English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 28/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
When they saw that the
star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they
saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.
Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Matthew 02/01-12./:”In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed
his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’When King Herod heard
this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all
the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the
Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has
been written by the prophet: “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by
no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is
to shepherd my people Israel.” ’Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and
learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them
to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have
found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they
had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that
they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child
was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On
entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down
and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts
of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to
return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on December 27-28/2021
Elias Bejjani/Video-Text: Christmas Is A Holy Event For Openness Prayers,
Contemplation, & Forgiveness
President Aoun in a frank message to the Lebanese: I did not want to complicate
matters further, but it has become necessary for...
President Aoun discusses with “Iraqi Babylonian" movement situation of Iraqi
Christians
Lebanese Parties Reportedly Mulling 'New Political Deal'
Rahi receives Syriac Catholic Patriarch, Iraqi Babylonian Movement delegation
Foreign Ministry deplores terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia
Hizbullah Brushes Off Saudi Charges of Yemen Rebel Aid
Official: Israel Has Struck Dozens of Hezbollah Targets in Syria
Reports: Bassil Meets Safa, ‘FPM-Hizbullah Alliance Ongoing’
Defense Minister to Sign Military Agreement with Iraqi Counterpart
Mikati meets National Commission for Human Rights’ delegation, Lebanon's
ambassadors to Algeria and Iran, Guterres' Special Representative
Interior Minister’s Press Office: Signing draft decree inviting electoral bodies
reflects serious determination to hold...
Berri discusses financial, economic situation with IMF’s Azour, meets MP Cesar
Maalouf, MP Hagop Pakradounian
MTV and Michel El Murr Honored in Washington
Yemeni Minister Urges 'Withdrawal' of Hizbullah from Yemen
Hezbollah Versus UNIFIL/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 27/2021
The weekly roundup from NOW./Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/December 27/2021
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
December 27-28/2021
EU diplomat says ‘difficult’ Iran nuclear talks resume with Tehran
focused on sanctions relief
Iran Insists on Crude Exports as Vienna Nuclear Talks Resume
Frenchman held in Iran begins hunger strike
Venezuela’s President to Visit Iran 'Very Soon'
Iran to Announce New Ambassador to Houthis after Irlu’s Death
Iraqi Court Rejects Appeal by Iran-Backed Parties against Vote
Iraq Launches Operations to Crack Down on ISIS Remnants
Arab League Calls for Increasing Investments in Arab Communication Sector
100 Houthis killed in heavy fighting around Yemen’s Marib city
Arrest of 3 Iranian Engineers in Syria’s Raqqa Causes Tension
Syrian Refugees Become Bargaining Chips in Turkish Elections
Sudan's Prime Minister Intends to Resign Soon
Egypt’s President Says Looks Forward to Deepening Ties with Russia
Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian officials meet
Somali President Suspends PM’s Powers, Accusing Him of Corruption
KSA Says IS-Linked Man Executed for Suicide Attack Plot
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
December 27-28/2021
Sweden, Gang Violence and a New Prime
Minister/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/December 27, 2021
If the U.S. Rolls Back Iran Sanctions, Business Beware/David F. Eisner and
Richard Goldberg/Barron's Site/December 27/2021
How 2021 Could Have Been Different for Biden/Matthew Yglesias/Bloomberg/December,
27/2021
The Age of the New Heroes/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 27/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on December 27-28/2021
Elias Bejjani/Video-Text: Christmas Is A Holy Event
For Openness Prayers, Contemplation, & Forgiveness
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81746/elias-bejjani-christmas-and-the-obligations-of-the-righteous-%d8%b0%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d9%88%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%a8/
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born
to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 02/11)
Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 02/14)
#Elias_Bejjani_Christmas_Wishes
President Aoun in a frank message to the Lebanese: I did
not want to complicate matters further, but it has become necessary for...
NNA/Monday, 27 December, 2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, affirmed that "From my position
as the custodian of the constitution, I call for an urgent national dialogue in
order to reach an understanding on three issues, and to work towards their
approval later within the institutions, namely:
Expanded administrative and financial decentralization.
- The defense strategy to protect Lebanon.
-A plan for financial and economic recovery, including the necessary reforms and
a fair distribution of losses.
The President also clarified that he had called for more than one meeting and
conference and proposed solutions, but the people of the organization refused to
give up any gain, and did not take any account for the people, reiterating his
call to dialogue for every Lebanese woman and man who desires the salvation of
Lebanon. The President indicated that "In spite of everything, the solution is
possible within the national reconciliation document, and it requires first
accountability, that is, determining responsibility for the collapse, protecting
people's money and returning it to depositors”.
“The solution also requires moving to a civil state, and a new system whose main
foundation is expanded administrative and financial decentralization, and the
upcoming parliamentary elections should constitute a referendum on this basis”
President Aoun said. In addition, President Aoun stressed that "Defending the
homeland requires cooperation between the army, the people and the resistance,
but the primary responsibility is for the state. Only the state sets the defense
strategy and ensures its implementation”.
Moreover, the President called for an end to the deliberate, systematic and
unjustified disruption, which leads to the dismantling of institutions and the
dissolution of the state, and to the striking of the Constitutional Council, and
the overthrow of the financial recovery plan and the disruption of the
government and obstruction of laws in the House of Representatives, while
dismantling and dissolution sacrificed the judiciary.
President Aoun asked: “By what Sharia, logic or constitution, the cabinet is
suspended, and it is asked to take a decision that is not within its powers, and
its work is suspended due to an issue that does not constitute a charter
dispute?”. President Aoun added that the government should work, and the
parliament should monitor its work and hold it accountable when necessary, and
not contribute to its disruption, while some officials are working to continue
its paralysis.
Speech Text:
Address to the nation
by His Excellency the President of the Lebanese Republic
General Michel Aoun
Baabda, December 27, 2021
My fellow Lebanese ladies and gentlemen,
I have heard much reproach: why doesn’t the “General” speak out? Why doesn’t the
President speak out? I have spoken out indeed but without wanting to further
complicate the problem.
Today, it has become imperative to speak in a clearer manner because the risks
are growing and threatening the nation’s unity; and the preparations we are
witnessing in the region make the problems all the more obvious.
Throughout my years in office, I preferred to tackle the crises with silent
action. Sometimes I succeeded while some other times I fell short.
I tried to prevent the collapse, I called for many meetings and conferences, I
proposed solutions, but the stakeholders of the ‘establishment’ refused to give
up any gain and did not take people’s interests into account.
When the collapse occurred, I proposed dialogue to the Lebanese who took to the
streets, but they also refused and hid behind the slogan of “all of them means
all of them”. Today, I reiterate my call for dialogue, to every single fellow
Lebanese woman or man who longs for the country’s salvation.
In 1990, my attachment to Lebanon’s unity, sovereignty, independence and freedom
made me counter the projects of hegemony over the State. Nevertheless, the
external and internal interests colluded and prevailed. For 15 years, the
country was governed without sovereignty and partnership, and with corruption,
by a political and financial establishment. When I came back in 2005, I adopted
a positive approach and I proposed to address issues based on the constitution
that was adopted in Taef.
The collapse happened and I did not give in, nor shall I ever do in, as I
consider that, against all odds, the solution is still possible from within the
National Entente Document. The solution requires first accountability, which
means defining responsibilities in the collapse, protecting people’s assets and
returning them to depositors. It also requires to move to a Civil State and to
embrace a new system whose main pillar is broad administrative and financial
decentralization. The upcoming parliamentary elections must serve as a
referendum in this respect.
It is true that defending the nation requires cooperation between the Army, the
people and the resistance, but the major responsibility befalls the State. The
State alone puts up the defense strategy and attends to its implementation.
Before we come to this point, the unjustified, deliberate and systematic
blockage which dismantles the State and drives it to its demise must stop.
You ask me: “where is there blockage?” In turn, I ask: “where isn’t there
blockage”?
- Blockage of the Constitutional Council: When the most important constitutional
tribunal falls apart for being incapable of taking a decision about an obvious
constitutional text such as article 57 of the Constitution, this means that
blockage has affected the Constitutional Council. Unfortunately, it has become
known who is behind the blockage: the blockers know themselves and they have
become known by people as well.
- Thwarting the financial recovery plan which was laid by the previous
government, delayed the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, thus
making the solution more costly while people’s losses are increasing. Unless
there is a plan, a clear identification and a fair distribution of losses, there
is no international support, which means that blockage is jeopardizing people’s
interests.
- Blockage in the cabinet is responsible for the paralysis in the
administration, while civil servants are awaiting their rights, hospitals are
awaiting their dues, and patients are awaiting their treatment.
Who is responsible for the absence of last year’s budget? And what shall become
of this year’s budget? Who obstructed the forensic audit? Does procrastination
aim at dissimulating or covering the holders of the looted or wasted billions?
Who is responsible for hindering dialogue with Syria for the return of the
Syrian displaced?
I am keen on the best relations with the Arab States, and precisely with the
Gulf countries, and I ask: “what is the reason for tautening the relation with
these countries and meddling in affairs that are none of our business?
- Blockage in the House of Representatives contributes to dismantling the State.
The Capital Control law was supposed to be passed two years and two months ago,
and to help save the financial situation. What has become of the law on the
recovery of assets that were transferred outside the country? Where is the law
on denouncing the corrupt and unveiling the accounts and properties of public
service officers? Where is the law on old-age insurance? Why the delay in
finalizing reform laws?
Could anyone explain to me why the Parliament has not responded to my successive
calls for the adoption of laws that serve the citizens? Where are these laws? Is
their place in drawers and committees only?
- Dismantling and disintegration have reached the Judiciary and have doomed it:
The judicial transfers consecrated confessionalism in positions, violated laws
and did not use unified standards for competence, seniority, entitlement and
grades. How do you want me to sign such scandalous transfers? Furthermore, the
citizens’ files are piling up in courtrooms waiting for a decision to be taken
about them. But the most dangerous is that the whole judiciary is paralyzing
itself, or being paralyzed and prevented from judging, holding accountable and
imposing sanctions.
- Fiscal control: why the delay in ratifying the closure of the State accounts
since 1997? Has anyone been enquired or penalized about it?
My dearly beloved, The paralyzing of institutions has become an approach per se,
and its consequence is wrecking the State. There remains a question: Do the
Lebanese still agree on the unity of the State? Or has the system fallen and
each one is seeking their own interest? At a time when solutions are drawing
near in the region, the solution in Lebanon is slipping away… and this is
unacceptable.
Not tomorrow, today, it is imperative that the cabinet meets and remedies to the
problems in the Council of Ministers. By which law, by which logic, by which
constitution is the Council of Ministers blocked, asked to make a decision that
does not fall within its powers, and having its action frozen over an issue that
does not represent a pact-related disagreement?
The government must function, the Parliament must oversee its work and hold it
accountable when needed, and not contribute to its blockage, while some
officials strive to perpetrate its paralysis. It is a crime to dismantle the
State, paralyze it and let it fall apart. They started to block projects from
electricity, petrol, water, telecommunications and others… and they ended up
blocking the State institutions and the Constitution.
I am entrusted with the Constitution and the law, and it is my duty to speak
frankly to the Lebanese people: we must stay as one nation and one State, but we
must learn from experience, and amend the governing mode in order for the State
to become viable. Broad administrative and financial decentralization is the
headline; accountability, judgement, and audit are the conditions to close the
accounts of the past and return to people their rights and assets.
Lebanon must remain an intersection of dialogue between cultures, and not a land
of conflicts.
My fellow Lebanese,
As you are waiting and enduring pain, hunger and fear… the world’s countries are
waiting for us to initiate dialogue with the IMF in order to help us.
I do not wish to quarrel with anyone, neither individuals nor sides, and I do
not wish to break the unity of any confession. Yet, we have to be candid:
marking time is fatal, and I shall not accept to watch silently as the State is
falling apart and people are choking. I shall keep striving till the last day of
my presidential tenure and the last day of my life. The solution lies in
dialogue and peaceful means, and it starts with the meeting and functioning of
the Council of Ministers and all State institutions.
From my position as keeper of the Constitution, I call for an urgent national
dialogue to come to terms about three issues to be adopted later within the
institutions, namely:
- broad administrative and financial decentralization;
- the defense strategy to protect Lebanon.
- the financial and economic recovery plan, including the necessary reforms and
the fair distribution of losses.
My dearly beloved,
Ever since I stepped into the sphere of public affairs and public services, my
battle has been the battle of building the State. This has been my dream since I
was a cadet at the Military Academy, and it has accompanied me all my life.
Without a State, Lebanon does not exist. The continuity of building a State has
foundations: Constitution, laws and institutions. This is what guarantees the
constancy of the State, and this is the demand of every Lebanese, resident or
expatriate.The demand is one: the rise of the State. Our people are capable of
building a State and building economy; our potentials are huge, our greatest
treasure being our human resources. Nevertheless, a State is built by observing
laws and not by exceeding the limit of power, nor by the hegemony of one branch
over the other. A State means law and stability at the same time; let no one ask
the Lebanese to choose between the two.
My dearly beloved,
It is very easy to criticize the President of the Republic… to fire at him on a
daily basis, to target the presidency itself, and even underrate its
prerogatives in the House of Representatives - as it was lately the case with
article 57 of the Constitution. It very easy to hear some voices hold the
President responsible, while his prerogatives are so limited that he is even
incapable of compelling the Council of Ministers to meet. But I ask you and the
media circles, faithfully: why isn’t the truth told? Why are the facts
falsified? People have the right to access the truth rather than lies and
rumors. Today, as this year comes to an end, I wanted to speak to you openly…
and I do hope that I will not need to say more.
Long live Lebanon!
Presidency Press Office
President Aoun discusses with “Iraqi Babylonian"
movement situation of Iraqi Christians
NNA/Monday, 27 December, 2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met a delegation from the
"Babylonian Movement of Iraq" headed by its Secretary-General, Mr. Rayan Al-Kaldani,
this afternoon at the Presidential Palace. Iraqi Minister of Migration and
Displacement, Ms. Duraid Jamil Eshou, Director General of the Ministry of
Immigration, Ali Abbas Jahakir, Coordinator, Nour Muhammad Abdul-Jabbar,
journalist Ghadi Francis, and a number of officials in the movement also
attended the meeting. The President discussed the situation of Iraqis in
general, and Christians in particular, especially that the "Iraq Babylon"
movement which won the five Christian seats in the Iraqi parliament. The
importance of preserving the Christians of the East after the wave of
displacement they were subjected to during the attacks of ISIS and other
terrorist organizations on Iraqi lands were also tackled. For his part, Mr. Al-Kildani
focused on the importance of unifying the position of Christians in the East,
noting the role played by President Aoun in this field, and the initiatives he
launched before and after assuming the presidency. The delegation members
presented the responsibilities assumed by the "Iraq Babylon" movement at the
political, social and humanitarian levels, including helping the Iraqis in
Lebanon and improving their social and humanitarian conditions. Finally,
President Aoun stressed that nothing can cancel the role of the Christians of
the East, no matter what harsh conditions they face, and that their survival in
their lands is the basis for strengthening this role. The President recalled his
call for the establishment of an Arab economic market including Lebanon, Syria,
Jordan, Iraq and Palestine, wishing the move undertaken by the "Iraq Babylon"
movement success in achieving its goals.—Presidency press office
Lebanese Parties Reportedly Mulling 'New Political Deal'
Naharnet/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Lebanon’s ruling political forces are mulling a new political deal that would
guarantee the interests of all parties, following the failure of the latest
attempted settlement, a media report said. According to ad-Diyar newspaper, the
new proposals include points from the botched deal, such as “passing a law for
the creation of an accusatory body whose powers would exceed those of the
judicial investigator (into the Beirut port blast), in return for the government
pledging to tackle the appointments file in the first session” it would hold
after the resumption of its meetings. The daily added that the appointments
would involve “more than 150 vacant and non-vacant posts, which would raise the
FPM’s share to more than 61 posts.”“The appointment of a head and members for
the Higher Defense Council, some security chiefs and a central bank governor
would be among the top appointments that would be made,” ad-Diyar said. Under
the supposed deal, the ruling political parties would also seek electoral
alliances among themselves that would guarantee them a certain number of
parliamentary seats.
Rahi receives Syriac Catholic Patriarch, Iraqi
Babylonian Movement delegation
NNA/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Monday welcomed at
his Bkerki residence, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Ignatius Youssef III
Younan, who offered Al-Rahi well-wishes marking the holidays. The Maronite
Patriarch then received a delegation representing the Political Bureau and
leadership of the Iraqi Babylon movement headed by Secretary-General, Rayan Al-Kaldani.
“This is a very important first visit to unite Christian ranks, especially in
Lebanon; it is the first visit of Iraqi Christian parties to Lebanon,” Al-Kaldani
said. “God willing, we will pay similar visits to Syria and Oman in an attempt
to bring Christian views closer, and we will request the opening of a
coordination office between Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and other countries,” he
added. “We appreciate the presence of clergymen like Patriarch Al-Rahi, who
deeply understand the Christian situation,” Al-Kaldani concluded.
Foreign Ministry deplores terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia
NNA/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a statement vehemently deploring the
recent terrorist attack against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “We stand by
the KSA against everything that affects its security and stability,” the
statement read, strongly condemning the terrorist attack against the Kingdom’s
Samtah Governorate in the Jazan region. The statement went on to affirm
“Lebanon's permanent support for the government and people of the sisterly
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against everything that affects its security, stability,
and the safety of its citizens." The statement finally regretted the fall of
casualties and offered condolences to the families of fallen victims.
Hizbullah Brushes Off Saudi Charges of Yemen Rebel Aid
Agence France Presse/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Hizbullah on Monday dismissed as "ridiculous" Saudi charges that it aids Yemen's
Huthi rebels in launching strikes against the kingdom. On Sunday, the spokesman
of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Huthi rebels were
"militarizing" Sanaa airport and using it as a "main center for launching
ballistic missiles and drones" towards the kingdom, with help from Iran and
Hizbullah. In a brief statement on Monday, Hizbullah responded: "What was said
in the press conference... on so-called evidence of Hizbullah's role in Yemen is
insignificant and ridiculous and does not warrant a response." The Saudi
accusations came as the coalition intensified an aerial bombing campaign against
the Iran-backed Huthis in retaliation for deadly attacks on the kingdom,
including a missile strike a day earlier which killed two people. They were the
first such deaths in the kingdom in years.The Saudi bombing resulted in three
deaths on Saturday in the Yemeni town of Ajama, northwest of Sanaa, according to
medics. The Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in Yemen in 2015 to back
the internationally recognized government after the Huthis had taken over the
capital Sanaa months earlier .Since then, tens of thousands of people have been
killed in Yemen, in what the United Nations describes as the world's worst
humanitarian crisis. In late October, Riyadh suspended diplomatic ties with
Lebanon after the airing of statements by the then-Lebanese information minister
criticizing the military intervention in Yemen. Later, Saudi Arabia's foreign
minister said that Hizbullah's dominance in Lebanon, and not just the minister's
comments, had prompted the kingdom to cut ties. Since the coalition intervened
almost seven years ago to support Yemen's government, Saudi Arabia has regularly
accused Iran of supplying the Huthis with weapons and Hizbullah of training the
insurgents. Tehran denies the charges, and Hizbullah has previously denied
sending fighters or weapons to Yemen.
Official: Israel Has Struck Dozens of Hezbollah Targets
in Syria
London - Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Hezbollah has not yet responded to statements that over the past three years,
the Israeli army has attacked dozens of Hezbollah targets in Syria, a senior
Israeli security official said on Saturday. This is surprising since the attacks
severely hampered the organization's logistical and operational efforts to
establish itself in the southern Golan Heights and the border triangle with
Jordan. Sources affirmed that the Israeli army maintains a high deterrent
capability against the Shiite group. Hezbollah, with the help of Iran, is
preparing for the possibility of attacking the home front and Israeli army
soldiers stationed on the border with Syria in the future, they added. Some of
its weapons came from Iran by sea, and some by land or air via convoys to the
Syrian Golan Heights. In some places, operatives working in the name of
Hezbollah managed to set up weapons depots that the Israeli Air Force attacked,
according to foreign publications, and destroyed them.
Reports: Bassil Meets Safa, ‘FPM-Hizbullah Alliance
Ongoing’
Naharnet/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has reportedly met with Hizbullah
coordination official Wafiq Safa in the past few days. Well informed sources
told ad-Diyar newspaper, in remarks published Monday, that the two officials
have met for “open and frank” talks and discussed the recent “crisis” that
occurred between the two parties after the Constitutional Council failed to
issue a ruling on the appeal against the electoral law’s amendments. The results
of the meeting were “positive,” according to the sources. Bassil and Safa
discussed what has been said about “a deal that failed at the last minute,” the
sources said, adding that “had the bargain succeeded, the FPM would have
benefited from it” while it would have “come at a high cost” for Prime Minister
Najib Miqati. The sources said that the discrepancies between the FPM and
Hizbullah have been clarified and that the two parties have both affirmed the
continuation of their alliance, meetings and regular communication. Bassil last
week blamed Hizbullah and Amal for the Constitutional Council’s no-ruling,
saying it is a result of a "new four-party alliance" in the face of the FPM.
President Michel Aoun is scheduled to make a televised address today, Monday.
Aoun will voice “explosive” remarks and will tackle all the obstacles that
marred his tenure by both “allies and rivals” and will “call things by their
name,” Baabda Palace sources told al-Anbaa newspaper in remarks published
Sunday. Bassil is also scheduled to have a speech on January 2.
Defense Minister to Sign Military Agreement with Iraqi
Counterpart
Naharnet/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Defense Minister Maurice Slim has left Beirut for Baghdad on an official visit
to meet Iraqi officials. Slim will hold talks Tuesday with his Iraqi counterpart
Juma Inad at the defense ministry in Baghdad. The two ministers will sign a
memorandum of understanding on military cooperation between the defense
ministries of Lebanon and Iraq.
Mikati meets National Commission for Human Rights’
delegation, Lebanon's ambassadors to Algeria and Iran, Guterres' Special
Representative
NNA/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday received at the Grand Serail a
delegation of the National Commission for Human Rights, headed by Dr. Fadi
Gerges. Discussions reportedly touched on relevant affairs.
Premier Mikati also met respectively at the Grand Serail with Lebanon’s
Ambassador to Algeria Mohammad Hassan, Lebanon’s Ambassador to Iran Hassan Abbas,
and Ambassador Caroline Ziadeh, on the occasion of her appointment as Special
Representative of the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Head
of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Interior Minister’s Press Office: Signing draft decree
inviting electoral bodies reflects serious determination to hold...
NNA/Monday, 27 December, 2021
NNA – Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi's Press
Office on Monday issued the following: “The signing of a draft decree inviting
the electoral bodies by the Minister of Interior and Municipalities and
referring it to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers reflects the
seriousness of the Ministry of Interior and the Lebanese government to hold
parliamentary elections on their constitutional dates, in compliance with what
was stated in its ministerial statement and what it pl edged before the local
and international communities, with procedures to realize this due date to be
completed with other successive decisions.”
Berri discusses financial, economic situation with IMF’s
Azour, meets MP Cesar Maalouf, MP Hagop Pakradounian
NNA/Monday, 27 December, 2021
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Monday received at the Second Presidency in Ain
El-Tineh the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jihad Azour, with whom he discussed the
current financial and economic situation.
Speaker Berri also met with MP Cesar Maalouf, over the current general
situation. This afternoon, Speaker Berri received the Secretary General of the
Tashnag Party, MP Hagop Pakradounian, with whom he discussed the latest
political developments and the country’s general situation, especially the
prevailing daily living and economic conditions. On the other hand, Berri
received a congratulatory cable on the occasion of the blessed Christmas and New
Year from the Secretary-General of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, Dr.
Mohammad Reza Majidi.
MTV and Michel El Murr Honored in Washington
Naharnet/Monday, 27 December, 2021
The Transatlantic Leadership Network - TLN, a Washington D.C. based nonpartisan
think-tank, has held its inaugural "Freedom of the Media" gala dinner and award
ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. An award was presented
to MTV Lebanon's Chairman and CEO, Michel El Murr, by TLN's President Dr. Daniel
Hamilton and TLN's Vice President Dr. Sasha Toperich, who praised MTV Lebanon
for its “investigative reporting on corruption, foreign meddling in Lebanon,
including Hizbullah, and various government mishandlings that gained wide
popularity, particularly amongst the Middle Eastern youth,” MTV said in a press
release. The award ceremony was held at the National Press Club in Washington
D.C. at the invitation-only gala dinner event. The Press Club's president, Lisa
Mathews, delivered opening remarks and the Executive Director and Senior Vice
President of the Associated Press, Julie Pace, delivered a keynote address.لا
Members of the U.S. Congress, U.S. government, foreign ambassadors, diplomats,
prominent U.S. journalists and scholars attended. TRT World’s Ghida Fakhry
delivered remarks as guest of honor, while Emily Wilkins of Bloomberg Government
moderated a brief inaugural panel discussion. TLN's first "Freedom of the Media"
conference is scheduled for June 21-22, 2022, and will be held at the U.S.
Congress.
Yemeni Minister Urges 'Withdrawal' of Hizbullah from
Yemen
Naharnet/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Yemeni Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Moammar al-Aryani has called on
Lebanon to “declare a clear stance on Hizbullah’s aggression,” a day after the
Saudi-led coalition accused Iran and Hizbullah of helping Yemen's Huthi rebels
to launch missiles and drones at the kingdom.
The Lebanese “brothers” must exert “real pressure” on Hizbullah to compel it to
“withdraw its experts and fighters and end the smuggling of arms to Yemen,”
Aryani said. He added that Lebanon should “prevent the use of the Lebanese
state’s territory and assets for the support of the Huthi militia.”“What is the
stance of the Lebanese presidency, government, political forces, dignitaries and
the brotherly Lebanese people on the aggression that Hizbullah is leading
against Yemen and on the ruin and destruction that have targeted people and
properties and caused hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian victims,” the
Yemeni minister asked. “The continuation of the aggression and terrorist
activities led by Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his militias
against Yemen and the region undermines the image of Lebanon – the country of
peace, love, beauty and coexistence – and harms its ties with its brothers and
friends. It also leads it to a state of isolation from its Arab neighborhood and
depth,” Aryani warned.
Since the Saudi-led coalition intervened almost seven years ago to support
Yemen's government, Saudi Arabia has regularly accused Iran of supplying the
Huthis with weapons and Hizbullah of training the insurgents. Tehran denies the
charges. Hizbullah has previously denied sending fighters or weapons to Yemen.
The latest Saudi accusation came as the coalition intensified an aerial bombing
campaign against the Iran-backed Huthis in retaliation for deadly attacks on the
kingdom. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki told a news conference the Huthis
were "militarizing" Sanaa airport and using it as a "main center for launching
ballistic missiles and drones" towards the kingdom. Malki showed reporters a
video clip which he said depicted "the headquarters of Iranian and Hizbullah
experts at the airport" where, he alleged, "Hizbullah is training the Huthis to
booby-trap and use drones."
Malki showed other clips which he said depicted a Hizbullah member placing
explosives in a drone, and a man he identified as a Hizbullah official telling
Huthi members "we must strengthen our ranks."The footage could not be
independently verified. The Arab military coalition led by Riyadh intervened in
Yemen in 2015 to back the internationally recognized government, a year after
the Huthis overran the capital Sanaa. Since then, tens of thousands of people
have been killed, in what the United Nations has described as the world's worst
humanitarian crisis. The Huthis come from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of
Islam and have their traditional stronghold in Yemen's mountainous north.
Between 2004 and 2010, they fought six wars against Yemen's then-government and
battled Saudi Arabia in 2009-2010 after storming over the border. The deaths of
two people overnight Friday from a rebel missile strike on the Saudi city of
Jazan were the first such deaths in the kingdom in three years.On Sunday, Malki
said the international community must "stop hostile acts by this terrorist
organization," a reference to Hizbullah. Since January 2018 the Huthis have
launched 430 ballistic missiles and 850 drones towards Saudi Arabia, he said.
Rights groups have criticized the coalition for civilian casualties in its
years-long aerial bombardment. The coalition maintains its operations are
carried out in accordance with international humanitarian law, repeatedly urging
the Huthis against using civilians as human shields.
Hezbollah Versus UNIFIL
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 27/2021
Would we be exaggerating if we said that the United Nation Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) is at the top of the long list of things Hezbollah hates?
We’ll delay answering this question to offer a reminder of what happened a few
days ago in the border town of Shakra in South Lebanon: a clash between the
“local community,” i.e., Hezbollah supporters, and the “international forces”
(Finnish according to one narrative and Irish according to another).
Here, we could drown ourselves in endless minutiae. However, one thing is
impossible to believe; Hezbollah and its followers’ claim: the “international
forces” engaged in “dubious activity,” and an armored vehicle “intentionally”
ran over two youths from the “local community.”
Upon hearing this narrative, one is surprised by the idea that international
soldiers, be they Finnish or Irish, had harassed the residents of a safe and
peaceful village in South Lebanon. It sounds like something that requires a lot
of cinematic imagination.
Like many others, we find that it is most probable that the secret lies
elsewhere: it lies first in United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s
visit to the “international forces” in the South two days before the incident
and the criticism he was reported as directing at Hezbollah, like his demand
that it turns into a political party. Guterres was told, through the Shakra
incident, that Hezbollah is in charge in the South, not the United Nations.
Secondly, it lies in the ongoing battle over UNIFIL’s powers, which allow it to
play its role. This requires freedom of movement and the mandate to install
cameras to ensure compliance with UN Resolution 1701. Guterres himself had also
raised the need to respect those powers.
In other words, and this is the bottom line: the tension, with its political
underpinnings that go beyond the details, is between a faction that wants to
avert any armed conflict, to make it impossible if it can, and another that
wants to keep the option open. Indeed, the latter wants conflict to be easy to
stir up: if it is in the interest of Tehran or Damascus, Lebanon will be dragged
into the fight with no constraints or parameters imposed by the “international
forces.”
Conjuring up the “local community” and claiming Finnish and Irish UN forces
attacked innocent southern youths is not difficult for militant factions like
Hezbollah, forces whose relationship with truth is fraught with skepticism.
And so, we are facing a new round of that old battle between two opposing views:
one that does not want Lebanon to be dragged into wars, and another that wants
nothing but that for the country. This debate predates the emergence of
Hezbollah, though the latter was the first Lebanese party to succeed in dragging
the country to war, benefiting from its representation of a large sect and
immense aid from Iran.
The fact is that keeping Lebanon open to war, or, if possible, embroiled in one,
is an almost sacrosanct item on the agenda of the militant forces that have
emerged, one after the other, since the 1950s. Preventing war is forbidden: a
revolutionary axiom that was adopted by many generations. For this reason, all
those who call for neutrality or demand that an international force police the
border with Israel are vulnerable to being slandered and accused of treachery by
those radical forces. The political campaign launched against the late
politician Raymond Edde - who had called for an international force to police
the border in order to avert Israel’s devastating blows after modest military
operations by the Palestinian resistance in the late 50s - remains the most
prominent example.
The “international forces” deter this project. They do not want Lebanon to be a
country at war or on the brink of war every so often. They want to keep the
peace in our country, peace protected by a UN resolution. The last thing on
their minds is recruiting youths from Ireland and Finland to bring them to
Lebanon so they can attack innocent inhabitants of Shakra.
In all likelihood, the hostility to the “international forces” feeds on another
factor that is implied or perhaps not very conscious: every assiduous push for
sectarian purity and every plunge toward the subnational increase hostility to
everything multinational, like the “international forces.” The subnational hates
the transnational, and the international provokes the local that is drowning
deeper into its localism. Given that we are living in a time when the hostility
of sects for one another is increasing, it is not difficult to conceive of
youths from strange distant countries, who have different colors to ours and
speak different languages, being dealt with this way. That is how it becomes
understandable that UNIFIL tops the long list of things Hezbollah hates. It also
becomes understandable, for the same reason, that the vast majority of Lebanese,
to whom life means more than martyrdom and whose country’s security means more
to them than improving Iran’s military conditions, are clinging to the
“international forces”!
The weekly roundup from NOW.
Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/December 27/2021
There are moments one never forgets. They remain carved into one’s memory as
landmarks of intense emotional experience. “No one fills your place in my heart/
How could you be so hard on the heart that loved you so much?/ No one fills your
place in my heart.”Majida El Roumi’s Matrahak bi albi (Your place in my heart)
is supposed to be a love song. For me it has always been a song about a father
who was killed. I heard it first played on the piano in January 2011, when I was
filming an interview with Elias Azar, son of former prosecutor Said Azar. The
prosecutor died during the Chevrolet bombing in 2007. He had survived two
attempts on his own life, but died during the bombing that targeted Internal
Security Forces captain Wissam Eid, who was investigating Rafik Hariri’s murder
at the time. “This song always reminds me of my father,” I remember Elias
saying. I was assigned and wrote my first and last obituary on December 27,
eight years ago.
“They always kill the best people in this country, the most competent, the ones
who really have a chance to make things better for us, regardless of political
affiliation,” one wise old man told me eight years ago. “It is always the best
of us, always the best of the Lebanese,” the old man told me. Mohamad Chatah was
probably one of the most competent politicians Lebanon has ever had. But this
bit is not about that. It’s about human beings that are trampled on, without
anyone even looking twice at their grief. Watching Ronnie Chatah’s powerful
conversation with his mother, Nina, made me think of Majida El Roumi’s song.
Matrahak bi albi is also Nina Chatah’s song. For every morning she turns to ask
Mohammad Chatah a question and he’s no longer there. A song for the people left
behind, who are forced into accepting the loss, who never see justice, who are
told not to ask questions, who have to bury the anger because “there is nothing
else we can do”. Who wakes up at 4 am, eight years afterward, with a sudden
feeling that they are not alright. The concept of fate, the word “martyr” –
which they grow to hate – and a grave to visit periodically is what they have
left to soothe their grief.
There is no rite of passage that can give them peace because there is no justice
to give them closure. For them, it’s a wound that reopens. Again, and again. And
yet, the courage of people like Ronnie and Nina Chatah, like Monika Borgmann,
Elias Azar, Toufic Ghanem, of Wissam Eid’s parents; of hundreds and hundreds
more Lebanese who lost someone dear to a bomb or to bullets. Their will to
reopen their wounds and speak about their grief so that they remind everyone
that they deserve justice is what we should be thankful for many a holiday
season to come.
The courage of the families of 227 victims of the Beirut blast and the survivors
who constantly push for a fair investigation and accountability is what we
should be thankful for, for they are fighting everyone’s fight.
Thank you!
The fourth suspension
Tarek Bitar, the Lebanese judge leading investigations into last year’s Beirut
port blast, was once again forced to stop work Thursday over a lawsuit filed by
ex-ministers he had summoned for interrogation, an official told AFP.
The suspension is the fourth since Bitar was chosen to lead investigations in
February. It comes two weeks after he was cleared to resume work, after a series
of court challenges raised by political leaders derailed his efforts.
On Thursday, Bitar was informed of a lawsuit submitted by lawmakers Ghazi
Zeaiter and Ali Hasan Khalil — both members of the Shiite Amal movement — which
forced him to pause the probe until a ruling is issued, a court official told
AFP on condition of anonymity. Lawsuits by the dozen: The total number of
lawsuits against Bitar now stands at 18. Most were filed by officials he is
seeking to interrogate on suspicion of criminal negligence.
Paralyzed international support
Stating the very obvious: The international community will not step up to help
Lebanon if political paralysis continues to hamper the implementation of
desperately needed reforms, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on
Tuesday, December 21, as he was leaving Lebanon after a 3-day visit.
“The international community will probably not — independently of support that
has already been provided — respond the way it needs to respond if they see the
country is paralyzed,” Guterres told journalists. “We need the support of the
international community to be much larger than it is today and the Lebanese
people deserve it but there is homework that needs to be done in Lebanon,” he
said. International donors have only funded 11 percent of the $383 million UN
response plan for the country, Guterres said.
Some aid for Lebanese teachers: The World Bank on Thursday said it agreed with
its partners to repurpose $37 million in funds to help Lebanon’s public-school
teachers survive a crushing economic crisis.
The World Bank and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office would
divert the money from the Lebanon Syrian Crisis Trust Fund, which aims to assist
Lebanese communities in accommodating Syrian refugees, the bank said in a
statement. It would be used to “provide financial incentives to public school
teachers suffering from the severe economic and financial crisis in Lebanon to
ensure they can purchase fuel to travel to work,” the statement added.
The “exceptional” financing, which is valid only for the 2021-2022 academic
year, came at the request of Lebanon’s government, the bank said.When life gives
you lemons: Check where they come from, cause if it’s Lebanon, they may be
filled with something else than juice for lemonade. Dubai police said on
Thursday, December 24, that they arrested four men “of Arab nationality” for
trying to smuggle millions of dollars worth of captagon pills hidden in plastic
lemons into the UAE. Captagon is an amphetamine-type stimulant manufactured in
Lebanon, Iraq and Syria –in the region – and, so far, most of it was bound for
Saudi Arabia. The drugs, which the official WAM news agency said had a street
value of $15.8 million, were seized after a tipoff, police Major General Khalil
Ibrahim Al Mansouri said. The Emirati police seized 1,160,500 pills.
The source: The Emirati police did not disclose per se the origin of the cargo –
3,840 boxes of lemons, 66 of which had fake plastic lemons containing the
captagon pills. But they released a video of the seized cargo showing boxes with
markings indicating their origin was Lebanon.
The regional war on drugs: The Gulf countries are huge markets for drugs and
most governments have long tried to curb the trade. A lot of the Captagon comes
from Syria – which has already been deemed a narco-state – through Lebanon’s
ports. Some Captagon is also produced in Lebanon itself. The Lebanese Army
announced on several occasions in the summer of 2021 that it had raided Captagon
factories in eastern Bekaa. The raids, however, resulted in no arrests.
Lebanon’s government is often criticized by Gulf countries for not cooperating
fully in the war against drugs.
In April, Saudi Arabia announced it was suspending imports of fruit and
vegetables from Lebanon after more than five million captagon pills hidden in
pomegranates were seized. In June, over 14 million amphetamine pills concealed
between sheets of tin and originating in Lebanon were seized in the kingdom.
Tense relations: The Gulf countries, some of Lebanon’s biggest regional
supporters and trade partners, blame Hezbollah, which is allied and works
closely with the Syrian government, of facilitating and benefiting from the drug
trade. On November 30, several GCC members, starting with Saudi Arabia, cut
political and trade ties with Lebanon due to Hezbollah’s boosted influence over
the country’s government. The pretext was a statement made by the Lebanese
Information Minister George Kordahi blaming Riyadh for human rights violations
in the war in Yemen, but the core problem was Hezbollah’s control over the
cabinet and Lebanon’s lack of any decisive action to stop the drug trade. The
fact that the drugs still reach the Gulf from Lebanon may increase tensions.
Many Lebanese residing and working in the UAE already avoid speaking about any
politics for fear that they may be deported.
Back to Yemen: The Saudi-led coalition on Sunday accused Iran and Hezbollah of
helping Yemen’s Houthi rebels to launch missiles and drones at the kingdom,
where two people were killed.
Migration
Lebanon is the country with the second-highest rate of refugees per capita in
the world, according to the UN. After the tiny island of Aruba, in the
Caribbean, which has 110, 000 inhabitants and hosts 17,000 Venezuelans fleeing
the economic crisis and political instability in their country, Lebanon follows
with 125 refugees/1000 locals. However, with Lebanon itself struggling with a
disastrous economic crisis triggered by endemic corruption, political paralysis
and decades of regional account settling, the refugees, as well as local
population are knocking on Europe’s doors, as the Gulf countries are already
closing theirs.
Faced with this “danger”, some European states have already started denying
travel visas for the Lebanese because they are now presenting a risk of illegal
immigration. The strange case of a US passport: Turkish police arrested and
jailed a US diplomat working for Washington’s consulate in Beirut on suspicion
of issuing a fake passport to a Syrian national, Turkish media reported
Wednesday, December 23. The pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper said that
diplomats’ customary immunity from prosecution does not apply in countries in
which they have no accreditation.
This gave Turkey the right to arrest the diplomat, who was accredited to only
work in Lebanon, the newspaper said. The diplomat was initially detained at
Istanbul Airport on November 11. It is not clear why the Turkish authorities
waited for over a month to publicize the affair.
Lebanon +
Podcasts: Anthony Sargon, the host of Do Not Worry Podcast, released a
documentary about Lebanese controversial TikTok star Joseph Chada. The
24-year-old math and science teacher stirred a huge controversy on social media
by posting a video with a minor he said he was dating. Chada later on said it
was part of an awareness campaign. The story gets pretty incredible and
sometimes even creepy, with a group of hackers exposing sexual predators
disabling Chada’s accounts. But there is more to it than meets the eye. Jad
Ghosn released on Christmas Day a hearty episode with former World Bank
economist Alia Moubayed (in Arabic only). Agenda: Lebanese president Michel Aoun
is set to address the nation on Monday night in what most local media presents
as an “incendiary” speech. On what he may say, read Tylia El Helou’s analysis on
Ici Beyrouth (in French).
Until next week, stay safe and wear a mask, as Covid cases are increasing once
again.
*Follow NOW Lebanon on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and subscribe
to our weekly newsletter.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
December 27-28/2021
EU diplomat says ‘difficult’ Iran nuclear
talks resume with Tehran focused on sanctions relief
Agencies/AFP and Reuters/December 27, 2021
EU diplomat Enrique Mora, who is chairing the talks, says all sides were showing
‘a clear will to work toward the successful end of this negotiation’
Talks are expecting to resume Monday next week
VIENNA: Negotiators trying to save the landmark Iran nuclear deal resumed
discussions on Monday with the EU chair warning of “difficult” work ahead.
Negotiations to salvage the 2015 agreement restarted in late November, after a
five-month hiatus following the election of ultraconservative Iran President
Ebrahim Raisi. The talks seek to bring back the US, after it left the accord in
2018, and curtail Iran’s nuclear activities, stepped up in response to the US
withdrawal and reimposed sanctions.
EU diplomat Enrique Mora, who is chairing the talks, said all sides were showing
“a clear will to work toward the successful end of this negotiation.”
“If we work hard in the days and weeks ahead we should have a positive
result.... It’s going to be very difficult, it’s going to be very hard.
Difficult political decisions have to be taken both in Tehran and in
Washington,” the talks’ coordinator, Mora told a news conference.
He was speaking shortly after a meeting of the remaining parties to the deal —
Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union — formally
kicked off the round on Monday evening. “There is a sense of urgency in all
delegations that this negotiation has to be finished in a relatively reasonable
period of time. Again, I wouldn’t put limits but we are talking about weeks, not
about months,” Mora said. He said the talks will discuss US sanctions-lifting
and Iran’s atomic commitments in parallel despite comments by Tehran and Beijing
suggesting sanctions would be the focus.
“We are working on both tracks in parallel ... We are not working on one side
and forgetting or neglecting the other. On the contrary, both tracks are
mutually reinforcing,” Mora added. Ahead of the resumption, Iran’s Foreign
Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the agenda should be “the issue of
guarantees and verification” on the lifting of US sanctions.
“The most important thing for us is to reach a point where we can verify that
Iranian oil will be sold easily and without any limits, that the money for this
oil will be transferred in foreign currency to Iranian bank accounts, and that
we will be able to benefit from all the revenues,” he said, quoted by state news
agency IRNA. The talks involve delegations from Iran and the other countries
that remain party to the landmark accord — Britain, China, France, Germany and
Russia. Washington is participating indirectly, with diplomats shuttling back
and forth between the Iranian and the US sides. Iran has reported progress in
the talks, but European diplomats have warned they are “rapidly reaching the end
of the road.” US negotiator Rob Malley has said there are only “weeks” left to
revive the deal, if Iran continues its current pace of nuclear activities.
The seventh round of talks, the first under Iran’s new hard-line President
Ebrahim Raisi, ended 10 days ago after adding some new Iranian demands to a
working text. Western powers said progress was too slow and negotiators had
“weeks not months” left before the 2015 deal becomes meaningless.
The deal offered Iran a lifting of economic sanctions in return for strict curbs
on its nuclear program. The goal was to make it practically impossible for Iran
to build an atomic bomb, while allowing it to pursue a civilian nuclear program.
But the deal started to unravel in 2018 when former US president Donald Trump
pulled out and began imposing sanctions on the Islamic republic. US President
Joe Biden has said he is willing to return to the deal as long as Iran also
resumes the original terms. Iran, which denies it wants to acquire a nuclear
arsenal, has gradually abandoned its commitments to the accord since 2019,
including by stepping up its enrichment of uranium.
Iran’s arch-rival Israel, which staunchly opposes the nuclear deal, had
reportedly warned in November that the Islamic republic had taken the technical
steps to prepare to enrich uranium to military-grade levels of around 90
percent. “Stopping Iran’s nuclear program is the primary challenge for Israeli
foreign and security policy,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on
Monday. “We prefer to act through international cooperation, but if necessary,
we will defend ourselves, by ourselves.” On Saturday, Atomic Energy Organization
of Iran director Mohammad Eslami said Tehran has no plans to enrich uranium
beyond 60 percent, even if the Vienna talks fail. Eslami said the enrichment
levels were related to the needs of the country, in remarks published by the
Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Mora said he decided to reconvene the talks during many officials’ holidays
between Christmas and the New Year so as not to lose time, but he added that
talks would stop for three days as of Friday “because the facilities will not be
available,” referring to the luxury hotel hosting most meetings. They are
expecting to resume Monday next week. Moscow’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna,
Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Twitter that negotiators “held businesslike and
result-oriented discussions.” “In particular they agreed to intensify the
drafting process in order to achieve an agreement ASAP,” he said.
Earlier Monday, he said it was the “presumably final round of negotiations.”
Iran Insists on Crude Exports as Vienna Nuclear Talks Resume
Associated Press/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Iran insisted on Monday that the United States and its allies promise to allow
Tehran to export its crude as negotiations on restoring the tattered nuclear
deal were to resume in Vienna. The remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein
Amirabdollahian signal that Iran is pressing its position ahead of the
negotiations over reviving the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The talks were
adjourned earlier this month after a round marked by tensions over new demands
from Tehran. Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Amirabdollahian said Iran wants
the upcoming round of talks to focus on achieving the "point where Iranian oil
is being sold easily and without any barriers and its money arrives in Iran's
bank accounts."Tehran's landmark accord with world powers granted the nation
sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But in 2018,
then-President Donald Trump withdrew America from the deal and imposed sweeping
sanctions on Iran, including against its oil sector — the lifeline of its
economy. Iran's crude exports plummeted and international oil companies scrapped
deals with Tehran, weakening its economy. As the parties to the 2015 atomic deal
prepared to convene in Vienna, Amirabdollahian said Iran wanted to "be able to
enjoy full economic concessions under the nuclear deal.""Guarantee and
verification (of the removal of sanctions) are among topics that we have focused
on," he said. The new, conservative administration of Iranian President Ebrahim
Raisi has repeatedly demanded the removal of all economic sanctions before Iran
reins in its nuclear advances. Iran has steadily abandoned all of the accord's
limits since the American withdrawal and is now enriching uranium to 60% purity
— a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. It spins ever-more advanced
centrifuges also barred by the deal. Iran insists that its nuclear program is
peaceful. But the country's significant nuclear steps have alarmed regional
rivals and world powers. Diplomats have warned that time is running out to
restore the deal as Iran maintains a hard line in putting the onus on the U.S.
to lift sanctions. The talks involve all the parties to the original nuclear
deal — Iran, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Iran refuses to talk
directly to American envoy, who is engaging through the other signatories.
Frenchman held in Iran begins hunger strike
AFP/December 27, 2021
PARIS: A Frenchman held in Iran for more than 18 months on espionage charges he
rejects has begun a hunger strike to protest at his detention conditions, his
family said Monday. Benjamin Briere, 36, was arrested in Iran last May,
allegedly while flying a drone and taking photographs in a prohibited area.
“Benjamin started the hunger strike on December 25 because he was not allowed to
call us for Christmas, but also to draw attention to the mistreatment he has
suffered for twenty months,” his sister Blandine Briere told AFP.
“He sees no evolution in his case.” His family describes him as an innocent
tourist who set out in 2018 on a road trip in his camper van that began in
Scandinavia before heading overland toward Iran. His Iranian lawyer said in May
that prosecutors had confirmed he would be tried for espionage as well as
“propaganda against the system.” A conviction of espionage is punishable by
death in Iran. The French foreign ministry has described the spying charges
against Briere, who is being held in the Valikabad prison in the city of Mashhad
in northeastern Iran, as “incomprehensible.” “The Iranian judiciary have not yet
decided which court will try the case,” said Blandine Briere. “He is being held
hostage for no reason,” she added. “It is completely illegal and we don’t know
anything. Benjamin needs more from the French foreign ministry.” In Paris, a
foreign ministry spokesman said Monday that the government was following “our
compatriot’s situation with the greatest attention.”The French embassy in Tehran
had been in regular contact with Briere, who the spokesman said was in Iran “as
a tourist” when he was arrested. The latest such visit took place on December
21, and the embassy contacted him again on Monday, the ministry spokesman said.
Briere is one of more than a dozen Western nationals held in Iran whom activists
describe as hostages innocent of any crime, and detained at the behest of the
powerful Revolutionary Guards to extract concessions from the West. Iran insists
they are held in accordance with Iranian law, but Tehran has in the past shown
readiness to release Western nationals in exchange for the freedom of Iranians
held abroad. Briere is the only such Western detainee known to be held in Iran
who does not also hold an Iranian passport. Iran is also holding the
French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, who was detained in 2019 and sentenced
in May 2020 to five years in prison on national security charges. In October,
she was moved to house arrest. Fellow French academic Roland Marchal, who was
detained with her, was released in March 2020 after France released Iranian
engineer Jallal Rohollahnejad, who faced extradition to the United States over
accusations he violated US sanctions against Iran.
Venezuela’s President to Visit Iran 'Very Soon'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday he will soon visit Iran to
finalize new agreements on cooperation with the country, which has become
Venezuela's top ally in boosting oil output amid US sanctions. Venezuela and
Iran have strengthened their ties since last year. Maduro's government has
received vital equipment for its oil industry from Iran, which in return has
received crude and other primary resources from the South American country. Iran
has been crucial for Venezuela's rising oil production in 2021. "I am going to
Tehran very soon, for a visit that President (Ebrahim) Raisi offered me, so that
we meet in person, to hold conversations and sign new agreements ... and speed
up processes of cooperation," Maduro said during an interview with satellite
news broadcaster Al Mayadeen in Spanish, which was later broadcast on Venezuelan
state television. Maduro said he has had two telephone conversations with Iran's
president, adding that they have agreed to work on new plans, without providing
details. He also did not give a date for the visit but described the two
countries as "fighters."The tightening of US sanctions since 2019 has affected
Venezuela's ability to sell crude and import fuel, which has exacerbated
gasoline shortages across the country.
Iran to Announce New Ambassador to Houthis after Irlu’s Death
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Iran plans to announce the appointment of a new ambassador to the Houthi
militias in Yemen after the death of previous envoy Hassan Irlu, Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday. Tehran said on Dec. 21 that
Irlu, its so-called envoy in Sanaa and a member of the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards, died of COVID-19 after being repatriated in mid-December through an
Omani-Iraqi mediation. nHe received Covid-19 treatment in Tehran, but died soon
after his arrival. "We are in the process of announcing a new ambassador" in
Sanaa, Khatibzadeh told a news conference. Yemeni officials had said that Irlu
had been smuggled into Yemen when his appointment was first announced. Iran
announced in October 2020 that its envoy had arrived in Sanaa. It did not
provide the date of his arrival and how he had entered the country.
Iraqi Court Rejects Appeal by Iran-Backed Parties against Vote
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Iraq's Supreme Court rejected appeals lodged by Iran-backed Shiite factions
against the results of a parliamentary election on Monday, the chief judge said,
derailing their attempt to overturn the vote in which they performed poorly. The
Iran-backed factions, including powerful armed groups, had alleged
irregularities in the Oct. 10 vote. Judge Jassim Mohammed read out the ruling
rejecting their appeal at the court headquarters in Baghdad. The biggest winner
in the vote was the movement led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr that won 73 seats,
more than any other group in the fractious 329-seat house. Once the result is
confirmed by the Supreme Court, negotiations are expected among Shiite, Sunni
and Kurdish groups over the formation of a new government to replace the
outgoing cabinet led by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Iraq Launches Operations to Crack Down on ISIS Remnants
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Iraqi authorities announced Sunday the launch of three security operations
against ISIS remnants in the western Anbar, northern Nineveh and Salahuddin and
eastern Diyala provinces.“The first operation was launched southwest of the al-Rutba
district in Anbar, the second was launched west of Tharthar city in Salahuddin
and the third was launched south of the Hatra district in Nineveh,” said a
Defense Ministry statement. The operations aim at pursuing ISIS remnants,
clearing Iraqi territories and combating all forms of crimes to create a safe
environment in the country. The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) also announced
the launch of a security operation in the Hamrin Mountains in Diyala (65 km east
of Baghdad). A statement by the PMF said the operation was organized in
coordination with the Diyala Army Operations Command and the Air Force. “The
operation targets pursuing ISIS remnants and eliminating their hideouts in these
areas where they have carried out attacks on security forces and civilians,” it
continued. ISIS operative have intensified their attacks against Iraqi forces in
recent weeks, especially in the border area separating Iraq from the Kurdistan
Region. A high-level military delegation, headed by the Deputy Commander of the
Joint Operations Command for Iraq Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Shammari, had
arrived in Diyala to supervise the operations, including the one in Hamrin. The
operations were kicked off three days before the deadline for the withdrawal of
US forces from Iraq. Iraq declared a military victory over ISIS in late 2017,
three years after the terrorist group swept through the country. Despite the
victory, the group still has operatives that continue to carry out sporadic
attacks in the country.
Arab League Calls for Increasing Investments in Arab Communication Sector
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
The Arab League called for pumping investments in the communications and
information technology sector to develop infrastructure and raise the level of
capabilities offered by communications networks. The decision aims to enhance
fifth-generation networks, bridge the digital gap between cities and remote
areas in the Arab region, and complete digital transformation processes.
Director of the Communications and Information Technology Development Department
at the Arab League Khaled Wali explained that technological development
continues to impose its burdens on the communications and information technology
sector in the Arab world. He reiterated the importance of the communications and
information technology sector as a significant driver of economic and social
development, and a vital link between its various sectors, especially in light
of the coronavirus epidemic. Wali pointed out that information and communication
technology is crucial to preserving public health and achieving social and
economic stability globally, stressing the importance of digital transformation
for all sectors. The Director noted the importance of increasing citizens’
confidence in modern communication technologies, paying attention to information
security in providing services and enacting laws and legislation protecting
users from cybercrime. Meanwhile, the Arab League congratulated Egypt for
choosing the new administrative capital as an Arab digital capital for 2021. It
also applauded Oman for choosing Muscat as the Arab digital capital for 2022. It
commended Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Egypt, which achieved
progress on their international ranking for the global cybersecurity index.
100 Houthis killed in heavy fighting around Yemen’s
Marib city
The Arab News/December 27, 2021
AL-MUKALLA: At least 100 Houthis were killed in heavy fighting with government
forces outside Yemen’s central city of Marib in the past day as the Iran-backed
rebels pressed ahead with assaults to recapture the strategic city, local
officials and media reports said on Monday. Backed by massive air support from
Arab coalition warplanes, Yemeni government troops and tribal fighters on Sunday
mounted counterattacks on Houthi positions south of Marib in a bid to push back
the militia from strategic locations outside the city and seize control of new
areas. Fierce fighting raged between the two sides from Sunday to Monday near
Al-Balaq Al-Sharqi mountain range and surrounding areas, claiming the lives of
at least 100 Houthi fighters, including a field military leader. “The national
army seized control of three strategic hilly locations near Al-Balaq Al-Sharqi
and cut off supply lines to pockets of Houthis,” a military official told Arab
News by telephone, shortly after he returned from the raging battlefields in
Marib. “What I can say is that we managed to count the bodies of at least 100
Houthis killed during the last 24 hours.”To pave the way for their forces to
advance, the Houthis fired about 25 ballistic missiles at government-controlled
areas and intensified drone and mortar attacks outside Marib. “The Houthis
hysterically shelled our forces with 25 ballistic missiles. The coalition’s
warplanes intercepted and destroyed two of the missiles in the air,” the
official said. The shelling did not help the Houthis make new gains on the
ground as government troops held strong in their positions and killed waves of
Houthi fighters. West of Marib, eight Houthis, including a field leader, were
arrested, and many other militia members were killed when government troops
repelled attacks. Local army officials said that warplanes from the Arab
coalition on Monday conducted dozens of air sorties in support of government
troops on the ground by targeting Houthi military reinforcements and locations
outside Marib city. In February, the Houthis renewed a military offensive to
recapture the oil and gas-rich city of Marib, the government’s last stronghold
in the northern part of the country. In the neighboring province of Shabwa,
hundreds of troops from the Giants Brigades were deployed in the oil-rich
province ahead of an expected offensive to dislodge the Houthis from the Bayhan,
Al-Aid and Ouselan districts and to alleviate military pressure on government
troops in Marib province.
A long convoy of military vehicles carrying fighters and military equipment were
seen departing positions along the country's west coast and heading toward Attaq
city, Shabwa’s provincial capital. In November, the Arab coalition announced the
redeployment troops in Hodeidah province as part of a new strategy to reinforce
government troops battling the Houthis. In Riyadh, Yemen President Abed Rabbo
Mansour Hadi ordered the new governor of Shabwa, Awadh Mohammed Al-Wazer Al-Awlaki,
who took the constitutional oath before the president on Monday, to work on
unifying political and tribal forces and mobilizing efforts to expel the Houthis
from areas in the province. Separately, Yemen’s government on Monday demanded
the Lebanese government contain the military activities of Iran-backed Hezbollah
in the war-torn country amid an influx of fighters, military experts and weapons
from Lebanon. “We ask about the position of the presidency, the government,
political forces, elites and the brotherly Lebanese people regarding the
aggression led by the Hezbollah militia against Yemen,” Muammar Al-Eryani,
Yemen’s minister of information, culture and tourism, said on Twitter. “We renew
the call to the brothers in Lebanon to declare a clear position on the
aggression of the Hezbollah militia, to exert real pressure to withdraw its
experts and fighters, stop the smuggling of weapons to Yemen, and to prevent the
use of the lands and capabilities of the Lebanese state to support the Houthi
militia.” The Yemeni government’s criticism of Hezbollah activities in Yemen
came a day after the Arab coalition revealed to reporters a video showing
Hezbollah experts training Houthi fighters in the use of explosive-rigged
drones.
Arrest of 3 Iranian Engineers in Syria’s Raqqa
Causes Tension
Damascus - Hasakah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
The Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Al-Asayish) have arrested three Iranian
engineers on the road between Al-Hasakah and Al-Qamishly, local sources told
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. This caused tension and triggered a security alert
among the Shiite militias supported by Iran and present in the Raqqa
countryside. Anadolu Agency reported that the engineers were en route from the
regime-ruled Al-Qamishly Airport to Al-Hasakah to fix the water pumps there.
Sources told the news agency that the Kurdish members stopped the vehicle,
arrested the engineers along with the Syrian driver, and took them to an unknown
location. For its part, Russia interfered in favor of releasing the three
engineers. Al-Hasakah suffers from a severe water crisis due to the halted
pumping at the Alouk water station. Local sources in Raqqa reported that
pro-Iran Liwa Fatemiyoun militia and the Iraqi Hezbollah were deployed on the
land crossings linking the regime-ruled regions to the SDF-run areas. They were
also positioned on the lines of contact in the countryside of Raqqa where the
inspection takes place. The Iranian militias have deployed dozens of members at
the Safian crossing, al-Hawra, al-Sabkha, and the contact lines, and most of
them are from the Iraqi Hezbollah, a military source said. Ain al-Furat Network
mentioned that the Iranian militias hoisted their flags instead of the regime
flags on the crossings. In a related context, sources in Deir Ezzor revealed
that Iran seeks to form a new militia similar to the Popular Mobilization Forces
in Iraq. Ain al-Furat Network broadcast last Friday exclusive photos showing
training operations at the Iran-affiliated militias' camps in Deir Ezzor's
western countryside.
Syrian Refugees Become Bargaining Chips in Turkish Elections
Ankara - Saeed Abdulrazek/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
The issue of Syrian refugees has turned into a bargaining chip between Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party and the
opposition parties ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled
for June 2023. Erdogan confirmed on Saturday that his country would continue to
keep its doors open to Syrian refugees. During a televised interview, he pledged
that he would not allow Syrian refugees to be expelled from the country as long
as he is president. Several Turkish opposition leaders had reiterated their
pledges to return Syrians to their country if they win the elections. Erdogan
attacked opposition leader and chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP),
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who stressed that his party would end the problem of Syrian
refugees within months of taking power in Turkey. "The opposition parties have
recently taken a position against the Syrians, and they say 'when we come to
power, we will send these Syrians to their country'," Erdogan said, adding: "We
are now hosting nearly four million Syrians in our country, and with those
coming from Iraq, the total number is five million, and we will continue to host
them."
"They are all our guests and did not leave their countries on their own. They
have left their country because they did not find a chance to live in it, and of
course, we opened our doors to them and continue to host them," he said.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that 400 fighters
of National Army factions operating in the de-escalation zone, escorted by
Turkish soldiers, have undergone training on the use of Turkish-made armored and
tracked military vehicles, including tanks, at the al-Mastoumah camp in Syria's
Idlib province. This is the first time that Syrian fighters undergo such
training. Turkish forces had trained 200 Syrian fighters to use various
anti-armor weapons.
Sudan's Prime Minister Intends to Resign Soon
Khartoum - Ahmed Younis/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok intends to submit his resignation within
the next few days, according to reliable sources. Hamdok had previously hinted
at resigning but postponed his decision in response to regional and
international mediation and local pressure. However, recent developments and the
excessive use of violence by the security forces against peaceful protesters in
the past days prompted him to reconsider his resignation. A reliable source at
the prime minister's office told Asharq Al-Awsat that his staff received a
directive to "prepare for handover procedures" last Wednesday. They had already
begun preparing the documents for the process. The source did not disclose the
exact date for the official announcement of the resignation. Still, the
premier's staff began preparing for leaving pending an expected meeting between
Hamdok and the Chairman of the Sovereign Council, Lt-Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan,
and his deputy, the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo,
to inform them of his intention to resign. Last week, Reuters reported that
Hamdok had told a group of national political and intellectual figures that he
intends to step down. The group called on him to stay in his position, but
Hamdok insisted on leaving. At the time, sources close to the PM told Asharq Al-Awsat
that he expressed his distress over the boycott by the Freedom and Change
coalition, which represented the political foundation of his previous
government.
Hamdok was reinstated on Nov. 21 following a coup, led by Burhan, a month
earlier that saw the military take power and end a transitional partnership with
political parties. After Burhan overthrew the transitional civilian government
and declared a state of emergency, the security forces arrested Hamdok, a number
of his ministers, senior officials, and political leaders in the country. The PM
was then released to the presidential palace to sign a political agreement with
Burhan, which was said to be aimed at restoring the democratic path in the
country. Hamdok said that the main reason for signing the agreement was to end
bloodshed and violence against peaceful demonstrators. However, the deal was
rejected by several political parties, namely the Freedom and Change, which
viewed it as a betrayal of the revolution. The PM justified his agreement with
Burhan by saying he wanted to preserve the country's unity and lead it to
democratic elections at the end of the transitional period in 2023. However,
military authorities continue to suppress protesters, in a move civilians
described as "a military coup and a rejection of partnership with civilians."
Egypt’s President Says Looks Forward to Deepening
Ties with Russia
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Egypt has expressed a desire to deepen ties with Moscow at all levels, to build
on the current projects that they cooperate in implementing in Egypt, foremost
of which are the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant and the Russian industrial zone in
the Suez Canal Axis. This statement was made during a phone conversation on
Saturday between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin, to review the current developments in Libya. Sisi
told Putin that Egypt is continuing its efforts to facilitate “the current
transitional phase and activate the free will of the Libyan people in choosing
their leaders and representatives,” presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said.
Egypt's president and his Russian counterpart agreed to “intensify joint efforts
and coordination between Egypt and Russia to resolve the Libyan crisis,” the
presidency added. Russia and Egypt agreed to “counter and undermine armed
militias and terrorist organizations and put an end to illegitimate foreign
meddling in Libyan affairs,” the statement read.
Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian officials meet
The Arab News/December 27, 2021
CAIRO: A meeting in Cairo between Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian officials
on Monday discussed ways to enhance relations, developments related to the peace
process, and efforts to strengthen Palestinian unity. The participants were the
country’s intelligence chiefs, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, and
Hussein Al-Sheikh, a member of the central committee of the Palestinian faction
Fatah. During the meeting, which comes within the framework of existing
tripartite coordination, Al-Sheikh reviewed Israeli escalation and violations
against the Palestinian people, and the crimes carried out by settlers under the
protection of Israel’s military. He said these practices show Israel’s
deliberate disregard for the decisions of the international community. The
meeting’s final statement stressed the need to consolidate calm and
reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, and to find a political horizon to achieve a
just and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution between
Israel and Palestine.
Somali President Suspends PM’s Powers, Accusing Him
of Corruption
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said on Monday he had suspended the
powers of the prime minister amid a corruption probe in what the assistant
information minister said amounted to an "indirect coup". Mohamed accused Roble
of looting public land owned by the Somali National Army and of interfering with
a defense ministry investigation. All other ministers would continue with their
duties, he said. Roble was not immediately available for comment. But the
government spokesperson, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, said on Facebook the
president's action was unconstitutional. He said the prime minister would
continue with his duties. Mohamed and Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble on
Sunday each accused the other of holding up ongoing parliamentary elections in a
dispute analysts say may distract the government from its fight against the
al-Qaeda-linked insurgency al-Shabaab. Mohamed also said he had removed the
commander of marine forces, General Abdihamid Mohamed Dirir, from office while a
similar investigation was being carried out. Dirir and a spokesperson were not
immediately available for comment. Assistant Information Minister Abdirahman
Yusuf Omar Adala said the deployment of security forces around Roble's office
would not prevent Roble from carrying out his duties. "What is going on this
morning is (an) indirect coup but it will not win," Adala said on Facebook. In
September, Mohamed suspended Roble's power to hire and fire officials in a
dispute nominally over a murder investigation that generated months of tension
in a country riven by militant attacks and clan rivalries. Mohamed and Roble
first clashed in April, when the president unilaterally extended his four-year
term by two years, prompting army factions loyal to each man to seize rival
positions in the capital, Mogadishu. The confrontation was resolved when the
president put Roble in charge of security and organizing delayed legislative and
presidential elections.
KSA Says IS-Linked Man Executed for Suicide Attack Plot
Agence France Presse/Monday, 27 December, 2021
Saudi Arabia on Monday executed a Yemeni man accused of plotting a suicide
attack in the kingdom and of links to the Islamic State jihadist group, the
interior ministry said. The wealthy Gulf country, with one of the world's
highest execution rates, has been the target of a series of deadly IS shootings
and bombings since late 2014."Mohammed al-Saddam, a Yemeni national, sought to
target civilian gatherings at a public facility under the instructions of the
Daesh terrorist organization," the interior ministry said in a statement,
referring to IS by its Arabic acronym. "The death sentence was carried on Monday
in the city of Riyadh."It said the man had "pledged allegiance to IS" and was
planning a "suicide attack using an explosive belt", without elaborating on the
case or when the Yemeni was arrested. The Saudi authorities could not
immediately be reached for comment. The number of executions had dropped
significantly in 2020, partly due to a moratorium on executions of people
sentenced to death for drug trafficking. But Amnesty International said in
August that at least 40 people were executed this year between January and July
in Saudi Arabia, more than for the whole of 2020. A total of nearly 70 people
have been executed this year in the kingdom, according to an AFP tally based on
official statements. Saudi Arabia put 184 people to death in 2019, according to
Amnesty, which has said it was the highest number recorded in a single year in
the country. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia's state-run Human Rights Commission
said it had documented 27 executions in 2020. Last year, the HRC also announced
that Saudi Arabia was abolishing court-ordered floggings, in a reform move
welcomed by rights campaigners. In November, Saudi Arabia released a man who was
arrested as a minor in 2012 after nine years in prison for participating in
anti-government protests. Activists, however, are skeptical that reforms will
extend to the release of political prisoners, a pause on a sweeping crackdown on
dissent or an end to executions.
The Latest The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on December 26-27/2021
Sweden, Gang Violence and a New Prime Minister
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/December 27, 2021
Sweden is facing much more than a "serious problem".
Sweden has the highest number of fatal shootings per million inhabitants in
Europe according to the latest report by Brå on shooting, released in May.
Sweden, furthermore, is the only country in Europe in which fatal shootings have
increased since the year 2005.
"The main underlying reason for the development with shootings and explosions is
the situation that prevails in vulnerable areas, where residents feel threatened
by criminals, where there is open drug trafficking and where criminals in some
places have created parallel social structures", Swedish police wrote in a
recent press release.
In six out of seven police regions, gangs use 12-year-old children in the
conduct of their criminal activities, including selling drugs and transporting
weapons.
Sweden's new Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson, has a formidable task ahead of
her: Dealing with the ever-growing gang violence and shootings in Swedish
cities. Sweden has the highest number of fatal shootings per million inhabitants
in Europe.
Sweden's new Prime Minister, Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson, who previously
served as finance minister, has a formidable task ahead of her: Dealing with the
ever-growing gang violence and shootings in Swedish cities. Her predecessor,
Stefan Löfven, notably failed even to contain the exponential growth in
shootings during his seven-year tenure. Sweden's parliament narrowly elected
Andersson as Löfven's successor in November, after Löfven announced his
resignation in August.
"Sweden is a fantastic country, but we are facing a number of serious problems,"
Andersson said. "I plan to lift every stone to break segregation and push back
the violent crime which is plaguing Sweden..."
Sweden is facing much more than a "serious problem". For years, Sweden has been
breaking new criminal records, while refusing to talk openly about the link
between migration and gang violence. This reticence may result from a
combination of political correctness and Sweden's fear of failing its own
declared ambition of being the world's "humanitarian superpower". Already in
2019, leader of the opposition party Moderaterna, Ulf Kristersson, called the
situation, "extreme for a country that is not at war".
For many years, any public discussion of the connections between migration and
the rising levels of crime and gang violence was considered taboo. The
publication of statistics on the topic came to an abrupt end after the Swedish
National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) had published them twice -- in 1996
and 2005. In 2017, then Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson refused to publish
statistics about the ethnic background of criminals in Sweden; he claimed they
were irrelevant. A majority of members of parliament supported his opinion.
Privately conducted research on the topic was simply ignored. Increasingly,
however, as shootings became daily occurrences that increasingly maimed and
killed innocent passers-by, the unmentionable has gradually become a topic of
discussion.
"It is no longer a secret today that much of the problem of gang and organized
crime with the shootings and explosions is linked to migration to Sweden in
recent decades," police chief of Gothenburg, Erik Nord wrote in an op-ed in May.
"When, like me, you have the opportunity to follow matters at the individual
level, you see that in principle everyone who shoots or is shot in gang
conflicts originates from the Balkans, the Middle East, North or East Africa."
In August, in a complete about-face reflecting just how much sentiments have
changed in Sweden since 2017, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention
(Brå), for the first time in 16 years, published a new report containing
statistics on the ethnic background of registered criminal offenders, writing:
"The distribution of registered offending among persons of native and non-native
background is often a topic of discussion. The Swedish National Council for
Crime Prevention (Brå) has previously published two research studies on this
issue, but several years have passed since the publication of the most recent
study (in 2005), which focused on registered crime during the period 1997–2001.
Since 2001, immigration to Sweden has increased, and the composition of the
non-native population has changed. The current study was initiated against this
background, with the aim of updating and improving the knowledge base on
offending among persons of native and non-native background."
The report stated:
"The risk of being registered as an offender is greatest among persons born in
Sweden to two non-native parents, followed by persons born abroad... The risk of
being registered as a crime suspect is 2.5 times as high among persons born
abroad as it is among persons born in Sweden to two native-born parents. For
persons born in Sweden to two non-native parents, the risk is just over 3 times
as high."
Sweden has the highest number of fatal shootings per million inhabitants in
Europe according to a comparative study of shootings in Europe by Brå released
in May. Sweden, furthermore, is the only country in Europe in which fatal
shootings have increased since the year 2005. In 2020, 47 people were killed and
117 wounded in 366 shootings. For the year 2021 up to November, 42 people had
already been killed and there had been 290 shootings. According to Brå:
"The level of gun homicide in Sweden ranks very high in relation to other
European countries, at approximately 4 deaths per million inhabitants per year.
The average for Europe is approximately 1.6 deaths per million inhabitants. None
of the other countries included in the study have experienced increases
comparable to that noted in Sweden. Instead, continued decreases were observed
in both total homicide rates and rates of gun homicide in the majority of these
countries."
In 2019, the police estimated that the problem will continue for years to come.
"We think this [shootings and extreme violence] might continue for five to ten
years in the particularly vulnerable areas," National Police Commissioner Anders
Thornberg said in 2019. "Drugs are established in society, and ordinary people
buy them. There is a market that the gangs will continue to fight over".
"Research shows", according to Brå's report, "that the increase in lethal
firearm violence in Sweden is strongly associated with criminal environments in
vulnerable areas."
The Swedish police have drawn the same conclusion: "Vulnerable areas are a
center for organized crime", Swedish police recently wrote. "Criminals in
vulnerable areas are exporters of crime to other parts of the country".
Swedish police define "vulnerable areas" as "geographically limited areas that
are characterized by low socio-economic status and where the criminals have an
impact on the local community."
According to the most recent report on vulnerable areas, released on December 3
by the Swedish police, there are 61 such enclaves. Some of those areas,
according to Swedish police, are categorized as "particularly vulnerable areas",
which have even higher levels of problems. These are characterized by
"systematic threats and acts of violence" especially against witnesses to
crimes, almost impossible working conditions for the police and, "parallel
societal structures, extremism, such as systematic violations of religious
freedom or strong fundamentalist influence that restricts human rights and
freedoms, persons traveling to take part in combat in conflict areas, [and] a
high concentration of criminals."
In Sweden, which has a population of roughly 10 million people, 556,000 people
live in the 61 vulnerable areas, accounting for 5.4% of Sweden's population,
according to the report, "Facts for change – a report about Sweden's 61
vulnerable areas". Three out of four of the inhabitants in the vulnerable areas
have foreign backgrounds; the most common countries of birth are Syria, Turkey,
Somalia, Poland and Iraq. According to the report, how many inhabitants with
foreign backgrounds live in a vulnerable area varies. In five of the country's
vulnerable areas, the proportion of residents with a foreign background is 90%
or higher: Rosengård in Malmö, Hovsjö in Södertälje, Fittja in Botkyrka, Rinkeby/Tensta
in Stockholm and Hjällbo in Gothenburg. There are roughly 2.5 million people in
Sweden with a foreign background; 16.2% of them, according to the report. live
in vulnerable areas. In a recent press release, the Swedish police wrote:
"The main underlying reason for the development with shootings and explosions is
the situation that prevails in vulnerable areas, where residents feel threatened
by criminals, where there is open drug trafficking and where criminals in some
places have created parallel social structures."
Sweden's new prime minister has announced that she is ready finally to impose
more severe penalties to deter the gangs.
"Even more severe penalties will be imposed for gang-related offences," Anderson
announced in her first statement on government policy on November 30.
"It should not be possible to threaten witnesses into silence; instead they
should receive the support they need to safely fulfil their duty. It will be
easier to detain people who are suspected of serious offences... Anyone who
commits multiple offences should be punished more severely. Reduced sentences
for young people aged 18–20 who commit serious offences will be abolished.
Penalties should better reflect the severity of offences, even when the
perpetrators are young."
Reduced sentences for young people have been a severe obstacle to dealing with
the issues, because young people are among the predominant drivers of gang
violence, which now even includes children.
In six out of seven police regions, gangs use 12-year-old children in the
conduct of their criminal activities, including selling drugs and transporting
weapons. In the cities of Stockholm and Gothenburg, police reportedly say that
hundreds of children are involved in perpetrating criminal acts for gangs.
According to Sweden's intelligence chiefs, the recruitment of children has
increased in recent years and according to some experts, criminal gangs now
recruit children as young as eight years old.
In August, police arrested three teenagers, around 15 years of age, for shooting
and seriously injuring two men and a 60-year old woman -- who happened to be at
the wrong place at the wrong time -- in the city of Kristianstad. "Unfortunately
it has become routine", one woman who works in the area said. "If there have
been shootings during the night then there are usually more shootings the next
day... One worries about getting in the way."
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished
Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
If the U.S. Rolls Back Iran Sanctions, Business Beware
David F. Eisner and Richard Goldberg/Barron's Site/December 27/2021
As indirect talks between the United States and Iran continue in Vienna,
business leaders around the world are watching to see if President Joe Biden
will lift U.S. sanctions on the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. If
he does, multinational corporations should think twice before jumping into any
deals.
Bipartisan support for terrorism sanctions against Iran goes back to 1984, when
the United States first designated the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of
terrorism. Since then, Congress and every U.S. president have repeatedly
reaffirmed U.S. policy opposing Iran’s sponsorship of international terrorism.
In 2017, while the United States remained a participant in the Iran nuclear
deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Congress passed bipartisan
legislation that mandated sanctions against entities tied to the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps. This legislation was enacted in response to the
IRGC’s longstanding support of international terrorism and related nefarious
activities, such as money laundering. The United States withdrew from the JCPOA
in 2018. In 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department implemented the 2017
legislation and imposed sanctions on a wide range of Iranian entities, including
Iran’s central bank and national oil company, as well as its financial and
energy sectors. Despite their differences over the JCPOA, Democrats and
Republicans agreed on one basic principle: Nothing should prevent the U.S. from
imposing terrorism sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
By the time the Biden administration took office, more than 300 Iran-connected
companies, institutions, and individuals were sanctioned explicitly for their
support for terrorism and the IRGC. These sanctions put enormous pressure on
Tehran’s terror-related budgets, with news reports of the Iran-funded Lebanese
militia Hezbollah even pleading for local donations.
During Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s nomination hearing before the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, a senator asked him whether he believed it was in
America’s national security interest to lift these terrorism sanctions. Blinken
responded, “I do not. And I think there is nothing, as I see it, inconsistent
with making sure that we are doing everything possible—including the toughest
possible sanctions—to deal with Iranian support for terrorism.” Blinken
continued, “we will continue non-nuclear sanctions as a strong hedge against
Iranian misbehavior in other areas.” Indeed, an Obama White House publication
even pledged that under the JCPOA, “non-nuclear sanctions (such as for
terrorism) must remain in effect and be vigorously enforced.”
As promised during his campaign, President Joe Biden made rejoining the JCPOA a
priority of his administration. After months of Iranian intransigence, the Biden
administration backed down from Blinken’s commitment to defend U.S. terrorism
sanctions, and, according to the Wall Street Journal, offered to lift sanctions
on the central bank, oil company, and other key banks, companies, and sectors
that finance the IRGC. Reporters asked the State Department how it could suspend
terrorism sanctions without Iran’s halt of its terror sponsorship. A State
Department official responded that the Trump administration had imposed these
sanctions illegitimately. Terrorism sanctions weren’t terrorism sanctions, the
Biden administration claimed; they were politically imposed to block a future
administration from rejoining the JCPOA.
Anyone who has served at high levels in the Treasury Department knows that to be
untrue. Every potential sanctions package is subjected to an intense and lengthy
interagency approval process. Targets take months to develop. Teams of
intelligence, sanctions, and legal experts review and finalize every
designation. It is simply not possible to impose terrorism sanctions without
clear and indisputable evidence of support for terrorism.
When confronted with that reality by the media, the Biden administration stopped
calling terrorism sanctions illegitimate and pivoted to a new message: Terrorism
sanctions could be inconsistent with the economic benefits promised to Iran
under JCPOA. In other words, if terrorism sanctions are lifted, it will not be
because of any change in behavior but simply to deliver economic relief to the
regime.
The 300-plus sanctioned entities and individuals that nonpolitical career
experts at the Treasury Department have determined to be bad actors will still
be terror-aiders and money launderers. The administration’s implicit and
contradictory message to corporate risk managers, executives, and directors is
this: If the U.S. suspends any terrorism sanctions on Iran, the private sector
should be on notice that all firms receiving sanctions relief remain tied to
terrorism and money laundering.
No responsible fiduciary would knowingly expose his company to such illicit
activity. To do so could put legitimate businesses at odds with regulations
governing anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism. Negative
publicity, controversy levels, and risk scores would increase. The legal,
financial, and reputational risk of doing business with known supporters of
terrorism would be extraordinary—particularly if Republicans were to reverse
Biden’s policy after taking control of Congress in 2022 or the White House in
2024.
Removal of terrorism sanctions on Iran would be a big mistake. But it would be
an even bigger mistake for any firm to knowingly do business with terrorists and
money launderers just because it became convenient for the Biden administration
to temporarily remove these formal labels. Calling a grizzly bear a “teddy” does
not make it any less of a killer.
Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barron’s and
MarketWatch newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors.
Submit commentary proposals and other feedback to ideas@barrons.com.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/if-the-u-s-rolls-back-iran-sanctions-business-beware-51640214830?tesla=y
How 2021 Could Have Been Different for Biden
Matthew Yglesias/Bloomberg/December, 27/2021
With inflation running at more than 6 percent and President Joe Biden’s
legislative agenda in peril, ’tis the season for second-guessing.
So I’d like to focus on what may well have been the original sin of the Biden
administration and the narrow Democratic majority in Congress: last February’s
decision to reject Senate Republicans’ offer of a $600 billion Covid relief bill
and instead proceed with the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which Biden
signed into law last March. At the time, I was surprised that the White House
rejected the Republicans’ plan — and even more surprised that moderate Senate
Democrats signed off on the rejection. But I was pleasantly surprised. I took it
as a signal that the moderate Democratic caucus, including Kyrsten Sinema and
Joe Manchin, was prepared to enact a much bolder economic agenda. In retrospect,
however, the truth was something simpler: Biden came into office with a great
deal of good will among Democrats, and when he told them the American Rescue
Plan was necessary, they believed him.
Rather than building momentum for further legislative victories, however, this
plan backfired.
Many progressives are frustrated that Manchin keeps citing inflation fears as
one of his qualms about the Build Back Better agenda. And, indeed, as former
Obama economic adviser Jason Furman argues, these fears are misplaced. The bill
would, at worst, lead to slightly higher medium-term inflation in a world where
interest rates are already very low. The problem is that many Democrats (though,
to his credit, not Furman) were making the same assurances about the American
Rescue Plan. And it is now clear (especially when comparing the US to Europe)
that the law did in fact contribute to inflation.
Fundamentally, the White House does not have any leverage over Manchin, and
never has. What it does have is goodwill and credibility — and its position on
the American Rescue Plan has burned some of both.
Beyond the psychological, the larger problem is that Democrats got surprisingly
little for their $1.9 trillion. One big chunk of the difference is a one-year
expanded version of the fully refundable child tax credit. As a long-term
policy, this tax credit is excellent — cutting child poverty nearly in half and
addressing the longstanding national disgrace of large-scale material
deprivation among children in one of the richest countries in human history.
But as short-term stimulus or pandemic relief, the credit was not particularly
necessary or well-targeted. Its inclusion was a bet that it would prove popular
and durable enough to extend, and that bet did not pay off. Manchin, in
particular, seems to adhere to the view that cash benefits should come with work
requirements, a position that’s annoying to progressives now but was in the
Democratic mainstream as recently as the 2020 primaries. And the general public,
meanwhile, has been cool on the idea. If and in whatever form Build Back Better
is enacted, it almost certainly won’t include an extension of the child tax
credit. The other big difference between the American Rescue Plan and the
Republican proposal was Democrats’ desire to include hundreds of billions of
dollars to support state and local governments.
That’s a demand that first emerged when Democrats wrote the Heroes Act in spring
2020, and that Republicans consistently rejected — characterizing it as a “blue
state bailout.”
Democrats were responding to the reality that state and local fiscal shortfalls
were a major drag on the economy during President Barack Obama’s first term, and
they wanted to avoid a repeat of that outcome in the face of dire projections of
pandemic-induced state and local budget disasters. But they did not adjust their
position when these predictions failed to materialize.
Effective macroeconomic policy, combined with booming real-estate and equity
markets, kept state and local revenue healthy. Ironically, the biggest problems
were mostly in conservative states with no income tax, since consumption of
things like restaurant meals declined even in states with lax Covid protocols.
Overall, however, states are flush, and in states such as Texas Covid relief
funds are being used to cut property taxes. The final significant difference
between American Rescue Plan and the Republican relief plan is that Republicans
offered smaller stimulus checks ($1,000 vs. $1,400) and narrower means-testing.
It’s entirely possible they could have split the difference, and at any rate
it’s a relatively small matter compared to the gulf between the parties on child
tax credit and state/local support.
At the time, those two items struck most progressives as critical. In
retrospect, neither seems to have been a big deal.
By contrast, had Biden been able to string together a bipartisan Covid relief
bill with a bipartisan infrastructure bill (which he has signed into law) and a
bipartisan science funding bill (which is currently in a House-Senate
conference) he could claim to have delivered on his implausible-sounding promise
to unite the country. Real GDP growth likely would have been modestly slower,
with less money flowing out, but inflation would have been lower too.
The Age of the New Heroes
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 27/2021
No one will miss the year that is taking its last breaths. If one had the
opportunity to cross it out of their life, they would in a heartbeat.
The joy of living lies in being normal, warm and beautiful; for setbacks to be
acceptable and tolerable. Living behind facemasks is not enjoyable even if it is
necessary. It is not enjoyable to avoid handshakes, embraces and sitting around
a table.
Human warmth is the most beautiful kind of warmth. It may be the only solace in
this brutal world. A world where a mother hesitates in hugging her children or
her grandchildren. Approaching neighbors is like crossing a field of barbed wire
that has been set up between every human being. There is no friendship in
isolation. True amity is not forged with walls. Man was not created to remain
cooped up. His fate is like that of birds that are destined to fly and soar,
migrate and come back. This staying in place only brings up pains, like trees
that are on the verge of snapping.
During the final days of the year, man reviews his calculations, his actions
throughout the year and checks his age. The businessman tallies the
opportunities that were seized and those that were lost. The politician reviews
the latest opinion polls and the latest developments in the world of delusions.
The employee asks about the cost of living and incentives, while bosses put up a
half-smile at the end of the year to quash the hopes of workers.
The best thing a journalist can do at the end of the year is avoid reviewing its
developments. If he doesn't, then he will be confronted with many painful images
and left feeling depressed. It's enough to just observe the images of floating
bodies of youths who have despaired of living in cruel nations or at the mercy
of failed governments. The corpses that returned to Erbil in the past two days
after the people failed to reach British shores is best evidence of this. The
sea is treacherous. It is like land, but even harsher.
The journalist can stop and ponder what is happening in the
American-Russian-Chinese triangle and what is in store for them in the new year.
He may also ponder the fate of the nuclear negotiations with Iran and wonder how
long the Middle East will have to continue live under Tehran's shadow and its
destabilizing activities.
I told myself I'm better off avoiding such a revision. Instead, I arranged a
park date with my British neighbor Saxton, who had spent his life in the musical
and literary arts. Now in his 90s, he lives alone and only leaves the house for
food. His only companion is his walking stick. I worried over him and the
possibility he may contract the coronavirus or the Omicron variant.
"I am not afraid of death. When you turn 90, you expect death to show up at any
minute," he said. "I am worried, however, that I may leave this earth before it
declares its victory over the pandemic and deals it a knockout blow. I know that
the history of the world was never rosy. Brutal wars and destructive invasions.
The razing of cities and civilizations. Death is a constant presence in human
history. It is often caused by man himself or by natural disasters."
"I know that the coronavirus has not yet taken the top stop in the world's most
lethal pandemics. I believe it will not," he added. "The world has known
pandemics that have left tens of millions of victims. The plague was more
terrible than the coronavirus and it claimed many more lives. The last century's
Spanish Flu killed 50 million people and infected a quarter of the world
population. Five hundred years ago, smallpox claimed the lives of 56 million
people."
"All this is true, but the current massacre is more painful because it is taking
place at a time when man has flown to the moon, succeeded in uncovering many
secrets and achieved technological and scientific revolutions that have
increased his confidence in confronting pandemics," he continued.
Saxton, who witnessed the horrors of World War II, said: "The coronavirus war is
more dangerous and fierce. During World War II, you could hide in a bomb shelter
or behind a wall. You could run away to the countryside or neutral ground. With
the coronavirus, you have no safe or immune areas. Death has reached the most
far-flung islands."
"During World War II, you had fronts of weapons, men and feelings of solidarity.
During the COVID-19 war, man became a terrified island. You do not fear a bomb
from a plane or missile shrapnel. You fear the breath of your son, brother or
work colleague. It is as if danger lurks everywhere and comes from everything
that moves around you," he said.
"During the world war, you trusted that combat efforts will lead to their
desired results. You knew who the enemy was and where they lived. You knew that
one day, he will come to you exhausted and ready to sign for peace, a surrender
or a truce. These elements do not exist with an unknown and address-less enemy
like the coronavirus," he remarked.
"When you turn 90, you are not supposed to fear death. It is inevitable, whether
during the COVID-19 pandemic or not. The tragedy is that mankind's confidence in
its progress and advances has been shaken. Gone are the aspects of the normal
way of life and people have been transformed into terrified creatures that hide
behind facemasks. My greatest fear is uncovering the extent of the losses in
human lives, the economy and people's education. These losses will emerge later
when the pandemic is defeated and its grip is loosened on its hostages.
Increased unemployment and mounting feelings of despair are all mines that will
explode in coming years," he predicted.
We spoke at length, but I paused at his final remark. "My heroes were Strauss,
Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Balzac, Proust, Flaubert and Stendhal. They were
worthy of admiration and their titles," he said. "Now, I greatly admire the new
unknown heroes: The men and women who stand on the frontlines in the fight
against the pandemic. They fight at hospitals to save the lives of the infected
from the clutches of the serial killer. I spent my life at awe with musicians
and authors, but the pandemic-struck world can only be saved by scientists and
doctors."
I liked the idea of the new heroes, the members of the medical team who fight in
painful circumstances and sometimes their dedication costs them their life. The
best way to end the year would see the world bow down before the new heroes, as
without their perseverance, the serial killer would have reaped a record number
of victims, which are already in the millions.