoming obstacles and activating agreements,” Bou Habib asserted.
He also commended China's contribution to the establishment of a Higher Institute of Music in Lebanon which constitutes an impetus to boosting bilateral cultural relations, noting that the establishment of Chinese language institutes would be a window for the Lebanese to the ancient Chinese civilization, literature and writers. "Fifty years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries, we seek for this celebration to be a catalyst for strengthening cooperation in existing fields, foreseeing new areas of rapprochement, and benefiting from successful experiences towards a brighter, stable and prosperous future for Lebanon, China and their two friendly peoples," Bou Habib concluded.
For his part, Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon, Qian Mingyan, highlighted in his word the stable development of the Chinese-Lebanese bilateral relations thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, outlining his country’s continuous support and aid to Lebanon.
“A few days ago, the new government was formed in Lebanon. We extend our warm congratulations to it, and sincerely hope that the Lebanese people will work together in a ‘one team’ spirit, and join efforts to overcome the current difficulties for a future of peace, security and prosperity,” he added.
“The Chinese side will continue to support Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity as usual, encourage assessment of ways to enhance practical cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit within the framework of the two sides' joint participation in building the Belt and Road, provide whatever assistance it can to the Lebanese side, and work on the proper implementation of the project of the Lebanese National Higher Institute for Music funded by the Chinese government, actively participate in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in Lebanon and make a greater contribution to maintaining peace in Lebanon and the region,” pledged the Chinese diplomat. At the Corona pandemic level, he continued to stress that “defeating it and restoring economic growth is the international community’s first priority.”
“We must adhere to the concept of a healthy society for humanity, strengthen solidarity and cooperation to overcome transient difficulties, and categorically reject all attempts to politicize the pandemic,” the Chinese Ambassador said, disclosing that his country will present a new batch of 300,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine as a gift to the Lebanese side.
“The Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Paralympics will open in Beijing in less than 4 months,” he went on. “We warmly welcome the participation of the Lebanese players in the Olympic competitions in Beijing, and we also welcome the Lebanese friends to watch the games in different ways. On this occasion, I would like to reiterate my heartfelt thanks to all Lebanese friends for their interest in China and follow up on its situation, and thank the Lebanese friends and Chinese citizens in Lebanon for their contribution to the consolidation of the Sino-Lebanese friendship and the strengthening of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries,” Ambassador Mingyan concluded.

FPM warns against amending electoral law, attempting to obstruct the Beirut port investigation
NNA/October 02/2021
The Free Patriotic Movement’s political council held its periodic meeting on Saturday, headed by its Chief, MP Gebran Bassil, following which a statement was issued calling on “all Lebanese to render the upcoming parliamentary elections a date for expressing the popular will, through competing political and economic programs that can achieve the required change, in wake of the evident need for a new political and economic system.”
Referring to the constitutional deadline, the council warned against a potential project to amend the electoral law and eliminate the right of expatriates to vote for six representatives for the Lebanese Diaspora. “The Free Patriotic Movement, which struggled for the deserving emigrants to regain their citizenship, and to obtain the right to participate in the elections through voting, candidacy and nomination, calls on the expatriates to raise their voice to block the way before those who wish to take away their rights,” the statement went on, considering that “any attempt to tamper with the electoral law will open the door to other amendments to this law that was approved by national consensus and which has consecrated the expatriates’ constitutional and legal rights that cannot be retracted.”The FPM political council also warned against any attempt to obstruct the investigation into the crime of the Beirut port explosion. “The council considers that pressure to dismiss the judicial investigator or push him to resign may conceal an intention to freeze the investigation and stop the course of justice,” the council asserted. On the other hand, it emphasized that “the duty of the investigation, and one of its goals, lies in revealing the source of the nitrates, the importers, and the destination of their use,” adding that “the crime is not confined to job negligence, particularly after large quantities of nitrates appeared in a suspicious manner in the Bekaa region, a fact that cannot be overlooked before the full truth is revealed.”On the work of the new cabinet, the statement said: "The council urges the government to move forward in updating the financial recovery plan, in parallel with the re-launching of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, to be coupled with the parliament’s approval of the proposals for reform laws such as capital control, recovery of funds transferred abroad, disclosure of the accounts and properties of those in public service positions, judiciary independence, consumer protection and competition law,” the statement underlined. It concluded by expressing its belief that “the legislative and executive authorities bear a great responsibility in seizing the opportunity available locally and externally, as the challenges facing the Lebanese require these two institutions to perform exceptionally in order to allow for a glimmer of hope.”

Bou Nassar presents his credentials to President of Belarus as non-resident ambassador to Minsk
NNA/October 02/2021
Lebanon's Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Shawki Bou Nassar, presented Saturday his credentials to the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, as a non-resident ambassador in Minsk, during an official ceremony at the presidential palace in the presence of the Belarusian Foreign Minister and a number of senior officials in the country. In his word on the occasion, President Lukashenko praised the friendly relations with Lebanon, wishing the Lebanese people "more security, peace and stability," and expressing his hope "to develop and strengthen bilateral relations at all levels, including political, economic and cultural." In turn, Ambassador Bou Nassar thanked the Belarusian President for his supportive stances towards Lebanon, stressing his "constant quest to boost friendship and cooperation relations between Lebanon and Belarus."
Bou Nassar held several bilateral meetings during his presence in Minsk, namely with Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei and Deputy Foreign Minister for Middle Eastern Affairs Mikalai Barysevich, with talks centering on ways of enhancing mutual cooperation and coordination particularly in international forums. During his meeting with the Minister of Education, Igor Karpenko, a detailed discussion focused on ways to help Lebanese students studying in Belarusian universities and institutes, as Bou Nassar asked to assist them through scholarships and reduced tuition fees and not to take any punitive measures against any Lebanese student who has delayed payments due to the very difficult and exceptional conditions that Lebanon is going through, especially with regards to transferring money abroad.
For his part, the Belarusian Minister stated that he will follow-up on Bou Nassar’s request, stressing his keenness on the Lebanese students’ conditions and the possibility of assisting them in wake of the stifling economic and financial crisis prevailing in Lebanon.
He promised to "work to take urgent measures to allow Lebanese students to work in Belarus to enhance their financial conditions," pledging not to allow any Lebanese student to be dismissed or expelled from university housing due to late payment of university fees.

Mawlawi meets with Al-Asmar, Tlais
NNA/October 02/2021
Interior and Municipalities Minister, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, met today with General Labor Union Chief, Bechara al-Asmar, with talks touching on the prevailing conditions in the country. Following the meeting, al-Asmar said it was “a congratulatory visit during which discussions focused on a series of issues of concern to the people and the working class, most prominently the provision of social security covering all Lebanese regions.” He added: “We demanded that all municipal workers be covered under the National Social Security Fund,” noting that “Minister Mawlawi was more than responsive,” and disclosing that further meetings will be held with the Labor Minister to that effect. Al-Asmar also indicated that the Interior Minister has given his instructions for the disbursement of a month's salary to employees of public administrations and municipalities. “We must give the government an opportunity to work because the country is in a difficult situation, and we must endeavor to heal the wounds of the Lebanese and establish political stability,” al-Asmar asserted, stressing on the need for absolute cooperation with the Interior Ministry which has a social, economic and security aspect. Later, Minister Mawlawi met with Head of the Land Transport Sectors Union in Lebanon, Bassam Tlais, who raised the suffering of the municipalities and the mukhtars and their difficult work conditions at the economic, social and financial levels. Mawlawi gave his instructions to follow up on their needs, particularly since some municipalities have agreements with certain donors, the set time intervals of which have to be respected.

Energy Minister meets U.S. Ambassador
NNA/October 02/2021
Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Tarek Fayad, received U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, at his ministry office on Friday. The meeting -- which lasted for more than an hour -- reportedly touched on the bilateral relations between the two countries and the role played by the U.S. in supporting Lebanon in this critical phase, especially in the field of energy. Fayad also briefed his guest of the outcome of his contacts with his counterparts in Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

La révolution est morte, vive la Résistance.
Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 03/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/102897/%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d9%83%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a8-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%aa%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ab%d9%88%d8%b1%d8%a9%d8%8c-%d8%b9%d8%a7%d8%b4%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%88/
On me reproche souvent mes attaques à boulets rouges ,dernièrement,contre tout le monde C'est vrai , je tire sur tout ce qui bouge, mais à dire la vérité je tire surtout sur ceux qui ne bougent pas, ou bien ceux qui bougent ou plutôt gigotent sans but précis ou réalisation. Comme ils trouvent encore des fans pour les applaudir, ils poursuivent leurs gesticulations.
Certains dont l'avis me tient à coeur m'en ont voulu de démoraliser les gens. Ils avaient raison et je les en remercie. D'autres amis aussi chers sont venus s'assurer si j'etais deprimé ou pas, vu mes plaintes. Apparement j'ai failli dans mes écrits et mal exprimé mes vrais sentiments.
Faute grave pour un écrivain.
Mea culpa.
En fait je suis, enervé, enragé, aigri, hors de moi , mais surtout ressentant des envies violentes contre tous ceux qui ont fait du mal à mon pays , mais aussi contre ceux qui n'ont rien fait pour le défendre. Dont moi...
On me reproche aussi de critiquer sans proposer d'alternatives. Proposer sur les réseaux sociaux des projets d'insurrection côte à côte avec des femmes qui s'exhibent dans une soirée ou une fausse citation attribuée à Napoléon, suivie d'une photo de pompiste en mal d'être , ne me paraît pas être le véhicule idéal pour renverser un gouvernement ou chasser un intrus.
N'empeche qu'il soit permis de le faire à posteriori.
Messieurs Dames de la révolution:
Il fallait prendre la rue nuit et jour sans relâcher immobiliser le pays sans répit. Même des semaines ou des mois s'il le fallait. Quite à deranger le peuple et se faire insulter par ceux qui ne savent pas que la liberté coûte cher. Que payer le prix au départ coûte quand même beaucoup moins cher qu'après. Nous voilà toujours occupés, fauchés et vivant dans une jungle pour longtemps. Contents?
Pourquoi ne pas avoir brúlé le parlement ? Incendié le bâtiment faute de brûler ses occupants avec.
Et puis c'est quoi ces slogans à la con "selmieh selmieh" ( pacifique). Je vous rappele que nous ne sommes ni à Copenhagen ou Rome où les gens manifestent pour une augmentation de 0.5 % des prix ou pour le droit des LGBT. Nous sommes un pays occupé par des gens féroces , gouverné par des collabos protégés par une armée denaturée.
A chaque mal son remède.
On me reproche d'inciter le peuple â prendre les armes. Oui , oui et oui s'il le faut. Il est légitime de porter les armes pour déloger un occupant. Le hezb en a fait son slogan , vrai ?
Il ne fallait pas écouter les leaders cravatés de la révolution. Il fallait mîmer les casseurs de Tripoli ou d'ailleurs ou piocher dans les livres d'histoire pour savoir que ce sont des Gavroches armés de pelles et de fourches qui ont pris la Bastille.
Pour ma part je me munirai de mes béquilles et gare à celui qui me barrerait mon chemin.
La révolution est morte, vive la Résistance.
Jean-Marie Kassab

Cancer of corruption is destroying Lebanon’s soul
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/October 02/2021
After the Beirut port blast last year, the prospect of a failed investigation — let alone two —into responsibility for that monstrous explosion would have provoked global incredulity. More than 200 people died when hundreds of tons of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer caught fire in a port warehouse, and exploded. The shockwaves from the world's largest non-nuclear explosion could be felt as far away as Cyprus, and caused up to $18 billion in damage.
And it could not have happened at a worse time. Lebanon was already facing intensifying crises, sparked by the collapse of what financial experts termed “a state-sponsored Ponzi scheme,” and a worsening pandemic. The Aug. 4 explosion accelerated Lebanon’s downward spiral from a plummeting currency, hyperinflation, political gridlock, and a massive erosion of sovereignty. More than 80 percent of the population is living in multidimensional poverty, lacking lack stable incomes and access to adequate housing, healthcare and education.
The port explosion did not just reflect deeply embedded ills in Lebanese politics and society. It also became a lethal demonstration of how decades of corruption and clientelism engineered Beirut’s fall from its lofty perch as the Paris of the Middle East to a mere leper of the Levant.
Naturally, the port blast required a serious investigation into its causes, if only to assuage the bereft seeking answers and accountability for their departed loved ones. However, in a land ravaged by a confluence of crises, partly caused by the cabal of out-of-touch political elites running it, the investigation inevitably morphed into a symbolic battleground pitting an already desperate public against an obstinate ruling class.
Unfortunately, the political leadership appears to be dominating that battle given the recent suspension of the investigation for a second time. The suspension came at the behest of two members of parliament who allege that Tarek Bitar, the judge in charge of the investigation, is biased. It caps a relentless campaign by Lebanese authorities to cripple the investigation at almost every turn.
Judge Bitar had succeeded Judge Fadi Sawan, who was first tasked with investigating the port blast only to be dismissed by the Court of Cassation after issuing negligence charges against the former prime minister, Hassan Diab, and three other former ministers. The blatant obstruction has also involved refusing to lift immunities for implicated members of parliament and failures to answer court summons or appear for questioning.
The practice of shielding politicians, the connected, and well-to-do is not a new phenomenon in Lebanon. There was ample justification for simply concluding that the investigation was never going to hold anyone to account, and the truth therein would simply be buried — as has happened after high-profile assassinations and bombings.
The desperate attempts to impede the investigation have become a microcosm of Lebanon’s deep fractures and seemingly endless woes.
Judge Bitar has, however, remained steadfast and unmoved by a Lebanese political class desperately closing ranks and latching on to claims of constitutional immunity. The escalating threats have only served to assure the embattled judge that he on the right track.
More than 75 percent of the case is now complete, and investigators are actively seeking answers regarding what could have sparked the explosion, and probing for hidden links between the parties responsible for offloading the shipment in Lebanon. This much progress amid relentless obstruction has helped to reassure victims’ families that Judge Bitar is the best person to see the investigation through.
However, uncovering the participants and the obscure shell companies responsible for the fertilizer shipment is fraught with serious risks, especially when those truths implicate certain Lebanese politicians and security officials. These risks are not unknown to an unperturbed Judge Bitar or the wider Lebanese public. Wafiq Safa, the elusive head of one of Hezbollah’s internal security agencies, is said to have delivered a threatening letter to Bitar, warning he will be removed by force should the obstruction by Lebanese authorities fail to derail the judge’s investigation.
Even the rare speeches by the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, have taken aim at Bitar, signaling the quasi-state’s intent to divert attention away from its links to the blast itself or affiliated politicians implicated in the investigation, such as the former minister for public works, Youssef Fenianos. He joins a raft of top government and security officials suspected of negligence, including former interior minister Nohad Machnouk and former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil. Others are likely to be ensnared in Judge Bitar’s investigation, since many officials in parliament, government and the security agencies were aware of the improperly stored fertilizer, and were even warned of its potential dangers.
This “war” on Judge Bitar and the desperate attempts to impede the investigation have become a microcosm of Lebanon’s deep fractures and seemingly endless woes. It is now experiencing the worst economic crisis since the 1850s, strangled further by the cycle of corruption enshrined in its confessional political system of governance.
Even the return of a proper government led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati has inspired only dismissive commentary, laughter and exasperation, since the leadership is the product of a failed system.
Aside from the threats within, Lebanon has also become a venue for numerous regional proxy struggles, emboldening elements like the Tehran-backed Hezbollah, which acts as a kingmaker, while its American or French-backed opponents seek to capitalize on the urgency of reversing Lebanon’s imminent collapse. So far, Hezbollah is winning the war of influence, with the arrangement of fuel imports from Iran. However, analysts agree that such a deal will not meet Lebanon’s fuel needs, nor is it likely to last in perpetuity despite assertions by Hezbollah.
It is within that conflagration that the Beirut investigation limps on, renewing hopes that, even in the worst of times, the pursuit of truth and accountability will not relent. For most Lebanese worn down by myriad crises, Judge Bitar’s probe is perhaps the last chance to shake up an unaccountable political class hellbent on prolonging its grip on power. Further politicization of the investigation and the prospect of Bitar’s dismissal risk fueling more outrage in a public forced to witness the slow unraveling of their once-cherished Lebanese state.
*Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Institute at the John Hopkins University School of AdvancedInternational Studies. Twitter: @HafedAlGhwell

LIC Statement on Suspension of Investigation in the Beirut Port Explosion
October 1, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: joanna@theresolute.group
Washington, D.C. - The Lebanese Information Center in Washington is appalled and perturbed by the suspension of the investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion at the Beirut port. Lebanon's political class appears determined to block any attempt at accountability for this catastrophic event, which left more than 200 people dead and wounded and displaced thousands more.
"More than a year later, there has been exactly zero progress in holding senior officials to account for this heinous crime," said LIC President, Dr. Joseph Gebeily.
"Let us be clear: the ruling class, spearheaded by Hezbollah, is once again actively obstructing justice."
The suspension was initiated by a powerful ex-official who had been summoned for questioning by investigating judge Tarek Bitar. Bitar had subpoenaed a key group of current and former officials whose testimonies would have been crucial to uncovering the truth. The ex-official questioned Bitar's "impartiality," thereby triggering a pause to the probe in late September.
This is only the latest attempt by the political class to evade justice. A similar complaint caused a suspension earlier this year by a separate investigating judge, before Bitar was appointed to replace him. Officials have repeatedly refused to lift the immunities of a number of people Bitar had wanted to question. Others who were subpoenaed by Bitar simply did not show up for their sessions. Former PM Hassan Diab left the country before his scheduled session.
But the most prominent obstacle to the investigation has been the blatant interference by Hezbollah, which sent its top security official Wafiq Safa to the Ministry of Justice to intimidate Bitar into backing off. This attempted intervention came after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused Bitar of playing dirty politics and demanded he be replaced.
The LIC denounces any and all attempts at obstructing justice, and urges the international community, led by the United States, not to stand idle as Lebanon's political class repeatedly hijacks this investigation. The US and its allies should use every element of their diplomatic toolbox, including sanctions and other punitive measures if necessary, to ensure that a fair and free investigation is carried out. The international community must also seriously consider establishing an international fact-finding mission, which the LIC believes is the most sure way of uncovering the truth behind the port blast.
“The Lebanese people and the victims of this tragedy deserve the truth, no matter who is implicated,” said Gebeily.
"As opportunities for justice slip away again and again in Lebanon, it is time for the international community to take a firm stand against impunity. We have no time to waste."

In Syria and Lebanon, the cost of impunity is too heavy to bear
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 02/2021
Protesting widows and bereaved parents bearing photos of their lost loved ones from the Beirut port blast were an unforgettable reminder last week of why impunity is morally and practically unaffordable. When mass murderers have the power to derail investigations into their own crimes, it is a guarantee that new generations will suffer bereavement.
In 1982 the world pretended not to notice when Hafez Assad massacred over 20,000 Syrians. His son has been allowed to murder close to a million. Bashar today has only a tenuous hold on Syria. He enjoys no popular legitimacy, and is forced to dance to the tune of Vladimir Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei. So on what basis should we be dealing with this war criminal as a national leader?
Such is Assad’s weakness that the Russian mercenary Wagner Group have been able to monopolize Syrian oil and gas concessions, while Iranian, Russian and Hezbollah-linked entities carve up the economy between them, turning Syria into a narco-state exporter of Captagon, crystal meth and cannabis.
During the mid-2000s, the likes of Tony Blair feted Bashar and his wife Asma. When I met the Assads in Damascus at that time, they energetically sought to convey a veneer of modernity and glamor, cultivating themselves as representing a new dawn for Syria. A snaking queue of diplomats concluded that Assad should be engaged with as the solution to all the region’s problems, even as he funneled hundreds of jihadists into Iraq to massacre coalition troops, and plotted with Hassan Nasrallah to kill Rafik Hariri and other Lebanese national figures. These days it is Asma and her family vindictively pulling the strings, settling scores with rivals and perpetuating control over the presidential palace.
Nevertheless, the proposal for a gas pipeline to Lebanon via Syria may be one of the few viable means for Lebanon to access essential fuel. Lebanon can’t be starved of resources simply because it is unfortunate enough to be encircled by states led by genocidal fascists. However, Assad must not be allowed to benefit financially or politically. States such as Jordan, Iraq and Egypt mustn’t rush to restore Assad to the Arab fold while he remains a puppet of Tehran.
The likelihood that America will offer sanctions waivers for this deal to go ahead has been seized on by Moscow as an indication that the anti-Assad coalition is crumbling, hence an unusually strong State Department statement that the US wouldn’t “normalize” ties with Assad. However, the damage may already have been done. It’s an open secret in diplomatic circles that President Biden wants to extricate the US from Syria and Iraq, with elements in his party lobbying to expedite such a move. This would mean relying on Assad to contain Daesh. Yet Assad created Daesh, in part by flinging open the doors of jails jammed full of jihadists in 2011, and he will continue to exploit them for malicious ends.
States such as Jordan, Iraq and Egypt mustn’t rush to restore Assad to the Arab fold while he remains a puppet of Tehran.
Every time we wonder if it’s time to relax the Assad boycott, we should remember those indescribable images smuggled out of prisons where tens of thousands of innocent Syrians were systematically tortured to death. Nobody says Hitler, or Rwanda’s genocide architects, should have been rehabilitated. Nobody argues when nonagenarian Nazi death-camp staff belatedly face justice. Assad and his accomplices’ fate must be no different.
When we appease genocide, we create the circumstances for mass murder to multiply on a global scale. In a textbook case of ethnic cleansing, about a million Rohingya were displaced and tens-of-thousands murdered, yet the Burmese junta today is only just getting started slaughtering its citizens. With the mass internment of perhaps around two million Uighurs, China dials up human rights abuses to unimaginable levels, while threatening Taiwan and other peaceable neighbors. The appeasement of Assad didn’t directly cause these atrocities, but it cultivated a law-of-the-jungle international environment where industrialized atrocities have become so normalized that they are regarded as rational policy options by desperate despots.
Lebanon, likewise, has become the definition of impunity: Lebanon’s criminal leaders steal billions of dollars. Their actions — or inaction — cause the deaths of hundreds. They can perpetrate assassinations and reap millions from the murderous trade in arms and drugs, but don’t expect them to face justice any time soon, even as they drive the national economy over a cliff. Because of their leaders’ criminal failings, 80 percent of Lebanese live below the poverty line. With impoverished teachers on strike and school buses stalled by fuel shortages, most children aren’t even in school.
As for the suspension of Judge Bitar from investigating the port explosion, our anger was exacerbated because it was all so predictable. Of course, Hezbollah and its acolytes would never allow the progress of an investigation that would demonstrate their culpability on several levels. And if the investigation eventually came to a conclusion, as occurred with the Hariri assassination, these untouchable gangsters and killers would be sheltered from justice, whatever the costs for Lebanon itself. Where is the pressure from foreign leaders to internationalize this investigation, and thus block Hezbollah’s willful sabotage?
Many diplomats are of the opinion that returning to business as usual with Assad and Hezbollah would make everything easier. But looking at the bigger picture, the opposite is true: Dictators learn from Syria that they may slaughter a million citizens and get away with it.
Maybe there is no immediate path for removing Assad, but despots around the world – from Myanmar to Belarus, from Iran to Ethiopia — must know that if they massacre their own citizens, they irreversibly render themselves shunned pariahs, and their best possible outcome is a cell at The Hague.
Justice is never cheap or easy, but a planet where injustice becomes normalized carries costs that we can scarcely comprehend.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 02-03/2021
Iran asked US to unfreeze $10 bln to show good will: Iran FM
Reuters/ 03 October ,2021
Iran’s foreign minister said on Saturday that US officials tried to discuss restarting nuclear talks last month, but he insisted Washington must first release $10 billion of Tehran’s frozen funds as a sign of good will.
Iran has rejected direct talks with the US, and indirect talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear accord aimed at keeping Iran from being able to develop a nuclear weapon stopped in June. The US used intermediaries at the United Nations last month to attempt to make contact, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state television. Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets in foreign banks, mainly from exports of oil and gas, due to US sanctions on its banking and energy sectors. “The Americans tried to contact us through different channels (at the UN General Assembly) in New York, and I told the mediators if America’s intentions are serious then a serious indication was needed ... by releasing at least $10 billion of blocked money,” the minister said. “They are not willing to free $10 billion belonging to the Iranian nation so that we can say that the Americans once in the past several decades considered the interests of the Iranian nation,” Amirabdollahian said in the TV interview.Western powers have urged Iran to return to negotiations and said time is running out as Tehran’s nuclear program is advancing well beyond the limits set by the deal. Amirabdollahian reiterated that Iran would “soon” return to the stalled nuclear talks in Vienna, declining to give a date. Tehran says its nuclear steps are reversible if Washington lifts all sanctions. Iranian and Western officials have said many issues remain to be resolved before the accord can be revived.

France’s Macron discussed Tunisia situation with President Saied
Reuters/02 October ,2021
French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the political situation in Tunisia with President Kais Saied, and Saied told Macron that a new government would be formed in the coming days, Macron’s Elysee department said on Saturday. On Friday, Tunisia’s parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi declared the assembly in session and urged lawmakers to resume work, defying Saied’s suspension of the assembly in a new escalation of the country’s political crisis. Saied has been under domestic and international pressure to name a government after his intervention in July, when he dismissed the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority.

Ankara slams Greek-French defence pact as way of ‘isolating’ Turkey
The Arab Weekly/October 02/2021
ISTANBUL--Turkey on Friday lashed out at a multibillion-euro warship deal between France and regional foe Greece, warning the agreement would threaten regional stability by “isolating” Ankara. France and Greece on Tuesday signed a defence and security deal worth around 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion), that will see Athens buy three French warships, an accord hailed by French President Emmanuel Macron as a major boost to the EU’s defence ambitions. But Turkey, which has an uneasy relationship with its NATO neighbour Greece, criticised the agreement as being aimed against Ankara.
“Greece’s armament and the isolating and alienating of Turkey, instead of cooperation, is a problematic policy that will harm Greece and the EU, and that threatens regional peace and stability,” Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said. The French-Greek agreement came as tensions between Athens and historic regional rival Turkey have increased in recent years over gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean and waters between the two countries. In a written statement, Tanju Bilgic took aim at Greece’s Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos, who speaking on private Skai television late Thursday, said that under the Greek-French agreement, “one country will help the other with military means if the need arises.” Asked if the mutual defence assistance also includes maritime and land, Panagiotopoulos said that it would be valid for “the entire sovereign area” of Greece. In response, the Turkish spokesman said Greece’s effort aim to bolster what he called “maximalist maritime zone and air space claims” that were “contrary to international law”. Bilgic also described the pact between France and Greece as a bilateral military alliance formed against fellow Atlantic alliance member Turkey “in a way that harms the NATO alliance.” The Turkish spokesman added that Greece’s actions would only strengthen Turkey’s resolve to protect its rights in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Greece and Turkey have been at loggerheads for decades over a long series of issues, including territorial rights in the Aegean Sea, maritime and aviation boundaries, and minority rights. Last year Greek warships shadowed Turkish naval vessels escorting survey and drill ships prospecting for gas in waters where Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic rights. Tensions have since eased and both countries have revived talks between high-level officials aimed at resolving issues. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the next meeting would be held in the Turkish capital, Ankara on October 6. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Thursday that he has no intention of competing against Turkey in an arms race and hopes to resolve differences with its neighbor through dialogue, but that Greece must defend its territory and sovereignty.

In defiance of president’s orders, Ghannouchi says parliament in session
The Arab Weekly/October 02/2021
Tunisia’s parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi on Friday declared the assembly in session and urged lawmakers to resume work, defying President Kais Saied’s suspension of the assembly, by virtue of Article 80 of the Constitution, in a new escalation of the country’s political crisis.
Ghannouchi’s declaration looks set to deepen a dispute over the legitimacy of Saied’s seizure of control of most legislative and executive powers in July, a move the president’s opponents called “a coup” but was widely welcomed by the Tunisian public. “The office of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People is in permanent session,” Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahda Movement, said in a tweet.However, head of the Reform parliamentary bloc Hassouna Nassfi considered that “the calls for the return of the suspended parliament may drag the country into conflicts, division and strife,” urging “the need to adopt dialogue and proceed with caution to overcome the current crisis.”In comments to a local radio, Nassfi said that any talk about the resumption of parliamentary activities could be viewed as an escalatory move. “I think that calls for the parliament’s return amount to an escalation of the already brewing crisis and cannot, in any way, be a solution, because a solution in Tunisia can only be reached through dialogue,” he added. Dozens of deputies had earlier released a statement expressing their rejection of Presidential Order No. 117 of 2021, and in the same statement, they called for Parliament to convene, starting Friday. Political figures believe that calls for the resumption of parliamentary activities are a political manoeuvre that aims at pressuring President Kais Saied and influencing international opinion. Political figures have called on lawmakers and the Ennahda Movement to make “concessions” so as to pave the path for dialogue with the Presidency.
Ghannouchi’s Friday statements “are a political manoeuvre aimed at pressuring the Presidency into accepting dialogue,” said Naji Jalloul, head of the Tunisian National Coalition Party. In a statement to The Arab Weekly, Jalloul added, “In all cases, whether it is an escalation or a manoeuvre, this move is dangerous, because Parliament is suspended, and such calls represent a threat to Tunisia’s national security.”Some deputies “are protesting to embarrass the president domestically and internationally,” Jalloul told The Arab Weekly, noting that “the situation has become quite complex because after the naming of a new prime minister. The only solution is to go back to dialogue, with concessions.He added that “concessions must come from lawmakers and the Ennahda Movement, because President Saied has the people’s support.” Elected in 2019, Saied has been under domestic and international pressure to name a government after his intervention in July, when he dismissed the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority. On Wednesday, he named Najla Bouden Romdhane as Tunisia’s first woman prime minister. Ennahda Movement, however, slammed Saied’s nomination of the prime minister by decree as “unconstitutional” and warned the move would deepen crises in the country. Ennahda warned that “the nomination of a head of government outside the constitution and on the basis of an unconstitutional presidential decree can only deepen the economic and social crises facing the country,” the party said.
Ennahda, the biggest party in the now-suspended assembly, demanded “the resumption of the democratic process” and the annulment of Saied’s decree last week which strengthened his powers at the expense of the premiership and parliament, essentially allowing him to issue executive orders and pass laws by decree. The Islamist party called for the next government to be granted “constitutional legitimacy by being put it to a parliamentary vote of confidence, as is written in the constitution in any case.”Tunisia has been mired in political turmoil, legislative deadlock and economic crisis since the 2011 uprising that overthrew president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Many Tunisians have seen little improvement in living standards and welcomed Saied’s July 25 power grab, widely seen as a blow against Ennahda. That came amid deep internal divisions that saw more than 100 members of Ennahda including leading figures announced their resignation on Saturday, over “bad choices” by their chief that had deepened the country’s political crisis.

Iraqis rally to mark second anniversary of mass protests
The Arab Weekly/October 02/2021
Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad on Friday to mark the second anniversary of a popular uprising that fizzled out after a bloody crackdown. Brandishing Iraqi flags and portraits of “martyrs”, they marched to Tahrir Square, an epicentre of the 2019 revolt, surrounded by a large number of riot police, correspondents said. “When will we see the killers behind bars?” and “No to corrupt parties, no to corrupt politicians,” said placards carried by the demonstrators, who included women dressed in black.
On October 1, 2019, widespread rallies erupted across Baghdad and the south of the country against a government seen as corrupt, inept and beholden to Iran. Protest-related violence killed nearly 600 people, including some shot dead while walking home from demonstrations. Saturday’s rallies come just ahead of Iraq’s parliamentary election, brought forward to October 10 in one of the few concessions made by the government to calm the 2019 unrest. One of those taking part, Ibrahim, said he was doing so “in memory of the martyrs” and “the massacres committed by the government against young pacifists”. The 20-year-old, who like many Iraqis prefers not to give his full name when discussing politics, said he would not vote. “The election will reproduce the same corrupt system, and the same corrupt parties. Only the names and faces change,” he said. In the southern city of Nasiriyah, a hotbed of the 2019 protests where 128 people were killed in related violence, hundreds attended a commemorative rally. “It’s a historic moment to remember the demonstrations and the confrontation with the forces of corruption, to remember the deaths and the criminal behaviour, and the silence of the government about all of it,” said demonstrator Ali al-Shamkhawi. The 2019 protests that saw tens of thousands camp out in Baghdad and other cities eventually withered in the face of the crackdown and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Dozens of activists have died in targeted killings or been abducted since October 2019, in attacks normally carried out in the dead of night by men on motorbikes. Nobody has claimed responsibility, but the protesters point the finger at powerful pro-Iranian militias linked to the Iraqi government. Activists and parties claiming to be part of the uprising are boycotting the election, with observers predicting a record low turnout among the 25 million voters. A new electoral law increased the number of constituencies and opted for a single-member constituency system supposed to favour independents and community-based candidates. But experts say the same major political blocs are likely to dominate the next parliament. On Friday, however, some showed optimism.“The revolution will spread through the country faster than the coronavirus, and there is no vaccine,” read one placard at the Baghdad rally.

Rival Libyan factions end meeting in Morocco with no sign of agreement
The Arab Weekly/October 02/2021
Rival Libyan factions wound up a meeting in Morocco without any sign of agreement on a disputed electoral law, ahead of polls scheduled for December 24. They did, however, jointly appeal for international support for the oil-rich North African country’s political process following years of unrest.
Representatives of the upper house, based in Tripoli in Libya’s west, held two days of talks in Morocco’s capital Rabat with the Libyan parliament, whose seat is in the eastern city of Tobruk. “We call on the international community to support the electoral process in Libya… and to send international observers to guarantee that this important event takes place smoothly,” said El Hadi Ali Elsaghir, a member of parliament, at the close on Friday. Libya saw a decade of war following its NATO-backed 2011 revolt which toppled longtime ruler Muammar Gadhafi, leaving the country split between rival administrations backed by foreign powers and myriad militias. Hopes of stability had followed a United Nations-led peace process and a ceasefire in October last year. A western-based unity government took office in March with a mandate to prepare for December elections, but negotiations over relevant legislation have raised doubts over the UN-led process and plans for the ballot. Elsaghir made no mention of agreement with his western colleagues over an electoral law. Germany and the United States have been among nations seeking to ensure that the December legislative and presidential vote goes ahead.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which attended the Morocco talks, had urged the two delegations “to use this opportunity and live up to their historical responsibilities and move forward with completing the legislative framework for elections.”Parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh last month ratified legislation governing the presidential ballot but critics said he bypassed due process to favour his ally, the eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar. Parliament then passed a no-confidence vote in the unity government of interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah. The upper house based in the capital rejected the vote, saying it violated established procedures, laying bare once more the extent of divisions between the country’s east and west. In Morocco, however, discussion took place “in conditions of understanding and consensus”, according to Elsaghir.

Tripoli raids: War on drugs or mass migrant round up?
The Arab Weekly/October 02/2021
What the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) has been hailing as a successful strike against drugs dens in the capital Tripoli has been condemned by an human rights organisation as the mass arrests of more than 500 innocent migrants. Officials said Saturday that number of arrests had reached 4,000.
The arrested took place in Gargaresh, a known hub for migrants and refugees, is about 12 kilometres west of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The town has seen several waves of raids on migrants over the years, but the latest one was described by activists as the fiercest so far.
GNU premier Abdulhamid Dbeibah lauded Thursday’s early morning raids in the capital as a “planned security operation, to eliminate the largest dens of drug industry and promotion in the Gargaresh district” carried out by “ the heroes of the ministry of interior”.
Dbeibah added: “ We will not allow another war to be waged against our youth, the drug war, and we will pursue criminals in all regions of Libya.’’
According to The Libya Herald, while Dbeibah did not specifically mention illegal migrants as part of the raid, ministry of interior photos showed handcuffed illegal migrants under arrest and being loaded onto busses.
However, the Norwegian Refugee Council had a completely different take on the raids. Its Libya country director, Dax Roque protested that the mass razzia had been indiscriminate. “”We are alarmed by reports of mass arrests of migrants in Tripoli this morning. We are hearing that more than 500 migrants, including women and children, have been rounded up, arbitrarily detained and are at risk of abuse and ill-treatment.”Roque continued: “Migrants and refugees in Libya, particularly those without legal residency in the country, are often at risk of arbitrary detention. Torture, sexual violence, and extortion is rampant in Libyan detention centres. We believe this latest wave of arrests is part of wider crackdown by the Libyan authorities on migrants and refugees in Libya and the environment is becoming increasingly more restrictive.”
He called on the Libyan authorities “to immediately release those detained and to end the crackdown on migrants and refugees taking place across the country. Countries with ties to Libya, particularly European states must also scale up pathways for resettlement of refugees in Libya.”
Roque’s protests chime with the recently voiced concerns of the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) over the fate of migrants seeking to pass through Libya on their way to a better life in the wealthy West. It noted that thousands of Europe-bound migrants who were intercepted by the EU-funded Libyan coast guard and returned to Libya had simply disappeared.
According to IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli Libyan coast guard vessels had intercepted more than 24,000 Europe-bound migrants in the Mediterranean so far this year. However, she said that only 6,000 have been accounted for in official detention centres in the North African country. The fate and whereabouts of thousands of other migrants remains unknown, she added. “We fear that many are ending up in the hands of criminal groups and traffickers, while others are being extorted for release,” she said. A spokesman for the Libyan interior ministry which oversees the detention centres, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Libya has for years been a hub for African and Middle Eastern migrants fleeing war and poverty in their countries and hoping for a better life in Europe. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Traffickers have exploited the anarchy and often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber or wooden boats that stall and founder along the perilous central Mediterranean route. Thousands have drowned along the way. These traffickers have been implicated in widespread abuses of migrants, including torture and abduction for ransom. The number of migrants intercepted and returned to Libya so far this year is more than double the number for 2020, when more than 11,890 were brought back to shore. Those caught and returned to Libya have been taken to government-run detention centres, where they are frequently abused and held for ransom under the very noses of UN officials. They are often held in miserable conditions. Guards have been accused of sexually assaulting female migrants in at least one government-run detention centre. Many migrants also simply disappear from the detention centres, sold to traffickers or to other centres. Libya’s government receives millions in European aid money, paid to slow the tide of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. More than 1,100 migrants have been reported dead or presumed dead in numerous boat mishaps and shipwrecks off Libya so far this year, compared to at least 978 reported dead or presumed dead during all of last year, according to IOM.

Qatar’s first legislative elections see 44 pct voter turnout
Reuters/02 October ,2021
Qataris voted on Saturday in the Gulf Arab state’s first legislative elections for two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council, a process that has stirred domestic debate about electoral inclusion and citizenship. Turnout for the election of 30 members of the 45-seat body was 44 percent, the elections’ Supervisory Committee said. The ruling emir will continue to appoint the remaining 15 Council members. The Council will have legislative authority and approve general state policies and the budget, but has no say in the setting of defense, security, economic and investment policy for the small but wealthy gas producer, which bans political parties. “With the chance to vote, I feel this is a new chapter,” Munira, who writes children’s books and asked to be identified by only one name, told Reuters. “I’m really happy about the number of women standing as candidates.”
Government lists showed 26 women among 233 candidates across 30 districts in the country, which has for several years held municipal polls. Men and women voted in separate sections. Ahead of closing, a large crowd cast their ballots in a marquee in the outskirts of the capital Doha, including members of a main tribe, some of whose members had protested over narrow voting eligibility. “At the end of this day, the people of Qatar, they’re going to be part of the decision making,” said candidate Sabaan Al Jassim, 65, in the Markhiya district. The vote indicates the ruling al-Thani family is “taking seriously the idea of symbolically sharing power, but also effectively sharing power institutionally with other Qatari tribal groups,” said Allen Fromherz, director of Georgia State University’s Middle East Studies Center. The election, approved in a 2003 constitutional referendum, comes ahead of Doha hosting the World Cup football tournament next year.
A voting ‘experiment’
Qatar’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, last month described the vote as a new “experiment” and said the Council cannot be expected from the first year to have the “full role of any parliament.”Kuwait has been the only Gulf monarchy to give substantial powers to an elected parliament though ultimate decision-making rests with its ruler, as in neighboring states. The huge number of foreign workers in Qatar means nationals make up only 10 percent of the population of 2.8 million. Even then, not all Qataris are eligible to vote. The polls have stirred tribal sensitivities after some members of a main tribe were ineligible to vote under a law restricting voting to Qataris whose family was present in the country before 1930. Dafi Al Merri, a 30-year-old member of the Al Murra tribe, some of whose members led small demonstrations in August against the law, said the issue can be addressed by the new Council. “We will have a good candidate to solve it, to talk about this law or any other issue in the future,” he said. Human Rights Watch has said thousands of Qataris are excluded from voting. The organization said Qatar arrested about 15 demonstrators and critics of the electoral law during the protests. A Qatari source with knowledge of the matter said two people were still being held “for inciting violence and hate speech.”The foreign minister has said there is a “clear process” for the electoral law to be reviewed by the next Shura Council. “The Qatari leadership has proceeded cautiously, restricting participation in significant ways and maintaining important controls over the political debate and outcomes,” said Kristin Smith Diwan of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

Algeria recalls ambassador to France as tensions rise over Macron comments
AFP/02 October ,2021
Algeria decided Saturday to recall its ambassador to France for consultations, as diplomatic tensions mount with Paris. The move comes after France’s President Emmanuel Macron made critical remarks about Algeria published in French daily Le Monde in which he said the former French colony was ruled by a “political-military system.”“Algeria recalls its ambassador (Mohamed Antar-Daoud) from Paris for consultations,” state television said, quoting a statement from the presidency. It said a longer statement would follow to explain the move. Le Monde on Saturday quoted Macron as saying Algeria has an “official history” which has been “totally re-written.”He said this history was “not based on truths” but “on a discourse of hatred towards France”, according to Le Monde. The remarks, widely picked up by Algerian media, came in a meeting earlier this week between Macron and relatives of figures from Algeria’s war of independence. It is the second time that Algeria recalls an ambassador from France. Algiers also recalled its ambassador in May 2020 after French media broadcast a documentary about Algeria’s pro-democracy Hirak protest movement. Saturday’s move comes amid tense ties following a decision by Paris to reduce the number of visas granted to citizens from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The Algerian foreign ministry summoned the French ambassador on Wednesday to protest the visa ruling. France on Tuesday said it would sharply reduce the number of visas granted to people from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, accusing the former French colonies of not doing enough to allow illegal immigrants to return. Algeria’s foreign ministry handed “a formal protest” to French ambassador Francois Gouyette. It called the visa reduction an “unfortunate act” that caused “confusion and ambiguity as to its motivation and its scope.”Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has described the French move as “unjustified.”There has not been yet an official reaction from Tunisia.French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told Europe 1 radio on Tuesday that the visa reduction decision was “unprecedented.”Paris made that choice, he said, because Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia “are refusing to take back nationals who we do not want or cannot keep in France.”The radio said Macron took the decision a month ago after failed diplomatic efforts with the three North African countries.

Sudan factions form new alliance as splits deepen from main bloc
AFP/02 October ,2021
Several political factions including ex-rebel groups announced Saturday the formation of an alliance separate from Sudan’s main civilian bloc, in the latest sign of splits marring the country’s transition. The announcement at a ceremony in Khartoum came as Sudan reels from fragmentation within the Forces of Freedom and Change, an alliance which spearheaded protests that ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. Sudan has since August 2019 been run by an administration of military generals and civilians from the FFC through a rocky transition marked by economic woes. Splits have deepened within the FFC in recent months, and support for the transitional government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has waned in large part due to a raft of tough economic reforms. Saturday’s ceremony included political parties as well as the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Mini Minawi and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) of Gibril Ibrahim. “We want a united FFC,” Minawi said during the ceremony. “We urge the people on your side who pretend they are from the FFC to sit with us and listen to us,” he added, addressing both the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the prime minister. Hamdok did not attend Saturday’s ceremony. In early September, he was at the signing ceremony for an alliance of other factions within the FFC that also called for unity, calling it a “step in the right direction.” Neither Minawi nor Ibrahim took part in that signing. In October last year, Minawi’s SLM faction and Ibrahim’s JEM were among rebel groups that signed a peace deal with the government to end long-running conflicts under Bashir. Minawi was named governor of western Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region in May, while Ibrahim was appointed finance minister last February. On September 21, the government announced thwarting a coup attempt by military officers and civilians who it said were linked to Bashir’s regime. The country has been grappling with protests in east Sudan by key tribes opposed to the October peace deal. Protests have also erupted in major cities including Khartoum condemning the military coup attempt and calling for civilian rule.

U.S. Surpasses 700,000 Covid Deaths
Agence France Presse/02 October ,2021
U.S. fatalities from Covid-19 have surpassed 700,000, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University, a toll roughly equivalent to the population of the nation's capital Washington. The grim threshold comes with an average of well over 1,000 dying each day, in a country where 55.7 percent of the population is now fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After a heavily criticized early response to the pandemic, the United States organized an effective vaccine roll-out -- only to see a significant portion of Americans still refusing to get the shots.
The United States finds itself having notched the most fatalities in the world, far exceeding other frontrunners such as Brazil and India, and facing a resurgence in cases due to the prominence of the highly contagious Delta variant. While the latest global coronavirus wave peaked in late August, the virus continues to spread rapidly, particularly in the United States. The vaccination campaign launched by U.S. authorities in December -- which had reached a peak in April, with sometimes more than four million injections per day -- has meanwhile slowed considerably. Coronavirus misinformation has been rampant in the country, and masking remains a political issue, dividing many Americans. Some Republican governors, such as those in Texas and Florida, have sought to ban mandatory masking in their states, citing individual freedoms. The Democratic state of California on the other hand announced on Friday that Covid vaccinations will be compulsory for all students. In Washington, hundreds of thousands of white flags fluttered on the grass on the National Mall, not far from the White House, as somber reminders of those who have died of Covid in the United States. Nearly 4.8 million people worldwide have died since the outbreak began in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 02-03/2021
د. مجيد رافيزادا/معهد كايتستون: إيران المسلحة نووياً هي أخطر من كوريا الشمالية
Nuclear Armed Iran More Dangerous Than North Korea
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/October 02/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/102893/dr-majid-rafizadeh-gatestone-institute-nuclear-armed-iran-more-dangerous-than-north-korea-%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af/
General Hossein Salami, the chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has made the Iranian regime’s plans vehemently clear: “Our strategy is to erase Israel from the global political map,” he stated on Iran’s state-controlled Channel 2 TV in 2019. Supreme Leader Khamenei, in 2015, also published a 416-page guidebook, titled “Palestine”, about destroying Israel.
“The mission of the constitution is to create conditions conducive to the development of man in accordance with the noble and universal values of (Shiite) Islam.” The regime’s constitution goes on to say that it “provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the revolution at home and abroad.”
There is the dangerous likelihood of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of Iran’s proxy and militia groups, or that the Iranian regime will share its nuclear technology with its proxies and allies such as the Syrian regime or the Taliban in Afghanistan.
If this is how Iran’s leadership treats its own citizens, what makes anyone think they would treat their perceived adversaries any better? As others have asked: If Hitler had acquired a nuclear weapon, do you think he would have hesitated to use it?
Once such leaders have weapons of mass destruction, it is far more costly in life and treasure to try and stop them. Iran might not even need to use its nuclear weapons; the threat should be more than enough.
The Iranian regime is nearing an atomic milestone in acquiring nuclear weapons. General Hossein Salami, the chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has made the Iranian regime’s plans vehemently clear: “Our strategy is to erase Israel from the global political map,” he stated on Iran’s state-controlled Channel 2 TV in 2019. Pictured: Salami speaks in Tehran’s Enghelab Square on November 25, 2019. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
The Iranian regime is nearing an atomic milestone in acquiring nuclear weapons. In the meantime, the Biden administration does not seem to have a clear agenda to prevent the mullahs from going nuclear. Even the New York Times reported that the Islamic Republic is “within roughly a month of having enough material to fuel a single nuclear weapon”.
Ever since the Biden administration assumed office, the Iranian regime has been accelerating its enrichment of uranium to “near weapons grade”. As the International Atomic Energy Agency pointed out:
“Since 23 February 2021 the Agency’s verification and monitoring activities have been seriously undermined as a result of Iran’s decision to stop the implementation of its nuclear-related commitments”.
The threats of a nuclear-armed Iran must not be underestimated. First, the regime has frequently threatened to wipe a whole country — Israel — off the map. One of the core pillars of the Islamic Republic has been destroying the Jewish state. It is also one of the religious prophecies of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as his successor, the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Israel will be eventually erased from the face of the earth.
General Hossein Salami, the chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has made the Iranian regime’s plans vehemently clear: “Our strategy is to erase Israel from the global political map,” he stated on Iran’s state-controlled Channel 2 TV in 2019. Khamenei has also published a 416-page guidebook, titled “Palestine,” about destroying Israel.
Second, the theocratic establishment of the mullahs is anchored in prioritizing the pursuit of its revolutionary ideals, which include exporting its Islamist system of governance to other countries around the world. The mullahs, in fact, incorporated this critical mission into its constitution. The preamble stipulates: “The mission of the constitution is to create conditions conducive to the development of man in accordance with the noble and universal values of (Shiite) Islam.” The regime’s constitution goes on to say that it “provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the revolution at home and abroad.”
Since 1979, by deploying its IRGC and its elite branch, the Quds Force, Iran’s leaders have managed to expand Tehran’s influence throughout the Middle East from Yemen to Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip through its proxy groups, including the Houthi militia, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a conglomerate of more than 40 militia groups in Iraq.
Third, there is the dangerous likelihood of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of Iran’s proxy and militia groups, or that the Iranian regime will share its nuclear technology with its proxies and allies such as the Syrian regime or the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Iranian regime has already been setting up weapons factories abroad, and manufacturing advanced ballistic missiles and weapons in foreign countries, including in Syria. These include precision-guided missiles with advanced technology to strike specific targets.
As Iran’s regime is already supplying advanced weapons to its proxies, what would stop it from sharing its nuclear technology to empower its proxies and militia groups, to undermine its perceived adversaries’ national security interests and to expand its reach? The latest UN annual report revealed this year that the Houthis have been receiving significant amount of weapons from the Iranian regime: “An increasing body of evidence suggests that individuals or entities in the Islamic Republic of Iran supply significant volumes of weapons and components to the Houthis.”
Iran has for years been designated by the US Department of State as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism”. One of Iran’s diplomats, Assadollah Assadi, is on trial in Europe for a failed terror bombing plot in Paris, France, where a “Free Iran” rally was held. Iran continues to use undercover agents or dispatch troops. Several countries, including Kuwait, have detained more than a few Iranians trying to infiltrate their country. Tehran has been found using its embassies and diplomats in foreign countries for such purposes.
Just as telling, Iran does not treat its own citizens particularly well. In Iran, as recent reports document:
“Security forces used unlawful force to crush protests. The authorities continued to arbitrarily detain hundreds of protesters, dissidents and human rights defenders, and sentenced many to imprisonment and flogging. Women, as well as ethnic and religious minorities, faced entrenched discrimination as well as violence. Enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment were committed with impunity on a widespread and systematic basis. Judicial corporal punishments amounting to torture, including floggings and amputations, were imposed. Fair trial rights were systematically violated. The death penalty was used as a weapon of political repression. Executions were carried out, one in public and some others in secret. Those executed included people aged under 18 at the time of the crime. The authorities continued to commit crimes against humanity by systematically concealing the fate and whereabouts of several thousand political dissidents forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret in 1988. Mass graves believed to contain their remains were subject to ongoing destruction.”
If this is how Iran’s leadership treats its own citizens, what makes anyone think they would treat their perceived adversaries any better? As others have asked: If Hitler had acquired a nuclear weapon, do you think he would have hesitated to use it?
If the predatory regime of Iran’s mullahs obtains nuclear weapons, one can only imagine how much more hostile and emboldened it will become. Once such leaders have weapons of mass destruction, it is far more costly in life and treasure to try and stop them. Iran might not even need to use its nuclear weapons; the threat should be more than enough.
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
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

All eyes on Africa in the great power game
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/October 02/2021
The UK-US-Australia security deal in September was a significant foreign policy setback in Asia-Pacific for Emmanuel Macron, but he will seek to get back on the front foot in a different continent on Friday when hehosts the first France-Africa summit of his presidency.
Africa has long been a foreign policy priority for Paris. For almost a century and a half, France maintained a substantial empire stretching from the Maghreb through the Western and Central sub-Saharan regions. While direct rule ended in the early 1960s, French influence continued via political, security, economic and cultural connections in Francophone Africa.
Africa is the continent with the most French speakers in the world, an estimated 140 million across more than 30 countries and territories.
Building on this legacy, Macron has bold plans to renew the historical relationship in the face of significantly growing interest in the continent from other countries, especially China and the US. Friday’s summit will therefore measure progress on embedding French influence through Macron’s main priorities of enhancing economic ties, improving the continent’s physical security against terror groups, facilitating access to school and higher education, and enabling Africa’s climate transition.
However, the French president is well aware that his goal of boosting his nation’s influence across the continent is challenged by the competing attention paid by other nations to the continent, given its post-pandemic growth potential. This includes not only the great powers, but also countries such as Germany, Russia, Turkey, the UK, and some Gulf states which are also showering Africa with greater interest too, giving countries there more diplomatic options than just Beijing and Washington.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted the UK-Africa Investment Summit last year, adding to his predecessor Theresa May’s trip in 2018, when she visited three key Commonwealth countries: South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya (the first visit to that country by a UK prime minister since 1988).
For the UK, Africa has assumed new importance since Brexit, as London seeks to consolidate ties with non-European nations following its departure from the EU.
For the UK, Africa has assumed new importance since Brexit, as London seeks to consolidate ties with non-European nations following its departure from the EU. Given the longstanding historical ties that Britain has,especially with Commonwealth countries, Johnson and other UK ministers regularly say they want to marry the UK’s heritage as a great global trading nation with a prosperous, growing Africa.
However, it is not solely through the lens of economics that London views the relationship with the continent. Instead, UK policymakers also highlight the need for greater African security ties with the West to tackle instability across the region. This includes the threat of Boko Haram, and Al-Shabab militants which UK troops are playing a part in countering as part of an alliance of countries.
Moscow, under President Vladimir Putin, is also keen to entrench its longstanding foothold in the continent with Russia’s trade with Africa having risen significantly in recent years. As Moscow seeks to expand its international influence, the continent is a key target for the Russian president, for geopolitical and not just economic reasons.
But it is the great powers that are having the most impact on the continent. China is showing the greatest interest of all and the priority that Beijing places on Africa is illustrated by the fact that its top leadership (the president, premier and foreign minister) have made about 80 visits to over 40 different countries there in the past decade alone.
China is aiming to better connect its Belt and Road initiative with Africa’s development. Trade between the two powers has risen massively with around 40 African countries having signed on to Belt and Road, and Beijing a frequent host of China-Africa summits.
Under Joe Biden, the US is also stepping up its interest in the continent. He is seeking to turbocharge US policy via the US “Prosper Africa” initiative to boost trade and investment on the continent, first launched under Donald Trump but which got off to a slow start.
The administration is framing the initiative as a way to promote shared US-Africa prosperity, but it is also designed, in part, to counter China in the region.
This exemplifies that, while the upsurge of attention to Africa by this growing array of powers reflects economic calculations, broader geopolitical considerations are also in train. From French and UK initiatives to the great power game between China and the US, interest in Africa is only likely to grow, especially if its emerging markets fulfil their significant economic potential in the decade to come.
*Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics