LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 17/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.may17.18.htm

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Bible Quotations
Greet one another with a holy kiss
First Letter to the Corinthians 16/15-24: "Now, brothers and sisters, you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints; I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people, and of everyone who works and toils with them. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence; for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such people. The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord. All the brothers and sisters send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 16-17/18

The Word is God but its use for deceit, hatred and spread of Chaos turns it into an evil instrument of destruction/Elias Bejjani/May 16/18
Israeli Defense Minister: Hamas Is A Group Of Cannibals That Uses Kids As Weapons/Jerusalem Post/May 16/18
Tehran lost Iraqi elections: Don’t let it hijack the aftermath/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/May 16/18
Iran expands its war on messaging apps and social media/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/May 16/18
The unintended unravelling of the OPEC pact agreement/Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/May 16/18
Who really cares about Palestine/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/May 16/18
The post-election Iraqi government/Adnan Hussein/Al Arabiya/May 16/18

Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on May 16-17/18

The Word is God but its use for deceit, hatred and spread of Chaos turns it into an evil instrument of destruction
USA PRESS RELEASES/Treasury and the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center Partner Together to Sanction Hizballah’s Senior Leadership
US, Gulf states designate Hezbollah chief Nasrallah as terror sponsor
Saudi state security designates 10 Hezbollah leaders as terrorists
Cabinet OKs Electricity-Related Items, to Hold Its Last Session Monday
Syrian Ambassador: Syria Has No Enemies in Lebanon, Formal Coordination Solves Refugee Crisis
Hizbullah Bloc Nominates Berri for Speakership, Urges Fast Govt. Formation
Ex-Mufti Qabbani Urges 'Jihad' in Support of Palestinians
Report: Parties ‘Delay Differences’ ahead of Consultations
Rights Group Says Palestinian Activist Detained in Lebanon
Rights Group Says Palestinian Activist Detained in Lebanon
Beirut Air Traffic Controllers Go on One-Hour Strike
Berri Says Ready to Cooperate with Aoun after 'Excellent Visit'
Lebanon: Ministerial Race over 'Social Affairs' Portfolio
Hariri Hails 'Made in Lebanon' Achievements

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 16-17/18

Israeli Defense Minister: Hamas Is A Group Of Cannibals That Uses Kids As Weapons
Trump Says 'We'll See' as North Korea Threatens to Cancel Summit
As former US foe gains, Mattis ‘stands with’ Iraq election result
Arab League to Meet on Gaza Violence
Israel Targets Hamas Positions after Gaza Gunfire
Palestinians Recall Envoys to 4 EU Nations over U.S. Embassy Event
Turkey tells Israeli envoy to return to Israel ‘for some time’ after Gaza deaths
Palestinians Warn against Chaos following Gaza Massacre
Soleimani in Baghdad to Wield Iranian Influence on New Govt.
Astana 9 Meeting Announces Steps to Activate Syria Political Process
Syrian rebels pull out of their last besieged area
Watchdog confirms chlorine used as chemical weapon in Syria attack
U.N. Warns Idlib Regime Assault Would be '6 Times Worse' than Ghouta
Egypt, Ethiopia Vow to Develop Ties in Hope of Overcoming Differences
Mystery of Malaysian Flight MH370 Solved
UN Envoy to Present Peace Plan on Yemen Before Mid-June
Merkel: Transatlantic ties must endure dispute about Iran nuclear deal
Putin says Russian frigates in Mediterranean on standby over Syria threat

Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on May 16-17/18

The Word is God but its use for deceit, hatred and spread of Chaos turns it into an evil instrument of destruction
Elias Bejjani/May 16/18
When emotions are not fully under the mind's control they become a means of suicide and destruction of self and others. Meanwhile if wars could be gained by empty rhetoric, yelling, shouting, day dreaming and grandiose delusions the Arab peoples would have occupied the whole world
(John 01/01/In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God)

US and Arab Coalition sanctions Hezbollah leadership
Dr. Walid Phares/Face Book/May 16/18

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0387 (link to the USA DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Hezbollah statement)

As we projected, a partnership between the US and Arab Governments, most of whom are part of the Arab Coalition, leveled financial sanctions on the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon, targeting its "politbureau-like Shura Council". The US-Arab Coalition action could/may have an effect on Lebanon's politics, as Hezbollah is seen as the major power broker across Government and in the Parliament. The question is, how will the US-Arab Coalition deal with Hezbollah's partners in Lebanon? How can members of a cabinet deal with sanctioned other members? It is to be seen.
It looks like, as we predicted, the next waves of actions in the region, will be based on US-Arab Coalition joint ventures.

USA PRESS RELEASES/Treasury and the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center Partner Together to Sanction Hizballah’s Senior Leadership
5127
MAY 16, 2018
WASHINGTON – Today, the seven member nations of the Terrorist Financing and Targeting Center (TFTC) took significant actions to disrupt an Iranian-backed terrorist group by designating the senior leadership of Lebanese Hizballah. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the co-chair of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), and the other TFTC member states – the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – designated members of Hizballah’s Shura Council, the primary decision-making body of Hizballah. Specifically, OFAC, together with Gulf partners, designated Hasan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hizballah. OFAC and the TFTC nations further designated Naim Qasim, Muhammad Yazbak, Husayn Al- Khalil, and Ibrahim al-Amin al-Sayyid pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. In addition, TFTC Member States also designated the following key Hizballah-affiliated individuals and entities: Talal Hamiyah, Ali Youssef Charara, Spectrum Group, Hasan Ebrahimi, Maher Trading, Hashem Safieddine, Adham Tabaja, Al-Inmaa Group, and Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting, all of whom were previously designated by the U.S.
“The TFTC again demonstrated its great value to international security by disrupting Iran and Hizballah’s destabilizing influence in the region. By targeting Hizballah’s Shura Council, our nations collectively rejected the false distinction between a so-called ‘Political Wing’ and Hizballah’s global terrorist plotting,” said Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. “Under the dictates of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Secretary General and head of the Shura Council Hasan Nasrallah is prolonging the human suffering in Syria, fueling the violence in Iraq and Yemen, putting the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people at risk, and destabilizing the entire region.”
This is the second TFTC designation action since the center was announced on May 21, 2017. The TFTC is a bold and historic effort to expand and strengthen the seven member states’ cooperation to counter the financing of terrorism. The TFTC facilitates coordinated disruptive actions, sharing of financial intelligence information, and member state capacity-building to target terrorist financing networks and related activities that pose national security threats to TFTC members.
These designations follow President Trump’s decision last week to cease U.S. participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and to begin reimposing U.S. nuclear-related sanctions on the Iranian regime. They are in furtherance of the goal of addressing the totality of Iran’s malign activities and regionally destabilizing behavior, including that of Hizballah. These designations complement disruptive action Treasury took last week to shut down an extensive currency exchange network in Iran and the UAE that was transferring millions to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), and they build upon actions taken yesterday targeting Iran’s Central Bank Governor and Iraqi-based al-Bilad Islamic Bank for moving millions of dollars for the IRGC-QF to enrich and support the violent and radical agenda of Hizballah. Today’s action also expands the number of Hizballah-related individuals and entities designated by Gulf states, building upon prior actions by the Gulf Cooperation Council in March 2016.
BACKGROUND ON THE SHURA COUNCIL
The Shura Council is Hizballah’s supreme decision-making body responsible for religious, military, and strategic matters and asserts control over administrative, planning, and policy-making authorities. In the event of a deadlock in the Shura Council, the Supreme Leader of Iran casts the deciding vote. There are five subordinate councils of the Shura Council: (1) the Executive Council, which oversees the daily activities of Hizballah; (2) the Parliamentary Council, which selects Hizballah’s nominees for parliamentary elections and ensures that the parliamentary representatives carry out the Shura Council’s decisions and policies; (3) the Political Council, which manages relationships with Lebanon’s political parties; (4) the Jihad Council, which oversees all of Hizballah’s military and security operations, deliberates on fighting strategy and tactics, and assesses threats to the organization; and (5) the Judicial Council, which organizes judicial representatives who work with Hizballah on conflict resolution and ensures compliance with their law.
HASAN NASRALLAH
Hasan Nasrallah (Nasrallah) was designated for acting for or on behalf of Hizballah, which he has led since 1992. As the Secretary General and head of the Shura Council, Nasrallah is Hizballah’s highest-ranking official and exercises direct command over Hizballah’s military and security apparatus as its supreme commander, including its involvement in the war in Syria. Nasrallah has stated that Hizballah’s intervention in the war in Syria marked a completely new phase for the organization, sending military forces abroad to protect its interests.
OFAC previously designated Nasrallah as a Specially Designated Terrorist pursuant to E.O. 12947, “Prohibiting Transactions with Terrorists Who Threaten to Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process,” on January 23, 1995, and pursuant to E.O. 13582, “Blocking Property of the Government of Syria and Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to Syria,” on September 13, 2012.
NAIM QASIM
OFAC and the TFTC designated Naim Qasim (Qasim) for acting for or on behalf of Hizballah. Qasim is the Deputy Secretary General of Hizballah, which he joined in the early 1980s. Before ascending to his current position, he served as the Deputy President of the Executive Council. Qasim has stated that Hizballah does not separate its military and political wings. Specifically, he has said that Hizballah “has one single leadership, and its name is the Decision Making Shura Council. It manages the political activity, the jihad activity, the cultural activity, and the social activities.”
MUHAMMAD YAZBAK
OFAC and the TFTC designated Muhammad Yazbak (Yazbak), one of Hizballah’s original founders, for acting for or on behalf of Hizballah. Yazbak is the current leader of the Judicial Council and has overseen a military command in central Lebanon that provides logistical and training support to Hizballah. He has supervised training camps and the smuggling of weapons, and hosted experts from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to train Hizballah fighters on weapons systems. Yazbak has also managed Hizballah’s bank accounts.
HUSAYN AL-KHALIL
OFAC and the TFTC designated Husayn Al-Khalil, Hasan Nasrallah’s political advisor, for acting for or on behalf of Hizballah. Previously, he was one of several senior Hizballah commanders who shared responsibility for the group’s special operations in Europe.
IBRAHIM AL-AMIN AL-SAYYID
OFAC and the TFTC designated Ibrahim al-Amin al-Sayyid (al-Sayyid) for acting for or on behalf of Hizballah. Al-Sayyid is the head of Hizballah’s Political Council. He was Hizballah’s first official spokesperson and was involved in the formation of Hizballah.
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of Hasan Nasrallah, Naim Qasim, Muhammad Yazbak, Husayn Khalil, and Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyid that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.
Each of the five individuals designated today are subject to secondary sanctions pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, which implement the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015. Pursuant to this authority, OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining in the United States a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for Hizballah, or a person acting on behalf of, at the direction of, or that is owned or controlled by, Hizballah.
Additional TFTC Member State Designations:
TALAL HAMIYAH
Talal Hamiyah (Hamiyah) is the head of Hizballah's External Security Organization (ESO), which maintains organized cells worldwide. The ESO is the Hizballah element responsible for the planning, coordination, and execution of terrorist attacks outside of Lebanon. OFAC designated Hamiyah on September 13, 2012 pursuant to E.O. 13224.
HASHEM SAFIEDDINE
Hashem Safieddine (Safieddine) is a senior leader in Hizballah and a key member of Hizballah’s executive council. The Department of State designated Safieddine on May 19, 2017 pursuant to E.O. 13224. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia joined the United States in designating Safieddine on the same day.
ALI YOUSSEF CHARARA AND SPECTRUM GROUP
Ali Charara (Charara) has facilitated commercial investments on behalf of Hizballah. Charara's company, Spectrum Investment Group Holding SAL, is a Lebanon-based telecommunications company that provides integrated telecommunications services in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. OFAC designated Charara and the Spectrum Group pursuant to E.O. 13224 on January 7, 2016.
ADHAM TABAJA, AL-INMAA GROUP, AND AL-INMAA ENGINEERING AND CONTRACTING
Adham Tabaja (Tabaja) maintains direct ties to senior Hizballah organizational elements, including the terrorist group’s operational component, the Islamic Jihad, and holds properties in Lebanon on behalf of the group. Tabaja is the majority owner of the Lebanon-based real estate development and construction firm Al-Inmaa Group. The company’s subsidiaries include Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting which has been used by Hizballah as an investment mechanism. Tabaja has used the Iraqi branches of Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting to obtain oil and construction development projects in Iraq that provide both financial support and organizational infrastructure to Hizballah. OFAC designated Tabaja, Al-Inmaa Group, and Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting pursuant to E.O. 13224 on June 10, 2015. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia designated Tabaja, Al-Inmaa Group, and Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting in November 2015.
HASAN EBRAHIMI AND MAHER TRADING
Hasan Ebrahimi, an IRGC-QF official based in Beirut, Lebanon has facilitated cash transfers to Hizballah worth millions of dollars. Ebrahimi is the manager of Maher Trading, which has been used to launder funds and smuggle goods to Hizballah. OFAC designated Ebrahimi and Maher Trading pursuant to E.O. 13224 on February 3, 2017.
Identifying information on the individuals designated today...Click on the link below
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20180516.aspx

US, Gulf states designate Hezbollah chief Nasrallah as terror sponsor
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishWednesday, 16 May 2018

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64709/us-gulf-states-designate-hezbollah-chief-nasrallah-as-terror-sponsor-%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%ac-%d9%88%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%ac-10/
Saudi State Security Presidency has designated 10 Hezbollah commanders on the country’s terrorism list./The state agency also said on Wednesday that five members of the Hezbollah Shura Council were designated as terrorists. The decision on Wednesday comes as part of the seven member nations of the Terrorist Financing and Targeting Center (TFTC) which Saudi Arabia co-chairs. The other TFTC member states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – designated members of Hezbollah’s Shura Council, the primary decision-making body of Hezbollah.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) specifically and jointly together with Gulf partners, designated Hasan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah as a terrorist sponsor. OFAC and the TFTC nations further designated Naim Qasim, Muhammad Yazbak, Husayn Al- Khalil, and Ibrahim al-Amin al-Sayyid pursuant of a treasury executive order, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. In addition, TFTC Member States also designated the following key Hezbollah-affiliated individuals and entities: Talal Hamiyah, Ali Youssef Charara, Spectrum Group, Hasan Ebrahimi, Maher Trading, Hashem Safieddine, Adham Tabaja, Al-Inmaa Group, and Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting, all of whom were previously designated by the US. “The TFTC again demonstrated its great value to international security by disrupting Iran and Hezbollah’s destabilizing influence in the region. By targeting Hezbollah’s Shura Council, our nations collectively rejected the false distinction between a so-called ‘Political Wing’ and Hezbollah’s global terrorist plotting,” said US Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin.
“Under the dictates of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Secretary General and head of the Shura Council Hasan Nasrallah is prolonging the human suffering in Syria, fueling the violence in Iraq and Yemen, putting the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people at risk, and destabilizing the entire region.”
Hezbollah names and entities added to terror list
Nasrallah has been the leader of Hezbollah since 1992. As the Secretary General and head of the Shura Council, Nasrallah is Hezbollah’s highest ranking official, has been the mastermind behind Hezbollah’s ongoing military operations. He exercises direct command over Hezbollah’s military and security apparatus, which includes his deep involvement in Syrian war-related decision making. Nasrallah has stated that Hezbollah’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War markeda completely new phase for the organization, sending military forces abroad to protect its interests.
Naim Qasim
Qasim is the Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah. He joined the organization in the early 1980s. Before ascending to his current position, he served as the Deputy President of the Executive Council. Qasim has stated that Hezbollah does not separate its military and political wings. Specifically he has said that Hezbollah “has one single leadership, and its name is the Decision Making Shura Council. It manages the political activity, the fighting activity, the cultural activity, and the social activities...”
Muhammad Yazbak
Yazbak is one of the original founders of Hezbollah. He is the current leader of the Judicial Council and has overseen a military command in central Lebanon that provides logistical and training support to Hezbollahh. He has supervised training camps and the smuggling of weapons, and hosted experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to train Hezbollah fighters on weapons systems. Yazbak has also managed Hezbollah’s bank accounts.
Husayn Al-Khalil
Khalil serves as Hasan Nasrallah’s political advisor. Previously, he was one of several senior Hezbollah commanders who shared responsibility for the group’s special operations in Europe.
Ibrahim al-Amin al-Sayyid
Al-Sayyid is the head of Hezbollah’s Political Council. He was Hezbollah’s first official spokesperson, and was involved in the formation of Hezbollah.
Talal Hamiyah
This wanted poster released by the U.S. Department of State Rewards for Justice program shows Talal Hamiyah, left, and Fu'ad Shukr. (AP)
He is the head of Hezbollah’s External Security Organization (ESO), which maintains organized cells worldwide.
Ali Youssef Charara
He is a member and financier of Hezbollah’s who uses his company , Spectrum Investment Group Holdings SAL as a front to finance Hezbollah’s activities.
Hasan Dehghan Ibrahimi
Is an Iranian who has ties with senior IRGC-QF officials. He has facilitated cash transfer to Hezbollah. He is the manager of Maher Trading and construction Company.
Spectrum Investment Group Holdings SAL
A telecommunication company of which he is the chairman and general manager, located in Beirut, working in the field of exporting and importing as well.
Maher Trading and construction Company
The general manager is Hasan Ibrahimi who uses his employees to establish nets aiming to finance, lauder and transfer fund to Hezbollah. This company, located in Beirut, is also responsible for smuggling goods to Hezbollah.

Cabinet OKs Electricity-Related Items, to Hold Its Last Session Monday
Naharnet/May 16/18/The Council of Ministers on Wednesday approved some agenda items related to power generation as it decided to hold its last session Monday ahead of turning into a caretaker cabinet with the expiry of the term of the incumbent parliament. It approved several items during its session at the Baabda Palace, including granting a license for the establishment of the Saint Georges University in Beirut, an item on generating electricity from wind turbines, and two items on seaside properties in Zouk and Chouf. An item on seaside properties in Dbaye-Zouk al-Khrab was meanwhile postponed for technical reasons. After the session, Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh announced that the Democratic Gathering ministers voiced reservations over all electricity-related items and that “only the one-year extension for the Fatmagul Sultan power ship was approved after negotiations on slashing the cost.” Separately, the Cabinet rejected a proposal to abolish the Brevet (Grade 9) national exams. Wednesday's session was expected to be Cabinet's last session ahead of the formation of a new government. The Cabinet discussed 83 agenda items, including the problematic electricity file and the general guidelines for the development of the Rafik Hariri International Airport, and several other issues. The Cabinet held minute’s silence in protest against the Israeli army’s killing of Palestinians on the Gaza border.
At the opening of the session, Aoun denounced the “Israeli assaults against Palestinians in Gaza,” which left around 61 Palestinians dead on the Israeli-Gaza border. The President said that “the foreign minister (Jebran Bassil) will represent Lebanon at an emergency Islamic summit in Istanbul on Friday.” The cabinet session had been preceded by a meeting between Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Prior to the meeting, Minister Hamadeh confirmed that the Brevet exams would be held on their set date. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Qansou, commented on the possibility of importing electricity from Syria. "Meetings have taken place between technicians from both countries, and discussions are at their final stages," the Minister explained, deeming electricity importation from Syria the cheapest and fastest way.

Syrian Ambassador: Syria Has No Enemies in Lebanon, Formal Coordination Solves Refugee Crisis
Naharnet/May 16/18/Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali stated that Syria “has no enemies in Lebanon,” pointing out that the Syrian refugees crisis can only be solved “through coordination between the two governments”, al-Akhbar daily reported on Wednesday. In an interview to the daily, the Ambassador said: “We are depending on the positions of President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih,” as for Lebanon’s stance regarding the refugees crisis. To solve the crisis, Ali reiterated Syria’s position saying: “There must be official coordination between the two countries. We appreciate the efforts of Major General Abbas Ibrahim which contribute to solving the problem, but these efforts must be carried out at a more formal level.” To a question on whether Syria rejoices the loss of some parties in Lebanon’s legislative elections, he said: “We have no enemies in Lebanon. We hope that some forces will reconsider their positions and think in the interest of the two countries which have the same origins, roots and traditions, history and a common future.” “We are happy with the election results. The new (electoral law) despite its flaws rectifies part of the real Lebanese representation,” he added. Describing the Lebanese-Syrian ties, he said: “Official relations are incomplete and ignore the agreements signed between the two countries. In 2009, the Lebanese-Syrian agreements were reviewed and it was found that they were fair to Lebanon at the expense of Syria, yet Syria remained steadfast.”

Hizbullah Bloc Nominates Berri for Speakership, Urges Fast Govt. Formation
Naharnet/May 16/18/Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc on Wednesday called for the re-election of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to his post, as it urged a quick cabinet formation process. In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc noted that the upcoming period requires addressing “the economic and social affairs” and “a lot of vigilance, wisdom and firm stances.”It also pledged to “strive for protecting the country and preserving sovereignty according to the army-people-resistance equation.”And as it announced its “nomination of Speaker Nabih Berri for the speakership of the new parliament,” the bloc called on all new MPs to re-elect him. Loyalty to Resistance also called for “electing the members of the Parliament Bureau and expediting the formation of the government,” noting that “there is a certain interest for Lebanon and the Lebanese in this, especially during this period that cannot witness any waste of time.”

Ex-Mufti Qabbani Urges 'Jihad' in Support of Palestinians
Associated Press/Naharnet/May 16/18/A senior Sunni cleric in Lebanon has called on all Muslims to wage jihad, or holy war, in support of the Palestinians after the U.S. decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, the former top Sunni religious authority, or Grand Mufti, in Lebanon, also said it is not sanctioned religiously for the Palestinians or any Arab or Muslim country to "surrender, reconcile or make peace deals or give up any inch" of historic Palestine. Qabbani, who still has clout in the community, also said it is not acceptable for them to "recognize so-called Israel."Qabbani's comments appear to be a jab at U.S. plans for a peace deal. They are reportedly supported by Saudi Arabia, which has used its control of holy sites in Mecca and Medina to brand itself the protector of Islam around the world, and which has special clout among Sunnis.

Report: Parties ‘Delay Differences’ ahead of Consultations
Naharnet/May 16/18/In the wake of Lebanon’s legislative elections that surprisingly created electoral alliances between conflicting political parties, various factions have reportedly started mending relations with their original allies in preparation for the upcoming stage of electing a Speaker and the formation of a new government. Speaker Nabih Berri has described his meeting with President Michel Aoun on Tuesday as “excellent.” Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri where Geagea also described the meeting as “excellent.” Efforts are ongoing to “mend relations between the LF and Free Patriotic Movement” as the latter seeks to better ties with the Marada Movement, said An Nahar daily. During his meeting with Aoun, Berri was keen on providing a near consensus on the Parliament Bureau election setting the basis for consensus on the next government. While Hizbullah encourages quick concord on the new government to ensure stability of the country in volatile regional conditions, said the daily. Although Berri-Aoun talks did not dwell into the candidates’ names for the speakership, premiership or future ministers, but Berri declared that he had “matching” visions with Aoun in that regard. He even hinted likelihood of holding talks with FPM chief Jebran Bassil, despite the row between the two men, “as an introduction for an agreement.”
On the other hand, Hariri-Geagea meeting at the Center House on Tuesday, came after an eight months boycott between the two men. Relations between the LF and Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement were strained after some Mustaqbal officials accused the LF of encouraging Saudi leaders to press Hariri to resign in November. Furthermore, despite the continued debate between the FPM and LF, the latter’s sources have assured that the Christian reconciliation (in reference to the Maarab Agreement) is steadfast, “there may be some political tension, no more than that,” they said. Lebanon’s new parliament will hold a session on May 22 to elect a Speaker amid reports that AMAL Movement leader Berri will be re-elected to a sixth term. Consultations will begin on the formation of a new government afterwards.

Rights Group Says Palestinian Activist Detained in Lebanon
Associated Press/Naharnet/May 16/18/Lebanese authorities have detained a Palestinian human rights activist after he was summoned to a security agency in Beirut, an international rights group said Tuesday. Human Rights Watch said Ghassan Abdallah, director of the Palestinian Human Rights Organization, or PHRO, was detained after being summoned to the General Security Directorate early Monday and was held incommunicado for more than 24 hours. It quoted his lawyer as saying that Abdallah has since been transferred to Military Intelligence. It said Abdallah was able to make a telephone call and has access to medication. Authorities have not clarified the basis of his detention or allowed him to speak with his lawyer, Human Rights Watch said. Lebanese officials could not immediately be reached for comment. PHRO said no reason was given by authorities for Abdallah's detention, adding that since he was summoned he only called his mother. It added that Abdallah holds Lebanese and Canadian citizenship, and is one of its founding members. The organization campaigns for the rights of Palestinians living in Lebanon and documents violations. About 175,000 Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Lebanon, most of them in the country's 12 refugee camps. The refugees fled or were expelled from what is now Israel during the 1948 war around its creation. Palestinians in Lebanon held demonstrations Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the "nakba," or catastrophe, their term for the mass uprooting. The influx of the Palestinians upset Lebanon's fragile sectarian balance, and Palestinian militancy was a key factor behind the 1975-1990 civil war. Palestinians do not have Lebanese citizenship and face restrictions in owning property and in employment, including in the banking sector. It was not immediately clear if Abdallah's detention was linked to the Palestinians' mass protests in Gaza.

Beirut Air Traffic Controllers Go on One-Hour Strike
Naharnet/May 16/18/Air traffic controllers at the Rafik Hariri International Airport held a one-hour strike on Wednesday demanding salary increases, the National News Agency reported. The strike was held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The committee has been demanding an increase in salaries as per the newly endorsed wage scale specific to air traffic controllers in addition to other benefits.

Berri Says Ready to Cooperate with Aoun after 'Excellent Visit'
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/Speaker Nabih Berri expressed his readiness to cooperate with President Michel Aoun, following a visit to Baabda Palace on Tuesday, which the speaker described as “more than excellent”. “The meeting mainly focused on all the future issues, especially the work of the House of Parliament, and the projects that must be swiftly accomplished,” Berri told reporters after the meeting. However, the speaker noted that talks with Aoun did not touch on any potential names for the new presidency of parliament, nor on details pertaining to the new cabinet formation. “We’ve discussed all these topics, and I can say is that the President and I see eye-to-eye on most of the matters,” he added. During their first official meeting following the recent parliamentary elections, Aoun and Berri discussed the general situation in the country and the developments on the local and regional arenas. “I do not say that there is a new page, but a renewed page, because since the election of the President, I have repeatedly expressed my readiness to cooperate with the first presidency,” Berri stated. He described the meeting as “more than excellent.” “This is not mere media talk,” he stressed. Asked whether he separated between his relationship with Aoun and that with Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Berri said: “I establish relations with all the segments of society, and Gebran Bassil is one of these segments.”

Lebanon: Ministerial Race over 'Social Affairs' Portfolio
Beirut - Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/In the current ministerial race among political parties, ahead of forming the new Cabinet, the issue of Syrian refugees returned to Lebanon’s forefront from the door of the Social Affairs Ministry, considered the main guardian of this file. After President Michel Aoun said he would attempt to find a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis independently, regardless of the opinion of the United Nations and the European Union, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said from Brussels last Monday, “this time, the Social Affairs Ministry should only be given to a party which has a clear policy on the refugees file. Lebanon would adopt a new policy in dealing with this issue.”Bassil’s comments presented an indirect attack against the Lebanese Forces (LF), whose representative Pierre Abu Assi, currently heads the ministry. LF sources said the current FPM campaign launched against the party is a response to the LF criticisms over the FPM’s performance at the Energy Ministry. The sources warned from using the Syrian refugees file as a pretext to normalize relations with the Syrian regime through the Social Affairs ministry. “We are determined not to politicize the issue of refugees, particularly that some parties try to use this file to normalize relations with the Syrian regime,” the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
They explained that no decision could be taken in the current Cabinet regarding this issue because parties were divided between two camps: one team trying to solve the file by protecting the safety of refugees while another team was heading towards normalizing relations with the Syrian regime. FPM newly elected deputy Salim Aoun told Asharq Al-Awsat it was essential to place a clear policy capable of dealing with the issue of Syrian refugees at the Social Affairs ministry. “No party can act on its own without the approval of the Cabinet,” he said. On Tuesday, LF leader, Samir Geagea, sternly rejected any plan allowing the settlement of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon, whether provisionally or permanently. "Lebanon is not a land without people; we flatly reject any step towards keeping the displaced Syrians in Lebanon, even temporarily," Geagea said.

Hariri Hails 'Made in Lebanon' Achievements
Naharnet/May 16/18/Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday boasted that his government made several “achievements” during its term. “This government has made achievements that previous government had failed to make and this is due to the election of President (Michel) Aoun,” Hariri said during a cabinet session which could be his government's last. “Some bickering has occurred, but this is the nature of our democratic life which we must preserve,” the premier added. He noted that “all the achievements we have made in the government were the result of this political consensus after the election of President Aoun and the formation of the (incumbent) government and all of that was 'made in Lebanon', with our efforts and without anyone's intervention.”Hariri also congratulated the Lebanese over the parliamentary elections that were held on May 6 and emphasized that “Lebanon is entering a new phase and the country needs calm, consensus and unity.”

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 16-17/18

Israeli Defense Minister: Hamas Is A Group Of Cannibals That Uses Kids As Weapons
Jerusalem Post/May 16/18
Col. Richard Kemp: Hamas is responsible for every Palestinian death during the riots.
Hamas is a “bunch of cannibals” who use their women and children as weapons, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Wednesday, after riots along the Gaza border fence left dozens of Palestinians dead.
Hamas claims that 62 Gazans died on Monday. “The Hamas leadership is a bunch of cannibals that treats their children as weapons. They have rockets, sidearms and a different kind of weapon – women and children,” he during a visit to the IDF’s Gaza Division. “Their goal is to lift Gaza’s blockade but not to build their economy or hold talks about coexistence, but rather to smuggle weapons [into the Strip] to continue to build up their military force and to create a Hezbollah model plus.” The violence on Monday was condemned by the international community, with Turkey and South Africa recalling their ambassadors and the United States blocking a UN Security Council statement calling for an independent probe. On Tuesday the IDF issued a statement saying that after a joint investigation with the Shin Bet, at least 24 of the fatalities were members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad and on Wednesday afternoon senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil admitted to Palestinian radio that "in the last round of confrontations 62 people were martyred, 50 of them were Hamas."I suggest to everyone just to think about what would have happened if they had succeeded in breaking into one of the settlements. We saw what happened at Kerem Shalom, on the Palestinian side. They reached Kerem Shalom, and destroyed the gas pipeline [bringing fuel into Gaza],” Liberman said. Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas is responsible for every Palestinian death during the riots. “Hamas has orchestrated the violence and orchestrated with the deliberate intent of trying to force the IDF to use lethal force against their people so that their own people get killed,” Kemp said Tuesday, speaking on the border with the Gaza Strip. Sending women and children to the border fence is “disgusting,” Kemp said, adding that “very few people would understand why this is happening and would understand why responsible adults would get their children to get into combat zones, or their women or noncombatant men. It is deliberately putting people in danger and it is shameful and disgraceful, and it is their responsibility when it goes very badly wrong like it did.” While Monday was the bloodiest day in Gaza since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Tuesday saw a marked decrease in violence, with only 4,000 Palestinians taking part in the demonstrations rather than the 40,000 who participated the day earlier. According to Kemp, the violence and the number of fatalities likely served as a deterrent to Palestinians to participate in the protests on Tuesday. But Liberman warned that despite the current relative calm along the border, “there are no illusions here, they did not give up all the disturbances and terrorism. “But they got a serious blow and that’s what caused them, for the moment, to go back into their kennel,” he said.

Trump Says 'We'll See' as North Korea Threatens to Cancel Summit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/18/U.S. President Donald Trump sounded a note of caution Wednesday about his much-vaunted summit with Kim Jong Un, saying "we'll see" after Pyongyang threatened to cancel. Trump said the U.S. government had not received any official word of a change in plans for the June 12 meeting in Singapore. "We haven't been notified at all. We'll have to see," Trump said in the Oval Office. "We haven't seen anything. We haven't heard anything. We will see what happens. Whatever it is, it is." After weeks of warm words and diplomatic backslapping, Pyongyang abruptly threatened to pull out Tuesday, over U.S. demands for "unilateral nuclear abandonment."In an angrily worded statement, the North warned "if the U.S. is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue."The statement was attributed to first vice foreign minister Kim Kye Gwan and carried by state media KCNA. In that case, he added, Pyongyang would have to "reconsider" its participation at next month's summit in Singapore. The first vice foreign minister also tore into Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton for drawing parallels between North Korea and Libya, calling the comparison "absolutely absurd." "We do not hide our feeling of repugnance towards him," he said of Bolton. Bolton has pushed the idea of a deal with North Korea like that reached with Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, who agreed in 2003 to the elimination of his country's nuclear program and chemical weapons arsenal to gain sanctions relief. After giving up his atomic program, Kadhafi was killed in 2011 in an uprising backed by NATO bombing.
A plea from China
Experts have not been surprised by the sudden about face, expecting bumps in the road as tough issues to be discussed in the meeting come into sharper focus. Washington is pressing for North Korea's complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization. But so far, the North has given no public indication of what it is offering, beyond a broad commitment to denuclearization of the "Korean peninsula." Pyongyang "made clear on several occasions that precondition for denuclearization is to put an end to anti-DPRK hostile policy and nuclear threats and blackmail of the United States," the North Korean minister said. In the past, Pyongyang has demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in the South, and an end to Washington's nuclear umbrella over its ally. China, North Korea's sole major ally, called for the summit to go ahead. "The situation on the peninsula has eased up, which is worth cherishing," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing. Minister Kim also dismissed offers by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for U.S. economic aid if the North denuclearizes. "We have never had any expectation of US support in carrying out our economic construction and will not at all make such a deal in future," he said. The White House said plans for the summit were moving ahead. "The president is ready if the meeting takes place. And if it doesn't, we will continue the maximum pressure campaign that has been ongoing," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Tightrope diplomacy
The North Korean warning follows a weeks-long charm offensive that has seen Kim Jong Un hold a historic summit with the South's president and meet twice with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Pyongyang also raised hopes ahead of the U.S. summit by announcing it will destroy its nuclear testing site next week. Analysts said Pyongyang appeared to be trying to redefine the terms of the debate. "It's a diplomatic tactic," Kim Hyun-wook, professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, told AFP, calling it "brinkmanship to change the U.S. position." "It looks like Kim Jong Un was pushed into accepting US demands for 'denuclearization-first' but is now trying to change its position after normalizing North Korea-China relations and securing economic assistance," he added. "The classic North Korean tightrope diplomacy between the U.S. and China has begun."U.S. officials have repeatedly claimed credit for Washington's "maximum pressure" policy for bringing Pyongyang to the negotiating table. Joshua Pollack of the Middlebury Institute for International Studies said Pyongyang had been irritated by the "triumphalist tone.""The North Koreans aren't happy with what they're seeing and hearing," he said. "There is still a yawning gulf between expectations for diplomacy in Pyongyang and Washington, DC."
Thunderstruck
KCNA also denounced the Max Thunder joint military exercises being held between the U.S. and South Korea as a "rude and wicked provocation," and Seoul said it had received a message cancelling planned high-level talks "indefinitely."The two-week drills started last Friday and involves some 100 aircraft from the two allies, including F-22 stealth fighter jets. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters it had received "no notification" of a position change by North Korea on next month's meeting. The exercises were "not provocative" and would continue, she added.

As former US foe gains, Mattis ‘stands with’ Iraq election result
AFP/Wednesday, 16 May 2018 /US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday he stands by Iraqis’ electoral choices, despite the surprise success of populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr -- who fought US troops during the Iraq War. Sadr’s gains have called into question the presence of US forces in Iraq, where more than 5,000 troops are indefinitely deployed to prevent a resurgence of ISIS. “The Iraqi people had an election. It’s a democratic process at a time when people, many people doubted that Iraq could take charge of themselves,” Mattis told Pentagon reporters. “So we will wait and see the results -– the final results of the election. And we stand with the Iraqi people’s decisions.”
US-led invasion
After the 2003 US-led invasion, Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia battled US forces, and he is now calling for American troops to leave following last year’s defeat of ISIS. Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general, served in Iraq and went on to lead the US Central Command that runs military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. As a Marine commander, he saw US troops killed by the Mahdi Army, mainly in the poor Baghdad district of Sadr City and in the holy city of Najaf, further south. It is not yet clear who will be Iraq’s next prime minister, with Sadr eyeing a governing coalition. Washington’s preferred candidate, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, has been knocked into third place. Sadr has ruled himself out of becoming prime minister.
Tehran influence
While his family of religious scholars historically has close ties with the Islamic revolutionaries in Iran and he spent years living there, Sadr has now fallen out with Tehran and wants its overbearing influence slashed. Sadr and his militia played central roles in the wave of sectarian bloodshed that peaked in 2006-2007, but he eventually froze the militia’s activities in a move the US credited with sharply reducing violence. The Pentagon said it was too soon to know what the results of the election might mean for the US troop presence. “We do not support any particular candidate or party; rather we support a fair and transparent process,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said. “We stand ready to work with whoever is fairly elected by the Iraqi people.”

Arab League to Meet on Gaza Violence
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/18/Arab foreign ministers are to hold an "extraordinary" meeting Thursday in Cairo to discuss the deadly violence on the Gaza-Israel border, the organization said. Israel has come under international pressure after its border forces on Monday killed some 60 Palestinians protesting against the transfer the same day of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in seven weeks of protests, mainly from Israeli sniper fire. Permanent delegates to the Cairo-based Arab League met on Wednesday to prepare for the ministerial session called by Saudi Arabia on "the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.""A draft resolution will be presented" Thursday to foreign ministers, Hossam Zaki, the League's deputy secretary general, told reporters in the Egyptian capital. He said it would contain "the strongest political positions... in support of the Palestinian resistance and against the American decision" to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Israel Targets Hamas Positions after Gaza Gunfire
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/18/Israeli tanks fired at three Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after gunfire from the Palestinian enclave targeted soldiers, the army said. The exchanges of fire came after weeks of mass protests and clashes on the Gaza border, which peaked on Monday when some 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. Protests since then have dwindled. Following the first shots fired at Israeli soldiers from northern Gaza, troops "targeted a military post belonging to the Hamas terror organization with tank fire," the army said in a statement. A Palestinian security source in Gaza said the target was a Hamas observation point, but that the Israeli attack resulted in no injuries. Later in the day, gunfire from southern Gaza targeted Israeli troops, in response to which a tank targeted two Hamas "military posts" in the same region. No Israeli soldiers were wounded in either case.
In a separate incident, bullets from a heavy machinegun fired in Gaza hit a house in nearby Israeli town Sderot, causing damage but no injuries, police said. The army said the incident was "serious" and they considered "terror group Hamas responsible for anything taking place in and from Gaza."
Palestinians have held demonstrations on the border since March 30 for what they call the right of return. Monday's protests were also against the move of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. During the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948, more than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes. The protests have peaked on Fridays, with the numbers of demonstrators ranging from thousands to tens of thousands. Small groups have approached the border fence, throwing stones, burning tyres and hurling Molotov cocktails. Some have tried to break through the fence. Israel has faced international criticism over its use of live fire, but insists its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop mass infiltrations from the Palestinian enclave, which is run by Islamist movement Hamas. Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called Hamas leadership "a bunch of cannibals that treat their children as ammunition." Speaking at an army base near the Gaza border, Lieberman said the goal of Hamas was "to remove the siege (over Gaza) but not to build their economy or create coexistence," he said, referring to the Israeli blockade of the strip. He argued their aims were rather "to smuggle arms, continue building their military force and create another upgraded Hizbullah model," referring to the armed Lebanese group. Israel and militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.

Palestinians Recall Envoys to 4 EU Nations over U.S. Embassy Event
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/18/The Palestinian Authority has recalled its envoys to Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria after their ambassadors attended an Israeli reception marking the U.S. embassy's move to Jerusalem, it said Wednesday. The statement from the PA's foreign ministry said the EU nations' ambassadors had attended the reception on Sunday, a day before the U.S. opened its Israel embassy in Jerusalem. The embassy move and Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has deeply angered Palestinians, who see the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of the city as the capital of their future state. The ministry "sees this participation as a grave breach of international law and United Nations resolutions which confirm that Jerusalem has been occupied since 1967 and ban countries from moving their embassies there," the statement said. "The recalls are to consult with our ambassadors to these states about their positions and their commitment to the EU's positions."Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday withdrew his top envoy to Washington. The European Union opposed the U.S. move of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The embassy move was accompanied by mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border that saw Israeli forces kill some 60 Palestinians. Israel has faced international criticism over its use of live fire against demonstrators. It says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop mass infiltrations from the Palestinian enclave, which is run by Islamist movement Hamas. Jerusalem's status is perhaps the thorniest issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognized by the international community. It sees the entire city as its capital.

Turkey tells Israeli envoy to return to Israel ‘for some time’ after Gaza deaths
Reuters, AnkaraWednesday, 16 May 2018 /The Turkish Foreign Ministry has told Israel's consul general in Istanbul to return to Israel "for some time", state-run Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday, after Israeli forces killed more than 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border. Ministry officials were not available to comment. On Tuesday, the ministry made a similar call to Israel's ambassador to Ankara. Turkey has been a vocal critic of the violence in Gaza and the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Palestinians Warn against Chaos following Gaza Massacre
Ramallah - Kifah Ziboun//Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recalled on Tuesday the Palestinian Liberation Organization envoy to Washington, Husam Zamlat, for “consultations” following the US relocation of its embasy to Jerusalem earlier this week. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the envoy will not return to the US any time soon, in rejection of the relocation and Washington’s policy towards Gaza. The Palestinian foreign ministry explained in a statement that Abbas’ decision to recall Zamlat, the PLO’s chief representative in Washington, followed the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Fatah Movement Mahmoud Al-Aloul warned of the Palestinian leadership’s inability to maintain a peaceful resistance in wake of the continuous Israeli attacks on demonstrators at the Gaza border. Palestinian protesters were hit by more bullets on Tuesday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, although the clashes were less severe than on Monday. During a news conference in Ramallah following a bloody day in Gaza, Aloul said: “Crimes and massacres committed by the occupation against our people and its attacks against the peaceful resistance with bullets, make us unable to maintain this peaceful resistance.”“It is not because we want so, but because of what the occupation is doing,” he went on to say, adding: “Peaceful resistance is our choice, and this is an issue that all Palestinians agree on, but Israel’s reactions and the crimes it commits may not make us able to maintain its peacefulness.”Aloul’s threats came a day after Israel killed 61 Palestinian demonstrators on the Gaza border when they were protesting against the transfer of the US embassy and marking Nakba Day. Palestinians commemorated Nakba Day amid official mourning, a general strike and great grief over the victims of Monday’s bloodshed. However, the decrease of intensity of confrontations was largely observed, due to the Palestinian factions’ attempts to reduce casualties amid fears of greater chaos. In the West Bank, clashes broke out with the Israeli army in Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Nablus. Medical sources said that 62 citizens were wounded by live ammunition and rubber bullets, and suffocation cases after inhaling tear gas. PLO Executive Secretary Saeb Erekat said on Monday that the Palestinian Authority decided to file a war crimes complaint against Israel with the International Criminal Court over its “settlement construction on occupied lands.”His comments followed an urgent meeting with Abbas late Monday. Israel’s use of live ammunition against the Palestinians has garnered global outrage and demands for a probe. The ICC said it was monitoring the situation and the Arab League will hold a meeting on Thursday to address the situation in Gaza.

Soleimani in Baghdad to Wield Iranian Influence on New Govt.
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani was in Baghdad for talks with Shiite leaders to enforce the “Iranian choice” on the formation of a new government after the announcement of the Iraqi parliamentary election results. According to Agence France Presse, Iran is holding meetings to try to block Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, who heads Iraq's Sairoon coalition, from forming a government. Sadr and a rival bloc of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) appeared to surge in surprise preliminary results from the country’s first poll since the defeat of the ISIS terrorist group. Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, who is the internationally favored incumbent, lagged behind after a vote hit by record abstentions. AFP said that Soleimani was in Baghdad to try to broker a coalition among Sadr's Shiite rivals. A participant in the meetings told AFP: “Soleimani has reportedly called for a union between Abadi's bloc, the Conquest Alliance of former anti-ISIS commander Hadi al Ameri and former premier Nouri al-Maliki.”Iraqi national elections were held on Saturday and 44 percent of eligible voters headed to the polls. Preliminary results showed that Iranian-backed al-Ameri's bloc was in second place, while al-Abadi’s Victory Alliance was third. Sadr’s apparent victory does not mean his bloc could necessarily form the next government as whoever wins the most seats must negotiate a coalition government, expected to be formed within 90 days of the official results. On Tuesday, Abadi telephoned Sadr to congratulate him on winning the elections victory.The PM praised the holding of the electoral process in a secure and democratic atmosphere. For his part, Sadr described his victory as “an achievement for the Iraqi people and its national entitlement."

Astana 9 Meeting Announces Steps to Activate Syria Political Process
Moscow - Raed Jaber/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/Russia, Turkey and Iran reached on Tuesday an agreement over steps aimed at pushing forward the political settlement in Syria, while revealing that they will hold a meeting in Sochi, Russia, in July. Meeting in Astana for the ninth round of peace talks, the ceasefire guarantors affirmed their commitment to the truce and continuing efforts to bolster regions of deescalation. However, they failed to achieve progress in the detainees’ file. Despite this, Ahmad Tu'mah, the head of the Syrian opposition delegation, expressed satisfaction over the round’s outcomes and noted that Moscow was exerting serious pressure on the regime to encourage it to accept the political settlement. At the end of the Astana talks, Russia, Turkey and Iran issued a joint statement that included a number of points that aim at supporting the political settlement process in Syria. They revealed an agreement to hold consultations with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura and the Syrian parties to “prepare the suitable conditions to launch the constitutional committee in Geneva, as soon as possible.”It is essential to implement agreements on deescalation zones in Syria because they are a main factor in maintaining the ceasefire and reducing violence in the country, said the statement. Tu'mah expressed to Asharq Al-Awsat the opposition's satisfaction with the results of the Astana 9 talks, adding that he felt palpable Russian efforts to push the regime towards the political solution. The Russian president's special envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, stated that the Astana process is ongoing and will continue, hailing the results of the ninth round and describing them as positive. Head of the Syrian regime delegation to Astana Bashar Jaafari also expressed satisfaction regarding the outcomes, stressing that Syria will continue to fight terrorism and liberate every inch of its territory.

Syrian rebels pull out of their last besieged area
Reuters/Wednesday, 16 May 2018/The remaining fighters started to withdraw from the last rebel-held enclave in central Syria on Wednesday, state television reported, sealing the government’s control over the area and opening a major stretch of the country’s most important highway.
It further cements President Bashar al-Assad’s dominant position over the most populated parts of Syria after years of fighting, but means any new military campaign might risk direct conflict with foreign powers. The withdrawal may also be the last in a series of agreed evacuations used by the government to defeat besieged insurgents by forcing them to surrender territory in return for safe passage to opposition areas in the north. Often brokered by Assad’s Russian allies, such agreements have in recent years become a defining characteristic of Syria’s seven-year war. They have displaced over 100,000 people - rebel fighters and civilians. The opposition has called it a policy of forced displacement amounting to demographic change to force out Assad’s opponents. The Syrian government has said nobody is forced to leave and those who stay must accept state rule. The last besieged rebel area, being fully evacuated on Wednesday, is the large enclave located between the cities of Hama and Homs around the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh and Houla. Rebels still hold large swathes of northwest and southwest Syria that are not besieged because they border Turkey and Jordan, which have at times backed the insurgents and are guarantors of limited truces in those areas. The only other area still surrounded by the Syrian army, in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus, is held by Islamic State fighters who look unlikely to agree to withdraw to the patch of desert they still hold in east Syria. More than a quarter of Syria is held by an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias that the United States helped in the fight against Islamic State. US President Donald Trump has said he wants to pull American troops from Syria, but the Pentagon has said they are staying for now.

Watchdog confirms chlorine used as chemical weapon in Syria attack
AFPW/ednesday, 16 May 2018/A global arms watchdog on Wednesday confirmed that chlorine was "likely used as a chemical weapon" in a February attack on the Syrian town of Saraqeb. A fact-finding mission by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons determined that "chlorine was released from cylinders by mechanical impact in the Al Talil neighbourhood of Saraqeb" on February 4, an OPCW statement said.

U.N. Warns Idlib Regime Assault Would be '6 Times Worse' than Ghouta
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/18/The U.N. special envoy to Syria warned Wednesday that a regime assault on the northern rebel-held area of Idlib would be "six times" more destructive than the battle to recapture Ghouta, which fell last month after years of siege.
"If we see a Ghouta scenario in Idlib, this could be six times worse, affecting 2.3 million people," Staffan de Mistura told the U.N. Security Council's monthly meeting on the Syria conflict. De Mistura described what he called the classic Syrian regime tactic of a bombardment of a rebel territory followed by negotiations and then mass evacuations from the defeated area. But the special envoy noted that half of the people in the northern rebel province of Idlib had already fled from other parts of Syria, "and will have nowhere else to go because there is no other place to go."
Regime forces recaptured Ghouta from rebels last month after a ferocious offensive that displaced tens of thousands, both to government-controlled zones around Damascus and to opposition-held parts of northern Syria. Nevertheless de Mistura said he was "encouraged" by talks earlier this week in the Kazakh capital Astana on "how to avoid worst-case scenario in Idlib."The latest round of peace talks, which wrapped up on Tuesday, did not however make any concrete progress towards ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives. The high-level talks ended merely with a declaration by the three main guarantor nations of Russia and Iran -- both of which are allies of the Damascus regime -- and Turkey, which backs rebel groups, that negotiations would resume in July in the Russian city of Sochi, but rebel groups said they would not attend. Since the Astana negotiations began at the beginning of last year, they have mostly focused on attempts to keep Syrian regime forces and their rebel opponents at arm's length. Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanski, said that the solution to the Syria conflict was "simple: restore the sovereignty of Damascus over its territories." "If you cannot or will not help solve the problem, at least do not stand in our way!" he said in a statement directed at the United States, which did not send a delegation to the latest Astana talks. Shortly before the U.N. meeting, the Dutch ambassador Karel Van Oosterom told reporters that the main obstacle to resolving the conflict was that "the Syrian government is not engaging." He said that was the message that De Mistura himself had made during a recent meeting of the council.

Egypt, Ethiopia Vow to Develop Ties in Hope of Overcoming Differences
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received on Tuesday Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and General Intelligence Chief Major General Abbas Kamel in Addis Ababa, on the sidelines of the second high-level meeting on the Renaissance Dam. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that talks during the meeting were “very cordial and transparent”. The prime minister affirmed his full commitment to strengthening and developing relations with Egypt and to building confidence for the benefit of the two peoples. Shoukry, for his part, underlined Egypt’s keenness to activate all mechanisms of cooperation at the tripartite level between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, in order to achieve the development goals of the three countries and contribute to realizing the people’s aspirations for a better future. The second high-level meeting kicked off on Tuesday at the Intercontinental Hotel in Addis Ababa, in the presence of the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation and heads of intelligence services in Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan. The current dispute between Egypt on one hand, and Ethiopia and Sudan on the other, is based on the preliminary report prepared by a French consultant office for a study to be carried out by the latter, which identifies the potential negative impacts of the Ethiopian dam at the economic, social and environmental aspects. In an opening address, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu expressed his country’s desire to reach results “that would satisfy everyone”, stressing the need to overcome obstacles hampering the work of the tripartite technical committee. Cairo fears the dam could negatively affect the flow of its annual share of the Nile River, estimated at 55.5 billion cubic meters per year. Ethiopia says the dam will have many benefits, especially in the production of electricity, and will not hurt the downstream countries, including Sudan and Egypt.

Mystery of Malaysian Flight MH370 Solved
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/Aviation experts believe they may have solved the mystery of the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in 2014, saying the 239 passengers and crew were the victims of a deliberate, criminal act carried out by the plane’s captain. The fate of the Boeing 777 has mystified investigators ever since it went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014. A panel of experts assembled for the Australian TV program “60 Minutes” said the evidence suggests Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah executed a careful series of maneuvers to evade detection and ensure the plane disappeared in a remote location, the Daily Telegraph reported. Former Australia Transport Safety Bureau head Martin Dolan, who led the two-year search, stated that the search for the missing plane at sea and under water was one of the biggest operations in aviation history. After the initial 52-day sea-level search failed, the research teams conducted ocean floor searches, eventually excluding more than 120,000 square kilometers of research. In 2015 and 2016, debris suspected from the Malaysian aircraft was found on the shores of islands in the Indian Ocean and the eastern coast of Africa. In their report, investigators determined the plane's location, after analyzing the debris and satellite data, however, the aircraft has not been found.

UN Envoy to Present Peace Plan on Yemen Before Mid-June
Jeddah, Sanaa, Taiz - Asmaa al-Ghaberi and Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 May, 2018/UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths is planning to present the “general framework” of his peace plan on Yemen before mid-June and is looking forward to a formal re-launch of peace negotiations afterwards, a statement issued by the UN said on Tuesday. “The Special Envoy is making good progress towards the production of a framework for negotiations as promised in his briefing to the UN Security Council in April. He plans to put that to the council in the first half of June,” the statement said. It added, however: “We are all gravely concerned by the negative impact of the recent escalations of attacks on the political process.”
Griffiths reiterated his calls that all parties take urgent measures to de-escalate. On the battlefield, official Yemeni sources reported on the collapse of the houthi militias on the Taiz front, adding that dozens of rebels have already surrendered to the Yemeni National Army. Yemeni joined forces fighting on the west coastal have taken control of new areas in Hodeidah, killing and capturing dozens of Houthis, amid the fast deployment of resistance forces in the districts of al-Jarahi and Tahita.
Saudi-led Arab coalition jets backed the resistance forces in taking control of strategic sites and cutting off Houthi supply lines in the directorate of Hussainiya, Beit al-Faqih and Zabid. Last week, the Tehami resistance, the “Giants Brigades” and the National Resistance led by Tareq Saleh mounted a joint large-scale military operation to liberate the governorate of Hodeidah from the Houthis. Military sources close to Saleh’s forces said that the Yemeni joint forces continue to deploy in the directorate of Tahita, located to the north of the liberated al-Khawkha directorate. Those forces were also advancing in the nearby directorate of al-Jarahi, where a large number of Houthis were losing ground and abandoning their posts. “In the past two days, the joint forces deployed in an area of 30 kilometers and were able to secure the areas of al-Fazah and al-Ghuweyrak. They are currently approaching the neighboring directorate of Zabid,” the sources added.

Merkel: Transatlantic ties must endure dispute about Iran nuclear deal
Reuters, BerlinWednesday, 16 May 2018/The relationship between Europe and the United States should endure differences such as the diplomatic dispute about Iran’s nuclear program, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. “Despite all the difficulties that we have these days, the transatlantic relationship is and remains paramount,” Merkel told lawmakers. “But these transatlantic relationship also must be able to deal with differences in opinion, especially as we can see these days with the withdrawal of the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran,” Merkel added.

Putin says Russian frigates in Mediterranean on standby over Syria threat
Reuters/Arab News/May 16/18éSOCHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian military vessels with Kalibr cruise missiles would be on permanent standby in the Mediterranean to counter what he said was the terrorist threat in Syria. The deployment shows how Russia has increased its military presence in the Middle East since it launched an intervention in Syria in 2015, turning the tide of the civil war in favor of its close ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russia has in the past fired Kalibr cruise missiles from frigates and submarines stationed in the Mediterranean Sea at militant targets to support Syrian army offensives. Putin on Wednesday said only warships armed with Kalibr missiles would be on permanent standby, and not submarines. Announcing the deployment while addressing the Russian high military command at a meeting in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Putin said it was “due to the remaining terrorist threat in Syria.”Moscow already has a permanent naval base at Tartus, on the Syrian coast, and an air base at Hmeimim in Syria. Last month Russia hinted it would also supply advanced S-300 ground-to-air missiles to Assad despite objections from Israel, which has lobbied Russia hard not to transfer the missiles. On Friday, however, in an apparent U-turn following a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russia said it was not in talks with Syria about supplying the missiles. It said it did not think they were needed. The Kremlin denied it had performed a U-turn on the missile question or that any decision was linked to Netanyahu’s visit.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 16-17/18
Tehran lost Iraqi elections: Don’t let it hijack the aftermath

إيران خسرت الإنتخابات في العرق فلا تتركوها تخطف النتائج

Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/May 16/18

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64702/baria-alamuddin-tehran-lost-iraqi-elections-dont-let-it-hijack-the-aftermath-%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AE%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7/
Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr were crystal clear about what their faction’s electoral victory meant, as they elatedly surged through Baghdad’s Tahrir Square chanting: “Iran barra barra” (Iran get out). The surprising outcome of this election puts Al-Sadr in an extraordinarily powerful kingmaker position. If he plays his cards carefully, he could succeed in installing the inclusive technocrat-based governing system he has long advocated, while slamming the door on the ayatollahs of Tehran and their proxies.
On hearing the results, Iran’s Qassem Soleimani immediately flew to Baghdad for consultations. He will be furiously contacting various factions, making offers they can’t refuse. Soleimani wants to sabotage Al-Sadr’s efforts and concoct a Tehran-friendly coalition — exactly as happened with Iyad Allawi, who won the popular vote in 2010. Al-Sadr must move rapidly to outmaneuver Soleimani, possibly reaching a deal for Haider Abadi to remain as prime minister while Al-Sadr oversees government composition.
Although Abadi’s vote share was disappointing, he and Al-Sadr are among the few Shiite politicians who enjoy widespread trust among Sunni communities. Abadi is widely perceived as the real architect of the fightback against Daesh, while waging a lonely (and not particularly successful) battle against corruption and sectarianism.
In the chaotic conditions following the demise of Daesh, the 2018 elections were a golden opportunity for Iranian paramilitary proxies in Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi to consolidate their influence. They failed. Iraqis were repelled by Al-Hashd’s message of “we deserve your vote.” They were likewise not fooled by sectarian militants like Hadi Al-Amiri and Qais Al-Khazali ripping off their paramilitary uniforms and making hollow statements about national unity. What Iraqis really wanted were effective leaders who prioritized measures to address the grinding poverty of everyday life.
In their quest for electoral dominance, Al-Hashd embarked on a scorched-earth campaign across central Iraq. They prevented refugees from returning home, forced Sunnis into exile and used threats, coercion and extortion to gain votes. The fruits of demographic engineering are reflected in Al-Hashd winning second place in traditionally Sunni-majority provinces Diyala and Salahuddin, which bore the brunt of this paramilitary terrorism. Such outrageous election results must be investigated, particularly as Al-Hashd hope to consolidate local-level control in the upcoming provincial elections.
Despite its immense oil wealth and proud history, Iraq disintegrated in 2014 because of the corruption, sectarianism and Iranian interference under Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, paving the way for Daesh’s victories. In these elections, Al-Maliki’s list was soundly defeated, partly thanks to Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani urging Iraqis not to elect the same old corrupt and failed faces.
Iraqis voted against the “Hezbollaization” of their society. If Al-Hashd is forced into opposition, then it will enjoy little political clout to resist pressure for demobilization and handing back areas under its control. Yet Iran’s allies are most dangerous when their backs are against the wall. They will fight tooth-and-nail to avoid such scenarios.
Iraq's kingmaker Al-Sadr can slam the door on the ayatollahs of Iran and their proxies.
Many of Tehran’s closest Iraqi allies emerged out of the militant fringes of Al-Sadr’s now-disbanded Mahdi Army. These militants unsurprisingly regard Al-Sadr’s anti-Iranian and anti-sectarian rhetoric as treasonous and, prior to the 2014 elections, there were multiple assassination attempts against Al-Sadr and his lieutenants. In response to Al-Sadr’s electoral alliance with Iraq’s Communist Party, a senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared: “We will not allow liberals and communists to govern in Iraq” — an indicator that the knives may be out for sabotaging Al-Sadr’s victory.
American editorials are already recalling Al-Sadr’s bloody uprisings against US-led occupation after 2003. Although he has matured as a national figure, he will never cuddle up to the West like Abadi or Allawi. Yet he is probably Washington’s best chance for a bulwark against Iranian meddling. There is a need for active GCC and Western solidarity in ensuring that the likes of Abadi, Ammar Al-Hakim and indeed Al-Sadr himself are not seduced by Soleimani’s forked tongue. Iraq needs massive international assistance to get back on its feet. However, these powers must accept the fact that Al-Sadr is hostile to foreign meddling in Arab affairs — and this is not a bad thing.
These elections demonstrate why Iran and Israel’s attempts at regional dominance will ultimately fail: Tehran can kill and terrorize Iraqi citizens, mobilize paramilitary proxies, buy off politicians and swamp the airwaves with propaganda — but this ultimately serves as a reminder that Iran’s regime is a parasitic alien force seeking to dominate a land where it has no business being involved. In conflict-ravaged states across the region, Arab citizens will stand up in defiance of aggressive Iranian encroachment whenever the opportunity presents itself. Attempts by Tehran’s theocratic regime at hegemony will ultimately be consigned to the dustbin of history.
With many election centers recording a turnout of around 20 percent, these elections highlighted voter fatigue with their governing classes. Iraqis opined that, whoever they elected, politicians would simply pursue their own mercenary agendas. Yet voters warmed to Al-Sadr’s denunciation of this corrupt political system, where the administration is treated like a cake to be sliced up on a sectarian basis among victorious factions.
If nationalist Iraqi politicians seize the moment, these results represent an immense opportunity for a new, inclusive vision for Iraq. New ministers must prove they can deliver on promises for improving standards of living for all citizens. However, Al-Sadr and his allies must first thwart the hostile agendas seeking to abort such aspirations.
The coming months will reveal whether chants of “Iran barra barra” can be transformed into a governing vision which — for the first time — acts in the service of all Iraqis. We all have a stake in their success, because whether Iraq flourishes or disintegrates has immense consequences for the region and the wider world.
*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.

Iran expands its war on messaging apps and social media
إيران توسع حربها على تطبيقات المراسلة ووسائل التواصل الاجتماعي
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/May 16/18

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The Iranian regime is taking extensive measures and intensifying its efforts to crack down on the population. One of the methods that the state’s apparatuses are heavily resorting to is waging a nuanced war against social media platforms, specifically messaging apps. Developing new filtering software, blocking access, hacking, and censorship are rife, and utilized as powerful means by the Iranian authorities to further restrict the use of messaging apps. The regime is also currently preparing to totally shut down the messaging app Telegram nationwide.
The regime’s target is mainly the youth. Iran’s population is approximately 80 million, and 60 percent are under 30 years old. In comparison to the older generation, Iran’s young people rely heavily on messaging apps.
The preparations to shut down Telegram are significant due to the fact that it is by far the most popular messaging app in Iran, and is mainly used by the youth. Approximately 40 million Iranians use Telegram — that is half of the population and 20 percent of all Telegram’s users across the world.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other leaders have recently spoken against foreign social networks and advocated for a domestic social network.
Telegram has become popular in Iran for several reasons. First of all, the regime previously threw obstacles such as filters against downloading and using other messaging apps such as Viber and WhatsApp. This is most likely because, unlike Telegram, these other apps are made in the US or other Western countries. From the Iranian leaders’ perspective, since Telegram was made by Russians and since Moscow is Tehran’s ally, they could have access to users’ data when they needed it — although the Iranian regime was proved wrong in this regard.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other leaders have recently spoken against foreign social networks and advocated for a domestic social network. But there exists a noticeable paradox and hypocrisy in the sense that, while Iranian officials strongly call for blocking foreign social media outlets, many of them continue to use them.
On the other hand, if the Iranian regime could have blocked access to all forms of online communication and messaging apps without inflicting damage on itself, it would most likely have done so by now. But such a measure could have severe repercussions.
First, the regime would have to block everyone from using social media networks, including its own organizations, which rely on them to better organize, coordinate and inform each other of possible protests. Secondly, if all messaging apps were blocked, the regime would be incapable of spying on the population and detecting anti-regime movements, opposition groups and dissidents. Third, such a drastic measure would cause an international outcry and widespread public backlash against the ruling mullahs.
As a result, since it is impossible for the regime to block all forms of internet communication, the Iranian authorities would rather allow people to have access to some social media platforms, preferably domestic ones, in which the regime can control and monitor users’ content and data. Nevertheless, Iran is known to have one of the most technologically savvy populations in the region. Whenever the regime develops filter software and censors a social media network, the younger generation creates specific anti-filtering software or uses proxies and VPNs to bypass the restrictions.
When it comes to blocking information, social media networks, messaging apps and online communication tools, the regime appears to be fighting a losing battle with the younger generation.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

The unintended unravelling of the OPEC pact agreement
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/May 16/18
The current OPEC plus agreement seems to be holding but the withdrawal of the US from the Iran nuclear deal has created some uncertainties going forward, with new red lines and slogans from all parties. Sometimes slogans can lead to far reaching consequences.
This was the case with Drill, Baby, Drill the slogan, which proved to be popular and gained further prominence after it was used by Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin in her debate with Joe Biden in the 2008 US Presidential elections.
This was to spur US domestic oil production, particularly shale resources, and anything else that can “wean” the US from foreign oil imports. It has worked, with the US now a serious global oil producer, if not an exporter.
However, sometimes slogans can become an embarrassment as Drill, Baby, Drill turned to Spill, Baby, Spill following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill at a British Petroleum offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
Catchy slogans can fire people’s imagination and sometimes leads to significant policy shifts, as was the case with the Republican Party’s support for US shale, coal and other conventional energy production. The results have seen US oil imports fall back, with China now overtaking the USA as the world’s largest oil importer, and the USA acting as the global swing oil producer, taking that mantra from OPEC. If Trump reinstates US sanctions, the measures could be unilateral, unlike the global effort that brought Iran to the negotiating table last time
A divisive debate
This has also unleashed a divisive debate on the effect of unbridled fossil fuel production on a fragile world environment. Now we might have a catchier slogan of Bomb, Baby, Bomb with implications to the international oil markets.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton had cast doubt on the nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers, with potentially significant consequences for the oil market. Bolton, a veteran of George W. Bush’s administration known for his ardent support of the 2003 Iraq invasion, had described the accord with Iran as a “strategic debacle”.His appointment follows the firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a defender of the nuclear deal, who was replaced by another foreign policy hawk, Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo. Oil markets reacted bullishly, with international benchmark Brent crude rising about 8 percent to $71 a barrel. Both Bolton and Trump share a common cause on Iran and this has implications on oil policies and market stability. President Trump was required by law to certify every 90 days whether Iran is complying with the 2015 agreement, which eased US and international restrictions on the Islamic Republic provided it curbs nuclear research. In October, the president said Iran had failed to live up to the spirit of the pact, but he stopped short of re-imposing US sanctions on its energy industry. He decided in January to hold back from imposing tough economic sanctions against Tehran, but only to give more time for Europe to fix the terrible flaws in the agreement.
Pandora’s Box
Before the latest May 12 deadline, Trump decided not to renew the US to the deal unleashing a Pandora’s Box of uncertainties. Since US and international sanctions were eased in January 2016, Iran has regained its position as one of the world’s biggest oil exporters, shipping more than 2 million barrels a day to customers in Asia, Europe and Turkey. It did not, however, really reach a sustained 3 million barrels per day production despite being reluctantly exempted from the current OPEC plus agreement with non-OPEC producers.
If the US were to force that amount of oil off the market again, it could turn a fast-shrinking surplus into a shortage and send prices higher and destabilise the careful balance of supply and demand that both Saudi Arabia and Russia are trying to achieve.
Trump’s opposition for the nuclear deal has already deterred investors from the country and of the Western energy majors, only France’s Total has returned, and its gas venture is proceeding slowly. If Trump reinstates US sanctions, the measures could be unilateral, unlike the global effort that brought Iran to the negotiating table last time.
International sanctions
During the most restrictive phase of US and international sanctions, from 2012 to 2015, buyers in Asia limited their purchases of Iranian oil, and the European Union imposed its own embargo on crude from Iran. However, countries that agreed then to buy less Iranian crude are signalling no willingness to cut back now. The US could also penalize American subsidiaries of foreign companies that invest in Iran or purchase its oil. Buyers might try to avoid punishment by paying in non-dollar currencies, like China’s Yuan, or by working through companies that have no US subsidiaries.
The impact on the market may not be quite so clear cut, because killing the Iranian deal could also prompt the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies to prematurely end their production cut at the end of 2018 or before, and boost supply due to high oil prices and a scramble for Iran’s market share as the group has voluntarily reduced production by more than 1.8 million barrels a day. Any increased tension in the Gulf could lift Brent as high as $80 or more per barrel this year. Bolton’s appointment has lots of implications beyond just Iran.
It also makes Trump’s scheduled talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un riskier, as the North Korean leader will might conclude that, notwithstanding all the sweet talk, any agreement is not going to be honoured and already the North Koreans are stating that the planned summit in Singapore in June might be cancelled.

Who really cares about Palestine?
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/May 16/18
Palestine is the cause which has been deceitfully exploited the most in the Arab world and the Middle East in general. The Turkish and Iranian elements have also become involved.
Ambitions have been false, opinions have not been downright, the journey has not kicked off and power has not been properly invested ever since the days of Amin al-Husseini who made several wrong political bets – such as supporting Hitler – and up until the days of Shukeiri, Arafat and until this day in which there are Palestinian divisions between the West Bank and Gaza or between Hamas and Fatah. And “every faction rejoicing in what it has.”Most political coups and seditions and armed groups in the past century emerged by baptism in the Palestinian cause – even those who are very far like Qaddafi in Libya in the 1960s. Palestine is now being discussed again and battles are raging around the “cause.” They want everyone to repeat the same mistakes and speeches and echo the same chants which led to the situation we see today in Gaza and Jerusalem and to the Palestinians’ tragedies.
Turkish and Iranian opinions
Turkey’s Erdogan and Iran’s Khamenei have opined on the situation and they always have. Ankara asked the Israeli ambassador to “temporarily” leave the country as Netanyahu’s hands are “stained” with the Palestinians’ blood; however, this is always the case anyway, at least according to the rhetoric of those who resemble Erdogan, so why did he decide to expel the Israeli envoy “temporarily” today? In his recent article in Al-Hayat newspaper, Lebanese writer Hazem Saghiyeh wrote: “All the descriptions used for the establishment of Israel treated the latter as a unique event. Like all unique things, a unique solution is required – unique to the extent where the solution is impossible. Nationalist-military regimes generalized this ‘analysis’ to serve their own aim which is to divert attention from their weak legitimacy. This is how a ‘cause’ crystallized to resemble tribal vengeance which there is no way to resolve neither through politics nor through war.”Let’s go back to reality and to looking at Arabs, including the Palestinian Authority and to some extent Hamas after the revised document. After the Arab League Summit in Beirut, they recognized the idea of the two-state solution, Palestine and Israel, by having Israel withdraw from Arab territories captured since 1967 and having east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. The proposal also included several other principles and rules that governed the idea of recognizing the two states’ right to exist.
What’s right and appropriate is to harness Arab and Muslim efforts to force Israel to accept this solution and it’s not to employ the Palestinian cause to serve propagandist and political aims which are not really interested in “ending” the Palestinian problem, as the case is with Lebanese Hassan Nasrallah, the Iranian Qassem Soleimani and others. All Arabs and Muslims, or rather all humans, are biased to the Palestinian injustice. This is self-evident. It’s due to this particular bias that we are “disgusted” by the bazar of continuous trading in the Palestinian tragedy and is not beneficial to anyone.

The post-election Iraqi government
Adnan Hussein/Al Arabiya/May 16/18
The recent Iraqi parliamentary elections were not like their antecedents — including the first elections after Saddam’s ouster in 2005. This time, the large blocs formed on sectarian (Shiite-Sunni) and nationalist (Arab-Kurdish) lines dissolved. The newly elected House of Representatives will consist of a larger number of coalitions that will have lesser weight. It’s unlikely that the most important Shiite bloc (the National Iraqi Alliance) will emerge again given its recent dissensions.
Splintering of old blocs
The Sadrist movement has already parted ways with it and has joined hands with the Communist Party and other civil groups in these elections. The State of Law Coalition has been divided into two groups, the first led by Prime Minister Haidar Abadi while the second is led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. There is also the National Wisdom Movement led by Ammar al-Hakim who was the former leader of the Islamic Supreme Council. Other Shiite groups formed lists that included armed groups that had joined the Popular Mobilization Forces and entered elections under the leadership of Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr organization who had parted ways with the State of Law Coalition and the National Alliance. The Sunni bloc has also broken down, with its members forming small sectarian lists, even as some of its leaders joined the National Coalition led by Ayad Allawi. Even Kurds, who had shown more unity than others in the past, have splintered and the Kurdistan Alliance is no longer their only umbrella. Each party has its own list which has led to poorer representation in parliament. These lists will seek to join Shiite or Sunni blocs to guarantee a role in the next cabinet. It’s most likely that the Kurdistan Democratic Party will hold the lead among them, entitling it to be the preferred partner of the next government. Given this scene, the new government would have to be strong enough to meet the challenges of the post-ISIS phase, especially in terms of establishing state citizenship after the fall of the state of sects and national quotas. What distinguished this year’s elections is that the rate of boycotts or abstentions, which have been a characteristic of previous elections, has significantly increased. Voter turnout in this election fell from 60% (recorded in the 2014 elections) to less than 50%. This was actually expected and it represented people’s punishment of influential parties, especially Islamists which the public felt they had betrayed them after 15 years of holding sway following the fall of Saddam's regime.
The Shiite frustration
The Shiites, the largest faction of the population, did not feel that the parties that spoke of their oppression contributed to improving their livelihood conditions. Actually the opposite happened. The Shiites are the most affected by the collapse of the public services system (health, education, electricity, water, sanitation and transport) and by the high levels of unemployment and poverty. Most people realize the leadership of the Shiite parties is responsible for this because of their administrative and financial corruption which has been growing over the years, despite government’s vows to fight this phenomenon that drains hundreds of billions of dollars allocated to economic and social development.
The term of the previous government, which was led by the largest bloc in parliament, the National Iraqi Alliance, merely increased Shiite frustration against their parties. Despite the fact that ISIS occupied Sunni areas that year, Shiites were killed by the terror proto-state in large numbers. For example, the terrorist organization ISIS killed 1,700 young Shiite recruits training at Camp Speicher after the army and police forces withdrew from the area surrounding the camp just like they withdrew from other areas that ISIS occupied. In fact, victims of the war fought in later years to restore ISIS-held areas were mostly Shiite members of the army, the federal police and the Popular Mobilization Forces. The families of the victims who sacrificed their lives in the war have been complaining that their "government" did not properly safeguard their interests. This further worsened the frustration and disappointment against the Shiite parties and the government.
The Kurdish grudge
The Sunnis too were greatly frustrated with their parties. These parties focused on fomenting sectarian differences and conflicts, which led to the catastrophic ISIS occupation. The frustration against the Sunni parties worsened after the occupation, which caused the displacement of most of the Sunni population, causing them to live in deplorable conditions in various refugee camps that lacked basic humanitarian facilities. What escalated this hostility towards these parties is how the latter’s leaders took advantage of their agony to appropriate a portion of the money flooding from home and abroad to help the displaced.
In Iraqi Kurdistan, things are not looking any better. The majority of Kurds discovered that their parties were not capable of strengthening the gains they had hoped for. Leaders of Kurdish parties have also been immersed in administrative and financial corruption, and started fighting for power, influence and money among each other. The misjudgment particularly in terms of the timing in arranging the referendum on the right to self-determination last year definitely incensed Kurds against these parties, as Kurds have lost much of the gains they had made over half a century.
Given this scene, the new government would have to be strong enough to meet the challenges of the post-ISIS phase, especially in terms of establishing state citizenship after the fall of the state of sects and national quotas. People conveyed this message in the recent elections through boycotts and abstentions. Reconstruction must also include all of Iraq, not just the areas devastated by the occupation of ISIS and its decimation. This is precisely why the government needs to be committed to combating administrative and financial corruption which was the main reason behind the collapse of non-oil Iraqi economy, the incitement of civil and political conflicts and the rise of ISIS. Of course, the new government shouldn’t resemble the previous ones in terms of sectarian and nationalistic quotas as this would reproduce failures and deepen public resentment that warn of social unrest that’s difficult to control. Just like the recent elections do not resemble previous ones, the new government, or rather the entire political process, must not resemble its predecessors.