English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 14/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the
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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus said to the Jews: “You are from beneath; I
am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. herefore I said to
you that you will die in your sins
John08/21-27Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going
away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot
come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you
cannot come’?” And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You
are of this world; I am not of this world. herefore I said to you that you will
die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your
sins.” Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”And Jesus said to them, “Just what I
have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to
judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those
things which I heard from Him.”They did not understand that He spoke to them of
the Father.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on March 13-14/2022
Geagea & Hariri Sold the Blood Of the 14Th of March Martyrs/Elias Bejjani/March
14/2022
The Bleeding Women's Miracle: Faith & Hope/Elias Bejjani/March 13/2022
Al-Rahi Demands Repatriation of Displaced Syrians
Al-Rahi says political ambitions ought to stay away from educational
institutions, leaving matters to concerned specialists
Lebanon political factions gear up for May elections
Health Ministry: 763 new Corona cases, 7 deaths
Al-Sayegh: For massive participation in upcoming elections
Abou Faour: March 8th's project in the elections is summarised by acquiring
two-thirds of parliament members
Hamieh: Public Works Ministry is not a state, but part of a state
Geagea announces support of candidates Ayoub, Asmar for Catholic and Maronite
seats in Jezzine
Bassil Urges 'Underwater' Solution to Gas Row, Says Rivals Can't Disarm
Hizbullah
"What is happening in Lebanon is unacceptable," tweets Abdel Samad
Lebanon goes international with 'AMACO'
Geagea Rules Out Postponement of Parliamentary Elections
Taymour Jumblatt: Upcoming elections an essential juncture along the struggle
path towards sovereignty
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on March 13-14/2022
Pope Francis calls for an end to the massacre in Ukraine
Saudi Arabia announces executions of Daesh, Al-Qaeda members
Report: Iran Suspends Talks with KSA after Mass Execution
Iraq demands “clear explanation” from Iran over Erbil attack, summons ambassador
In significant escalation, Iranian missiles target US consulate in Erbil
Iraqi Foreign Ministry summons Iranian ambassador, informs him of the
government's protest against targeting Erbil with missiles
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim responsibility for missile attack on Iraq’s
Erbil
Iraq requests clarification from Iran over Erbil attack
Iran Fires Missiles at 'Israeli Base' in Iraq's Arbil
Ballistic missiles hit Iraq's Kurdish capital, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claim
responsibility
Iraqi Kurdistan Government: The target of the Iranian attack on Erbil was not an
Israeli site
Turkish Foreign Minister denies Ukrainian news of mosque bombing in Mariupol
with Turkish worshipers inside
Al-Sadr, Barzani agree to form a committee to investigate the presence of
Israeli headquarters in Erbil
US: Russian use of chemical weapons in Ukraine would cross ‘shocking additional
line’
Power restored to Ukraine’s Chernobyl plant, seized by Russian forces: Kyiv
Russia counts on sanctions help from China, US warns off Beijing
US journalist shot dead in Ukraine by Russian forces: Kyiv police chief
Paris condemns Erbil attack
9 Dead, 57 Hurt in Russian Strike on Ukrainian Base Housing Foreign Instructors
Strike in Donbas Wounds 30, Russia Accused of Chemical Attacks
Russian strike on base brings Ukraine war close to NATO’s border
Ukraine Readies for 'Relentless Defense' of Kyiv
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on March 13-14/2022
“Why Are His Killers Still Out?”: Persecution of Christians, January
2022/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/March 13/2022
Contours of a New World Carved by the Ukraine War/Raghida Dergham/The
National/March 13/2022
How Iran will spend the funds it receives from a nuclear deal/Dr. Majid
Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 13/2022
on March 13-14/2022
Geagea & Hariri Sold the Blood Of the
14Th of March Martyrs
Elias Bejjani/March 14/2022 (From 2016
Archives)
الياس بجاني: جعجع والحريري باعوا دماء شهداء تجمع 14 آذار/من أرشيف عام 2016
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/47461/elias-bejjani-geagea-hariri-sold-the-blood-of-the-14th-of-march-martyrs/
All those Lebanese parties, political and clergymen who nominated MP, Michael
Aoun for the Lebanese president’s post, while he is still a dire servant and
cheap Trojan tool for the Iranian anti-Lebanese and anti-Arabs’ scheme,
especially Dr.Samir Geagea, the Lebanese Forces Party leader, and the Ex PM,
Saad Al Hariri, The Future Movement leader have openly and with no shame or self
respect sold Jobran Tuieni’s blood as well as all the sacrifices and martyrdom
of all the 14th of March Martyrs.
Samir Geagea and Saad Al Hariri have totally surrendered to Hezbollah’s
terrorism and betrayed the Lebanese people, the 14th of March Coalition aims and
objectives and with humiliation licked all their promises and vows.
Geagea and Hariri decided to be a replicate of MP, Michael Aoun and House
Speaker, Nabih Berri; mere servants to the terrorist Hezbollah Iranian militia
and its Iranian-Syrian masters.
They gave up on the holy cause of liberating Lebanon from the bloody
Iranian-Syrian occupation, abandoned cowardly their roles as top notch 14th of
March Coalition leaders and with no shame accepted to join the occupier against
their country and its people.
They belittled themselves, and betrayed every and each Lebanese citizen who
trusted them and believed their promises and vows.
Why did these two prominent 14th of March coalition surrender?
Did actually the Iranian occupier win in Lebanon, or the Iranian invaders have
been victorious in their expansionism fights against the Arab….Definitely no,
they are not.
Sadly both of them have lost their faith and hope.
They changed their skins, fell preys to Hezbollah’s power lust and governing
temptations.
Hariri is hoping to become the coming PM, as a price for his surrender, and
Geagea apparently was promised to have for his party two or three influential
ministerial portfolios.
Sadly Al Hariri is totally lost on all levels and in all domains. Meanwhile his
speech rhetoric is merely delusional. We strongly believe he did commit suicide
and did explode him self for just nothing in return. Hezbollah will not allow
him to drink from the rivers of honey and yogurt or enjoy the virgins of the PM,
post.
In conclusion, both Geagea and Hariri have betrayed the Lebanese people, licked
all their promises and vows and surrendered with humiliation to the
Iranian-Syrian Occupier, no more no less.
Accordingly they do not any more represent the free and sovereign Lebanese
people or the Cedar’s Revolution.
N.B: The Above Piece Is From The writer’s 2016 Achives
The Bleeding Women's Miracle: Faith &
Hope
Elias Bejjani/March 13/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/36973/elias-bejjani-the-bleeding-women-faith-hope/
(John 6:68): “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life"
Whenever we are in real trouble encountering devastating and harsh conditions
either physically or materially, we unconsciously react with sadness, anger,
confusion, helplessness and feel abandoned. When in a big mess, we expect our
family members and friends to automatically run to our rescue. But in the
majority of such difficult situations, we discover with great disappointment
that in reality our heartfelt expectations do not unfold as we wish.
What is frustrating and shocking is that very few of our family members and
friends would stand beside us during hardships and endeavour to genuinely offer
the needed help. Those who have already walked through these rocky life paths
and adversities definitely know very well the bitter taste of disappointment.
They know exactly the real meaning of the well-know saying, "a friend in need is
a friend indeed".
Sadly our weak human nature is driven by inborn instincts that often make us
side with the rich, powerful, healthy and strong over the poor, weak, needy and
sick. Those who have no faith in Almighty God find it very difficult to cope in
a real mess.
Meanwhile, those whose faith is solid stand up with courage, refuse to give up
hope, and call on their Almighty Father for help through praying and worshiping.
They know for sure that our Great Father is loving and passionate. He will not
abandon any one of us when calling on Him for mercy and help because He said and
promised so. Matthew 11/28-30: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
One might ask, 'Why should I pray?' And, 'Do I have to ask God for help, can't
He help me without praying to Him?' The answer is 'no'. We need to pray and when
we do so with faith and confidence God listens and responds (Mark 11/:24):
"Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that
you have received them, and you shall have them"
Yes, we have to make the effort and be adamant and persistent. We have to ask
and knock in a bid to show our mere submission to Him and He with no doubt shall
provide. (Matthew 7/7 & 8): "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will
find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He
who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened".
On this second Sunday of Lent in our Catholic Church's Eastern Maronite rite, we
cite and recall the miraculous cure of the bleeding woman in Matthew 9/20-22,
Mark 5/25-34, and Luke 8/43-48. As we learn from the Holy Gospel, the bleeding
woman's great faith made her believe without a shred of doubt that her twelve
years of chronic bleeding would stop immediately if she touched Jesus' garment.
She knew deeply in her heart that Jesus would cure her even without asking him.
Her faith cured the bleeding and made her well. Her prayers were heard and
responded to.
Luke 8/:43-49: "A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent
all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by any, came behind him
(Jesus), and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately the flow of her
blood stopped. Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter and those
with him said, “Master, the multitudes press and jostle you, and you say, ‘Who
touched me?’” 8:46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch me, for I perceived that
power has gone out of me.” When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came
trembling, and falling down before him declared to him in the presence of all
the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was healed
immediately. He said to her, “Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well.
Go in peace.”
The woman's faith cured her chronic bleeding and put her back in the society as
a normal and acceptable citizen. During that era women with uterus bleeding were
looked upon as sinners, defiled and totally banned from entering synagogues for
praying. Meanwhile, because of her sickness she was physically unable to be a
mother and bear children. Sadly she was socially and religiously abandoned,
humiliated and alienated. But her faith and hope empowered her with the needed
strength and perseverance and enabled her to cope successfully against all odds.
Hallelujah! Faith can do miracles. Yes indeed. (Luke17/5 & 6): " The apostles
said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord said, “If you had faith like a
grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be
planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you". How badly do we today need to have
a faith like that of this women?
Let us all on this second Lent Sunday pray with solid faith.
Let us ask Almighty God who cured the bleeding women, and who was crucified on
the cross to absolve our original sin, that He would endow His Holy graces of
peace, tranquility, and love all over the world. And that He would strengthen
the faith, patience and hope of all those persecuted, imprisoned, and deprived
for courageously witnessing the Gospel's message and truth.
Al-Rahi Demands Repatriation of Displaced Syrians
Naharnet/March 13/2022
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday reiterated his call for the return
of the displaced Syrians to their country. “In the name of neutrality, we demand
the return of the displaced Syrians to their country, so that they preserve
their land’s resources, culture, dignity and history,” al-Rahi said in his
Sunday Mass sermon.Noting that “their return is related to a Lebanese, Arab and
international political decision,” the patriarch warned that “their number has
crossed the 1.5 million mark, which is equivalent to at least 35% of Lebanon’s
population.”“The absence of this decision has started to take the form of a
conspiracy against Lebanon’s entity, unity, identity and security,” al-Rahi
cautioned. He also emphasized that “resolving their case requires urgency,
especially with the eruption of the war in Ukraine and the emergence of new
displacement waves in Europe and the world.”
Al-Rahi says political ambitions ought to stay away from
educational institutions, leaving matters to concerned specialists
NNA/March 13/2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass
at “Our Lady’s Church” in Bkirki this morning.
In his homily, the Patriarch pointed to the many challenges facing the Lebanese,
“who are suffering, above their poverty, unemployment, and low salaries, from
banking, economic, commercial and tourism haphazardness…”“It is as if the
financial legislation in these sectors has also become independent from the laws
of the state and from the laws of money and credit,” he said, “from withholding
money, to losing dollars, to limiting withdrawals in Lebanese pounds, to
currency manipulation by money changers, to preventing transfers needed to cover
bare necessities, to accepting credit cards with an increase in the value of the
bill, to refusing credit card payments, to imposing payments in cash…It is the
financial, daily-living and social bleeding!”He went on to stress that “the
government cannot address this chaotic situation except by reviving the minimum
financial system requirements, controlling the state’s income by collecting
taxes in all Lebanese regions, controlling the revenues of the airport, ports
and borders, stopping all smuggling in and out o the country, and investing
marine property.”At the educational level, al-Rahi considered that “the Banque
du Liban and various banks are required to consider school fees as an absolute
priority because they affect society, the country’s future and education.
Therefore, banks are requested to enable educational institutions to pay their
dues from amounts previously deposited in their accounts or by checks paid by
parents or transfers from the state or donors.”
The Patriarch moved on to reiterate the importance of Lebanon's neutrality,
“which is at the core of its identity, and which is based on avoiding alliances,
axes, political conflicts and regional and international wars, and which
requires that the state remains strong with its army and security apparatuses,
in order to impose its sovereignty at home and abroad…”“This neutrality renders
Lebanon a ‘message nation’….one that sympathizes with issues of human rights and
peoples' freedom, and takes initiatives for reconciliation and conflict
resolution, and works for peace and stability,” he said.
“In the name of humanity and the millions of Ukrainians who have fled to other
countries…and in the name of the fallen victims on its territory and the
territory of Russia, we denounce this Russian-Ukrainian war and demand its
cessation,” the Patriarch asserted, adding that such wars “bring nothing but
killing, destruction, displacement, impoverishment, starvation, obliteration of
natural wealth and fueling hatred, spite and enmity.”
Referring to the Syrian refugees’ issue, the Patriarch said: “In the name of
neutrality, we demand the return of the displaced Syrians to their homeland, in
order to preserve the wealth of their land, culture and dignity, and to continue
writing their history. Their return is linked to a Lebanese, Arab and
international political decision, and their number has exceeded one and a half
million, or at least 35% of the population of Lebanon.”He added: “The absence of
this decision has become a conspiracy against Lebanon's entity, unity, identity
and security. Hence, resolving this issue calls for urgency, especially with the
outbreak of war in Ukraine and the emergence of new waves of displacement in
Europe and the world.” Patriarch al-Rahi concluded by raising prayers to the
Lord Almighty “so that He may plant peace in the hearts, and so that the rulers
of states would realize that their primary mission is to strengthen the
foundations of internal and external peace.”
Lebanon political factions gear up for May elections
Najia Houssari/Arab News/March 13, 2022
BEIRUT: More than 500 candidates, including 69 women, have applied to contest
Lebanese parliamentary elections on May 15, with the country’s Ministry of
Interior expecting the number to rise dramatically before the midnight deadline
on Tuesday. A total of 517 candidates had submitted applications by late Friday.
The 2018 elections were contested by 976 candidates, including 113 women, but
the number fell after the closure of registrations. As a result, 597 candidates,
including 86 women, continued in 77 lists across Lebanese constituencies. The
outlook of this year’s election will become clearer after the completion of
electoral lists on April 4. Voters will head to the polls on May 15, with
candidates competing for the country’s 128 parliamentary seats across 15
electoral districts. A number of the main parties will officially announce their
candidates on Monday.
Speaker Nabih Berri will reveal his candidates, including current MPs and
defendants in the Beirut Port explosion hearings, at a press conference.
The Free Patriotic Movement announced its candidates during its seventh annual
conference on Sunday. In an address, the party’s leader, Gebran Bassil, attacked
his political opponents, including the March 14 Alliance and the civil movement,
which he called “a false revolution,” adding that “they will fall.”
Bassil defended Hezbollah and said that its partnership with the FPM in the
electoral lists, to be formed later, “is not a program partnership, but a
process of integrating votes.”Hezbollah seeks to ensure that the FPM reaches
parliamentary seats with the least possible losses. Hezbollah officials have
said: “Whoever fails the Amal Movement and Hezbollah is a partner in the largest
regional and international attack that wants to destroy Hezbollah, which
protects Lebanon.”MP Wael Abou Faour of the Progressive Socialist Party said
that “the project of the March 8 Alliance (including Hezbollah and its allies)
in the elections boils down to obtaining two-thirds of the members of Parliament
and thus imposing their spoiled candidate as president of the Republic,
(referring to MP Gebran Bassil), controlling constitutional amendments, changing
the system and turning the issue of the de facto weapons into a constitutional
reality, which will not be the will of the Lebanese.” The Lebanese Forces party
will launch its campaign on Monday to coincide with the anniversary of the Cedar
Revolution on March 14. Candidates representing Lebanon’s Sunni sect are
expected to include a number of independent personalities, even those loyal to
the late prime minister Rafik Hariri, after the Future Movement asked its
members to resign from the party if they decided to run for Parliament. Lebanese
Prime Minister Najib Mikati is likely to back out of the elections. Three MPs
from the FM — Rola Tabsh, Mohammed Hajjar and Asim Araji — said they would do
the same, confirming their loyalty to Saad Hariri. Six groups of civil activists
on Saturday launched a joint project to unite progressive oppositional forces in
one electoral front. The rally set the stage for the drafting of a joint working
paper through which the candidates will be announced early next week.
However, parliamentary elections continue to be threatened by Lebanon’s
deepening economic crisis and the prospect of the country sliding further toward
collapse in the two months leading up to the May 15 poll. President Michel Aoun
has been quoted as saying that “the money for the elections is not yet
available.”Opinion polls carried out by several private institutions on an
almost weekly basis showed a decline in voter enthusiasm for candidates, as well
as an increase in political ambivalence and resentment of ruling authorities.
Health Ministry: 763 new Corona cases, 7 deaths
NNA/March 13/2022
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health
announced Saturday the registration of 763 new Coronavirus infections, which
raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1,084,114.The report
added that 7 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.
Al-Sayegh: For massive participation in upcoming elections
NNA/March 13/2022
"Democratic Gathering" member, MP Faisal al-Sayegh, tweeted Sunday on the
upcoming parliamentary elections, saying: "The results of the 2022 elections,
especially in the Beirut district, will constitute the realistic response to the
future of the Taif Agreement and Lebanon's diverse identity...National
responsibility requires us not to back down and to show massive participation in
these elections, as per the calls by His Eminence, Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif
Derian."
Abou Faour: March 8th's project in the elections is
summarised by acquiring two-thirds of parliament members
NNA/March 13/2022
Member of the Democratic Gathering, MP Wael Abu Faour, said in a statement on
Sunday: "The project of March 8th's forces ccombined in the upcoming
parliamentary elections is to obtain two-thirds of parliament, and thus impose
their favoured candidate as President of the Republic, control constitutional
amendments, change the regime, and turn the matter of weapons into a
constitutional reality, and this will not be the will of the Lebanese."Bassil in
a high-pitched speech: "Even if the criminal is physically released from prison,
he remains mentally imprisoned
NNA - Head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, said at the FPM's
Seventh Annual Conference that "the Movement has held out for 15 years to
achieve liberation and we are ready to persevere for years to achieve
liberation....Do not fear, we will resist and win, the lie will not last...Look
at how their lie on March 14, 2005, was exposed."He added: "There is a large
party in Lebanon, the corruption party, and it is like a chameleon that enjoyed
the gains during the guardianship era, and right after it ended, it changed its
skin and strove for freedom; it then refused to give up its gains, failed to
reform and caused the collapse on October 17; they changed their skin once again
and called themselves the revolution.""Even if the criminal is physically
released from prison, he remains mentally imprisoned; if his cover does not
allow him to kill physically, he will kill politically, but the important thing
is that he will kill; moral assassination is much more difficult than physical
assassination," Bassil went on."Their electoral project is to bring down Gebran
and the FPM, not to reform the state and the economy," he indicated. "The
elections can be an occasion to pass laws that encourage the displaced to return
to Syria. Over the years, we have introduced several laws... Do the deputies
pledge to pass these laws and others to confirm the return of the displaced?
Suppose they won the elections and became the illusory majority...Will they
disarm Hezbollah or prevent it from entering the government? Will they acquiesce
abroad by keeping the displaced and refugees, and by keeping their hand on
people's money and the wealth of Lebanon?" The MP asked.
Hamieh: Public Works Ministry is not a state, but part of a
state
NNA/March 13/2022
“Unfortunately, the cars on the Dahr al-Baydar road are not equipped with metal
chains...For the record, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport is not a
state, but part of a state…The storm is continuing for at least 3 days, and we
want your cooperation, all individuals and departments," the media office of the
Public Works and Transportation Minister, Ali Hamiyeh, announced in a statement
on Sunday.
Geagea announces support of candidates Ayoub, Asmar for
Catholic and Maronite seats in Jezzine
NNA/March 13/2022
Head of the "Lebanese Forces" Party, Samir Geagea, announced, from Maarab this
morning, that the Lebanese Forces has decided to support the candidacy of Ghada
Ayoub for the Catholic seat and Said Al-Asmar for the Maronite seat in the
Jezzine district
Bassil Urges 'Underwater' Solution to Gas Row, Says Rivals
Can't Disarm Hizbullah
Naharnet/March 13/2022
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil stressed Sunday that “victory over
the enemy is not achieved through arms exclusively.”“I’m with a solution for the
sea border that would preserve our right to underwater gas,” Bassil said at the
FPM’s seventh annual conference.
“The water is not for anyone, but the gas is ours, and this is not in return for
sanctions! The sanctions on me will not be lifted as long as there are
elections,” Bassil added. U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for International
Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein has reportedly suggested an “underwater” solution
to the sea border dispute between Lebanon and Israel. He has suggested “stopping
discussions over the above-the-water lines and focusing on splitting the
resources based on the basins that are under the water,” the reports said.
Bassil and the President Michel Aoun’s camp have meanwhile been accused of
offering concessions in the negotiations in order to persuade Washington to lift
its sanctions off the FPM chief. Separately, Bassil said the political rivals of
the FPM and Hizbullah will not be able to “disarm Hizbullah or prevent it from
joining the government” should they win the parliamentary majority in the coming
elections. “They will bow to foreign forces by keeping the displaced and the
refugees and by maintaining their control of people’s money and Lebanon’s
resources,” the FPM chief charged. He added that it was Hizbullah that “extended
its hand” to the FPM with the aim of forging an electoral alliance for the May
15 parliamentary elections. “It was Hizbullah that extended its hand to us for
an electoral alliance, the same as we extended our hand to it on February 6,
2006, when they tried to isolate it. They want to strangle us and isolate us,
but we breathe freedom, and through our strength and alliance we will succeed,”
Bassil said. Bassil added that the nature of the current electoral law obliges
the FPM to be on the same electoral lists with political rivals such as the Amal
Movement. “It is true that we’ll be on the same train, but each of us will be in
a compartment. On the way, each will have their window and view, and when we
reach the station, each of us will go in a separate way,” the FPM chief
explained. “We ally electorally and we remain free politically. This means that
we will neither give up our cause nor engage in corruption or subordination. We
make the alliance and we win the elections, without changing a stance, demand or
accusation, and the MPs whom we’ll win will serve our cause,” Bassil added.
Moreover, Bassil reiterated his call for electing the country’s president
through a popular rather than a parliamentary vote.“If they want to preserve
partnership and Christian presence, the President can be elected by the Lebanese
over two rounds – the first for Christians and the second for all Lebanese. Will
the candidates (for the parliamentary elections) dare to endorse this
constitutional amendment?” the FPM chief asked.
"What is happening in Lebanon is unacceptable," tweets
Abdel Samad
NNA/March 13/2022
Former Information Minister, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, tweeted today on the
dire economic situation, saying: "What is happening in Lebanon is not
acceptable, whether at the economic, daily-living or social level...Politics was
created to serve a country, not to destroy it!! The black market dollars rise
and drop, yet consumer prices rise and do not drop...and the people are
oppressed at all instances...Let us have mercy on what's left of our people....#Lebanon_is_not_ok!"
Lebanon goes international with 'AMACO'
NNA/March 13/2022
"AMACO Group" participated in the "Paper One Show" Exhibition on March 7-9, 2022
- the seventh edition of the first international exhibition of tissue paper in
the Middle East and North Africa, which was held in Sharjah in the United Arab
Emirates.
The exhibition was a success after it brought together many of the world's
leading manufacturers of sanitary paper, and major producers and suppliers in
this sector from across the region, including Eastern Europe, Russia, the CIS,
the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa.
Several heads and managers of leading Arab and international companies in the
sanitary paper industry visited Lebanon's "AMACO" pavilion, where they were
briefed on the latest developments in the industrial group's machinery
technologies, making it a pioneer in the manufacture of tissue paper converting
machines.
Geagea Rules Out Postponement of Parliamentary Elections
Naharnet/March 13/2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Sunday ruled out the possible
postponement of the May 15 parliamentary elections. “In every moment they are
trying to postpone or torpedo the elections, using many ways, including the
megacenters proposal, which was not approved in Cabinet. But this does not mean
that they have given up and their attempts will continue in a daily manner to
postpone this juncture,” Geagea said during the announcement of the LF’s
candidates for the Jezzine area. “We will be on the lookout to prevent them,”
the LF leader added. He, however, ruled out a postponement of the elections in
light of “the domestic desires and the Arab and international pressures.” “The
elections will be held on the specified date, even if they try to take the issue
of securing a budget as an excuse, because Cabinet has approved it,” Geagea
added, while reminding that the EU has also expressed its readiness to cover the
elections’ expenses.
Taymour Jumblatt: Upcoming elections an essential juncture
along the struggle path towards sovereignty
NNA/March 13/2022
Head of the Democratic Gathering, MP Taymour Jumblatt, affirmed that "the
upcoming parliamentary elections will be an essential junction along the path of
the ongoing struggle for sovereignty and what we see today of old - new attempts
to control the country and besiege sovereign votes..."
He added: "The date of these elections will be a date to confirm political
constants so that Lebanon remains an oasis of diversity in the face of all the
abolitionists of some political forces and civil movements." The MP's words came
during a working meeting he held with the central electoral committee of the
"Progressive Socialist Party" at Al-Mukhtara Palace today, in the presence of
his sister Dalia Jumblatt, and with the participation of Deputies Marwan Hamadeh,
Akram Chehayeb, Bilal Abdallah and Faisal Al-Sayegh, and the new candidates
expected to run in the upcoming elections. Jumblatt gave his directives "to
demonstrate the required and effective interaction with the youth, and to
involve them in decision-making and building the future they aspire for...in the
face of the despair and frustration that has afflicted the Lebanese people in
general and pushed the youth to emigrate."
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
March 13-14/2022
Pope Francis calls for an end to the massacre in Ukraine
Agence France Presse/March 13/2022
Pope Francis called today for an end to the "massacre" and "unacceptable armed
attack" in Ukraine, which Russian forces invaded on February 24. Speaking after
Sunday prayers, the Pope condemned the "brutality" of the killing of children
and civilians, adding, "Stop this massacre!"
Saudi Arabia announces executions of Daesh, Al-Qaeda
members
Agencies/March 13/2022
RIYADH: The Ministry of Interior announced that it has carried out the sentences
of capital punishment against individuals convicted of terrorism and capital
crimes. The individuals, totaling 81, were convicted of various crimes including
murdering innocent men, women and children; pledging allegiance to foreign
terrorist organizations, such as Daesh, Al-Qaeda and the Houthi militia;
targeting residents in the Kingdom and traveling to regional conflict zones to
join terrorist organizations. Other crimes include kidnapping, torture, rape,
smuggling arms and bombs into the Kingdom, targeting government personnel and
vital economic sites, killing law enforcement officers and maiming their bodies,
and planting land mines to target police vehicles. The individuals were arrested
and tried in Saudi courts overseen by 13 judges over three separate stages for
each individual.
The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed
their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them
guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left many civilians and law
enforcement officers dead.
Report: Iran Suspends Talks with KSA after Mass
Execution
Associated Press/March 13/2022
Iran has decided to temporarily suspend its secret Baghdad-brokered talks aimed
at defusing yearslong tensions with regional rival Saudi Arabia, Iranian
state-linked media reported Sunday, a day after Saudi Arabia carried out its
largest known mass execution in its modern history. The Iranian news website
Nournews, considered close to the country's Supreme National Security Council,
reported the government had unilaterally paused the talks with Saudi Arabia that
have been ongoing in Baghdad over the past year aimed at restoring diplomatic
ties. Iraq's foreign minister earlier had said the fifth round of talks between
Saudi and Iranian representatives was due to resume on Wednesday. The report did
not give a reason for Iran's suspension, but it comes after Saudi Arabia put to
death 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to
militant groups, a group that activists believe included over three dozen
Shiites. Shiites, who live primarily in the kingdom's oil-rich east, have long
complained of being treated as second-class citizens. Saudi Arabia's executions
of Shiites have stirred regional unrest in the past. Iran, the largest Shiite
Muslim country in the world, and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia severed
diplomatic ties in 2016 after Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric Nimr
al-Nimr. Angry Iranians protesting the execution stormed two Saudi diplomatic
missions in Iran, fueling years of animosity between the nations. Late Saturday,
sporadic protests erupted among Shiites in the nearby island kingdom of Bahrain
over the mass executions. The Baghdad-mediated talks between the regional foes
began quietly in Iraq's capital last year as Saudi Arabia sought a way to end
its war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, a conflict that has spawned
the world's worst humanitarian disaster and brought rebel drones and missiles
raining down on Saudi airports and oil facilities. Iran-backed militias also
have attacked Saudi targets and launched drones against the kingdom from Iraq.
The pause in diplomatic talks between the countries that have long competed for
influence across the Middle East comes at a tense time for the region. On
Sunday, a missile strike landed in the vicinity of the U.S. consulate in Iraq's
northern city of Arbil, an attack a U.S. defense official said originated from
neighboring Iran. Talks to revive Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers
meanwhile broke off last week without an agreement, casting uncertainty over
months of negotiations that had nearly reached a breakthrough.
Iraq demands “clear explanation” from Iran over Erbil
attack, summons ambassador
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/13 March ,2022
Iraq demanded a “frank and clear explanation” from Iran regarding the ballistic
missile attack on its Kurdish regional capital of Erbil, the Ministerial Council
for National Security said on Sunday, and the country's foreign ministry
summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the attack.
“Iraq has requested, through diplomatic channels, frank and clear explanation
from the Iranian side, and is awaiting a stance from the Iranian political
leadership in rejecting the aggression,” the council said, according to state
news agency INA. The foreign ministry said in a statement it “summoned Iran's
ambassador to Iraq to protest the Iranian missile bombardment of Erbil and the
material losses it caused, and damage to civilian facilities and housing for
citizens, in addition to spreading fear among the residents of those areas.”
Earlier on Sunday, Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region security forces announced
that a “dozen ballistic missiles” targeted Erbil, including the US consulate
under construction, causing damage but without any major casualties. The Iranian
Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack which they said targeted Israeli
“strategic centers” in Erbil. The attack on Erbil comes after the IRGC announced
last Tuesday that an Israeli strike killed two of its members in Syria, vowing
to take revenge.The Iraqi council said: “Iraq had previously announced its
refusal to violate its sovereignty and use its lands to settle scores between
states and parties, stressing its stance of rejecting the use of its lands to
attack neighboring countries.”The US condemned the missile strike on Erbil.
State Department Spokesman Ned Price said: “The strikes were an outrageous
violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. No US facilities were damaged or personnel
injured, and we have no indications the attack was directed at the US. Iran must
immediately cease its attacks, respect Iraqi sovereignty, and halt its
interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.”Locations of American forces and
contractors in Iraq have been regularly targeted with missile attacks. The
attacks have been claimed by groups that both US and Iraqi officials have
described as smokescreens for well-known Iran-aligned armed factions in Iraq.
In significant escalation, Iranian missiles target US
consulate in Erbil
The Arab News/March 13/2022
As many as 12 missiles struck near the US consulate complex in the northern
Iraqi city of Erbil on Sunday, in what a US defence official and an Iraqi
official said was a strike launched from neighbouring Iran. No injuries were
reported in the attack, which marked a significant escalation between the US and
Iran. Hostility between the longtime foes has often played out in Iraq, whose
government is allied with both countries. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustapha al-Kadhimi
tweeted: “The aggression which targeted the dear city of Irbil and spread fear
amongst its inhabitants is an attack on the security of our people.”
Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish-controlled
region, condemned the attack. In a Facebook post, he said Irbil “will not bow to
the cowards who carried out the terrorist attack.” The attack came several days
after Iran said it would retaliate for an Israeli strike near Damascus, Syria,
that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guards. On Sunday, Iran’s state-run
IRNA news agency quoted Iraqi media acknowledging the attacks in Erbil, without
saying where they originated. An Iranian state-TV correspondent based in Iraq
said that the missiles were aimed at “secret Israeli bases”.
An Iraqi official in Baghdad initially said several missiles had hit the US
consulate in Irbil and that it was the target of the attack. Later, Lawk Ghafari,
the head of Kurdistan’s foreign media office, said none of the missiles had
struck the US facility but that areas around the compound had been hit. The US
defence official said it was still uncertain exactly how many missiles were
fired and exactly where they landed. A second US official said there was no
damage at any US government facility and that there was no indication the target
was the consulate building, which is new and currently unoccupied.
Satellite broadcast channel Kurdistan24, which is located near the US consulate,
went on air from their studio shortly after the attack, showing shattered glass
and debris on their studio floor. The missile barrage also came as negotiations
in Vienna over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal hit a “pause” over Russian demands
about sanctions targeting Moscow over its war on Ukraine. And Iran has suspended
on Sunday a fifth round of talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia that were due
to take place in Baghdad on Wednesday. The Iraqi security officials said there
were no casualties from the attack, which they said occurred after midnight and
caused material damage in the area. One of the Iraqi officials said the
ballistic missiles were fired from Iran, without elaborating. He said the
projectiles were the Iranian-made Fateh-110, likely fired in retaliation for the
two Revolutionary Guards killed in Syria. Another US official said in a
statement that the US condemned what it called an “outrageous attack against
Iraqi sovereignty and display of violence.”US forces stationed at Erbil’s
airport compound have come under fire from rocket and drone attacks in the past,
with US officials blaming Iran-backed groups. The top US commander for the
Middle East has repeatedly warned about the increasing threats of attacks from
Iran and Iranian-backed militias on troops and allies in Iraq and Syria.
The US presence in Iraq has long been a flash point for Tehran, but tensions
spiked after a January 2020 US drone strike near the Baghdad airport killed a
top Iranian general. In retaliation, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at
al-Assad airbase, where US troops were stationed. More than 100 service members
suffered traumatic brain injuries in the blasts. More recently, Iranian proxies
are believed responsible for an assassination attempt late last year on Iraq’s
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. And officials have said they believe Iran was
behind the October drone attack at the military outpost in southern Syria where
American troops are based. No US personnel were killed or injured in the attack.
Iraqi Foreign Ministry summons Iranian ambassador,
informs him of the government's protest against targeting Erbil with missiles
NNA/March 13/2022
A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Al-Sahaf,
said in a statement reported by the "Iraqi News Agency" (INA), that: "The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad and
informed him of the Iraqi government's protest against the background of
targeting Erbil with missiles."
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim responsibility for
missile attack on Iraq’s Erbil
Reuters/Published: 13 March ,2022
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards released on Sunday a statement taking responsibility
for missile attacks against what they claim are Israeli “strategic centers” in
Iraq’s northern Kurdish regional capital of Erbil, Iran’s state media reported.
“Any repetition of attacks by Israel will be met with a harsh, decisive and
destructive response,” the statement added. Israel killed two Iranian members of
the Revolutionary Guards earlier this
Iraq requests clarification from Iran over Erbil attack
NNA/March 13/2022
Reuters quoted a statement by the Iraqi government announcing that it had
requested an "explicit and clear" clarification from Iran through diplomatic
channels regarding the ballistic attack on Erbil. After a meeting to discuss the
attack, the Iraqi Ministerial Council for National Security said that Iraq "was
waiting for a position from the Iranian political leadership in rejecting the
attack."
Iran Fires Missiles at 'Israeli Base' in Iraq's Arbil
Agence France Presse/March 13/2022
Iran claimed responsibility for a missile strike Sunday on the northern Iraqi
city of Arbil, saying it targeted an Israeli "strategic center."
Authorities in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region had earlier said 12 ballistic
missiles rained down on Arbil in a pre-dawn attack targeting U.S. interests that
slightly wounded two civilians and caused material damage.
The missiles came from beyond Iraq's eastern border, Kurdistan's
counter-terrorism unit announced -- in effect saying they were fired from Iran,
a nation which wields considerable political and economic influence over
Baghdad. Iran's Revolutionary Guards later confirmed they fired the projectiles,
claiming they were targeting sites used by Israel, a top ally of the U.S. A
"strategic center for conspiracy and mischiefs of the Zionists was targeted by
powerful precision missiles fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,"
the Guards said in a statement.
Sunday's assault comes nearly a week after the Guards -- Iran's ideological army
-- vowed to avenge the death of two of their officers killed in a rocket attack
in Syria they blamed on Israel. Iran backs the government in Syria's civil war.
Israel, the Guards said at the time, "will pay for this crime." There was no
immediate reaction from Israel to Sunday's missile attack and Kurdish
authorities insisted that Israel has no sites in or anywhere near Arbil. Kurdish
authorities said the target of the attack was the Arbil consulate of the United
States.
'Baseless allegations'
Arbil governor Oumid Khouchnaw told a news conference that two people, a taxi
driver and a the custodian of a farm, were injured. Speaking before Iran claimed
the attack, he dismissed however as "baseless allegations" the presence of
Israeli sites in and around Arbil. "We've been hearing for sometime that Israeli
sites are present. These are baseless allegations. There are no Israeli sites in
the region," Khouchnaw said. He said the missiles fell into vacant lots but that
buildings and homes were damaged. The interior ministry in Arbil said a "new
building" housing the U.S. consulate in a residential suburb of the city was the
target of the attack. Washington, a foe of Iran with troops on the ground in
Iraq, said there was "no damage or casualties at any U.S. government facility."
"We condemn this outrageous attack and display of violence," a State Department
spokesperson said. Taxi driver Ziryan Wazir said he was in his car when the
missiles struck. "I saw a lot of dust, then I heard a very loud noise. The
windows of my car exploded and I was injured in the face," he said, his head
swathed in white gauze and a bloodied scar running the length of his cheek.
Local television channel Kurdistan24, located near the U.S. consulate, posted
images on social networks of its damaged offices, with collapsed sections of
false ceiling and broken glass. An AFP correspondent in Arbil said he heard
three explosions before dawn.
Regional tensions
Iraq, including the Kurdistan region, is home to a dwindling number of U.S.
troops who led a coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group.Washington
has routinely blamed rocket and drone attacks against its interests in Iraq on
pro-Iran groups who demand the departure of the remaining troops. But
cross-border missile fire is rare. Masrour Barzani, prime minister of Iraqi
Kurdistan, decried the "terrorist attack" in Arbil, and appealed for calm. Iraq
saw a surge in rocket and armed-drone attacks at the beginning of the year. It
coincided with the second anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qassem
Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport. Soleimani, killed
alongside his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, headed the Quds Force, the
Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm. In late January, six rockets were
fired at Baghdad International Airport, causing no casualties.
Iran itself responded to the January 2020 killing of Soleimani by firing
missiles at military bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces. Sunday's assault also
comes amid a pause in negotiations between Iran and world powers to revive its
2015 nuclear deal. Negotiators in Vienna said Friday they halted the talks
despite having almost sealed a deal to revive that accord. The setback came
after Russia said it was demanding guarantees that the Western sanctions imposed
on its own economy amid the conflict in Ukraine would not affect its trade with
Iran.
Ballistic missiles hit Iraq's Kurdish capital, Iran's
Revolutionary Guard claim responsibility
NNA/March 13/2022
ERBIL, Iraq, March 13 (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed
responsibility for a dozen ballistic missiles that struck Iraq's northern
Kurdish regional capital of Erbil in the early hours of Sunday, Iran's state
media reported, adding that the attack was against Israeli "strategic centres"
in Erbil. The missile attack comes as talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal
face the prospect of collapse after a last-minute Russian demand forced world
powers to pause negotiations for an undetermined time despite having a largely
completed text. The missiles, which targeted the U.S. consulate's new building,
caused only material damage and one civilian was injured, the Kurdish interior
ministry said. An Iraqi security official told Reuters that the missiles were
manufactured in Iran. Iran's Revolutionary Guards released a statement taking
responsibility for the missile attack against Israeli "strategic centres" in
Erbil, Iran's state media reported. Iran's Revolutionary Guards released a
statement taking responsibility for the missile attack against Israeli
"strategic centres" in Erbil, Iran's state media reported. "Any repetition of
attacks by Israel will be met with a harsh, decisive and destructive response,"
the Revolutionary Guard said in the statement. A U.S. official blamed Iran for
the attack earlier on Sunday but did not give further details. A Kurdish
spokesperson for the regional authorities said that Sunday's attack only
targeted civilian residential areas, not a foreign base and called on the
international community to carry out an investigation. --- Reuters
Iraqi Kurdistan Government: The target of the
Iranian attack on Erbil was not an Israeli site
NNA/March 13/2022
Iraqi Kurdistan government denied the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' announcement
that the missile attack it launched on the city of Erbil last night targeted an
Israeli site. In a statement issued today, the Council of Ministers of the
Kurdistan Region of Iraq described the Iranian bombing of Erbil as a “cowardly
attack,” noting that it was carried out “on the pretext of striking an Israeli
base near the American consulate in Erbil, but that the targeted site was a
civilian site, and this justification aims to conceal the motives behind this
heinous crime, and the allegations of the perpetrators of the attack are far
from the truth,” according to “Russia Today.”In this context, the Kurdish
Regional Government called on the United Nations, the United States, the
European Union, the League of Arab States, the Federal Government of Iraq, its
parliament and the Iranian government to "urgently investigate these unfounded
attacks, visit the targeted sites, disclose the facts to public opinion, and
take a position resolute and strong from these attacks."
Turkish Foreign Minister denies Ukrainian news of
mosque bombing in Mariupol with Turkish worshipers inside
NNA/March 13/2022
Leader of the Sadrist Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and head of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, agreed today to form a fact-finding committee
on the pretext of the presence of Israeli bases in Erbil. Al-Sadr's office
stated in a statement reported by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "Today, Mr. Al-Sadr
received a phone call from the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud
Barzani, during which they discussed what happened in Erbil," noting that "the
two parties agreed to form a fact-finding committee to find out the pretext of
the presence of Israeli quarters which were targeted."
Al-Sadr, Barzani agree to form a committee to
investigate the presence of Israeli headquarters in Erbil
NNA/March 13/2022
Leader of the Sadrist Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and head of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, agreed today to form a fact-finding committee
on the pretext of the presence of Israeli bases in Erbil. Al-Sadr's office
stated in a statement reported by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "Today, Mr. Al-Sadr
received a phone call from the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud
Barzani, during which they discussed what happened in Erbil," noting that "the
two parties agreed to form a fact-finding committee to find out the pretext of
the presence of Israeli quarters which were targeted."
US: Russian use of chemical weapons in Ukraine would
cross ‘shocking additional line’
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/13 March ,2022
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned on Sunday that Russia
would pay a “severe price” if it launched a chemical weapon attack on Ukraine,
and added that Moscow’s “escalating level of rhetoric” is an “indicator”
Russians are preparing to use chemical weapons and “pin the blame” elsewhere.
“We can't predict a time or place. All we can say is that there is an escalating
level of rhetoric on the Russian side trying to accuse the Ukrainians and the US
of potentially using chemical or biological weapons…That's an indicator that in
fact, the Russians are getting ready to do it and try and pin the blame
elsewhere, and nobody should fall for that,” Sullivan said in an interview with
CNN’s “Face the Nation”. “And as the [US] president said on Friday, if in fact
the Russians do use chemical weapons in Ukraine, they will pay a severe price,”
Sullivan added. “The use of weapons of mass destruction would be a- a shocking
additional line that Putin is crossing in terms of his assault on international
law and international norms. His assault on the human rights and human dignity
of the people of Ukraine.”Russia has recently been accusing the US of operating
biowarfare labs in Ukraine. Washington denied the claims and said that Moscow is
likely laying the groundwork to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.
Power restored to Ukraine’s Chernobyl plant, seized by
Russian forces: Kyiv
AFP/13 March ,2022
Electricity supply has been restored at Ukraine's retired Chernobyl nuclear
power plant that was seized by Russian forces in the first days of the invasion,
energy officials in Kyiv said Sunday. “Today, thanks to the incredible efforts
of (Ukrainian energy) specialists, our nuclear power engineers and electricians
managed to return the power supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which
was seized by the Russian occupiers,” Ukraine's Energy Minister German
Galushchenko said in a statement. “Our Ukrainian energy engineers, by risking
their own health and lives, were able to avert the risk of a possible nuclear
catastrophe that threatened the whole of Europe,” he added. Power had been cut
to the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, though the UN's atomic
watchdog said there was “no critical impact to safety”. An explosion at the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 killed hundreds and spread a radioactive
cloud west across Europe. Ukraine said on Wednesday power had been cut to the
plant, but the UN's atomic watchdog said there was “no critical impact on
safety”. Russian forces also shelled and captured the Zaporizhzhia plant,
Europea's biggest atomic power plant, on March 4, causing a fire that raised
alarm in Europe over a possible nuclear catastrophe.Russian engineers arrived at
Zaporizhzhia earlier this week to check radiation levels. In his statement,
Galushchenko also reiterated calls on the international community to help secure
Ukraine's nuclear facilities and establish a 30-kilometre (18 miles)
demilitarised protective zone around them. “It is now extremely important to
force the enemy to leave our nuclear power plants,” he said.
Russia counts on sanctions help from China, US warns off
Beijing
Reuters/13 March ,2022
Russia said on Sunday that it was counting on China to help it withstand the
blow to its economy from Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, but the US
warned Beijing not to provide that lifeline. Russian Finance Minister Anton
Siluanov said sanctions had deprived Moscow of access to $300 billion of its
$640 billion in gold and foreign exchange reserves, and added that there was
pressure on Beijing to shut off more. “We have part of our gold and foreign
exchange reserves in the Chinese currency, in yuan. And we see what pressure is
being exerted by Western countries on China in order to limit mutual trade with
China. Of course, there is pressure to limit access to those reserves,” he said.
“But I think that our partnership with China will still allow us to maintain the
cooperation that we have achieved, and not only maintain, but also increase it
in an environment where Western markets are closing.”
Western countries have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia's corporate and
financial system since it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a special
military operation. Siluanov's comments in a TV interview marked the clearest
statement yet from Moscow that it will seek help from China to cushion the
impact. But US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was
warning China not to provide it. “We are communicating directly, privately to
Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions,
evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Sullivan told CNN.
“We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia
from these economic sanctions from any country, anywhere in the world,” added
Sullivan, who is due to meet China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday.
Russia and China have tightened cooperation in recent times as both have come
under strong Western pressure over human rights and a raft of other issues.
Beijing has not condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine and does not call it an
invasion, but it has urged a negotiated solution. Presidents Vladimir Putin and
Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Feb. 4 and announced a strategic partnership they
said was aimed at countering the influence of the US, describing it as a
friendship with no limits. China is Russia's top export market after the
European Union. Russian exports to China were worth $79.3 billion in 2021, with
oil and gas accounting for 56 percent of that, according to China's customs
agency.
US journalist shot dead in Ukraine by Russian forces:
Kyiv police chief
AFP & Reuters, Irpin, Ukraine/13 March ,2022
An American journalist was shot and killed by Russian forces in the town of
Irpin in Ukraine’s Kyiv region and another journalist was wounded, Kyiv regional
police chief Andriy Nyebytov said on Sunday. Earlier, AFP had quoted medics and
witnesses saying that a US journalist was shot dead and another wounded on
Sunday in Irpin, a frontline northwest suburb of Kyiv. Danylo Shapovalov, a
surgeon volunteering for the Ukrainian territorial defense, said one of the
Americans died instantly and he had treated the other. AFP reporters in Irpin
saw the body of the victim. Kyiv regional police chief Nyebytov initially said
the dead journalist worked for the New York Times. However, the Times said that
the journalist had previously worked for the paper but was not currently working
for it. The Times named the journalist as Brent Renaud. “We are deeply saddened
to hear of Brent Renaud’s death. Brent was a talented photographer and filmmaker
who had contributed to The New York Times over the years,” The Times said in a
statement posted on Twitter by its spokesperson. “Though he had contributed to
The Times in the past (most recently in 2015), he was not on assignment for any
desk at The Times in Ukraine,” it said.“Early reports that he worked for Times
circulated because he was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for
an assignment many years ago.”Nyebytov said that Renaud was shot by Russian
forces in Irpin, but did not give details of the incident. He did not identify
the wounded journalist. “Another journalist was wounded. We are currently trying
to take the victim out of the combat zone,” he said in a statement. The US
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaking to CNN said will consult with
allies and partners to learn more about reported death of the US journalist near
Kyiv.
Paris condemns Erbil attack
NNA/March 13/2022
Paris condemned "with huge firmness" the firing of missiles at Erbil in Iraqi
Kurdistan on Saturday night, noting that the attack threatens the stability of
the entire region. The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the
attack "threatens the stability of Iraq and the region."
The Ministry stressed its commitment to "the sovereignty and stability of Iraq
and the stability of the autonomous region of Kurdistan within it," according to
AFP.
9 Dead, 57 Hurt in Russian Strike on Ukrainian Base
Housing Foreign Instructors
Agence France Presse/March 13/2022
Nine people were killed and 57 were injured in overnight Russian airstrikes on a
military base housing "foreign instructors" near the western Ukrainian city of
Lviv, local Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday. The base lies about 20
kilometers from the Polish border, the Ukrainian defense minister said. Russia
"has attacked the International Center for Peacekeeping & Security near Lviv.
Foreign instructors work here," Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted.
Strike in Donbas Wounds 30, Russia Accused of Chemical
Attacks
Agence France Presse/March 13/2022
Ukrainian officials accused Russia at the weekend of using phosphorus chemical
bombs in the eastern Donbas region, while a separate air strike on a monastery
sheltering civilians wounded 30. International law prohibits the use of white
phosphorus shells in heavily populated civilian areas but allows them in open
spaces to be used as cover for troops. Oleksi Biloshytsky, head of police in
Popasna, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Lugansk city, said late on
Saturday that Russian forces had used the chemical weapon in his area. "It's
what the Nazis called a 'flaming onion' and that's what the Russcists
(amalgamation of 'Russians' and 'fascists') are dropping on our towns.
Indescribable suffering and fires," he wrote on Facebook. It was not immediately
possible to verify the comments. Further south, bombs struck the Sviatoguirsk
monastery, where nearly 1,000 civilians were sheltering at the weekend, wounding
30 people, the Ukrainian public prosecutor said at the weekend. And on Saturday
night, a train evacuating people from the Donbas to the western city of Lviv was
shelled, according to Donetsk military commander Pavlo Kirilenko. One person was
killed and another wounded, he said. The Lugansk and Donetsk regions of eastern
Ukraine, collectively known as the Donbas, were partially controlled by
Moscow-backed separatists even before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine
on February 24. The areas attacked at the weekend lie outside the so-called
separatist "republics" of Lugansk and Donetsk declared by the pro-Russian rebels
before the start of the war.
Russian strike on base brings Ukraine war close to
NATO’s border
Reuters/March 13, 2022
NATO member Poland on Sunday, killing 35 people and wounding 134, a local
official said, in an escalation of the war to the west of the country as intense
fighting was reported elsewhere. Russia’s defense ministry said the air strike
had destroyed a large amount of weapons supplied by foreign nations that were
being stored at the sprawling training facility, and that it had killed “up to
180 foreign mercenaries.”Reuters could not independently verify the casualties
reported by either side. The attack on the Yavoriv International Center for
Peacekeeping and Security, a base just 15 miles (25 km) from the Polish border
that has previously hosted NATO military instructors, brought the conflict to
the doorstep of the Western defense alliance. Russia’s deputy foreign minister
had warned on Saturday that convoys of Western arms shipments to Ukraine could
be considered legitimate targets.
Britain said the incident marked a “significant escalation” of the conflict.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking on CBS’s “Face the
Nation,” said any attack on NATO territory would trigger a full response by the
alliance. Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said Russian planes fired around 30
rockets at the Yavoriv facility, adding that some were intercepted. At least 35
people were killed and 134 wounded, he said. Russian defense ministry
spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Russia had used high-precision, long-range
weapons to strike Yavoriv and a separate facility in the village of Starichi.
“As a result of the strike, up to 180 foreign mercenaries and a large amount of
foreign weapons were destroyed,” he told a briefing. The 360-square km
(140-square mile) facility is one of Ukraine’s biggest and is the largest in the
western part of the country, which has so far been spared the worst of the
fighting. Ukraine, whose aspirations to join NATO are a major irritant to
Russian President Vladimir Putin, held most of its drills with Western countries
at the base before the invasion. The last major exercises were in September. In
the weeks before Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, the Ukrainian military trained
there, but according to Ukrainian media all foreign instructors left in
mid-February, leaving behind equipment. “The dining room and dormitory were
destroyed. So were the barracks,” said Col. Leonid Benzalo, an officer in the
Ukrainian medical reserve who was thrown across the room by one of the blasts.
“The most important thing is we’re still alive,” he told Reuters after treating
the wounded there. While Western nations have sought to isolate Putin by
imposing harsh economic sanctions and have been supplying Ukraine with weapons,
the United States and its allies are concerned to avoid NATO being drawn into
the conflict. “There are no NATO personnel in Ukraine,” the NATO official said,
when asked if anyone from the alliance was at the base.
Stockpiling food
Heavy fighting was reported on multiple fronts.
Air raid sirens wailed once again across the capital Kyiv and authorities said
they were stockpiling two weeks worth of essential food items for the 2 million
people who have not yet fled from Russian forces attempting to encircle the
city. Ukraine reported renewed air strikes on an airport in the west and heavy
shelling on Chernihiv northeast of the capital. Interior Ministry official Vadym
Denyenko said Ukrainian forces were counterattacking in the eastern Kharkiv
region and around the southern town of Mykolayiv. Reuters was not able to verify
those statements. An American journalist was shot and killed by Russian forces
in the town of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, and another journalist was wounded, the
regional police chief said. Despite the violence, both sides gave their most
upbeat assessment yet of the prospects for progress at bilateral talks that have
been held periodically since the start of the invasion.
“Russia is already beginning to talk constructively,” Ukrainian negotiator and
presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a video posted online. “I think
that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days.”A Russian
delegate to talks with Ukraine, Leonid Slutsky, was quoted by RIA news agency as
saying they had made significant progress and it was possible the delegations
could soon reach draft agreements. Neither side said what these would cover.
Three rounds of talks between the two sides in Belarus, most recently last
Monday, had focused mainly on humanitarian issues.
But there were contradictory statements on the timing of new discussions.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych told national television
“talks are continuing right now.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied
this, saying talks were planned for Monday via video link.
Seeking to up the ante on the increasingly sanctions-hit Russian economy,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a Twitter post, called on US
software firms Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp. and German business software
group SAP to halt support services in Russia.
“Violent and inhuman”
Russia’s invasion has sent more than 2.5 million people fleeing across Ukraine’s
borders and trapped hundreds of thousands in besieged cities. “It is terrifying
how violent and inhuman it is,” Olga, a refugee from Kyiv, told Reuters after
crossing into Romania.
Ukraine’s human rights monitor said Russia used phosphorous bombs in an
overnight attack on the town of Popasna in the eastern Luhansk region, calling
it a “war crime.” She shared a photograph purporting to show the alleged attack,
but did not say if Ukraine had concrete evidence. Reuters could not immediately
verify any of the reports. Phosphorus munitions can be used legally in war to
provide light, create smokescreens or burn buildings. But its use in populated
areas has been a persistent source of controversy. In eastern Ukraine, Russian
troops were trying to surround Ukrainian forces as they advance from the port of
Mariupol in the south and the second city Kharkiv in the north, the British
Defense Ministry said. The city council in Mariupol said in a statement that
2,187 residents had been killed since the start of the invasion. Reuters was not
able to verify that toll. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, has suffered
some of the heaviest bombardment. Videos from one resident, Teimur Aliev, showed
bombed buildings lining streets, burned-out cars riddled with shrapnel holes and
debris strewn around. “We will stitch up the wounds and the pain of our country
and our city. We are ready to build it and we are ready to renew it when the war
is over. We’re not going anywhere,” said Aliev, a 23-year-old musician. In
Chernihiv, around 150 km (100 miles) northeast of Kyiv, firefighters rescued
residents from a burning building after heavy shelling, video from Ukraine’s
emergency service — and verified by Reuters — showed. Moscow denies targeting
civilians. It blames Ukraine for failed attempts to evacuate civilians from
encircled cities, an accusation Ukraine and its Western allies strongly reject.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television
that more than 140,000 people had been evacuated from conflict zones, but that a
humanitarian convoy had been unable to reach Mariupol due to shelling. The
Kremlin describes its actions as a “special operation” to demilitarise and
“deNazify” Ukraine. Ukraine and Western allies call this a baseless pretext for
a war of choice.
Ukraine Readies for 'Relentless Defense' of Kyiv
Agence France Presse/March 13/2022
Ukraine prepared Sunday for a "relentless defence" of Kyiv as the capital faced
possible encirclement by Russian forces who also launched an air strike on a
military base outside the city of Lviv, near the Polish border. In a video
address posted on social media late Saturday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky
was adamant that the Russians would not take Ukraine. "The Russian invaders
cannot conquer us. They do not have such strength. They do not have such spirit.
They are holding only on violence. Only on terror. Only on weapons, which they
have a lot," he said. Local officials said Russian forces had fired eight
missiles at a military training ground about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast
of Lviv, which is a hub for joint exercises between Ukrainian soldiers and NATO
allies. The head of the Lviv regional administration, Maxim Kozitsky, said there
was no information yet on casualties.
A convoy of humanitarian aid headed for the southern port city of Mariupol was
blocked at a Russian checkpoint, but hoped to arrive on Sunday, Deputy Prime
Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. The strategic port is facing what Ukraine says
is a "humanitarian catastrophe" after more than 1,500 civilians were killed.
Attempts to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people have repeatedly failed. "Mariupol
is still surrounded. That which they cannot have by war, (the Russians) want to
have by hunger and despair. Since they cannot bring down the Ukrainian army,
they target the population," a French military source said.
A top Russian officer described the situation in stark language. "Unfortunately,
the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is continuing to deteriorate rapidly, and
in some cities, it has reached catastrophic proportions," said the head of the
Russian National Defence Control Centre, Mikhail Mizintsev. In his video
address, Zelensky appealed for more aid. "I keep reiterating to our allies and
friends abroad; they have to keep doing more for our country, for Ukrainians and
Ukraine. Because it is not only for Ukraine, but it is for all of Europe," he
said.
City under siege
The Russians have advanced far enough to raise fears of Kyiv becoming encircled
imminently. Other cities have already fallen or been surrounded since Russia
invaded its neighbour on February 24, with civilians targeted in what the United
Nations warned could amount to war crimes.
The key southern port of Odessa was preparing for an offensive by Russian
troops, who were concentrating about 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the east in
the city of Mykolaiv. Mykolaiv, which lies on the road to the strategic port
city, has been under attack for days, and an AFP reporter said a hospital there
came under fire. Zelensky said "about 1,300" Ukrainian soldiers had been killed
since February 24, giving his country's first official toll. He claimed Russia
had lost about 12,000 troops while Moscow, for its part, has only given a toll
of 498 dead, released on March 2. At least 579 civilians have been killed,
according to a tally Saturday by the United Nations, which stressed that its
figures were probably much lower than reality. The U.N. estimates that almost
2.6 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion, most of them to Poland,
in Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. In Kyiv, only the roads to
the south remain open and the city is preparing to mount a "relentless defence",
according to the Ukrainian presidency. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the
capital, described by a senior Ukrainian official Friday as a "city under
siege", was reinforcing defences and stockpiling food and medicine.
Britain's ministry of defence estimated that Russian forces were about 25
kilometres from Kyiv on Saturday and that a column north of the city had
dispersed, reinforcing the indication of an attempt to encircle it. However, the
Russians are encountering resistance from the Ukrainian army to both the east
and west of the capital, according to AFP journalists on the spot. Ukrainian
soldiers said they believe the Russians have overestimated their resources, in
terms of troops and equipment, and underestimated those of their opponents.
"They have to camp in villages in temperatures of nearly minus 10 Celsius at
night. They lack provisions and have to raid houses," said one soldier, Ilya
Berezenko, 27.
Glimmer of hope
Intense efforts at diplomacy continued, with the leaders of France and Germany,
Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, urging Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
during a three-way phone conversation on Saturday to end the deadly blockade,
Paris said. Facing growing international condemnation, Putin sought to turn the
tables, slamming Kyiv for what he described as the "flagrant violation" of
international humanitarian law and accusing Ukraine's army of executing
dissenters and using civilians as hostages. The French presidency denounced his
accusations, made during the talks with Macron and Scholz, as "lies". But in a
small glimmer of hope, Zelensky said Saturday that Russia -- after appearing not
to budge for days -- had adopted a "fundamentally different approach" in the
latest talks to end the conflict. He told reporters he was "happy to have a
signal from Russia" after Putin spoke of "some positive shifts" in a near-daily
dialogue. As Russia widens its bombardment, Zelensky's pleas for help have grown
increasingly desperate. Washington and its EU allies have sent funds and
military aid to Ukraine and taken action against Russia's economy and oligarchs.
A cultural and sporting boycott has further isolated Moscow. In the Kyiv suburb
of Irpin on Saturday, a Ukrainian soldier who gave his name only as Viktor
showed off his British anti-tank missile system and the twisted remains of a
Russian vehicle it destroyed. "I want to say a big thank you to our British
comrades helping us," he said. As international sanctions against Moscow have
steadily tightened, crippling Russia's economy, the country's space agency
Roscosmos warned Saturday that the International Space Station could crash if
Russian spacecraft serving it are affected. But Washington on Friday added more
layers of sanctions, this time ending normal trade relations and announcing a
ban on Russian vodka, seafood and diamonds. And on Saturday, U.S. President Joe
Biden authorised up to $200 million in new weapons and other aid to Ukraine. But
he has ruled out direct action against nuclear-armed Russia, warning that it
would lead to "World War III".
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
March 13-14/2022
ريموند إبراهيم/معهد كايتستون: قائمة مفصلة
بحوادث اضهاد المسيحيين خلال شهر كانون الثاني لسنة 2022/ لمذا لم يتم اعتقال
القتلة؟
“Why Are His Killers Still Out?”: Persecution of Christians, January 2022
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/March 13/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/107003/107003/
On Jan. 3, Muslims, including some from neighboring Somalia, murdered six
Christians; most were burned alive in their homes. — Morning Star News, January
7, 2022, Kenya.
An elderly great-grandmother, locally known as Mama Fide, was burned alive
during the raid: “Grandma was unable to escape when the attack took place
because she was very old and blind.” — Morning Star News, January 30, 2022,
Nigeria.
Because Nigerian and Western mainstream media insist that Fulani herdsmen raids
on Christians are not ideologically driven, but are rather for resources and
land, one Twitter user wrote, “After [Joel’s experiences, including being asked
if he’s Christian or Muslim], some people will come and say there’s no jihad
agenda,” to which Joel replied, “Well, they clearly have an agenda and it’s
clearly working and they are so proud of it, telling me no one can stop them.” —
International Christian Concern, persecution.org, January 16, 2022, Nigeria.
On Jan. 3, a Muslim judge changed the life sentence that a Christian man
convicted of “blasphemy” had been carrying out in prison, to a death sentence.
Zafar Bhatti, 56, who had been languishing in jail since 2012 after being
accused of sending blasphemous text messages, was sentenced to life in prison in
2017, under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws against defaming Islam’s
prophet, Muhammad. The change in sentencing came after one of his lawyers sought
bail. — Morning Star News, January 10, 2022, Pakistan.
On Jan. 10, a Christian politician was arrested for a tweet that was deemed
offensive to Islam. He is facing up to 10 years imprisonment. — ucanews.com,
January 11, 2022, Indonesia.
[T]he church walls collapsed even as, ironically, Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah Al-Sisi was visiting the Coptic Pope during Christmas Mass to
congratulate the Christians of his nation and speak of Christian/Muslim
solidarity. — copticsolidarity.org, January 15, 2022, Egypt.
On January 10, Ferdinand Hutahaean, a Christian politician, was arrested in
Indonesia for a tweet that was deemed offensive to Islam. He is facing up to 10
years imprisonment. (Image source: Debby Priatni/Wikimedia Commons)
The Slaughter of Christians
Uganda: A Muslim man, according to a Jan. 5 report, “is suspected of hanging his
wife and two children because the young mother and oldest child received Christ
after attending Christmas Day and Sunday worship services.” On Dec. 27, Shamira
Nakato, 27, and her two children, 3 and 8, had attended a church service. When
Shamira’s husband, who was away on business, returned early, a Muslim neighbor
informed him that his wife and children had been seen attending a church. The
Muslim man then went to the church.
“When he entered the church, his wife and the children were seated at the back,”
the church’s pastor said. “He pulled her out of the church, and about 100 meters
away, a member saw him beat his wife.” Another neighbor confirmed that he later
heard screaming from the Muslim household, then saw “two men wearing Islamic
prayer caps outside [the] house putting together an undefined wooden structure.”
The next morning, the neighbor went to borrow a tool. No one answered, but the
door was unlocked, so he entered. There he found the woman and her two young
children hanging dead. The recently built wooden structure had served as a
scaffold.
In a separate incident, a man who was severely beaten by his Muslim relatives
for placing his faith in Christ died from his wounds days later, on Jan. 25.
Following his conversion in 2016, Bashir Sengendo, formerly a mosque leader,
left his home village. Immediately his family reached out and urged him to
return to tend to a portion of land that they had supposedly allocated to him.
“This request continued for the last six years, but I had been reluctant to go
back home,” Bashir explained from his hospital bed before succumbing to his
wounds. He eventually decided to return, arriving on the evening of Jan. 12:
“I was shocked to receive a cold reception and slept without food, only to be
attacked and beaten badly in the morning by my brother and my uncle. They cut me
with an object in the head, back and hand…. As the attackers were hitting me, my
uncle said that the family spent a lot of money training me as a Muslim teacher,
and that I have caused a lot of shame to the family and Muslims at large.”
Police and neighbors responded to the ruckus; they rescued Bashir and took him
to a hospital. He died 13 days later.
Pakistan: On Sunday, Jan. 30, Muslim gunmen shot and killed a Christian pastor
and wounded another, as the two clerics drove home following church service in
Peshawar. According to Reuters:
“No one immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting in a city where
scores of people died in a twin suicide bombing outside a church in 2013—one of
the deadliest attacks on Pakistan’s Christian minority.”
Pastor William Siraj, 75, was killed instantly when two assassins suddenly
appeared on a motorcycle, opened fire on the car, and sped away. Humphrey
Peters, a Church of Pakistan Bishop, described what happened:
“Siraj received one bullet in the forehead and one on the arm and died
instantly, while Rev. [Patrick] Naeem received a bullet wound in the hand. It’s
a miracle that Rev. Naeem and another priest [also in the car] escaped the
volley of bullets…. Siraj had lost his son-in-law in the gun-and-bomb attack on
Peshawar’s All Saints Church in 2013, in which over 70 worshippers were killed
and 100 others were wounded. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
This is a very tragic loss for our church.”
In another incident, unknown Muslims reportedly drugged a Christian family; as a
result, the eldest, Malkam D’Costa, 91, died of the poisoning, while five others
were hospitalized. Although the official story is that the family was robbed in
the night, the larger Christian community is convinced that it was an
intentional targeting of a Christian family. According to the report:
“[I]n 2021, a neighbour of Malkam D’Costa was also forced to take a sleeping
pill and then raped while she was alone at home. Her husband is employed as a
night watchman at a Catholic school.
Once she regained consciousness, she filed a complaint against a Muslim man,
Mohammad Alam, and Malkam D’Costa’s son testified in her favour despite the fact
that the accused’s family put pressure on him to get the charges dropped.
For this reason, the Christians in Padrishibpur believe that the killing was an
act of revenge connected to the rape case.
Yesterday a hundred Christians held a protest in the village. Voicing their
anger, they shouted: ‘We want justice’ and ‘Brother Malkam is in the grave, why
are his killers still out?'”
“We Christians are citizens of this country,” said one of the demonstrators who
was interviewed; “but they persecute us because we are a minority. We want to
live peacefully and see the perpetrators of this murder punished.”
Kenya: On Jan. 3, Muslims, including some from neighboring Somalia, murdered six
Christians; most were burned alive in their homes. Speaking from the site of the
attack, Pastor Stephen Sila of a local church said:
“It is an ugly sight of people’s bodies lying dead and houses smoking with fire.
This is undeniably an awful terrorist attack…. I counted seven houses that were
torched down, four bodies of people burnt beyond recognition inside the houses.
A body shot dead right outside a burnt house and another beheaded body next to
it. Other villagers escaped into the dark and the police are still looking for
them.”
The widow of the beheaded man, a born Muslim who had long since converted from
Islam, explained how the Muslim terrorists surrounded their home:
“They were accusing him of refusing to become a Muslim and hence being an enemy
propagating bad religion. Soon he was pleading with them not to kill him, and
thereafter there was groaning and screaming from my husband. The children
started crying very loudly, and the attackers forced us to come out of the
house.”
Immediately the Muslims set fire to their home, prompting the wife and
children—aged 4, 10, 12 and 15—to flee. When she returned, she found that her
husband had been “beheaded and the head placed on his back.”
South Sudan: On Jan. 6, people described as “Islamist extremists” slaughtered at
least 28 people and torched 57 homes during a raid on a Christian community.
This was followed by a “massive displacement,” said Bishop Joseph Mamer Manot.
He added that “the humanitarian situation is alarming as food and other property
have been burned down into ashes, leaving survivors with no shelters, no food
and no safe drinking water.” According to the report, this “incident is the
latest example of attacks against South Sudanese Christians by Arab Muslims from
the Republic of Sudan, along the disputed border between the two countries.”
Nigeria: Some of the accounts of terrorization and slaughter that Christians
experienced in the month of January include:
On Sunday, Jan. 30, Fulani herdsmen murdered 11 Christians. An elderly
great-grandmother, locally known as Mama Fide, was burned alive during the raid.
Her grandson, Danjuma Enoch, explained:
“Grandma was unable to escape when the attack took place because she was very
old and blind. While other people scampered to escape, grandma stayed back in
her room which served as her last save [sic] haven…. Grandma was our surviving
grandmother and a great-grandmother to many of our younger ones. We can only
imagine how horrible it was for her to breathe her last this way after living
long into her old age. Painful and sad. Grandma’s blood will surely rise and
speak against her killers and their sponsors.”
During an Islamic ambush on five Christians returning home after a New Year’s
Eve prayer meeting, one Christian man was killed and “burned beyond
recognition.” The other four were injured but survived.
Muslim terrorists shot dead Fr. Luke Mewhenu Adeleke as he returned home after
holding Christmas service in his church.
According to a Jan. 26 report, during a raid on a Christian community in Chibok,
Muslims killed four people, abducted 24 others, and torched a total of 110
buildings (four churches, 73 homes, and 33 shops).
On Jan. 11, Fulani raiders murdered 18 Christians; on Jan. 22, they murdered
four more.
According to a Jan. 6 report, Muslims connected to the Islamic State-backed
faction of Boko Haram launched a raid on a Christian community; most of the
residents managed to flee into the bush, although the assailants burned the
community church and some homes and vehicles. The report added that
“The Nigerian Army has repeatedly claimed that insurgency had been largely
defeated and frequently underplays any losses.
The terror group has caused over 100,000 deaths and displaced millions of
individuals mainly in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States.”
Rape and Other Abuses against Christians
Pakistan: On Jan. 4, another Christian girl, Mahnoor Ashraf, 14, was abducted,
forced into Islam, and married to her abductor. The family immediately informed
police that their Muslim neighbor, 45-year-old Muhammad Ali Khan Ghauri — with
assistance from his friends, Muhammad Waqas, Muhammad Imran, and Raza Ali — had
kidnapped their daughter. Muhammad’s “house is on the same street, and our
families had good terms with each other,” said the girl’s brother, Akram,
suggesting that they never expected such behavior from their neighbor. Although
the family filed a complaint with police, “the investigating officer was slow to
act on their case… Finally, on Jan. 7, Ghauri’s family informed us that Mahnoor
had allegedly converted to Islam and married Ghauri on Jan. 4, the day she was
taken.” Local cleric Muhammad Ibrar performed the Islamic marriage despite
knowing that the girl was a minor — and even falsified the marriage certificate,
placing Mahoor’s age as 19, even though her birth certificate clearly shows that
she was born on Aug. 19, 2007. “The police are not doing anything to find
Mahnoor,” her brother concluded, adding that his mother’s health is
deteriorating “due to her state of shock and grief.”
In a separate incident, a Muslim man kidnapped another 16-year-old Christian
girl. According to the Jan. 25 report,
“She was drugged and then driven to Faisalabad… There, she was raped several
times. The next morning, she was found by her mother Grace as she was laying
[sic] unconscious on the street near her home…”
A local pastor said the perpetrator had been harassing the girl for months.
Because she repeatedly rebuffed his advances, his harassment turned into
full-blown rape. No arrest was made.
Nigeria: On Jan. 9, Fulani Muslim terrorists ambushed and forced a vehicle
carrying two Christian brothers and their niece to stop. One of the brothers,
Joel Maiwada, explained what followed on his Twitter account:
“We couldn’t even move, so I stepped out. They started beating me with their gun
handles and sticks, pushed me back to the car and they started robbing me,
meanwhile my brother and my niece hid somewhere when the terrorists were after
me. Then, they asked me ‘are you a Muslim or a Christian?’ … and I told them I
was a Christian, then they said ‘you have entered our hand’, and they
intensified the beating.”
Next they marched him to a cave where they kept him hostage:
“We climbed mountains, walked in Valleys at nights, I almost fell off a cliff,
but they still don’t care, they said it’s a win-win because they will sell my
organs if I fall and die.” Maiwada eventually managed to have his family raise
$24,000 to secure his release. Because Nigerian and Western mainstream media
insist that raids by Fulani herdsmen on Christians are not ideologically driven,
but are rather for resources and land, one Twitter user wrote, “After [Joel’s
experiences, including being asked if he’s Christian or Muslim], some people
will come and say there’s no jihad agenda,” to which Joel replied, “Well, they
clearly have an agenda and it’s clearly working and they are so proud of it,
telling me no one can stop them.”
Attacks on Apostates and Blasphemers
Uganda: Muslims beat a Christian widow, Jennifer, and her 16-year-old daughter,
Olivia, unconscious; left unable to walk and with a spinal injury, the girl has
had to stop attending school. The same Muslim villagers had killed her father a
year earlier, for leading some Muslims to Christ, and tried to kill her mother
and the daughter with a sword in October 2021. “The conversion of the six
Muslims to Christianity disturbed and angered the Muslims,” explained Jennifer,
the mother; “this really ignited the fire of our persecution.” Finally, on Dec.
30, around 1 am, Jennifer continued,
“The attackers then entered [he house] and started beating us, me and my
daughter, with sticks and kicks. We tried to make an alarm, but all was in vain.
They beat us so badly that both of us lost consciousness. When the cock crowed
in the morning I regained my consciousness, but my daughter was still
unconscious.”
A church member arrived early in the morning to bring food, found the two women,
and took them to a medical clinic.
Pakistan: On Jan. 3, a Muslim judge changed the life sentence that a Christian
man convicted of “blasphemy” had been carrying out in prison, to a death
sentence. Zafar Bhatti, 56, who had been languishing in jail since 2012 after
being accused of sending blasphemous text messages, was sentenced to life in
prison in 2017, under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws against
defaming Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. The change in sentencing came after one of
his lawyers sought bail. “I haven’t yet seen the written verdict, but it seems
the prosecution managed to prevail over the court and got the sentence
converted,” said Bhatti’s current lawyer. “Contesting the life term sentence in
the Supreme Court would have been relatively easier, but now the case has become
more complex.”
Indonesia: On Jan. 10, a Christian politician was arrested for a tweet that was
deemed offensive to Islam. He is facing up to 10 years imprisonment. On Jan. 4,
Ferdinand Hutahaean, a Democrat Party politician had tweeted:
“Poor you, your God is evidently weak [and] must be defended. My God is amazing,
[he] is everything. He is my defender, and my God does not need to be defended.”
Soon after issuing this tweet, Ferdinand apologized in a video, saying his tweet
was “an imaginary dialogue between my heart and mind” and was not directed at
any particular religion. Regardless, the National Police’s Criminal
Investigation Agency named Ferdinand a hate speech suspect and arrested him
shortly after. According to another report:
“Hutahaean joins the list of other Christians recently arrested and detained [in
Indonesia] for insulting Islam on social media, such as Joseph Suyardi and
Muhammad Kace. In Muslim-majority Indonesia, non-Muslims are easily targeted and
charged of blasphemy in Indonesia, while Muslims committing similar offenses
hardly receive any punishment for their actions.”
Attacks on Churches
Turkey: On New Year’s Day, unknown vandals desecrated three churches in Istanbul
(formerly Constantinople). On one of the church doors, they spray-painted
“Allah-1” (photo here). According to the report:
“Many of Istanbul’s churches have previously come under attack. In July 2021,
three people danced to loud music on the wall of the Armenian Church of Surp
Takavor in Kadıköy…. In May 2020, an assailant ripped off a cross outside Surp
Krikor Lusavoriç Armenian Church … In May 2020, a man was detained for
attempting to burn the entrance door of Dzınunt Surp Asdvadzadzni Armenian
Orthodox Church…”
Indonesia: Muslims barged into a church during — and evidently in order to halt
— a Christmas service (partial video of incident here). According to a Jan. 4
report:
“The residents interrupted the service and asked the church to turn off the
worship music while speaking to the church leader. A woman from the church
challenged the resident and said, ‘It can’t be like this. We worship during
Christmas. It’s Christmas. Christmas all over the world. The whole world
celebrates Christmas. We should rejoice. […] We celebrate Christmas, yet you
disturb us.'”
The church had been worshiping in the same building for two years. The pastor
told the authorities present that their worship was protected by the state and
should not be disrupted. Regardless, because the church did not have the
necessary permits — which are notoriously difficult to obtain in Muslim-majority
Indonesia — the church was effectively shut down: “worship activities will no
longer be carried out except as a house of prayer or a family house of worship,”
officials concluded. The pastor of the church “also agreed to take down the
cross symbol that was installed in front of the building to avoid causing
further dispute.”
Egypt: On Jan. 6, an ancient Coptic monastery, founded in 442 AD, came crumbling
down (video here), due to governmental negligence concerning those Egyptian
antiquities that apparently happen to be Christian. The monastery’s abbot had
repeatedly submitted requests to repair their dilapidated and ancient walls, but
the Antiquities Department never issued a permit. Even after the Jan. 6
collapse, a committee made a perfunctory appearance and submitted a report to
Antiquities, no permit has been forthcoming. Because January 6 is also Christmas
Eve for Orthodox Christians, including Copts, the church walls collapsed even
as, ironically, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi was visiting the Coptic
Pope during Christmas Mass to congratulate the Christians of his nation and
speak of Christian/Muslim solidarity.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the
David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle
East Forum.
*About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by
extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but
rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or
location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any
given month.
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18325/persecution-of-christians-january
Contours of a New World Carved by the Ukraine War
Raghida Dergham/The National/March 13/2022
There will be no reversal of the effects of the Ukraine war on the entire global
order, and on Russia’s relations not only with its current foes in the West, but
also with yesterday’s friends, who are realigning far from the Kremlin having
realized Russia is vulnerable to destruction through total economic encirclement
in the next 6 months.
After the shock from the Russian war on Ukraine was absorbed, it turned quicky
into a scramble to draft new policies to preserve national interests, regardless
of the handshakes of solidarity and alliance from the recent past. With
astonishing speed, the world has changed drastically after Russia invaded
Ukraine. Today, Russia is on the verge of being expelled from the international
system as a major power, a large economy, and a large sphere of influence.
As a result of its invasion, Russia has shrunk as a state, economy, and
influential power. Its prestige and centrality in the calculations of friends
and allies has receded, from China to Venezuela via Iran. The Russian President
Vladimir Putin thought he could mobilize his allies into an anti-American,
anti-Western bloc, but he has lost all bets to the tune of his misguided
adventure in Ukraine and his fatal losses there, all while inviting sanctions
that have crippled the entire economy of Russia. Many of his friends have
abandoned him, while others are resentful and embarrassed even if they feign
sympathy and political support for Russia. This will further anger Putin and
make him more dangerous and vengeful, including through biological, chemical,
and nuclear options.
Putin blames the West for how things got here, believing he was provoked through
the prospect of Ukrainian accession to NATO. Putin was implicated and trapped,
just like Saddam Hussein was implicated in the invasion of Kuwait. Vein and
arrogant, both men took the bait and took their countries to perdition.
With Iran, Russia’s erstwhile indispensable friend-ally especially in Syria, a
wedge is emerging between them due to the fallout from the Ukraine war on the
nuclear talks in Vienna. Until very recently, Moscow was the main advocate of
Iranian interests in Vienna. Today, Tehran finds itself irked by Moscow’s move
to link the Ukraine war to the Vienna negotiations, which Iran wants to conclude
as fast as possible and get the sanctions lifted.
The Biden administration is also in a rush to lift the sanctions after the
revival of the JCPOA nuclear agreement signed under Obama. The Biden
administration wants the deal done before the mid-term elections, but the
Russian invasion of Ukraine has added a new vital element to the equation:
Iran’s oil and gas, which can be an alternative to Russian hydrocarbons in the
international markets after the US banned the import of oil and gas from Russia,
which are extremely crucial for Europe. The Biden administration has initiated
talks with Iran about oil and gas. Iran’s answer is that it is ready to sell and
export its oil as soon as the sanctions are lifted, calling on Washington to
conclude the Vienna talks immediately based on its conditions to lift all
sanctions.
Europe is also in a rush to conclude the deal with Iran. It is in dire need for
Iranian oil as it moves to wean itself off from Russian oil and gas gradually.
Yet the European position is not homogenous on this. Germany, Hungary, Italy,
and the Netherlands are among many countries that cannot end reliance on Russian
exports and need around 9 months to transition to alternatives. The European
Union is seeking to reduce reliance on oil and gas to a third of the current
level by the end of 2022. Like the US, the EU is looking for alternatives.
Thanks to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Iran stands to benefit the most.
Europe is pressing full speed ahead towards a nuclear deal, even if that were to
require radical US concessions to Iran. Oil prices that have soared as a result
of the war are a gift from heaven for Iran, but this needs the finalization of
the nuclear deal. So, what’s Russia’s problem exactly?
Tehran found itself shocked and upset by Moscow’s demands that the US provide
guarantees Iran will not be sanctioned in the future after the nuclear deal is
signed. It was upset because it does not want any delays or obstacles to the
conclusion of the deal. Moscow’s thinking is that preventing future sanctions on
Iran would help sell Russian oil through Iran through known ways to circumvent
sanctions on its energy exports.
It appears that Iran has decided its interests lie with the US and European
players, seeing the Russian player as the losing side, as a result of the
adventure in Ukraine. This does not mean that the Iranian leadership has decided
to fully forgo of its strategic alliance with Russia. It means that it is
revisiting its policies, believing today that the US-European card open to it is
very valuable, as valuable as Russia.
The pragmatism of the Iranian leadership is leading it to conclude that the
freezing of $340 billion in Russian reserves will cripple Moscow and prevent it
from engaging in trade, while Western rapprochement with Iran will allow it to
better implement its development and regional projects. For this reason, Putin’s
decision to invade Ukraine has opened a gold mine for Iran, facilitated
Iranian-Western rapprochement, and destroyed the idea of an Eastern Alliance of
China, Iran, and Russia that would pose a huge challenge to the US.
How will this important development affect Iran’s policies, especially in the
Middle East? It’s too early to tell. Most likely, Iran will seize the
opportunity to finance its regional expansionist projects. Logically, Iran’s
pivot to the West should impact Iranian policies in the direction of curbing its
expansionist projects and its efforts to export its revolution and model to the
Arab geography. It is possible that Iran and the Biden-led US will reach
unprecedented accords that will legitimize Iran’s gains in Syria, Lebanon, and
Iraq. Indeed, the Biden administration’s need for oil from the mullah regime in
Iran could make them new partners, especially if Iran pivots further towards the
West and away from the Eastern Alliance, at least tactically until the dust
settles from the Russian earthquake that will most definitely shape Iran and
China’s future choices.
China is the mysterious element in the equation. Its positions vis-à-vis Russia,
suggest that it will not risk its vital interests and jump into a partnership
with Russia against the West that would subject it to sanctions that could
impact its long-term projects led by the Belt and Road Initiative. There are
conflicting theories about whether China is a secret partner to Russia in the
confrontation with NATO, or whether it is keen to distance itself from it.
Regardless of which theory is right, China will not intervene militarily and
back its Russian strategic partner. It has even refused to supply Russia with
spare parts for its aircraft. In short, China will not risk sanctions just for
the sake of solidarity with Putin.
The Chinese leadership will benefit pragmatically and economically and will not
give Russia except verbal support and criticism of the West, its values, and its
sanctions, while accusing the US of deliberately engineering the current
situation and the trap that Putin and Russia fell into.
Even Venezuela is moving in the direction of the US, after the Biden
administration decided that the Ukraine crisis could open the door to lifting
sanctions and end the isolation of Venezuela and its president Maduro – again
for the sake of oil exports. Russian and Venezuelan oil are similar in terms of
quality. Talks have begun with a US delegation visiting Caracas and Maduro
appears willing to abandon yesterday’s ally and friend, because he believes
Putin’s predicament is hard to get out of.
The Biden administration is engaging all oil and gas exporting countries,
attempting to repair tense relations with them, led by the Gulf states. This may
well lead to a radical reset of US-Gulf relations, bearing in mind that the Arab
Gulf states had opened their doors to China and Russia to diversify away from
the US. The reset, together with oil and gas prices edging towards $200 per
barrel, will again make the Arab Gulf states influential in international
decision and strategy making. These states will be now examining the
developments in the Ukraine war with maturity and pragmatism and may consider a
new chapter in their bilateral relations.
The balance of power and bilateral relations will be radically transformed after
the war in Ukraine. Putin will lose even if he wins a battle or captures Kyiv.
He may find himself with no option but to press on with that, but this could
drop an iron curtain on all of Russia immediately, not gradually as has happened
so far. If he devastates Kyiv or Odessa, he will have invited destruction on
himself, making it more and more difficult for his friends to stand with him,
even symbolically. His loss in the Ukrainian war will further alienate his
friends and allies, led by China and Iran.
Putin’s war on Ukraine has destroyed the traditional norms of strategic
partnerships and changed the features of the world. Until recently, China was an
ally. Today, it’s an estranged friend. Until recently, Iran was a strategic
partner. Today, it is playing a different game to secure its interests, after
the war in Ukraine produced cracks in its relations with Russia, while prompting
Tehran and Washington to seek to conclude their deals. Until recently, Putin
thought that Maduro will never abandon him. Today, Maduro is working to give in
to US entreaties, even as it lays siege to Russia.
None of this can be reassuring. Putin will not give up easily. The more
pressure, isolation, sanctions, and defeats are visited on him, and friends
abandon him, the more he will be determined to make a show of force.
Therefore, it may be early to say that the West has won in its war on Russia or
Putin. This stage is extremely dangerous for Europe and the US, no matter how
much Western governments tap themselves on the shoulders for having dealt firmly
with Putin. The isolation, embargo, and encirclement of a man like Putin carries
the risk of pushing him into extreme actions, as Russia collapses at the hands
of an adventurous president who launched an unnecessary war.
How Iran will spend the funds it receives from a nuclear
deal
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/March 13/2022
Any return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal will likely
enrich the Iranian regime with billions of dollars in revenues, as it will lift
sanctions on Tehran’s energy, banking and shipping sectors, reintegrate the
government into the global financial system, enhance the country’s legitimacy in
the world, increase its oil exports, and boost foreign investments, particularly
in the energy industry. But the most important question for politicians and
policymakers to consider is how will the Iranian regime spend this considerable
amount of extra income?
First of all, it is important to point out that we should not expect the extra
revenues to trickle down to the ordinary people of Iran and raise their living
standards. As Ashkan, a construction worker and father of three who lives in the
capital Tehran with his family, said: “People had a lot of hope in 2015 when the
nuclear deal was reached. The officials made us believe that the nuclear deal
will be good for the people as well. But after the nuclear deal, inflation kept
going up, wages stayed the same, the value of the currency kept going down, the
price of goods continued to go up, unemployment remained high, and people were
still financially struggling during the period of the nuclear deal until the US
government of (Donald) Trump left the nuclear deal.”
In addition, expect human rights violations and domestic crackdowns on those who
oppose the regime’s policies to rise across Iran, as the hard-liners tend to be
the ones who gain more power as a result of the lifting of sanctions. The
situation is expected to be much worse this time as the hard-liners control all
three branches of government: The judiciary, the legislature and the executive.
The regime will likely first use the extra revenue to increase its military
budget. This scenario occurred in 2015 after the original JCPOA was struck. Iran
immediately raised its military budget by $1.5 billion, from $15.6 billion to
$17.1 billion. At the time, the Iranian Students News Agency quoted Mohammed
Reza Pour Ebrahimi, a member of the parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee, as
saying: “In addition to the approved figures, $1.5 billion has been allocated to
prop up defense of the country and this amount has been approved by this
committee.”
Regionally speaking, a nuclear deal will likely escalate Iran’s interference in
the domestic affairs of other countries, in spite of what the advocates of the
agreement argue. We should recall that former US President Barack Obama promised
that a deal with the Iranian government would bring positive changes. To get the
JCPOA through in 2015, its proponents raised hopes that engaging with the
Iranian leaders would moderate the government’s behavior. For example, Obama
pointed out in an interview with National Public Radio that, as a result of the
nuclear agreement, Iran might make “different decisions that are less offensive
to its neighbors; that it tones down the rhetoric in terms of its virulent
opposition to Israel. And, you know, that’s something that we should welcome.”
But the international community witnessed the opposite. For the first time,
Hezbollah became emboldened and admitted to receiving financial and military
assistance from Iran. In addition, Tehran’s military involvement in Iraq
steadily rose. The Iranian regime also became more forceful in supporting and
assisting the Syrian government militarily and economically, as well as
providing intelligence and acting in an advisory role.
Sanctions relief, as a consequence of a return to the nuclear accord, would help
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its elite Quds force, which focuses
on extraterritorial operations, to buttress the regime’s proxies, including
Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iraqi Shiite militias.
Any new deal will likely escalate Iran’s interference in the domestic affairs of
other countries, in spite of what the advocates of the agreement argue.
Finally, do not expect the Iranian regime to curb its nuclear program and fully
comply with the terms of the nuclear deal. After the 2015 deal came into effect,
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of
the Constitution, revealed in its annual report for 2016 that the Iranian
government had pursued a “clandestine” path toward obtaining illicit nuclear
technology and equipment from German companies “at what is, even by
international standards, a quantitatively high level.”
In conclusion, the flow of billions of dollars of extra revenue into the Iranian
regime’s treasury as a result of a new nuclear deal will most likely be funneled
into the IRGC, the Quds Force and Iran’s proxy and militia groups, which will
ratchet up their military adventurism in the region and interference in the
domestic affairs of other countries.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh