English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For 06 August/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.august06.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 09/01-07/:”And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’

Question: “Is there life after death?”
GotQuestions.org?/August 04/2022
Answer: Job, speaking out of his despair, asked, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14, ESV). All of us have been challenged by this question. Is there life after death? What happens to us after we die? Do we simply cease to exist? Is death a revolving door of departing and returning to earth? Does everyone go to the same place after death, or do we go to different places? Is there really a heaven and hell?
The Bible tells us that, yes, there is life after death. This world is not all there is, and mankind was made for something more. At death, the body ceases to function and begins the process of returning to the earth, but the spiritual part of man lives on: “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7; cf. Psalm 146:4).
To those who are redeemed and have their sin forgiven, God gives eternal life, an existence so glorious that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NLT). This eternal life is inextricably linked to the Person of Jesus Christ: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). In Jesus’ prayer in this passage, He equates “eternal life” with a knowledge of God and of the Son. “Whoever has the Son has life” (1 John 5:12).
Jesus Christ, God incarnate, came to the earth to pay for our sins and give us the gift of eternal life: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus proved Himself victorious over death by rising from the grave—He is life personified (John 11:25) and the ultimate proof that there is life after death.
The resurrection of the Christ is a well-documented event. The apostle Paul invited people to question the over 500 eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6). All of them could bear testimony to the fact that Jesus is alive and that there is indeed life after death.
The resurrection of Christ, which gives us the sure hope of life after death, is the cornerstone of the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 15:12–19). Because Christ was raised from the dead, we have faith that we, too, will be resurrected. As Jesus told His disciples, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Christ was only the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again (1 Corinthians 15:23). Just as God raised up Jesus’ body, so will our bodies be resurrected upon Jesus’ return (1 Corinthians 6:14).
The fact of life after death does not mean everyone will go to heaven, however. People will continue to exist after they die, and there will be a resurrection someday, but God makes a distinction between the resurrection of the just (those who are in Christ) and the unjust (those who die in their sin): “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Paul put it this way: “There will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked” (Acts 24:15).
Each person must make a choice in this life, a choice that will determine his or her eternal destination. It is appointed for us to die once, and after that will come judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Those who have been made righteous by faith in Christ will go into eternal life in heaven, but those who have rejected Christ as Savior will be sent to eternal punishment in hell (Matthew 25:46). Hell, like heaven, is a literal place. It is a place where the unrighteous will experience the never-ending, eternal wrath of God. Hell is described as a lake of fire where the inhabitants will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10). In hell, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, indicating intense grief and anger (Matthew 13:42).
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires them to turn from their wicked ways so that they can live (Ezekiel 33:11). But He will not force us into submission; if we choose to reject Christ, the one and only Savior, we reject the heaven that He has prepared, and we will live eternally apart from Him. Life on earth is a preparation for what is to come. Faith in Christ prepares us for life after death: “Whoever believes in [God’s Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
Everyone will experience life after death in some manner. For believers in Christ, life after death is eternal life in heaven with God. For unbelievers, life after death is eternity in the lake of fire. How can we receive eternal life and avoid hell? There is only one way—through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25–26).
The free gift of eternal life is available to all. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36). We will not be given the opportunity to accept God’s gift of salvation after death. Our eternal destination is determined in our earthly lifetimes by our reception or rejection of Jesus Christ. “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). If we trust in the death of Jesus Christ as the full payment for our sin, and we believe in His resurrection from the dead, we are guaranteed eternal life after death, in glory (1 Peter 1:3–5).
Have you made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as Savior because of what you have read here? If so, please click on the “I have accepted Christ today” button below.

Titels For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 05-06/2022
Hezbollah the Terrorist organization is totally responsible for the Beirut Port Explosion, and justice will not be achieved before Lebanon is liberated from it's occupation/Elias Bejjani/August 04/2022
Titles For Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 05-06/2022
Lebanon’s banks confront politicians in protest against lawsuits and arrests/Najia Houssari/Arab News/August 05/2022
Thousands of Protesters Mark 2 Years Since Beirut Port Blast as Part of Silos Collapse
Inquest into death of UK Embassy worker in Lebanon hears she was murdered by Uber driver
Association of Banks in Lebanon announces strike on Monday
Hezbollah voices support for Palestinian people as Israel attacks Gaza
FPM accuses Mikati of corruption, Mikati hits back in no time
FPM to Mikati: What are your national achievements?
Mawlawi denies naturalization decree, threatens to sue French daily over 'false' news
Geagea says Hezbollah's arms 'clearly' serving Iran's interests
The LIC Commemorates the Second Anniversary of the Beirut Port Explosion with a Call for Action and Justice
August 4 2022: march towards justice and a glimmer of hope restored/Dana Hourani/Now Lebanon/August 05/2022
Macron to L’Orient-Le Jour: ‘I will not let Lebanon disappear’/L’Orient-Le Jour/August 05/2022

Titles For LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 05-06/2022
Who was the Palestinian terror chief killed by Israel?
Islamic Jihad says 100 rockets fired at Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel
Top commander among 15 killed in Gaza as Islamic Jihad vows to hit Tel Aviv
15 killed as Israel unleashes a wave of strikes in Gaza
Senior Militant among More than 15 Dead as Israel Strikes Gaza
Palestinian Islamic Jihad Leader Behind the Rise in West Bank Militancy Arrested
US: Time Appears to be Running Short for Iran to Accept Deal
Iran Nuclear Negotiations Resume, Breakthrough Unlikely
Iran and US Try to Salvage 2015 Nuclear Deal in Vienna
Iran holds mass funeral for Guard officers killed in Syria
Republicans Urge Biden to Deny Entry Visa for Iran’s Raisi
Ukraine War Making 40 Mln People Go Hungry, Africa to Bear Brunt, Says US
Kremlin: Turkey Has Legitimate Security Concerns over Syria
Kremlin Escalates Estonian Row Over Removing Soviet-Era Tank
Hundreds of Thousands of Sadr Supporters Gather for Mass Prayer in Baghdad
In Iraq, a political game of proxies and brinksmanship
Taliban Say Bomb Kills 8 People in Kabul
Taiwan Condemns 'Evil Neighbor' China Over War Drills
Blinken: China military drills are 'significant escalation'

Nigeria’s elephant in the room...Christians are being targeted in widespread violence/David Landrum/The Critic/August 05/2022
Putin’s Threshold of Pain/Amir Taheri/r Asharq Al-Awsat/August 05/ 2022
The Growing Threat from North Korea/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute./August 05/2022
Putin, Erdogan have a lot at stake in their Sochi meeting/Peter Apps/The Arab Weekly/August 05/2022
Is Iran winning the hostage-taking game again?/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/August 05/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 05-06/2022
Hezbollah the Terrorist organization is totally responsible for the Beirut Port Explosion, and justice will not be achieved before Lebanon is liberated from it's occupation.
Elias Bejjani/August 04/2022
حزب الله الإرهابي هو المسؤول عن تفجير مرفأ بيروت، والعدالة لن تتحقق قبل تحرير لبنان من رجس احتلاله
Prophet Isaiah 33/01: "Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed".
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/101087/elias-bejjani-hezbollah-the-terrorist-organization-is-totally-responsible-for-the-beirut-port-explosion-and-justice-will-not-be-achieved-before-lebanon-is-liberated-from-its-occupation/
In reality and practically, justice in Lebanon will remain a mirage and a dream while Lebanon is still occupied by the Iranian Hezbollah, and governed by a bunch of local puppets and Trojans.
Sadly, justice in our beloved occupied Lebanon is currently far from reach, and even impossible, whether in regards to the Beirut Port explosion horrible crime, or the assassinations of dozens of sovereigns, patriotic and free Lebanese figures.
Justice in the occupied Lebanon is currently ignored, muzzled, marginalized and down trodden, and will not be achieved in any way before the country is liberated from the occupation, domination, hegemony, barbarism and the Mafiosi of the Iranian terrorist organization, Hezbollah.
In this Trojan framework that Hezbollah is enforcing, all that is circulated in the media about judicial investigations into the Beirut Port Explosion crime in particular, revolves only around ignoring the real perpetrator, and on distracting the Lebanese people with names of political and security officials who are charged on mere negligence basis. The occupier, Hezbollah who has been since 2005 in complete control of Beirut's airport and port, brought the shipment of ammonium nitrate to Lebanon in full partnership and co-operation with the Syrian Criminal Assad Regime.
Hezbollah stored the ammonium nitrate in the Beirut Port, used it inside and outside Lebanon in terrorism explosions, and transported most of it to Syria, where Assad regime transformed it into bombing barrels of death and destruction. Due to the fact that Hezbollah is an "assassination machine "and an Iranian terrorist organization that occupies and terrorizes the Lebanese, all the Lebanese security officials and politicians, including and foremost, the President, House Speaker, PM, ministers, MP'S and all high ranging government employees would not have dared to utter a word about the ammonium shipment, even if they were aware of it. This enforced silence would be either because of fear for their lives, or due to their treason affiliation with Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the terrorist Hezbollah, and through its ruling puppets and officials in all positions continues viciously to distract the judicial investigation, and the peoples' focus from the truth, that actually and plainly points towards its sole criminal role in exploding Beirut's Port on August 04, 2020.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah has been openly and loudly threatening the Lebanese judiciary, and questioning its credibility, in a replicate to his evil role with the Special Tribunal For Lebanon (STL), that was investigating the assassination of the late PM, Rafik Al Hariri.
In summary, Hezbollah, which occupies Lebanon and controls its rulers, officials and political parties' without even one exception, is fully accountable for the Beirut Port Explosion crime, and accordingly justice will not be fully achieved before the liberation of Lebanon, and before charging, arresting and before putting on all it's leaders on trial. And until the day of liberation comes, this Terrorist and criminal armed militia, will continue to systematically and viciously to devour our beloved Lebanon, The Land Of The Holy Cedars, piece by piece, intimidating its people and assassinating its patriotic leaders.

Lebanon’s banks confront politicians in protest against lawsuits and arrests
Najia Houssari/Arab News/August 05/2022
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s banking association ABL announced on Friday that banks would go on strike starting Monday over a build-up of “populist, harmful stances” taken against the sector, the group’s statement read. Around 49 banks plan to strike, the statement added.
The group is taking action over the recent treatment of the sector, particularly the arrest of Creditbank Chairman Tarek Khalife this week. Khalife was held along with his family upon their arrival at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport recently, following a criminal complaint filed against him at the Public Prosecution Office in Mount Lebanon. Although Khalife is now on bail, ABL stressed that “these abnormal situations, which banks have been trying to deal with flexibly, even at their own expense, have reached an extent that is no longer acceptable.”Economic experts expect the strike to put pressure on the financial market and the dollar exchange rate in the parallel market. They said the strike could lead to banks ceasing to pump dollars into the market in accordance with the Banque Du Liban’s circulars, with people turning to the parallel market for dollars. ABL said that banks “can no longer bear harmful and populist situations at their expense and at the expense of the economy, and they find themselves compelled to issue a general warning that is an invitation to everyone to deal seriously and responsibly with the current situation for the sake of moving towards real recovery.”
The association accused people looking into the lawsuits of being unaware of basic banking and accounting laws, adding that it was surprised by some of the commissioners’ neglect in respecting the law and its provisions, “as if implementing the law has become optional, not mandatory.”
It added: “What is even more surprising is that these authorities take drastic measures that deal with the individual’s freedom and dignity, defame them and jeopardize the relationship of local banks with the correspondent banks, which causes extreme damage, not only for banks but also for the depositors.”Critics say ABL’s move will have a negative impact on the banking sector and will have repercussions on the vital sectors in a country that suffers from financial crises that are worsening every day.
Public sector employees have not received last month’s salaries because of their open-ended strike, demanding the adjustment of their salaries and benefits. Finance Minister Youssef Khalil said, however, that salaries would be paid within the “next 10 days at the latest.”He urged ministries and administrations to speed up the process in order to avoid further delays. Those opposed to the banks’ policies, which led to the economic collapse of the country, believe that Lebanese banks are trying to evade responsibility for the country’s situation and are instead blaming the state for the financial crisis. Critics note that several banks’ partners are politicians themselves.Economic expert Bassem Ajjaka told Arab News that ABL’s step “is a message to the political class in Lebanon, not to the judiciary or the people.”
He said that ABL made direct accusations against those politicians in its statement.The statement is a warning to the government, as it develops and implements policies based on the constitution, Ajjaka added.

Thousands of Protesters Mark 2 Years Since Beirut Port Blast as Part of Silos Collapse
Asharq Al-Awsat/August 05/2022
Thousands of protesters marched in the Lebanese capital on Thursday to mark the second anniversary of a cataclysmic explosion at the Beirut port, with chants denouncing the government's failure to uncover the truth behind the blast. In a grim reminder of the disaster, several grain silos that were left heavily damaged by the blast collapsed on Thursday afternoon, only hundreds of meters away from where crowds were gathering at the city's waterfront. The concrete silos cracked and fell, sending a cloud of smoke into the sky. Protesters covered their mouths in disbelief. The silos had shielded Beirut’s western neighborhoods in the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion that killed nearly 220 people, injured over 6,000 and caused damage worth billions of dollars. One of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, it was caused by massive stores of ammonium nitrate kept at the site in the port and neglected since 2013.The 50 year-old, 48-meter-tall silos had withstood the force of the 2020 explosion that destroyed much of the port. Many in Lebanon, including families of the victims, have been demanding that the silos be kept for future generations as a testament to a blast they say was caused by widespread corruption and mismanagement in the country. The protesters, wearing t-shirts stamped with blood-red handprints, were marching from Lebanon's justice ministry to the city's waterfront and then to parliament in the center of Beirut. Several senior officials have been accused of responsibility but, to date, none have been held to account - symptomatic, critics say, of a governing elite hamstrung by corruption and on whose watch Lebanon has descended into a political and economic crisis. “There is no justice under the rule of militia and mafia,” read one banner carried during Thursday's march, an apparent reference to Hezbollah that has been calling for the removal of Tarek Bitar - the judge leading the Lebanese investigation - whom it describes as biased. Families of victims have also pressed the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international enquiry and on Thursday protested outside the French embassy in Beirut, urging Paris to back an external investigation. Speaking alongside demonstrators, Human Rights Watch researcher Aya Majzoub said France has blocked efforts to set up an external investigation for political reasons. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday marked "two years without justice", and called in a tweet for "an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation" - a plea echoed by the European Union's delegation in Beirut.

Inquest into death of UK Embassy worker in Lebanon hears she was murdered by Uber driver
Arab News/August 05/2022
LONDON: An inquest into the death of a British Embassy worker in Beirut in 2017 has heard that she was raped and murdered by an Uber driver after a night out with friends, the Daily Mail reported on Friday. Rebecca Dykes, 30, had been in Lebanon helping Syrian refugees when she was attacked before heading home for Christmas. She was strangled to death by Uber driver Tariq Houshieh, who left her body by the side of a road. It was discovered on Dec. 16, and Houshieh was tracked down by police using CCTV footage. He was sentenced to death in 2019 by the Criminal Court of Mount Lebanon for his “premeditated and deliberate” crimes, but is appealing his sentence. Lebanon has not carried out an execution since 2004, according to Human Rights Watch. Houshieh had a criminal record for alleged harassment and theft before the attack, according to Agence France-Presse. Uber said at the time of Dykes’ death that it was “horrified by this senseless act of violence,” while the Lebanese government advised people to avoid using the ride-hailing app. The inquest into her death opened in London this week, and heard that embassy staff had been told to use just three pre-approved taxi firms for security reasons, but that many frequently ignored the advice on account of brand familiarity with Uber, and waiting times with other companies.Andrew Harrison, coroner at the Inner South London Coroner’s Court in the borough of Southwark, was told by embassy security officer Alyson King: “It came to light afterwards, many staff were using other taxi companies when they found them convenient.”She said all embassy staff were given safety and security briefings on arrival in Beirut, including specific women-only meetings. When asked by Harrison, she added that she felt the level of security briefings provided to staff were adequate for the situation they found themselves in. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s head of security, Bharat Joshi, said many staff at the embassy chose not to follow the taxi guidelines, but in general, the embassy was found to have had a “very, very strong” security culture in the aftermath of Dykes’ murder. There had “never been a serious incident” before involving Uber in Lebanon, Joshi added. Members of Dykes’ family also addressed the inquiry, where she was described as having “improved the lives of countless refugees and vulnerable host communities.”Her mother Jane Houng said via video link that she hoped “no parent has to go through what we have.”She added: “One thing that pained me very much was that now embassy staff wear personal alarms. I think if Rebecca had been wearing a personal alarm at that point in time, it probably would have saved her life. “When I went to Lebanon shortly after her death and sat around the table with Rebecca’s friends and colleagues, they all said they used Uber. It was commonplace for personal travel that people used Uber taxis.”The coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

Association of Banks in Lebanon announces strike on Monday
Naharnet/August 05/2022
The Association of Banks in Lebanon has announced a strike starting Monday, as it said in a statement that banks can no longer bear harmful and populist measures against them. The Banks Association decried the arrest of the Chairman of Creditbank, stressing that banks should not be blamed for the economic situation.

Hezbollah voices support for Palestinian people as Israel attacks Gaza
Naharnet/August 05/2022
Hezbollah on Friday offered warm condolences to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group after Israeli strikes on Gaza killed senior commander Taysir al-Jabari and 14 other people, in what Israel has described as a major military campaign against the group.Lauding “the solidarity of all Palestinian resistance factions,” Hezbollah said in a statement that it “will always stand firmly by the aggrieved Palestinian people and their brave resistance.”It also said that it “openly supports all the steps taken by the leadership of the Islamic Jihad movement in responding against the aggression and its insolent crimes.”

FPM accuses Mikati of corruption, Mikati hits back in no time
Naharnet/August 05/2022
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati accused Friday the Free Patriotic Movement of political blackmail, after a series of statement attacks between the two. Minutes after the FPM issued a statement slamming Mikati for corruption, the latter hit back at FPM chief Jebran Bassil without naming him, criticizing him for lecturing about honesty and rightness, while he is internationally sanctioned for corruption. In 2020, the U.S. had announced sanctions on Bassil, accusing him of corruption and political patronage.

FPM to Mikati: What are your national achievements?
Naharnet/August 05/2022
The Free Patriotic movement responded Friday to a statement by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati accusing the FPM of corruption. The FPM asked what are Mikati's national achievements, accusing him back of corruption and of trying to please foreign countries.
Mikati had claimed that the FPM is seeking to "justify its failure in many files it was in charge of, most importantly the electricity file." President Michel Aoun, Mikati and the FPM had been exchanging accusations, after the FPM did not name Mikati as a PM, and the latter presented to Aoun a government line up that was reportedly convenient to all parties, except to the FPM. Christian FPM minister Walid Fayyad was replaced by a Sunni candidate, Walid Senno. The line-up was leaked to the press, and Mikati accused the Presidency. In his statement on Wednesday he slammed "the deliberate leaking of the line-up" and "the subsequent interference of the president’s entourage and their insults against the premiership’s position and the PM-designate in person."

Mawlawi denies naturalization decree, threatens to sue French daily over 'false' news
Naharnet/August 05/2022
Lebanon did not sell any passports to non-Lebanese, the Presidency said Friday. "The report published in the French Liberation newspaper is false and baseless."The premiership also denied a naturalization decree reported in the daily without naming it, affirming that Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is not considering such a decree. For his part, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi affirmed that the ministry has not issued and will not issue any naturalization decree. He asked the French daily to apologize and correct the false news and informed French Ambassador Anne Grillo about his letter to the daily and his right to sue it.

Geagea says Hezbollah's arms 'clearly' serving Iran's interests
Naharnet/August 05/2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Friday Hezbollah's missiles are directly serving Iran's strategic interests. "This has led to enormous consequences on the Lebanese people," he added. Geagea based his accusation on a statement by the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami who had "clearly" said that "the enemy will face a dead end in any military action against Iran" as Hezbollah has more than a hundred thousand missiles and is ready to give hell to Israel.

The LIC Commemorates the Second Anniversary of the Beirut Port Explosion with a Call for Action and Justice
LIC/August 05/2022
WASHINGTON D.C., — The Lebanese Information Center remembers the second anniversary of the Beirut Port Explosion and grieves with the many families who still feel the pain of lost loved ones.  “August 4, 2020 was a day that will forever mark Lebanon and from which the country is still reeling. The passage of time does not bring back loved ones,” said LIC President Dr. Joseph Gebeily. “This tragedy was the result of inexcusable government malfeasance and corruption, and the families of these victims still await justice.” Dr. Gebeily stressed that “with the recent elections of a new parliament, Lebanon has a new opportunity for transparency and justice. Lebanon must elect a new President, and the new government must initiate transparent investigations that protect no one in the pursuit of the truth. Only then will the perpetrators be held accountable and the victims granted justice.” Previous investigations into the port explosion were halted and obstructed by government officials who demonstrated a lack of transparency throughout the process. The LIC has actively called for an open investigation conducted from within or outside of the country. The organization has also been engaged in providing financial relief to Lebanese displaced by the blast and affected by the resulting economic crisis. They also lobbied the international community and the United States specifically for humanitarian aid and an international probe. “We are strong in our commitment to this effort and to the ongoing well-being and restoration of the country of Lebanon and its people,” said Gebeily.

August 4 2022: march towards justice and a glimmer of hope restored
Dana Hourani/Now Lebanon/August 05/2022
On the second anniversary of the Beirut port explosion, a march was organized to commemorate the victims that passed away and to relay a clear message to the international community: an international investigation is compulsory.
At three in the afternoon, people gathered in front of the Palace of Justice. The march commemorating the August 4 explosion, spearheaded by the victims’ families, had three stops. Protestors covered themselves in red paint to pay tribute to the victims whose souls were lost to 2,750 tonnes of poorly stored ammonium nitrate. Families held up photos of their lost loved ones as they always do on the fourth of every month. However, this time, the crowd was significantly larger.
Two years later and no one has been held accountable. Instead, the investigation has been crippled by Amal-affiliated Finance Minister, Youssef Khalil, who is refusing to sign a decree to appoint six chamber presidents to the Court of Cassation, which would make up the court’s plenary assembly. Two Amal-backed suspects, Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil have been re-elected in parliament and are part of the finance and budget committee. After living through one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, families, friends, and survivors are reminded that the 243 dead, 7000 injured, many disabled, businesses, and homes could not sway the authorities. “They [the suspects] may hide behind their political immunities but we won’t stop demanding justice. Every day is August 4,” one protestor told NOW. The march began, the sun was blazing, and people held up slogans with a clear message: the crime won’t pass and we will not forget.
The French disappointment
The procession’s first stop was in front of the French Embassy where Aya Majzoub, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, gave a speech. “In the past two years, we’ve written letters to the members of the Human rights council, organized press conferences, and met with several diplomats around the world. However, our demands were met with silence, indifference, and obfuscation,” Majzoub said. “In our demand for an international probe, we’ve heard many excuses; the timing isn’t right or that it’s not a human rights issue… However foreign countries are hesitant to intervene without a greenlight from France due to what they deem as a ‘special bond’ between France and Lebanon,” she adds. French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Beirut two days after the blast, parading around shattered neighborhoods and reassuring traumatized citizens that he was there to help them. Besides donating a large sum of money — similarly to many other donors — the French president did nothing to advance the fight for justice. Tracy Naggear, mother of the three-year-old victim Alexandra Naggear, said in a speech she read in French “Why is president Macron legitimizing a corrupt political class… We can only reproach the president for giving out promises that were not followed by actions.” The march resumed with protestors chanting “The explosion is not a memorial, the explosion is not a revolution,” referring to the gravity of the date that surpasses a mere anniversary.
October 17 and the clashes with the riot police
While security factions such as the Lebanese Armed Forces and General Security walked adjacent to the march, some protestors belted out angrily “down with the Lebanese intelligence, we don’t exempt anyone!” Reminiscent of the October 17 revolution, chants condemning the military, the authorities, and especially the Iran-backed Hezbollah party made a strong appearance during the march. Arriving downtown, members of the families of the victims carried white caskets with “August 4” and “government” marked on them in red paint. Men hoisted the caskets over their heads and walked towards the parliament building, which was blocked off by the riot police. With loud tapping on the caskets coupled with derogatory chants at the police, protestors demanded to enter the parliament. As people began jumping over the metal barriers separating the two, chaos ensued. Sound bombs erupted, jolting people into retreating, while the angry few threw water bottles at the police. A second sound bomb was deployed, followed by another as caskets were thrown toward the riot police. The victims’ families pleaded with the protestors not to participate in the chaos and to simply follow their peaceful march. “There are outsiders who are causing trouble on purpose… We are begging you to stop,” a speaker from the victims’ families said.
A long list of deaths
Under the Annahar building Monika Borgmann, wife of the late activist and Hezbollah critic, Lokman Slim, who was assassinated on February 4, 2021, gave a speech commemorating the assassinations of prominent public figures stressing that “the crimes are ongoing.”“Lokman was the first to link the ammonium nitrate stuck at the Beirut port to the barrel bombs used by the Syrian regime …. Three weeks before his assassinations he publicly accused Hezbollah to be implicated,” she stated. Then four towers of the grain silos collapsed. An initial section of the silos collapsed on Sunday, and they continued to burn on the second anniversary of the explosion. This did not, however, deter the crowd from the protest. Instead, everyone continued to march toward the final destination: the devastated Beirut Port.  As the father of the late army personnel George Maalouf walked with the crowd, he lamented the military inaction toward the loss of their comrades. “He was one of you … it took us eleven days to find his body…” the grieving father said to military members. “They [the politicians] are worth the sacrifice,” one person replied. “Your son is worth more than all the politicians combined,” another asserted.
Every day is August 4
As toxic fumes rippled from the collapsing silos through the city, large crowds of people gathered in front of the site. Words in French and Italian were read by speakers in an attempt to appeal to the International Community and citizens of Western countries in hopes of increasing foreign support to the families that felt abandoned by their people. Protestors were then asked to sign a large Lebanese flag that will be sent abroad as a plea for foreign parties to investigate the blast as hopes for a fruitful local probe shrink. At 6:07 pm, the exact timing of the blast in 2020, a minute of silence was given. Suddenly, a sound erupted from the speakers.
Mothers, holding the photos of their deceased sons, broke down in tears.  “Our eyes don’t sleep and they won’t until we get our justice,” the mother of Mohammad Alaa Dine told NOW. Before leaving, families of the victims asked the crowd to swear an oath to keep pursuing justice for the Beirut blast, even after its memorial was over. As the crowd chanted “Hezbollah is a terrorist!” William Noun, brother of the late firefighter Joe Noun, made a pledge to the protestors to support the families on a frequent basis and not only for one day a year. “Riots, protests, revolutions, whatever you want we’ll do, but we won’t amount to any justice if we only show up on August 4,” Noun stated. The crowd then dissipated as people walked back towards downtown. Street-sellers sold water, balloons, flowers, coffee, and even ice cream, and all the while, the port was still ablaze, with one helicopter venturing to douse the flames.
People stood to observe the movie-like scene as the sun began to set on a city that has yet to know justice. On a positive note, August 4 2022, marked the day injured mother Liliane Cheaito saw her toddler son for the first time since the blast occurred due to a custody dispute with her husband. Dana Hourany is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_leb. She is on Instagram @danahourany and Twitter @danahourany.

نص مقابلة الرئيس الفرنسي ماكرون مع جريدة الأورين لاجور باللغة الإنكليزية: لن أسمح بأن يزول لبنان
Macron to L’Orient-Le Jour: ‘I will not let Lebanon disappear’
L’Orient-Le Jour/August 05/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/111018/macron-to-lorient-le-jour-i-will-not-let-lebanon-disappear-%d9%86%d8%b5-%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%a6%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%81%d8%b1/
In an interview with L’Orient-Le Jour marking the second anniversary of the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion, French President Emmanuel Macron revisited Paris’ role in Lebanon, implicitly warned against any risk-taking in the face of Israel and called “with vigor” for justice for the victims of the port blast.
Macron to L’Orient-Le Jour: ‘I will not let Lebanon disappear’
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted on Aug. 3, 2022. Protesters who gathered on Thursday, Aug. 4 to mark the second anniversary of the port explosion cast blame on France for what they said was obstruction of an international probe into the blast, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands.
Two years after launching an ambitious political initiative to get Lebanon back on track in the wake of the Aug. 4, 2020 blast, Emmanuel Macron says he is still determined to help Lebanon. Aware of the on-the-ground realities that have greatly hampered his approach, and which he likely underestimated, the French president says he refuses to give up.
“I will never resign myself. I will not let Lebanon collapse, let alone disappear,” he said on Wednesday to L’Orient-Le Jour. While Macron maintains a tough stance on the ruling class in general, which he blames for the blockages that are hindering the country’s recovery, he gives a small nod to outgoing Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati.
The latter, he said, “is trying his best” to initiate much-needed reforms and to help restore “close relations” with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf monarchies, without which Lebanon will enjoy “neither prosperity nor growth.”
Commenting on the thorny negotiations for the maritime border demarcation, Macron implicitly warned against any risk-taking. According to him, Lebanon “would not survive a new conflict at the southern border, which would be much more deadly, much more destructive than that of 2006.”
“No Lebanese actor has an interest in this,” he went on.
Commenting on the Aug. 4 anniversary, the French president took the opportunity to denounce ongoing obstacles to the blast investigation. “I reiterate it today with vigor: justice must be done,” he said.
Two years after the Beirut port explosion, the investigation is paralyzed by the people and parties called for questioning. Does France support the opening of an international investigation so that justice is finally done?
This Thursday is a national mourning day in Lebanon. Allow me first of all to say that my thoughts go out to the victims who unfairly died, as well as their families and loved ones who are still in pain, to the Lebanese people united in grief, to all of you. I want to express my solidarity with you and to tell you once again that you hold a place in the hearts of French men and women and in mine. It is with great emotion that I remember the shock I felt two years ago when I learned of this tragedy. The day after, I was there, with you, in the destroyed streets of Gemmayzeh, moved by your dignity and your courage despite the pain. There are moments that cannot be forgotten in the life of a president. This moment will remain one of them.
When I heard the call of the Lebanese people, I proposed an international investigation. The authorities of your country decided to open a national investigation, calling for international cooperation, by addressing several countries, including France. This is a sovereign choice that France and the countries friendly to Lebanon have respected. France has played its full role in this work. It has transmitted to the Lebanese justice system all the technical reports that have been drawn up to date, in support of the samples taken by the French experts on the site of the explosion with their Lebanese counterparts, as well as the satellite images available. Our willingness to continue this work is total.
This investigation has been suspended for several months. France has called for its resumption and for it to be brought to completion, in complete independence and free from any political interference. I reiterate it today with vigor: justice must be done. In order to mourn and start over, the Lebanese people and all those who live in this country — I am also thinking of the French men and women who lost their lives that day or who were injured — need to know the truth. Lebanon is going through an unprecedented crisis. It also needs justice to recover. Here as well, France will continue, with its partners, to help Lebanon.
You have devoted a lot of time and energy to the “Lebanese case” since the beginning of your first term, but the results have been limited. Why?
It is true that I have devoted, and continue to devote, a lot of energy to Lebanon. I do so driven by the deep affection and respect that unites us, by a shared history that obliges us, and by what this country has and which is unique in the region: its openness, its culture, its coexistence among the various sects and its democratic character that the Lebanese hold dear.
France led an exceptional and unprecedented international mobilization to avoid the country’s brutal institutional, financial, economic, social and cultural collapse, which was looming after the explosion in the port of Beirut. With the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I took the initiative to hold three conferences in support of the Lebanese population, which, with the support of many countries and partners, made it possible to provide emergency aid so that the Lebanese, especially the most vulnerable ones, could continue to live decently, to be treated, to feed themselves, to warm up, to send their children to school [and] so that your security forces could continue to fulfill their mission in the service of the country’s security and its population.
Under a pressure from France and several of its partners, serious negotiations with the IMF have, for the first time, been initiated, with an agreement being reached in April. This is an important step in restoring investors’ lost confidence in Lebanon. It involves reforms to rebuild its economic model on a sound basis. It must now be implemented. It is the responsibility of all Lebanese politicians. We are keeping up the pressure so that we can convene a donors’ conference for which France, as always, will be present.
I would also like to remind you that, since 2020, France’s commitment also includes nearly 200 million Euros in targeted aid. France has thus invested massively in the survival of the Lebanese educational, university and scientific system, which is the matrix of Lebanese excellence that is recognized throughout the world. And we continue to do so. We are committed to the preservation of your health institutions, the reconstruction of your heritage and your creative spaces and freedom of expression. These are all essential sectors that determine the future of Lebanon.
In May, under the aegis of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and other countries provided material and financial assistance to ensure that your parliamentary elections are held and that the polling stations could function.
I would add that there are other ways in which we are supporting Lebanon, and I am referring to our efforts to limit the consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in terms of food security and energy. The efforts that are being carried out are mainly designed to limit its effects on weakened countries such as Lebanon.
This is not enough and more and better [efforts] must be done, but what would it be like today without the mobilization of the international community led by France? So no, I do not regret putting all my energy into it, driven by my attachment to the Lebanese people, first of all because they deserve better and greater than what they are experiencing.
In the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion, you went twice to Lebanon, and these trips became the starting point of what the local media called the “French initiative.” What is your assessment? Do you think, in hindsight, that it was possible to adopt another method?
What you call “the French initiative” is first of all a remarkable surge of solidarity by France at a highly emotional time after the tragic explosion at the port of Beirut. A surge that I have effectively demonstrated through two trips in one month. It is the promise I made to you that I would not give up on you.
This solidarity was not limited to words. It has been translated into the concrete actions of solidarity that I have just mentioned in a difficult international context, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when there are terrible crises all over the world.
“The French initiative” also involved the call to form a government in charge of implementing a roadmap of reforms and changes necessary to stop the collapse of the country. It took several months to be formed. It is a fact that we have not succeeded in overcoming the inertia of the Lebanese system and its actors. I do not want to reiterate their responsibility here, it is known.
But was this French approach unfounded? I do not believe so. On the contrary, I believe that the motivations, which resulted in clearly suggesting the ways and means that would truly help the Lebanese and overcome the crisis, continue to be relevant. To date, I see that nothing else has been proposed, and that this is the only approach that still has the consensus of the international community and the vast majority of the Lebanese population. I also see that the measures recommended as part of the “roadmap” that is at the heart of this “French initiative” are more relevant than ever.
I know and I understand the impatience and frustration. But one must not take aim at the wrong target by always questioning what France does, does not do, or does not do enough.
I had the opportunity to state on several occasions the vision that constantly guides me: a Lebanon united in its diversity; sovereign, stable and prosperous. A Lebanon that takes up its place in its Mediterranean and Middle Eastern environment. This is the goal. There is no other agenda for France in Lebanon. I will never resign myself. I will not let Lebanon collapse, let alone disappear. Despite the headwinds and difficulties, I will stay on course, determined, lucid and pragmatic. For the Lebanese women, for the Lebanese men, for Lebanon, I will always take the initiative.
You have worked hard to re-engage Saudi Arabia in relations with Lebanon. Why is this so important? Are Paris and Riyadh on the same line in Lebanon, especially regarding Hezbollah?
Let us be clear: there is no stability for Lebanon without being included in its regional environment, in which Saudi Arabia is obviously a leading power. There is neither prosperity nor growth in Lebanon without close relations with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries. I remind you, also today, that the Gulf absorbs half of Lebanon’s exports. You know, moreover, the essential role played by Lebanese expatriates who live there. The diplomatic crisis that broke out in the fall of 2021 was therefore a serious threat to Lebanon. That is why I decided to work for de-escalation and a return of the Gulf countries to Lebanon. Today, the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and its allies are back in Beirut. Saudi Arabia is contributing with us to a Franco-Saudi humanitarian fund. This mechanism is already operational. The first projects have begun, in the health and food security [fields]. We will further strengthen it. I did my part of the job with Arabia; I did so again during Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to Paris a few days ago. But the Lebanese leaders must do theirs, and I know that this is the deep desire of Prime Minister Mikati, who is trying his best: Saudi Arabia, like the rest of the international community, expects the authorities of your country [to implement] serious reforms, and balanced regional positioning, in order to restore the lost confidence.
We may have with Saudi Arabia, as with other partners, differences related to the approach with regard to this or that actor, but they count for little when compared to our desire to act effectively together, in support of the population, and in support of reforms so as to overcome the economic and political challenges facing your country.
You have been accused of going easy on Hezbollah to save the nuclear deal with Iran. How do you respond to this criticism?
Let me put the situation as it is. Regardless of those in Lebanon who believe that your country is at the center of all international negotiations, the Lebanese file and the Iranian nuclear file are separate. The Vienna talks are not about Lebanon or Hezbollah, but about Iran’s nuclear activities.
In the event of a non-agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue, Lebanon could be the scene of a new regional conflict. How can this scenario be avoided?
The best way to avoid destabilization of the region is to return to the Iranian nuclear deal. We are making every effort to do so, in collaboration with our European partners. Direct negotiations must now resume and Iran must do its part, while there is still time, to seize the opportunity that is presented to it to return to the JCPOA [the 2015 nuclear agreement].
But whether or not an agreement is reached, we will still have to work to strengthen regional security and stability. The 2015 agreement did not prevent increased tensions in the area. A new agreement would not magically remove them either. I worked with the Iraqi authorities to set up what is now called the “Baghdad” format [Baghdad conference], a space for dialogue that brought together for the first time, in August 2021, all the countries of the region, including Iran and Saudi Arabia. This process can be expanded to address regional security as a whole. We are working on that. While war has returned to the European continent, it is clear that the Near and Middle East are also at a crossroads. Crises persist, new ones emerge and others break out. The current events in Iraq bear witness to this. I am particularly concerned about the situation in that country. I am in contact with several Iraqi political leaders, starting with Mr. Mustafa al-Kadhimi, with whom I spoke over the past few days. Iraq must find the path of dialogue and consultation between the Iraqi political forces, which is the only way to prevent the country from sinking into chaos.
Coming back to Lebanon, it is crucial that everyone demonstrate their sense of responsibility. Your country is facing the worst economic crisis in its history. It would not survive a new conflict at the southern border, which would be much more deadly, much more destructive than the one in 2006. No Lebanese actor has an interest in this. Everyone must be aware of this.
In this respect, it is particularly important that the difficult issue of the maritime border with Israel — for which France is also doing its part to facilitate a solution in collaboration with the American mediator — not be exploited. What is at stake is the stability of your country, its prosperity, and its ability to once again be considered a country that can take its destiny into its own hands.
What place do you think Lebanon can have in the new regional configuration? And how can France help it?
Lebanon has tremendous assets to leverage in the ongoing reconfigurations. Its human capital, unparalleled in the region, and the talents of its men and women, which I know well, could enable it to be a role model and model of stability for the region if it agrees now to completely overhaul its economic and financial model. To do so, you must not only agree to face the crisis, to talk to each other and to reform your country, but also not to import the conflicts of the region to your territory.
I will go further. The role of Lebanon in the new Middle Eastern configuration that is yet to be built could be to help build bridges between countries, to resolve crises, to promote stability… Lebanon, thanks to its diverse population and its political history, could play this role.
The key to this is that Lebanon decides by itself [to implement] the indispensable reforms; the reforms that affect the daily life of the Lebanese as well as [the reforms] that will allow the adoption of the institutional rules that are indispensable for the country to progress.
By doing so, Lebanon will be able to gradually rid itself of the foreign influences that import regional tensions into a country that is already weakened.
France is obviously ready to accompany your country on this path. But on this issue as on others, you must help us help you.
*This interview was originally published in French with L’Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury.
https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1307755/macron-to-lorient-le-jour-i-will-not-let-lebanon-disappear.html

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 05-06/2022
Who was the Palestinian terror chief killed by Israel?
i24NEWS,News agencies,Ynet|/August 05, 2022
IDF says strike on Islamic Jihad commander Tayseer al-Jabari, who 'planned numerous deadly attacks against Israel,' represented a 'targeted preventive action to eliminate a concrete threat'.
Tayseer al-Jabari, who was assassinated on Friday by Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was a senior official in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization and its commander in the northern Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States. Jabari was the close associate of Bahaa Abu al-Atta, who is regarded as his predecessor and who was assassinated by Israel in November 2019, sparking days of fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad. Smoke rose from a building where al-Jaabari was apparently killed and glass and rubble were strewn across the street amid the sound of ambulances racing to other sites. Hundreds marched in a funeral procession for him and others who were killed, with many mourners waving Palestinian and Islamic Jihad flags and calling for revenge. “He planned numerous deadly attacks against Israel,” the IDF said of the targeted strike in a statement on Friday. "He held several senior positions within the organization in the past, including that of chief of operations and the chief coordinator with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group ruling over Gaza," the statement read. “His daily duties included terrorist attacks against Israeli targets and in the past several days, he made plans to carry out missile attacks against Israeli citizens and fire anti-tank missiles at IDF vehicles,” the military said. The operation was carried out "in cooperation with the Shin Bet, based on precise intelligence," the statement said, calling it a "targeted preventive action to eliminate a concrete threat."

Islamic Jihad says 100 rockets fired at Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel
Agence France Presse/August 05, 2022
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad group said it fired more than 100 rockets at Israel on Friday, as an "initial response" to deadly Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.
"As an initial response to the killing of senior commander Taysir al-Jabari and his brethren martyrs... the Al-Quds Brigade covered Tel Aviv, central cities and areas surrounding Gaza with more than 100 rockets," Islamic Jihad's military wing said in a statement.

Top commander among 15 killed in Gaza as Islamic Jihad vows to hit Tel Aviv
Agence France Presse/August 05, 2022
A senior militant from Islamic Jihad was among more than 15 people killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip Friday, prompting the militant group to warn Israel has made a "declaration of war."A child was among those killed in the strikes, the enclave's health ministry said, while Israel's military estimated 15 combatants were killed. The Israeli army said the bombardment was part of an operation "against targets in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad" group. Flames poured out of a building in Gaza City following the air strikes, while wounded Palestinians were evacuated by medics. Islamic Jihad said the Israeli strikes amounted to a "declaration of war." "We call on all the resistance forces and their military wings to respond in a unified front to this aggression," the group said in a statement. Gaza's health ministry reported "a five-year-old girl, targeted by the Israeli occupation" was among nine people killed. A further 55 Palestinians were wounded, the ministry said. Islamic Jihad said several members of its military wing were among those killed, including "the great fighter Taysir al-Jabari 'Abu Mahmoud', the commander of the Al-Quds Brigade in the northern region of the Gaza Strip."Israeli tanks were lined up along the border and the military said Thursday it was reinforcing its troops. An Israeli military spokesman said "we are assuming about 15 killed in action" in Gaza, referring to Palestinian combatants. "We haven't finished yet," spokesman Richard Hecht told journalists, adding that the military expected retaliatory rocket fire against Israel by Gaza militants. Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhala, who is visiting key backer Iran, told Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen television that "Tel Aviv will... be one of the targets of the resistance's missiles... as will all Zionist cities."
'Pay the price' -
The strikes come four days after Israel closed its two border crossings with Gaza and restricted the movement of Israeli civilians living near the frontier, citing security concerns. The measures follow the arrest in the occupied West Bank of two senior members of Islamic Jihad, which has a strong presence in Gaza. Hamas, the militant group which rules Gaza, said Israel has "committed a new crime for which it must pay the price". "The resistance in all its military arms and factions is united in this struggle and will speak loudly... All fronts must open fire on the enemy," Hamas said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid was due to hold talks with Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday evening. "Anyone who tries to harm Israel should know: we will find you. The security forces will act against Islamic Jihad terrorists to eliminate the threat they pose to the citizens of Israel," Lapid said. Islamic Jihad is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States. The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the Israeli military action amounted to a "dangerous escalation."
"The presidency called on the international community to force Israel to stop this aggression against our people everywhere," said a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. On Friday afternoon, the Israeli military banned large gatherings in communities within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the Gaza frontier, until Saturday evening.  The measures follow four days of road closures and other restrictions on movement in the border area. Palestinians including patients and those with Israeli work permits have been prevented from leaving the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, while the goods crossing has also been shut. Gaza's only power station is at risk of imminent outage due to a lack of fuel supplies through Israel, its manager warned on Thursday. This week's shutdown of the border area follows a raid by security forces in the northern West Bank district of Jenin. Israeli forces detained Bassem al-Saadi and another senior member of Islamic Jihad. A 17-year-old member of the group was shot dead by Israeli forces during the raid.

15 killed as Israel unleashes a wave of strikes in Gaza
AP/August 05, 2022
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad official said Tayseer Al-Jaabari, a senior commander in the movement, had been killed in the strikes
Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Al-Nakhala vowed retaliation for the strikes
GAZA CITY: Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes in Gaza on Friday, killing more than 15 people, including a senior militant, and wounding another 40, according to Palestinian officials. Israel said it was targeting the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to an “imminent threat” following the arrest of a senior militant in the occupied West Bank earlier this week. The strikes risk igniting yet another war in the territory, which is ruled by the militant group Hamas and is home to about 2 million Palestinians. The assassination of a senior militant would likely be met by rocket fire from Gaza, pushing the region closer to all-out war. A blast could be heard in Gaza City, where smoke poured out of the seventh floor of a tall building on Friday afternoon. “The Israeli government will not allow terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to set the agenda in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip and threaten the citizens of the State of Israel,” Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement. “Anyone who tries to harm Israel should know: We will find you.”The Palestinian Health Ministry said the victims included a five-year-old girl. Islamic Jihad said Taiseer Al-Jabari, its commander for northern Gaza, was among those killed. He had succeeded another militant killed in an airstrike in 2019. A few hundred people gathered outside the morgue at Gaza City’s main Shifa Hospital. Some entered to identify loved ones, only to emerge in tears. One shouted: “May God take revenge against spies,” referring to Palestinian informants who cooperate with Israel.
An Israeli military spokesman said it launched the strikes in response to an “imminent threat” from two militant squads armed with anti-tank missiles that were making aggressive movements. The spokesman, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said Al-Jabari was deliberately targeted and had been responsible for “multiple attacks” on Israel. The military said it was targeting Islamic Jihad in an operation named “Breaking Dawn.”It also announced a “special situation” on the home front, with schools closed and limits placed on other activities in communities within 80 km of the border. Israel had closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a revenge attack after the arrest of the Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank on Monday. Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Al-Nakhalah, speaking to the Al-Mayadeen TV network from Iran, said “we are starting the fight, and the fighters of the Palestinian resistance have to stand together to confront this aggression.” He said there would be “no red lines” in the confrontation and blamed the violence on Israel.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said “the Israeli enemy, who started the escalation against Gaza and committed a new crime, must pay the price and bear full responsibility for it.”
Islamic Jihad is smaller than Hamas but largely shares its ideology. Both groups are opposed to Israel’s existence and have carried out scores of deadly attacks over the years, including the firing of rockets into southern Israel. It’s unclear how much control Hamas has over Islamic Jihad, and Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited communities near Gaza earlier on Friday, saying authorities were preparing “actions that will remove the threat from this region,” without elaborating.

Senior Militant among More than 15 Dead as Israel Strikes Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
A senior militant from Islamic Jihad was among more than 15 people killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip Friday, prompting the militant group to warn Israel has "started a war". A child was among those killed in the strikes, the enclave's health ministry said, while Israel's military estimated 15 combatants were killed. The Israeli army said the strikes were part of an operation "against targets in the Palestinian 'Islamic Jihad'" group. Islamic Jihad said Israel had "started a war against our people". "We collectively must defend ourselves and our people. We will not allow the enemy's policy of undermining the resistance and our national perseverance," the group said in a statement. Flames poured out of a building in Gaza City following an air strike, while wounded Palestinians were evacuated by medics. Gaza's health ministry reported "a five-year-old girl, targeted by the Israeli occupation" was among those killed. Islamic Jihad said it was mourning "the great jihadist commander Tayseer al-Jabari 'Abu Mahmud', who was killed in a Zionist assassination in Gaza City". An Israeli military spokesman said "we are assuming about 15 killed in action" in Gaza, referring to Palestinian combatants. "We haven't finished yet," spokesman Richard Hecht told journalists. The strikes come four days after Israel closed its two border crossings with Gaza and restricted the movement of Israeli civilians living near the frontier, citing security concerns. The measures follow the arrest in the occupied West Bank of two senior members of Islamic Jihad, which has a strong presence in Gaza. Hamas, the group which rules Gaza, said Israel has "committed a new crime for which it must pay the price". "The resistance in all its military arms and factions is united in this struggle and will speak loudly, as we cannot accept the situation as it is... all fronts must open fire on the enemy," Hamas said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid was due to hold talks with Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday evening. "The Israeli government will not allow terrorist organizations to set the agenda in the Gaza Strip and threaten the citizens of the State of Israel. The security forces will act against the Islamic Jihad terrorists to remove the threat," Lapid said. Islamic Jihad is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States. On Friday afternoon, the Israeli military banned large gatherings in communities within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the Gaza frontier, until Saturday evening. The measures follow four days of road closures and other restrictions on movement in the border area. Palestinians including patients and those with Israeli work permits have been prevented from leaving the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, while the goods crossing has also been shut. Gaza's only power station is at risk of imminent outage due to a lack of fuel supplies through Israel, its manager warned on Thursday. This week's shutdown of the border area follows a raid by security forces in the northern West Bank district of Jenin.Israeli forces detained Bassem al-Saadi and another senior member of Islamic Jihad. A 17-year-old member of the group was shot dead by Israeli forces during the raid.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Leader Behind the Rise in West Bank Militancy Arrested
Joe Truzman/FDD's Long War Journal/August 05/2022
Bassam al-Saadi, the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the West Bank, was arrested Monday night in Jenin during a combined operation involving the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and other Israeli security agencies.
A statement published by Israel’s security agency, Shabak, alleged al-Saadi was behind the military buildup of PIJ in the West Bank, particularly in Jenin. He was also a driving force in the radicalization of PIJ operatives in the area. The statement added that al-Saadi was arrested at his home in a “special forces operation” with Asharaf al-Jada, a former “PIJ prisoner” and al-Saadi’s “closest aide.” If the Shabak’s statement is true, it will validate FDD’s Long War Journal‘s assessment last year that a military build up of militant organizations was occurring in the West Bank. [See FDD’s Long War Journal: Analysis: The Surge in Militant Activity in the West Bank] During Monday night’s operation, militants from Katibat Jenin clashed with Israeli security forces resulting in the death of one Palestinian, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The militant, Derar al-Kafrini, was later claimed by Katibat Jenin as one of its members. [More on Katibat Jenin and other groups: Analysis: Understanding the Militant Groups Behind the Violence in the West Bank] . In a bid to calm tensions, images of al-Saadi were leaked after his arrest to show that he was in good health and had not been gravely harmed in the operation.
After learning of al-Saadi’s arrest, PIJ announced an alert to all its formations in Gaza and the West Bank. This announcement was likely premature by the group due to initial reports from Palestinian media that al-Saadi had been injured by the IDF during his arrest.
Despite the leaked images, the IDF announced Tuesday morning it had closed roads adjacent to the Gaza Strip in a bid to avoid civilian casualties if PIJ decided to retaliate. At this time, the roads continue to be closed until a security assessment is made to reopen them. While there is a clear concern that PIJ will retaliate for the IDF’s operation in Jenin Monday night, historically, PIJ does not respond militarily to arrests of its members and leaders, especially in the West Bank. However, it is possible that a response, such as a rocket attack against an Israeli community near the Gaza border, may occur over the next days.It’s clear that PIJ is the main force behind the surge in militant activity in the West Bank and al-Saadi’s arrest is potentially a significant blow to the militant group’s West Bank operations. While it’s too early to say if PIJ will be able to continue operating at a high level without al-Saadi, the IDF and other affiliated security agencies appear to be making significant efforts in neutralizing the group’s activities in the West Bank.
*Joe Truzman is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal.

US: Time Appears to be Running Short for Iran to Accept Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday the negotiations on the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran "are pretty much complete at this point." "There's a deal on the table. They ought to take it," he told reporters in Washington. "Time does appear to be getting very short in terms of being able to get to a deal." Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington resumed in Vienna with a meeting between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and the EU's Enrique Mora, who coordinates the talks aimed at salvaging the nuclear deal. Little remains of the deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. But then-President Donald Trump ditched the deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions. "You’ve heard the president say we’re not going to wait forever for Iran to take this deal," Kirby said. "I’m not going to slap a label on it and say ‘last ditch,’ but ... we urge Iran to take this deal on the table," he said. The proposed deal would see Iran agree to stringent controls on its nuclear sector, which it insists has only civilian purposes but is suspected of harboring a secret military program. In return, Iran would see a gradual lifting of crippling economic sanctions.

Iran Nuclear Negotiations Resume, Breakthrough Unlikely
London, Vienna, Tel Aviv – Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington resumed in Vienna with a meeting between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and the EU's Enrique Mora, who coordinates the talks aimed at salvaging a 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian state media reported on Thursday. Both Tehran and Washington have played down the prospect of a breakthrough in this round of talks, while the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned there is no room left for further major compromises. As Iran refuses to hold direct talks with the United States, Mora will shuttle between Ali Bagheri Kani and US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley, who tweeted on Wednesday he was heading to Vienna with his expectations "in check." Signaling little flexibility to resolve remaining thorny issues, Bagheri Kani put the onus on the White House to compromise, saying in a tweet the United States should "show maturity & act responsibly."White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the negotiations "are pretty much complete at this point.""We're not going to wait forever for Iran to take the deal. There's a deal on the table. They ought to take it," he told reporters in Washington on Thursday. "Time does appear to be getting very short in terms of being able to get to a deal."Mora met Thursday with Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov, who has represented Moscow's interests in the talks. Ulyanov also separately met with Bagheri Kani.
"As always we had a frank, pragmatic and constructive exchange of views on ways and means of overcoming the last outstanding issues," Ulyanov wrote on Twitter. Little remains of the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. But then-President Donald Trump ditched the deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions. In response, Tehran breached the deal in several ways including by rebuilding stocks of enriched uranium. As of the last public International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) count, Iran has a stockpile of some 3,800 kilograms (8,370 pounds) of enriched uranium. More worrying for nonproliferation experts, Iran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity — a level it had never reached before. That is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Experts warn Iran has enough 60% enriched uranium to reprocess into fuel for at least one bomb. However, Iran still would need to design a bomb and a delivery system for it, likely a monthslong project. After 11 months of indirect talks in Vienna between Tehran and President Joe Biden's administration the broad outline of a revived nuclear deal was essentially agreed in March.
But talks then broke down, chiefly because of Tehran’s demand that Washington remove its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) from a US terrorism list and the US refusal to do so. Through its state-run IRNA news agency, Tehran denied that it had abandoned its effort to get America to delist the Guards. IRNA also quoted Iran's civilian nuclear chief as saying turned-off surveillance cameras of the International Atomic Energy Agency would be switched back on only if the West abandons an effort to investigate manmade traces of uranium found at previously undisclosed sites in the country.
Those positions could doom the talks. Iranian officials have been trying to offer optimistic assessments of the negotiations while blaming the US for the deadlock. They may be worried that a collapse of the talks could send the country's rial currency plunging to new lows. Iran maintains its program is for peaceful purposes, though its officials increasingly are discussing the country's ability to build a nuclear bomb if it chose — previously a taboo topic there. To overcome the impasse, Borrell in July proposed a new draft text, which two Iranian officials said Tehran "was not happy" with it.
"Iran has shown enough flexibility. Now it is up to Biden to make a decision. We have our own suggestions that will be discussed in the Vienna talks, such as lifting sanctions on the Guards gradually," a senior Iranian official told Reuters. Other points of contention include Tehran's demand that Washington provide guarantees that no US president would abandon the deal as Trump did. But Biden cannot promise this because the 2015 pact is a non-binding political understanding, not a legally-binding treaty.
"If they want to revive the pact, Washington should secure Iran's economic benefits and not only until the end of Biden's term," said a second Iranian official. The nuclear talks were at the heart of discussions held by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cambodia where he is taking part in the ASEAN summit. He met Qatar's foreign minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani and Borrell to talk about Iran. Blinken commended Borrell’s efforts to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the nuclear deal, and he noted that the United States remains sincere and steadfast in our desire to do so, said State Department spokesperson Ned Price. Meanwhile Thursday, UN inspectors at the IAEA said that they had verified that Iran had begun feeding uranium gas into two IR-1 cascades previously unused at its underground Natanz facility. Those cascades will enrich uranium up to 5%. The IAEA inspectors also verified that Iran had completed installation of three advanced IR-6 cascades at the plant, each comprising up to 176 centrifuges. The IAEA said those cascades had yet to be fed uranium. Iran also told the IAEA it planned to installed six more IR-2M cascades in a new operating unit at Natanz, inspectors said.

Iran and US Try to Salvage 2015 Nuclear Deal in Vienna
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Vienna on Friday in a last ditch effort to reinstate a 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian state media reported. Few expect a breakthrough. Each side has called on the other to compromise, while Tehran's nuclear program surges forward. Reuters, citing one Iranian and one European official, reported in June that Tehran had dropped its demand for the removal of its Revolutionary Guards from Washington's sanctions list. On Thursday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters: "We have our own suggestions that will be discussed in the Vienna talks, such as lifting sanctions on the Guards gradually."White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that the negotiations were "pretty much complete at this point."Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani put the onus on the White House to compromise, saying in a tweet the United States should "show maturity & act responsibly."As Iran refuses to hold direct talks with the United States, the EU's Enrique Mora shuttles between Bagheri Kani and the US Special Envoy for Iran, Rob Malley. Talks broke down chiefly because of Tehran's demand that Washington remove the Revolutionary Guards from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list. The US has refused to do so. Tehran also demands that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) drop its claims about Tehran's nuclear activity, objecting to last year's assertion by the UN nuclear watchdog that it had failed to fully explain uranium traces at undeclared sites. Little remains of the 2015 accord between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. In 2018 then-President Donald Trump ditched the deal and reimposed harsh sanctions. In response, Tehran breached the deal in several ways including rebuilding stocks of enriched uranium. The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, submitted a compromise proposal in July and called on the parties to accept it to avoid a "dangerous nuclear crisis." Two Iranian officials said Tehran "was not happy" with the draft text.

Iran holds mass funeral for Guard officers killed in Syria
Associated Press/Friday, 5 August, 2022
Mourners have poured out onto the streets of Tehran to pay their respects to several Iranian officers killed in Syria, a testament to the human cost of Iran's involvement in the civil war and a public display of nationalist fervor as nuclear talks resume in Vienna. The remains of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard members were recently recovered in Khan Tuman, a village 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) south of Aleppo, Syria's largest city that was for years the war's most important front line. The Guard identified the five deceased fighters, providing few details about their deaths with the exception of Gen. Abdollah Eskandari — a decorated commander who became known as the "headless general" after his capture and beheading by Syrian rebels in May 2014. Their bodies were repatriated after a lengthy process of recovery and DNA analysis. Iran has increasingly admitted casualties since it intervened to rescue Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, a ground presence that coincided with Russia's air campaign and helped Assad recover control over most of the country. Although Iran has only acknowledged its forces as having an advisory role, dozens of Iranian soldiers have been killed fighting the Islamic State group and other extremists in Syria. Funeral marches snaked through cities across the country this week, beginning Monday in the northeastern city of Mashhad before moving south, returning each officer's body to his birthplace for burial. The thousands that gathered in Tehran's streets on Thursday evening waved red flags to mark Ashoura, a commemoration of the 7th century death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, a revered figure in Shiite Islam. Chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" rang out from the crowds.
In a speech, Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami hailed the return of the fighters' remains and the survival of Assad's government. "We wanted the (Assad's) system to remain but the U.S., Europe and the Arab world did not want it. Now see who remains in the country," Salami declared.
Meanwhile, Iran's Intelligence Ministry said authorities arrested 10 suspects with links to the Islamic State group who had planned attacks at various locations across Iran during Ashoura rallies planned next week. Two agents were wounded in shootouts with suspected militants in the country's south and west, the ministry added. Iran's Shiites revere the dead, especially their martyrs killed in battle, so the funerals for the Guard officers present a way to gauge public opinion and rally support for the theocracy at a time of political and economic crisis. Talks to revive Iran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers resumed Thursday in Vienna after a monthslong deadlock, apparently a last-ditch effort to save the diplomatic process from collapse. Prospects for a breakthrough have darkened as Iran rapidly advances its nuclear work under diminishing international oversight and political opposition to the deal rises in Washington. Meanwhile, Iran's economy is staggering under heavy sanctions four years after former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the landmark accord, which granted Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for strict curbs on its atomic program. As inflation surges to new heights and desperation grows over deteriorating living conditions, Iranian hard-liners have sought to reinforce the national ideology. Earlier this spring, authorities organized performances for a new pop song called "Hello Commander!" and school children across the country saluted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Republicans Urge Biden to Deny Entry Visa for Iran’s Raisi
Washington - Rana Abtar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
Several Republican senators have urged the US administration to deny visas for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his delegation to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in September. In a letter to US President Joe Biden, Senators Tom Cotton, Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, Marsha Blackburn, and Ted Cruz said: “Raisi’s involvement in mass murder and the Iranian regime’s campaign to assassinate US officials on American soil make allowing Raisi and his henchmen to enter our country an inexcusable threat to national security.”“If recent reports are true that Raisi plans to attend the UN General Assembly, the White House must deny Raisi and other Iranian officials visas to attend,” the senators stressed. “Allowing Raisi to travel to the United States—while his agents actively work to assassinate senior American officials on US soil—would gravely endanger our national security, given the likely presence of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) agents in the Iranian delegation,” the senators continued. They further highlighted Raisi’s long-standing and clear record as a violator of human rights. “In 1988, while deputy prosecutor of Tehran, Raisi served on a Death Commission which sentenced approximately 5,000 prisoners to death, including women and children, without the right to appeal or a fair trial,” the letter read, stressing that Raisi is proud of his record. In 2018, he defended the commission, calling it “divine punishment” and “one of the proud achievements of the system.”
They said that Raisi’s role in these gross human rights abuses led the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to sanction him in 2019. “Granting a mass murderer like Raisi a visa to enter our country would also legitimize his repression. It is a risk we cannot and should not take,” the letter warned. The letter recalled a report by Washington Examiner in March, stating that the Department of Justice had indictable evidence that IRGC Quds Force operatives were planning to assassinate former US National Security Adviser John Bolton. It added that the IRGC has reportedly been plotting similar efforts against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie, and other former officials. The US had previously refused to issue visas to Iranian officials to participate in the General Assembly meetings. In 2014, then-President Barack Obama denied an entry visa to Iranian UN Ambassador Hamid Aboutalebi, who was involved in taking American diplomats hostage in 1979. In 2020, Donald Trump declined to issue a visa for Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Ukraine War Making 40 Mln People Go Hungry, Africa to Bear Brunt, Says US
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
The United States' ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Friday said Russia's invasion of Ukraine will cause 40 million people to become food insecure and that sub-Saharan Africa will be hardest hit. The United States has secured $4.5 billion for food security at the G7 summit, of which it has contributed $2.76 billion. There are also plans for the US to contribute $150 million in new humanitarian development assistance to Africa pending congressional approval, she added. African governments have largely avoided taking sides in the European conflict, and have refused to join Western condemnation and sanctions. Africans "don't want to be pressured to pick a side" in a repeat of the Cold War, but "need to know the facts", Thomas-Greenfield said. While energy, climate change, the pandemic and conflict are the root causes of global food supply issues, the "most insidious source" is hunger used intentionally as a weapon of war, she said. "Russia has systematically captured some of Ukraine's most productive farmland, spoiling fields with mines and bombs," Thomas-Greenfield said. "Regardless of how you feel about Russia, we all have a powerful common interest in mitigating the impact of the war in Ukraine on food security," she added. French President Emmanuel Macron used similar language last week when he described the global food crisis as one of Russia's "weapons of war" during a visit to Cameroon. Moscow denies responsibility for the food crisis and has blamed Western sanctions for slowing its food and fertilizer exports. Thomas-Greenfield on Friday refuted that claim, instead suggesting that Russia had deliberately taken steps to disrupt global food supply chains while blaming the West. "We've seen no indication that Russia will accept a diplomatic solution" to the war in Ukraine, she said.

Kremlin: Turkey Has Legitimate Security Concerns over Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
The Kremlin said on Friday that Turkey has legitimate security concerns over Syria and that it will take them into account ahead of a meeting between Russian President Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was important to avoid actions that could "jeopardize Syria's territorial and political integrity".Ankara has carried out multiple operations in northern Syria since 2016, seizing hundreds of kilometers of land and targeting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), despite opposition from Moscow. Meanwhile, a top aide to the Turkish president said on Friday the international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Moscow. The meeting, less than three weeks since they held talks in Tehran, comes after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports which were blocked by Russia's invasion. Turkish presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun said the agreement attested to the success of NATO member Turkey's efforts and the direct diplomacy between the two leaders, while criticizing the role played by other countries. "The truth is that some of our friends do not want the war to end. They are shedding crocodile tears," Altun told Reuters, saying some were actively trying to undermine Turkey's efforts without specifying who. "The international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Russia. Diplomacy and peace must prevail," he said. Erdogan was scheduled to meet Putin on Friday afternoon before a meeting between delegations of the two countries. Turkey has relatively good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. But while it has criticized the invasion and provided Ukraine with arms, it has broken with Western allies by not imposing sanctions on Russia. "We are looking to harness Turkey's relationships with Russia and Ukraine to work toward a mutually acceptable solution," Altun said. While there is close cooperation with Russia on energy supplies, there has also been military competition between them in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan.

Kremlin Escalates Estonian Row Over Removing Soviet-Era Tank
Bloomberg/August 05/2022
Russia escalated a dispute over the removal of a Soviet-era memorial in neighboring Estonia, compounding tensions in a European Union member state that has fiercely condemned the invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesman on Friday called the plans to remove a World War II tank in the eastern Estonian city of Narva, which sits on the border with Russia, a “war against history.”Estonia’s president had earlier reinforced the government’s pledge to remove communist-era monuments, saying Putin’s invasion had disgraced memories of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. “Putin’s order to the Russian army to attack Ukraine on Feb. 24 changed the meaning of many World War II memorials in Europe,” President Alar Karis said in a statement. “I have myself seen in Ukraine the pain and grief caused by almost identical Russian tanks.” The westward-facing T-34 tank, emblazoned with a red star and resting on a pedestal next to the Narva river, was erected by Soviet authorities in 1970 to mark the 1944 Battle of Narva. Estonia, along with Latvia and Lithuania, was part of the Soviet Union until it reclaimed independence in 1991. Speaking in Moscow, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the order to remove the monument from the pedestal. “The war against history, moreover with a common history and the disposal of monuments for those who saved Europe from fascism, is of course outrageous,” Peskov said. The push to remove hundreds of Soviet monuments cuts into the country’s cultural divide, with Russian speakers making up nearly a quarter of the population. In Narva, whose population of some 57,000 is mostly Russian speaking, officials have refused to dismantle the monument, a favorite backdrop for locals for wedding photographs. Earlier this week, demonstrators went to the site of the monument to protest against its removal. A similar row over the relocation of a Soviet monument in the capital Tallinn in 2007 set off rioting and a cyber attack on Estonian government websites, with authorities blaming the Kremlin.

Hundreds of Thousands of Sadr Supporters Gather for Mass Prayer in Baghdad
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis heeded the call of influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to gather in a show of strength for a mass prayer in the heart of Baghdad's heavily fortified government zone on Friday. The gathering took place amid an escalating political crisis that has put the country's capital on edge. Sadr had called on his followers from across Iraq to come to pray inside Baghdad's Green Zone — a heavily fortified area in the heart of the city that houses government buildings and foreign embassies. They arrived and stood outside in the scorching summer-time heat, with temperatures reaching 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit). Friday’s mass prayer was the latest display of strength by the cleric, whose political power derives from his strong grassroots support base. Sadr has used his large grassroots following as a pressure tactic against his rivals, after his party was not able to form a government despite having won the largest number of seats in federal elections held last October. He exited the political process to form the next government in June. His followers gathered facing the Victory Arch, a monument erected during Saddam Hussein’s regime to commemorate the Iran-Iraq war. It was built for the purpose of holding military parades. Farid Jaafar, 16, arrived from Babylon province to show his support for al-Sadr. His transport was paid by Sadr's party he said. “I love Moqtada,” he said. Holding the prayer within the highly restrictive zone that is closed off to most Iraqis points to the cleric's power and influence. Last Saturday, thousands of his followers stormed parliament in a bid to derail attempts by Sadr's Shiite rivals to form a government. Around 125 people were injured in the violence, most of them protesters and 25 members of the security forces. Sadr's followers camped out inside the parliament until he ordered them, after four days to withdraw from the assembly building, but maintain a sit-in outside. He's calling for the dissolution of parliament and early elections. His Shiite rivals in the Iran-backed Coordination Framework have said they would consider holding early elections in the event of a national consensus.

In Iraq, a political game of proxies and brinksmanship
The Arab Weekly/August 05/2022
Iraqi Shia Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr is calling for elections, months after polls failed to lead to an agreement on a new government, prime minister and president. As Sadr's supporters occupy parliament for a sixth day, is the powerful cleric bluffing? Or could his call see a negotiated end to months of political deadlock in the oil-rich but impoverished country? In multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraq, government formation has involved complex negotiations since a 2003 US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Sadr's bloc emerged from elections in October as the biggest parliamentary faction, but still far short of a majority. In June, his 73 lawmakers quit in a bid to break a logjam over establishment of a new government. That led to a rival Shiite bloc, the pro-Iran Coordination Framework, becoming the largest in parliament. Its nomination of former cabinet minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister angered the Sadrists and triggered their occupation of parliament. "Sadr expects to be the senior partner in any new government. Otherwise, he will continue to block government formation," said assistant professor Fanar Haddad of the University of Copenhagen. "Likewise, he cannot allow parliament to reconvene without his MPs." Parliament can only be dissolved by a majority vote, according to the constitution. Such a vote can take place at the request of a third of lawmakers, or by the prime minister with the president's agreement. According to Ihsan al-Shammari, a political scientist at the University of Baghdad, Sadr's call for early elections aims to ensure "his return to parliament with more seats than before". The Coordination Framework alliance includes lawmakers from the party of former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, a longtime foe of Sadr, and the Hashed al-Shaabi, a pro-Iran paramilitary network now nominally integrated into the security forces. Hamdi Malik and Michael Knights of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy say the Framework is divided. Its hardliners are led by Maliki -- whose proxy is Sudani -- and Qais al-Khazali, head of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq force which is part of the Hashed.
They favour a "confrontational stance" that includes forming a government and purging Sadr's followers from state agencies, the analysts wrote. Thousands of their supporters marched through Baghdad Monday in a protest against Sadr's actions.
However, the views of another camp within the Coordination Framework appear to be ascendant. They favour "a slowing-down of the government formation process and an attempt to bring the Shiite house back closer together by wooing Sadr with inducements", Malik and Knights said of this group, led by Hadi al-Ameri, who heads a Hashed faction. Shammari said that if the Framework opposes holding early elections, this would be in the hope of gaining concessions such as changes to the electoral law, the election commission, "or even on formation of the government". Haddad notes that Iraqi politics "often skirt the edge of the abyss before the actors involved decide to resolve their differences behind closed doors".A deal between Sadr and the Coordination Framework is still possible, he says.
Risk of violence
Political scientist Ali al-Baidar said that what happens next depends on Sadr's adversaries.
"If they persist, Sadr can escalate and paralyse the executive, paralyse the capital," Baidar said. He views the occupation of parliament as a "warning addressed to the political class about what could occur if they don't respect Mr Sadr's wishes".With armed groups linked to the various political factions in Iraq, the United Nations has warned about the risk of political tensions escalating. But analysts say Iran, which backs groups in the Coordination Framework, doesn't want violence. Tehran will seek to "prevent the Coordination Framework and particularly the armed factions, of getting to the point of confrontation", Shammari said. But clashes could still erupt and might be difficult to control, he added.

Taliban Say Bomb Kills 8 People in Kabul
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
A bomb hidden in a cart went off on Friday near a mosque in a minority Shiite neighborhood of the Afghan capital, killing at least eight people and wounding 18, a Taliban official said. Also Friday, hundreds of Afghans — apparently organized by the Taliban — rallied in several provinces, denouncing the US drone strike last Sunday that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on the balcony of a Kabul safe house. According to Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief, the cart bombing happened in western Kabul, in the Sar-e Karez area. Initial reports said two people were killed but the casualty toll swiftly rose as the wounded were taken to local hospitals. "Once again, the enemy carried out an attack on (holy days) and killed innocent civilians," said Zadran. He added that the police has launched an investigation. The ISIS group claimed responsibility. The extremists have targeted Afghanistan’s minority Shiites in large-scale attacks in the past. The regional affiliate of ISIS in Khorasan Province has increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country since the Taliban seized power last August. ISIS, which has been operating in Afghanistan since 2014, s seen as the greatest security challenge facing the country’s Taliban rulers. Following their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban have launched a sweeping crackdown against the ISIS headquarters in the country's east. On Wednesday, in a gunbattle between the Taliban and ISIS gunmen killed five, including two Taliban fighters. The fighting erupted near the Sakhi shrine in the Karti Sakhi neighborhood. In the anti-US rallies following Friday prayers, religious scholars and protesters condemned the strike that killed Zawahiri, calling the attack a violation of international principles and in particular, the agreement that the US administration signed with the Taliban on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The protesters carried banners with “Death to America” slogans on them and chanted against President Joe Biden. The Taliban have not said Zawahiri was killed in the drone strike. In a statement on Thursday, they insisted they had “no knowledge of the arrival and residence” of the al-Qaeda leader in Kabul. However, despite the Taliban denial of knowledge of Zawahiri's presence, US officials have said he was staying at a Kabul safe house linked to the deputy leader of the Taliban. The strike killed Zawahiri when he stepped out onto the safe house’s balcony. The strike further strained relations between the Taliban and the West, particularly as Afghanistan’s rulers seek an urgent infusion of cash to handle the catastrophic collapse of the economy that came after the US withdrawal a year ago.

Taiwan Condemns 'Evil Neighbor' China Over War Drills
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 August, 2022
Taiwan blasted its "evil neighbor next door" on Friday after China encircled the island with a series of huge military drills that were condemned by the United States and other Western allies. During Thursday's military exercises, which continued Friday, China fired ballistic missiles and deployed both fighter jets and warships around Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army declared multiple no-go danger zones around Taiwan, straddling some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and at some points coming within 20 kilometers of the island's shores. Beijing has said the exercises will continue until midday Sunday, and Taipei reported that Chinese fighter jets and ships crossed the "median line" that runs down the Taiwan Strait on Friday morning. "As of 11am, multiple batches of Chinese warplanes and warships conducted exercises around the Taiwan Strait and crossed the median line of the strait," Taipei's defense ministry said in a statement. The median line is an unofficial but once largely adhered-to border that runs down the middle of the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China. Chinese incursions have become more common since Beijing declared in 2020 that the unofficial border no longer existed.
Beijing has called its war games a "necessary" response to a visit to the self-ruled, democratic island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but Washington countered that China's leaders had "chosen to overreact". Pelosi defended her visit Friday, saying Washington will "not allow" China to isolate Taiwan. "We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo here in Asia, changing the status quo in Taiwan," she told reporters in Tokyo on the final leg of an Asia tour. Taiwan's premier Su Tseng-chang, meanwhile, called for allies to push for de-escalation. "(We) didn't expect that the evil neighbor next door would show off its power at our door and arbitrarily jeopardize the busiest waterways in the world with its military exercises," he told reporters. China's drills involved a "conventional missile firepower assault" in waters to the east of Taiwan, the Chinese military said. The state-run Xinhua news agency said the Chinese army "flew more than 100 warplanes including fighters and bombers" during the exercises, as well as "over 10 destroyers and frigates". State broadcaster CCTV reported that Chinese missiles had flown directly over Taiwan. Japan also claimed that of the nine missiles it had detected, four were "believed to have flown over Taiwan's main island". Taipei's military said it would not confirm missile flight paths, in a bid to protect its intelligence capabilities and not allow China "to intimidate us". China's ruling Communist Party views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day take it, by force if necessary. But the scale and intensity of the drills have triggered outrage in the United States and other democracies. "China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker's visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait," John Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters. "The temperature's pretty high," but tensions "can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these very aggressive military drills", he added. Japan lodged a formal diplomatic complaint against Beijing, with five of the missiles believed to have landed in its exclusive economic zone.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called China's exercises a "serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens" and called for an "immediate cancellation of the military drills". But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the "flagrant provocation" by the United States had set an "egregious precedent".The maneuvers are taking place along some of the busiest shipping routes on the planet, used to supply vital semiconductors and electronic equipment produced in East Asian factory hubs to global markets. Taiwan's Maritime and Port Bureau has warned ships to avoid the areas being used for the Chinese drills. "The shutting down of these transport routes -- even temporarily -- has consequences not only for Taiwan, but also trade flows tied to Japan and South Korea," Nick Marro, the Economist Intelligence Unit's lead analyst for global trade, wrote in a note.
Taiwan said the drills would disrupt 18 international routes passing through its flight information region while several international airlines told AFP they would divert flights.
But markets in Taipei appeared to shrug off the tensions, with the Taiwan Taiex Shipping and Transportation Index, which tracks major shipping and airline stocks, up 2.3 percent early Friday. And analysts broadly agree that despite all its aggressive posturing, Beijing does not want an active military conflict against the United States and its allies over Taiwan -- just yet. "The last thing Xi wants is an accidental war ignited," Titus Chen, an associate professor of political science at the National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan, told AFP.

Blinken: China military drills are 'significant escalation'
Associated Press/August 05/2022
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that China's military exercises aimed at Taiwan including missiles fired into Japan's exclusive economic zone represent a "significant escalation."China's military drills were launched following a visit earlier this week by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan that infuriated Beijing. "China has chosen to overreact and use Speaker Pelosi's visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait," Blinken said at a news conference in the Cambodian capital. Blinken also said the U.S. stands in "strong solidarity" with Japan following the "dangerous actions China has taken."
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined the foreign ministers of Russia and China at a meeting Friday with top diplomats from Southeast Asia at a time when the global powers are riven by tensions. The East Asia Summit of the ongoing Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Cambodia's capital was the first time the three men were scheduled to take part in the same forum. It came a day after WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison by Russia in a politically charged case amid antagonisms over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
China, meantime, has shown outrage over U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit this week to Taiwan — a self-governing island Beijing claims as its own — and launched show-of-force military exercises in response. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi patted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the shoulder as he entered the room and gave the already-seated Lavrov a quick wave before taking his own seat. Lavrov waved back in response. Blinken, who entered the room last, did not even glance at Lavrov as he took his own seat about a half-dozen chairs away, or at Wang who was seated farther down the same table as Lavrov. Ahead of the Phnom Penh talks, the U.S. State Department indicated Blinken had no plans to meet one-on-one with either man during the course of the meetings. On Thursday, China canceled a foreign ministers' meeting with Japan to protest a statement from the Group of 7 nations that said there was no justification for Beijing's military exercises, which virtually encircle Taiwan. "Japan, together with other member of the G-7 and the EU, made an irresponsible statement accusing China and confounding right and wrong," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing.
When Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa began to speak Friday at the East Asia Summit, both Lavrov and Wang walked out of the room, according to a diplomat in the room who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private session.
The East Asia Summit's chair, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, opened the 2 1/2 hour talks saying he hoped that all delegates would use the forum as a "means of engagement and communication" with one another. "Every year we have our set of challenges to address but I have to say that never before, not like this year, have we been confronted with so many perils at the same time," he said before ushering the media out to begin the closed-door talks.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 05-06/2022
Nigeria’s elephant in the room...Christians are being targeted in widespread violence
David Landrum/The Critic/August 05/2022
https://thecritic.co.uk/Nigerias-elephant-in-the-room/?fbclid=IwAR0JwMxBG-7M-X0QU06zHiw4JdH1_VJ_bhcl77qtEotG5UdJiwv1Cx3G6dg
While the UK braces itself for what the governor of the Bank of England recently described as “economic apocalypse”, spare a thought for Nigeria.
The country is home to 20 per cent of Africa’s entire population, and it now accounts for about 14 per cent of the world’s poor. Plagued by crime and corruption, almost half of the population of around 215 million now live below the official poverty threshold of US$1.90 (792 Naira) daily. Nigeria may be oil-rich, but it is undeniably a failing state.
With the population set to double by 2050, its collapse would have vast repercussions for the whole continent and for Europe. Organised crime, political corruption, ethnic and tribal grievances all play a part in Nigeria’s problems, yet above all else it is Islamist extremism that is the core driver for chaos. A well-funded and strategic jihadist campaign to paralyse security, and the rule of law, looks set fracture Nigeria into a lawless nightmare. Imagine Libya, only on a much larger scale.
Our government downplays the reality of Islamist violence
A recent report from the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) reveals that the number of Christians killed was 9.6 times higher than the number of Muslims killed in jihadism-related violence between October 2019 and September 2020. In the following year (October 2020–September 2021) Christians were 7.8 times more likely to be killed than Muslims. Christians were also 59 times more likely to be abducted than Muslims by extremists between 2019 and 2020. Alongside these grim statistics, the report also confirms that violence against moderate Muslims is overwhelmingly from jihadist groups.
Meanwhile in the comfort zone of the West, our government continues to deny or downplay the reality of Islamist violence. It prefers to attribute the systematic murders, rapes and abductions to political divides, banditry, farming disputes or even climate change.
Following the massacre of 50 worshippers in Owo district on 5 June, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, Jude Arogundade was driven to speak out: “Setting the record straight: the massacre at St Francis Catholic Church Owo has nothing to do with climate change and food security… ” Tragically, and much to the relief of the Nigerian government, such “deflections from the truth” are now commonplace in Western politics and media.
Likewise it is all too common to simply ignore what is happening. While the Owo attack in the south of Nigeria received some media attention, on the same day a similarly deadly attack on a Christian community in the north, by so-called “herdsmen” using a helicopter gunship, went unreported.
Nigeria is number seven on Open Doors’ World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. Notably, if violence were the only measure for persecution, Nigeria would be ranked at number one.
There is widespread religious illiteracy amongst government officials
The former Head of Nigerian Naval Intelligence, Professor of Global Security Studies, Commodore Kunle Olawunmi has spoken of a strategy of “Talibanisation” — a deliberate, religiously motivated degrading of security and order, in which state actors and tribal groups are complicit. Open Doors sees this strategy being replicated across most of the region.
So why are Western political and media elites unable to accept that Christians are disproportionately targeted? There are several possible factors, not least the protection of UK trade interests, especially oil supplies. Trade with Nigeria is estimated at over £6.1 billion per year. With Nigeria being the second largest African market for goods, UK companies are extremely well-known there, and UK brands (especially luxury goods) are in very high demand.
There are other reasons for the denialism: widespread religious illiteracy amongst government officials (an issue identified as a priority in the recent Bishop of Truro’s independent review into Freedom of Religion or Belief); a culture of antipathy to religion among government officials; and finally, plain old fear of Islamist violence.
The deteriorating situation in Nigeria shows that the current policy position is not working. Denying religious persecution, the elephant in the room, not only makes it impossible to identify a potential solution, but it also actively compounds the problem. To emphasise the urgency of the current situation, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief launched its 2020 report in Westminster: “Nigeria — Unfolding Genocide?”
Caliphates are about land, and immense numbers of people are now intentionally being terrorised and displaced from the lands where they live. If spiralling Islamist violence is not addressed, the trajectory for West Africa towards an unprecedented humanitarian disaster is clear. With Nigeria, the UK government has leverage and diplomatic influence. The question is whether it, and others in the West, will find the resolve to act before it’s too late.

Putin’s Threshold of Pain
Amir Taheri/r Asharq Al-Awsat/August 05/ 2022
In any international conflict that involves tough political and diplomatic measures and violence of one sort or another, a key question faces the adversaries on both sides: what is the other side’s threshold of pain?
More than six months after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine his adversaries would do well to ponder that question.
The threshold of pain is a point which when reached obliges the adversary to re-think its current strategy and seek relief. Some adversaries may try to push that threshold as far as possible even after hearing their bones being crushed. This was the case with Adolf Hitler who was ready to see the whole of Germany turned into a pile of rubble but could not contemplate surrender.
Others like what the late Ayatollah Khomeini did in August 1988, would “drink the poison chalice” to avoid the collapse of their regime.
The Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein once offered us his own definition of the threshold of pain. He related how as a teenager he and his mates in Tikrit would jump on trucks carrying goods to Baghdad to get a free ride for kicks. The trouble was that the truck’s guard would hit them on their fingers with a wire whip that drew blood. According to Saddam all the boys would jump off after a few whip lashes-but he would hang until his hands were dripping with blood. “I was proud to see that, as time went on, I was able to hang on for a bit longer.”
The Apartheid regime in South Africa proved to have a high threshold of pain and decided to throw in the towel not because of sanctions and proximity pressures but as a result of psycho-political changes within the white ruling elites.
In North Korea and the Islamic Republic in Iran the threshold in question is fixed by the degree of threat to the regime not the sufferings of the masses. In Pyongyang and Tehran every pain is worth enduring as long as the survival of the regime is assured.
So, what is Putin’s threshold of pain?
Some Western leaders seem to have assumed a rather low threshold, believing that Putin would cave in once “crushing sanctions” began to show their effect.
To be sure sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States and a number of other powers notably Japan has not had enough time to affect Putin’s behavior. In fact some sanctions have remained at the level of announcement. Russia continues to export energy albeit with generous discounts though the “brown market” outside Europe while Putin has managed to keep inflations under control and, thanks to a war chest created over many years, prevents the rouble from free fall.
It is clear that Putin, having started with the dream of a shirt war ending with victory is now switching to a new strategy of low intensity warfare with a slower rhythm and tempo under his control. Assured that his own Russian territory is treated as a sanctuary, he can pick and choose when and where to turn the heat on Ukraine and the NATO allies supporting it.
Worse still he may already be plotting to open diversionary fronts to confuse his adversaries and stretch their resources. One such front is already taking shape as Serbia, under a pro-Putin team, prepares to invade Kosovo which is likely to drag in Albania as well. Another front is also looming in Moldova where Putin has been shipping vast amounts of arms to a pro-Moscow faction. Russia is also probing the possibility of mischief-making in former French Africa to threaten the supplies of rare metals needed by European industry. Don’t be surprised if even Estonia, a member of NATO, is subjected to what is known as “proximity pressures.”
As far as Russian human losses are concerned, Putin has also succeeded in pushing his threshold of pain higher than expected. To shield the Russian heartland against big losses he has made disproportionate use of “volunteers” and mercenaries from ethnic minorities. According to best estimates Russia has lost over 70,000 killed and perhaps three times as many wounded or missing in action. Anecdotal evidence shows that casualties sustained by non- Russian republics of the federation are at least 30 percent higher than those of the “heartland”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Putin’s “Special Operation” will continue for as long as needed to achieve all its objectives. But he does not say what those objectives are. Putin thinks that the short-termism of politics in Western democracies will lead to a change in public opinion against what is becoming a growingly costly war with no sign of the “ victory” promises by outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ms. Nancy Pelosi , Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
The fact that the war in Ukraine has been relegated to inside pages and lower rungs in TV news bulletins in the West encourages Putin in his illusions about a victory he is unlikely to achieve.
The effect of Putin’s strategy is to cast Russia as an existential threat to the world order, something that would endanger other nations beyond NATO and the European Union. Putin is delusional if he thinks he could foment chaos and expect sympathy and support from China, India and Brazil among the nations he is trying to woo to his side.
Weak leadership in key Western democracies, notably the United States, Britain and France, does not mean weakness in terms of economic, military and cultural power in comparison with a Russia led into the unknown by an overambitious leader.
Putin may have a threshold of pain that is higher than Western experts forecast. But, sooner or later, he is bound to reach that threshold. Even in the 19th century when, after defeating Napoleon, it was the greatest military power in the world Russia was not able to reshape Europe.
Putin may not be ready yet to jump off Saddam Hussein’s truck but his refusal to end the war produces nothing but more corpses, Ukrainian, Russian, Daghestani, Chechen, Ingush, Tatar, Charkas, Kalmuk, Bashkir, Kamchatkan and so on.
In his novel “Dead Souls” Gogol notes that “We Russians tend to blame others for our miseries, not knowing that whatever wrong is done to us is done by ourselves.” Putin would do well to listen to the master of Russian literature, even though he was an ethnic Ukrainian.

The Growing Threat from North Korea
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute./August 05/2022
China's urging "flexibility" on North Korea appears to coincide with the Chinese Communist Party's ambitions in the region.
"According to unclassified intelligence reports to Congress, there are five key Chinese banks and a specially created holding company that funds the North Korean missile and nuclear technology programs." — Peter Huessy, Real Clear Defense, August 10, 2017.
China's main strategic concern when it comes to the Korean peninsula is apparently to end the US presence there and keep it out of US hands so that China can finally establish itself as the hegemon in the region.
North Korean escalation in the form of increased missile tests and resumption of ICBM and nuclear tests to pressure the US to make concessions -- in the shape of troop withdrawals from South Korea -- would play directly into the hands of China, enabling it to replace the US and establish itself as the primary power in the region.
"They are looking to take actions, which we believe are fundamentally destabilizing, as a way to increase pressure." — US official in Washington to journalists, France24.com, January 31, 2022.
China, however, seems to have no interest in cooperating with the US on North Korea. Attempts to secure "Beijing's cooperation" to build necessary economic leverage over North Korea are therefore exercises in futility.
China clearly cannot be relied on voluntarily to use its leverage over North Korea to persuade Kim Jong-un to give up his missile and nuclear program. To resolve the impasse, it is necessary to employ means that will leave China no choice other than to cooperate on North Korea.
A highly efficient way of doing that, Gordon Chang has suggested, would be to cut off the large Chinese banks and businesses that support the North Korean missile and nuclear technology from the global financial system by designating them a "primary money laundering concern" under Section 311 of the Patriot Act.
"In short, American policymakers know how to get China to begin acting responsibly." — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, May 10, 2021.
The question now is -- will the Biden administration muster the political will to designate those large Chinese banks under Section 311 of the Patriot Act?
North Korean escalation in the form of increased missile tests and resumption of ICBM and nuclear tests to pressure the US to make concessions -- in the shape of troop withdrawals from South Korea -- would play directly into the hands of China, enabling it to replace the US and establish itself as the primary power in the region. Pictured: A launch of the Hwasong-12 ballistic missile from an undisclosed location in North Korea, on August 29, 2017.
North Korea, despite a UN Security Council ban on its ballistic missile tests, continued to develop its nuclear and missile programs in 2021, according to a new UN report. In January 2022 alone, North Korea launched a record 11 missiles, including two hypersonic missiles and the first firing since 2017 of a Hwasong-12 mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile which is within reach of US territory with its estimated range of 4,500 kilometers. In 2017, North Korea tested the Hwasong-15, which has an estimated range of 8,500-13,000 kilometers.
Both US and South Korean officials expressed concern that the Hwasong-12 test indicated that North Korea would resume testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear weapons.
In addition, North Korea reportedly has an underground military base, used for keeping ICBMs, just 25 kilometers from its border with China. According to analysts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the location was chosen to deter preemptive strikes by the US against the base, to avoid provoking Beijing. "The position near the Chinese border acts as a potential deterrent to a pre-emptive strike that might impinge on Chinese security equities," noted Victor Cha, a North Korea expert at the CSIS.
"In today's world where many countries waste time dealing with the United States with submission and blind obedience, there's only our country on this planet that can shake the world by firing a missile with the U.S. mainland in its range," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "There are more than 200 countries in the world, but only a few have hydrogen bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles." North Korea has said in the past that the Hwasong-12 can carry a "large-size heavy nuclear warhead."
Eight Security Council members -- the United States, Albania, Brazil, France, Ireland, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and Britain -- and Japan described North Korea's Hwasong-12 launch as a "significant escalation" that "seeks to further destabilize the region."
China, on the other hand, urged "flexibility" on North Korea. "They should come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions in accommodating concerns" of North Korea, Chinese UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said. "The key in solving this issue is already in the hands of the United States."
China's urging "flexibility" on North Korea appears to coincide with the Chinese Communist Party's ambitions in the region. North Korea's recent actions were possibly even encouraged by China.
"China, after all, exercises great influence over the North's ruling Kim family and can, as a practical matter, require the North Koreans to do what it wants," wrote China expert Gordon G. Chang.
According to some analysts, China has been instrumental in bringing about North Korea's nuclear weapons' program. According to Peter Huessy, director of strategic deterrent studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies:
"The North Korean nuclear program started in 1965 with the Soviet construction of a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor. But it was Chinese and Pakistani assistance that enabled the North to begin construction on a 50-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon, and a secret reprocessing facility, in the mid-1980s. North Korean construction of a covert uranium enrichment facility around 2000 and North Korea's first test explosion of a nuclear device in 2006 were likely enabled by assistance from the Pakistani A.Q. Khan, and based on uranium enrichment and nuclear design plans originally obtained from China."
Crucially, according to Huessy:
"According to unclassified intelligence reports to Congress, there are five key Chinese banks and a specially created holding company that funds the North Korean missile and nuclear technology programs."
China's main strategic concern when it comes to the Korean peninsula is seemingly to end the US presence there and keep it out of US hands so that China can finally establish itself as the hegemon in the region. There are currently approximately 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea. That is the third-largest military presence abroad for the US after Japan and Germany. North Korean escalation in the form of increased missile tests and resumption of ICBM and nuclear tests to pressure the US to make concessions -- in the shape of troop withdrawals from South Korea -- would play directly into the hands of China, enabling it to replace the US and establish itself as the primary power in the region.
"North Korea will likely escalate pressure on the United States by taking a series of steps toward an ICBM test," said Cheon Seong-whun, a former head of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded research institute in Seoul.
"They are looking to take actions, which we believe are fundamentally destabilizing, as a way to increase pressure," a US official in Washington told journalists.
In response to North Korea's test of the Hwasong-12, the US has called for direct talks with the country "without preconditions."
"We believe it is completely appropriate and completely correct to start having some serious discussions... It requires a response. You will see us taking some steps that are designed to show our commitment to our allies ... and at the same time we reiterate our call for diplomacy. We stand ready and we are very serious about trying to have discussions that address concerns on both sides."
If the Biden administration wants to resolve the growing North Korean threat, it will have to start doing things differently. It will have to abandon "the same basic North Korea strategy that Washington has used for over two decades," as pointed out by Markus Garlauskas, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, who served nearly 20 years in the U.S. government dealing with North Korea.
"This strategy has focused on achieving a 'strategic decision' from Pyongyang to negotiate an end to its nuclear weapons program and on securing Beijing's cooperation to build the necessary economic leverage."
China, however, seems to have no interest in cooperating with the US on North Korea. Attempts to secure "Beijing's cooperation" to build necessary economic leverage over North Korea are therefore exercises in futility. A new strategy must finally acknowledge China's role as backer of North Korea for the Chinese Communist Party's strategic purposes in the region. China clearly cannot be relied on voluntarily to use its leverage over North Korea to persuade Jong-un to give up his missile and nuclear program. To resolve the impasse, it is necessary to employ means that will leave China no choice other than to cooperate on North Korea. A highly efficient way of doing that, Gordon Chang has suggested, would be to cut off the large Chinese banks and businesses that support the North Korean missile and nuclear technology from the global financial system by designating them a "primary money laundering concern" under Section 311 of the Patriot Act.
"And as big as Bank of China is—it is the world's fourth-largest bank, as measured by assets—it is surely not the largest Chinese bank cleaning up cash for Kim," Gordon Chang wrote.
"That honor may belong to China's—and the world's—largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Moreover, the remaining two of the Big Four, the world's second- and third-largest banks, have also been implicated in handling dirty money for the Kims. In short, American policymakers know how to get China to begin acting responsibly."
The question now is – will the Biden administration muster the political will to designate those large Chinese banks under Section 311 of the Patriot Act?
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Putin, Erdogan have a lot at stake in their Sochi meeting
Peter Apps/The Arab Weekly/August 05/2022
As Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Sochi this Friday, up to 20,000 Russian and Turkish workers and specialists at Akkuyu on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast are pushing forward with what those behind the project say is the world’s largest atomic power construction site.
According to Turkish media, this week has seen the transfer of the first $5 billion of an expected $20 billion from Russian state energy firm Rosatom, providing momentary support to the slumping Turkish lira; and a reminder of the awkward economic, geopolitical and domestic political tightrope Erdogan is walking amid financial crisis, regional war and looming presidential elections.
Friday’s meeting will be the second between the Russian and Turkish leaders in less than a month, following their July 19 meeting in Tehran with Iranian counterpart Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. The sight of a NATO leader sharing a platform with two foes Washington wants to isolate was particularly frustrating for US President Joe Biden's administration.
Recent years have seen a souring of Turkish-Western relations as Erdogan embraces a more idiosyncratic, independent and assertive foreign policy.
Ankara and its proxies have fought those of Russia in Syria and Libya, Turkish drones blasted Russian tanks in Ukraine and anti-Putin Russians settled in Istanbul even as Erdogan openly embraces Moscow as a source of food and energy.
Last month’s United Nations and Turkish-brokered deal to unblock grain shipments from Ukrainian Black Sea ports was a clear success for that policy, with Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Casvusoglu trading off their relatively good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv.
The first shipment of grain since the invasion sailed Monday for Lebanon, hailed as a breakthrough that might mitigate a rising global food and economic crisis. Broadcaster CNN Turk suggested the deal might also give Turkey discounted access to crops from both Russia and Ukraine.
That might upset the rest of a hungry world, but would be news for Turkey. Official data shows inflation at an annual rate of almost 80 percent, with Erdogan repeatedly refusing to consider raising interest rates. The government says it wants to rebalance the economy by increasing exports, but the rocketing price of food and fuel imports “ which must be paid in foreign currency” risks offsetting both that and rebounding post-pandemic tourism income.
Even with the inflows of Russian cash this week, the lira dropped to its lowest level since a full-blown currency crisis in December 2021, having lost around a quarter of its value this year. The cost of insuring Turkish foreign currency debt in the credit default swaps market is also at an all-time high, as investors worry Ankara might follow Russia and Sri Lanka in failing to make repayments.
Perfect storm
With presidential elections in June 2023, tackling that cost of living crisis will be central to Erdogan’s chances of reelection. Having survived a 2016 coup attempt with the help of police and loyal elements of the military, his Islamist party AKP unexpectedly lost control of Istanbul and Ankara in 2019 municipal elections to opposition parties. Who will face Erdogan next year remains unclear as yet, as does what the veteran Turkish leader would do if he appeared set to lose. Bringing down the cost and securing access to food and energy appears a growing theme in foreign policy. Last month’s Russia-Turkey-Iran summit in Istanbul included discussion of using local currencies to make purchases from each other, Putin told reporters afterwards.
Overshadowed at the time by talk of the three nations attempting to find common ground over a potential Turkish military incursion into Syria, that reportedly included discussions about using Turkish lira for purchases of Iranian and Russian oil and gas; a move that would clearly benefit Ankara, but might also help both Moscow and Tehran evade US sanctions.
None of these negotiations appear easy. Even as money reportedly moved for the Turkish-Russian nuclear power plant at Akkuyu, Rosatom subsidiary Akkuyu Nukleer said it had terminated a deal with Turkish firm IC Ictas in favour of rival TSM Enerji. That triggered a legal challenge from the first contractor, with the Turkish Energy Ministry saying it was working to resolve it.
Complex posturing
That could yet delay the project, which hopes to deliver some 10 percent of Turkish power demand with the first reactor scheduled to come online next year.
Russian-Turkish relations clearly remain complex, with both overt and more hidden posturing routine. In Tehran, Erdogan pointedly kept Putin waiting in front of reporters for several minutes at a joint appearance, mirroring a previous apparent similar snub to him on a visit to Moscow in 2020.
Last month also saw a temporary shutdown of the Turkstream gas pipeline to Turkey from Russia, justified by Russian gas firm Gazprom as for "maintenance" but seen by oil traders as a sign of Russian irritation over Turkey’s eventual acquiescence to Swedish and Finnish NATO membership.
The scar tissue on relations with the West from Erdogan’s initial refusal to agree that remains, however with mounting US congressional opposition to the sale of US F-16 jets to Turkey and a high-profile dispute at an Istanbul news conference between Foreign Minister Mevlut Casvusoglu and Germany's Annalena Baerbock over tensions with Greece as well as Turkey’s human rights record.
That may not bother Erdogan and those around him as disagreements with the West do little harm with his political base, as seen in his opposition to the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile, the battlefield success of Turkey’s Bayraktar and other drones has encouraged Ankara to plow more resources into its own fifth-generation fighter aircraft, although that project has also been mired in long-term disagreements with both Western and other arms firms.
Russia may again push itself forward as a potential partner for that jet although the damage to NATO relations of Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 antiaircraft missiles might make that one option Turkey chooses to ignore unless it sees definite potential, particularly for fighter aircraft exports.
All that puts a lot at stake on Friday as Erdogan and Putin meet and are keen to build a world in which they and their nations can do as they wish, but also both seeing foreign policy through the prism of their own survival.
*Peter Apps is a writer on international affairs, globalisation, conflict and other issues. He is the founder and executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century; PS21, a non-national, non-partisan, non-ideological think tank.

Is Iran winning the hostage-taking game again?
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/August 05/2022
The Iranian regime seems to be always the winner in the hostage-taking game that the theocratic establishment started when it came to power almost four decades ago. And, lately, the regime has been escalating this dangerous ploy.
Iranian authorities announced this week that they had arrested another Swedish citizen. The number of European nationals being held by the Iranian regime in recent months has increased significantly. Tehran normally detains European citizens on vague security-related charges, such as having “suspicious behavior and contacts,” acting as an enemy of the state, or “endangering national security.”
In May, the regime also said that it would execute another Swede, Ahmadreza Djalali. Sweden’s Foreign Ministry is advising its citizens against traveling to Iran “due to the security situation,” adding that “law enforcement activities and interpretation of the law may be unlawful (in Iran). Foreign travelers can be arbitrarily detained and prosecuted without clear reasons.”
The rising number of arrests of Swedish nationals is most likely linked to Hamid Nouri’s case, and is an attempt by the Iranian regime to pressure Sweden and its judicial system into changing their position and decisions.
Nouri was the first former Iranian official tried outside Iran for crimes against humanity. The former interrogator and torturer at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, was found guilty of facilitating and even personally carrying out executions. He was also found to be a key figure in the massacre of political prisoners in Iran in 1988 when at least 30,000 dissidents were killed and secretly buried in mass graves. Survivors of that purge and families of the victims — the overwhelming majority of whom were supporters of Iran’s principal opposition — have been pursuing justice for more than three decades, but Nouri was the first perpetrator to face justice.
It is important to point out that the 1988 massacre was a ruthless and bloody slaughter of political prisoners, a horrible crime against humanity that could be termed genocide, according to experts on international human rights law.
The global community must stand together and not crumble in the face of Iran’s extortion attempts.
As Geoffrey Robertson, the first president of the UN’s Special Court for Sierra Leone, pointed out: “It has been a crime to kill prisoners for centuries. The difference is that if it amounts to a particular crime of genocide, there is an international convention that binds countries to take action and punish that genocide. There is no doubt that there is a case for prosecuting (Iranian President Ebrahim) Raisi and others. There has been a crime committed that engages international responsibility. Something must be done about it as has been done against the perpetrators of the Srebrenica massacre.”
Nouri was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Swedish court on July 14. Iran’s leading human rights official, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the country will “not sit idly by,” adding that it has “several options on the table” to respond to Sweden. Shortly after that, Iran arrested another Swedish citizen.
The Iranian regime believes that it can bring Nouri back from Sweden because it recently scored a victory with Belgium. The Belgian government passed legislation that appears to pave the way for the return of other convicted terrorists to Iran. The so-called treaty between the Belgian government and the Iranian regime is most likely designed to secure the release of Iranian diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi, who was arrested in 2018 for plotting to bomb a rally outside Paris organized by Iranian opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Assadi was convicted last year and sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Belgian court for masterminding the plot, which, if successful, would have been perhaps the worst terrorist incident in Europe’s recent history.
While the Iranian regime is a signatory to the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, Tehran has long seized foreign hostages in order to extract economic concessions, and achieve geopolitical and financial gains. As Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, pointed out: “Iranian authorities are using Ahmadreza Djalali’s life as a pawn in a cruel political game, escalating their threats to execute him in retaliation for their demands going unmet. The authorities are attempting to pervert the course of justice in Sweden and Belgium, and should be investigated for the crime of hostage-taking.”
In a nutshell, the response to the egregious violations of international law by the regime in Tehran cannot simply be further appeasement and submission to its demands. The global community must stand together and not crumble in the face of Iran’s extortion attempts.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh