English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 17/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.march17.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ
Letter to the Galatians 01/01-10/:”Paul an apostle sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead and all the members of God’s family who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 16-17/2022
Geagea & Hariri Sold the Blood Of the 14Th of March Martyrs/Elias Bejjani/March 14/2022
Lebanon’s Fransabank closes all branches after judicial order, source says
Fransabank Assets Seized, Operations Stop after Lawsuit by Depositor
President Aoun voices Lebanon’s need for international assistance to UN Deputy Secretary-General
Berri receives Biden’s representative for persons with special needs, Minister of Information, former Minister Elias Murr, discusses developments...
Mikati meets with Biden’s representative for persons with special needs, other Grand Serail visitors
Minister of Information discusses Tele Liban affairs with News and Archives Directors
Ministry of Interior: 1,043 electoral candidates, including 155 women
Report: Hariri Pushing for Sunni Boycott of Elections
Nasrallah Wants All Allies to Win, Says Opponents Have No Plan, Only Words
'Not a Penny' of Saudi Aid Will Pass through Lebanese State
Tokyo Prosecutors Appeal Ruling against Ghosn Aide Kelly
Mawlawi Promises 'Transparent' Elections, as Candidacy Doors Close
Lebanon’s last chance as Ukraine fallout looms/Bahaa Hariri/Arab News/March 16, 2022
Suppressors and freedom of expression/Sally Abou AlJoud/Now Lebanon/March 16/2022

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 16-17/2022
Israeli Media: 6 Drones Bombed UAV Base in Iran
Zelenskyy Tells U.S. Congress, 'We Need You Right Now'
Russia Says Ukraine Talks Progressing as Onslaught Continues
Report: Ukraine and Russia Draw Up Neutrality Plan to End War
Council of Europe Expels Russia from Human Rights Body
Russia says Ukraine talks progressing as onslaught continues
Russia Drafting Thousands in Syria for Ukraine War, Monitor Says
UK PM Lands in Riyadh for Russia, Oil Talks
Saudi crown prince meets British prime minister in Riyadh
U.N. Seeks $4.27 Billion in Appeal for War-Ravaged Yemen
Saudi King Leaves Hospital after Pacemaker Battery Changed
GCC Seeks to Host Yemen Govt., Rebels in Riyadh for Rare Talks
US to deliver F-15 jets to Egypt as it seeks to reassure allies
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, fellow British-Iranian freed to return to UK

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 16-17/2022
For the U.S.-Saudi-Israel Triangle, Ukraine Is a Shocking Endorsement/Hussain Abdul-Hussain and Shany Mor/Haaretz/March 16/2022
A Final Warning from Arabs to Biden/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/March 16/2022
The scandal of the Beirut Book Fair/Farouk Youssef/The Arab Weekly/March 16/2022
Israel-Turkey marriage of interests depends on stability/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/March 16, 2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 16-17/2022
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

Lebanon’s Fransabank closes all branches after judicial order, source says
Reuters/March 16, 2022
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Fransabank on Wednesday closed all of its branches in the country following a judicial order freezing its assets based on a lawsuit filed by a depositor, a Fransabank source told Reuters. Lebanese banks have frozen most savers out of their hard currency deposits since a financial meltdown in 2019, but the controls were never formalized in law and have been challenged in courts. The judicial order required Fransabank to reopen the account of Egyptian depositor Ayad Ibrahim and pay out his deposit in cash, or else the bank’s assets would be seized, his lawyer Rami Ollaik said. The judge who issued the order and Ibrahim could not be reached for comment. The Fransabank source said that following the order the bank would not be able to make any payments, including of salaries, because its assets have been frozen. The bank has roughly 50 branches, the source said. “We closed because the order is on all the belongings of the bank, including the safes, at the tellers, where you can get the cash. I can’t get (cash), and I can’t receive,” the Fransabank source said. Fransabank had issued Ibrahim a cheque for the value of his deposit and he was therefore no longer a client, the Fransabank source said, adding that he had signed for the cheque at a notary. A spokesperson for United For Lebanon, an anti-corruption group that is representing Ibrahim in the case, said he had “signed for the cheque but with reservation.”

Fransabank Assets Seized, Operations Stop after Lawsuit by Depositor
Naharnet/March 16/2022
Lebanese authorities on Wednesday seized the assets of Fransabank, one of the country’s biggest banks, based on an order issued by Judge Mariana Anani, the head of the Enforcement Department in Beirut. The order followed a lawsuit filed by the depositor Ayyad Gherbawi Ibrahim who requested that he be paid his money in banknotes and not through a check. Al-Jadeed TV said all the assets of the bank at the Hamra and Sassine branches were seized on Wednesday, as all monetary operations were suspended and safes and registers were sealed with red wax. The assets would be auctioned should the bank fail to pay the depositor his money, the TV network added. The United for Lebanon activist group and the Depositors Outcry Association meanwhile issued a statement saying that the judge’s order targets all of Fransabank’s branches in Lebanon. In a statement issued later on Wednesday, the bank announced that it will abide by Judge Anani's order and apologized to its clients for "not being able to fulfill their needs, especially the payment of the salaries of public sector employees and other employees."It also noted that the depositor who filed the lawsuit "had closed his account and fully recovered his deposit."

President Aoun voices Lebanon’s need for international assistance to UN Deputy Secretary-General
NNA/March 16/2022 
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, received the United Nations’ Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina Mohammed, today at the Presidential Palace.
The President told Ms. Mohammed that “Lebanon, which has suffered greatly from the repercussions of the displacement of Syrians to its lands since 2011, needs international assistance which contributes to alleviating the great financial burdens. These burdens are incurred by Lebanon as a result of caring for the displaced Syrians at various levels, in balance with the Lebanese demand for the return of these displaced persons to their homeland, especially after the fighting stopped in most of the Syrian lands a long time ago”.
The President also asserted that the international community's failure to respond to Lebanon's demand raises doubts about the use of this file for political purposes, especially during the search for a political solution to the Syrian situation.
Moreover, President Aoun pointed out that “Lebanon also needs development assistance, not only humanitarian, especially in the field of launching a reconstruction workshop”, indicating that achieving sustainable development goals requires first investing in people, especially women and youth.
The President called for not ignoring the extent of the suffering of the Lebanese as a result of the crises that have accumulated, which have been exacerbated by the recent developments during the past years.
In addition, President Aoun conveyed his greetings to the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, thanking him for his constant interest in Lebanon, which he visited on December 19 and closely examined the situation it is going through.
For her part, Mrs. Mohammed had expressed her happiness to be in Lebanon and conveyed to President Aoun the greetings of Secretary-General Guterres, and his affirmation of continuing support for Lebanon in all fields. Ms. Mohammed also expressed the appreciation of the international community and the United Nations for the care received by the displaced Syrians in Lebanon, and the international support for the Lebanese government in the negotiations it is conducting with the International Monetary Fund, and for the ongoing preparations for the parliamentary elections on May 15th.
During the meeting, international events were discussed, especially the war between Russia and Ukraine and its repercussions on stability in the countries of the world. The meeting was attended by: United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lebanon, Mrs. Najat Rushdi, and the delegation accompanying the Deputy Secretary-General. Special Adviser for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the US State Department:
The President met the Special Adviser for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the US State Department, Mrs. Sarah Minkara, and US Ambassador to Lebanon, Ms. Dorothy Shea.
Mrs. Minkara is on a visit to Lebanon to review the conditions of people with special needs and the rights and capabilities available to them, most notably ensuring their integration with Lebanese society with all its components.
Mrs. Minkara, who is of Lebanese origin, tackled the importance of integrating people with disabilities into the societies in which they live on the basis of the value, role and effectiveness they represent, and not only for humanitarian considerations. Moreover, Mrs. Mikara explained how she faced, with determination, the challenges that emerged after she lost her sight at the age of seven, and the support she received from her parents, who viewed her disability as a strength rather than a weakness and pushed her to show hope and ambition.
Minkara also focused on the importance of integrating people with disabilities in public schools, so that inclusion becomes part of the solution to the situation of the disabled, encouraging the establishment and generalization of integrated schools in all of Lebanon.
In addition, Mrs. Minkara recalled her participation in a workshop held at the Presidential Palace in Baabda years ago under the patronage and presence of the first Lebanese Lady, Mrs. Nadia Shami Aoun, and the explanations she gave about her experience to encourage people with disabilities to be primarily active in society and not in secondary roles.
For his part, the President welcomed Mrs. Minkaraafter assuming her new position in the US State Department, and praised the successes she achieved which qualified her to assume a high responsibility in the US State Department. President Aoun thanked Minkara’s personal efforts to support the file that includes people with disabilities, and stated that Lebanon has made great strides in caring for people with disabilities, whether through the assistance provided or health care, as well as through achieving their integration into society and taking an active role in it and removing all that hinders their normal life. Moreover, President Aoun pointed out that “The doors of the Presidential Palace were and still are open to people with special needs, as a series of awareness programs were organized to remove the obstacles facing the lives of these people, who in their vast majority enjoy great potentials that must be utilized”.
In addition, the President stressed the importance of inclusion, pointing to the provision of all necessary facilities to enable people with disabilities and special needs to participate in the parliamentary elections on May 15th. Finally, President Aoun emphasized his keenness to issue laws that protect and develop the rights of people with disabilities, in order to achieve a permanent accompaniment to their conditions.
Former Minister Pakradouni:
The President received former Minister, Karim Pakradouni, and discussed with him current local, regional and international developments, in addition to the political situation and parliamentary elections. --Presidency Press Office

Berri receives Biden’s representative for persons with special needs, Minister of Information, former Minister Elias Murr, discusses developments...
NNA/March 16/2022
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday welcomed at the Second Presidency in Ain El-Tineh, US President Joe Biden’s Representative of Persons with Special Needs, Sarah Minkara, in the presence of US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea. Discussions reportedly touched on legislative affairs related to the rights of people with special needs. On the other hand, Speaker Berri received former Deputy Prime Minister, former Minister of Interior and Defense, Elias Murr, in the presence of his son Michel Elias Murr, who extended an invitation to Speaker Berri to attend the memorial service for the late Deputy Prime Minister Michel Murr. The visit had been an occasion to discuss the current general situation and the most recent political developments. Berri then received the new Information Minister, Ziad Al-Makari, who came on a protocol visit after assuming his duties at the Ministry of Information. This afternoon, Berri met UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, in presence of UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi, and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCWA Rola Dashti. Discussions touched on the current general situation and the latest developments, especially the upcoming electoral and constitutional deadlines.

Mikati meets with Biden’s representative for persons with special needs, other Grand Serail visitors
NNA/March 16/2022 
Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, is scheduled to chair a cabinet session at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the Grand Serail. Meanwhile, the Grand Serail witnessed on Wednesday a series of meetings, during which the Prime Minister welcomed US President Joe Biden’s representative of persons with special needs, Sarah Minkara, in the presence of US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea. The meeting discussed the efforts exerted by the Lebanese government handling the affairs of people with special needs. Separately, Mikati received a delegation representing the families of those arrested over Beirut port explosion. The Prime Minister then welcomed head of the Notary Public Council in Lebanon, Naji Al-Khazen, with whom he discussed the Notary Public Council’s affairs, organization, and development. Mikati finally had an audience with former Minister of Interior and Defense, Elias Al-Murr, as well as with Deputy Prime Minister, Saadeh Al-Shami.

Minister of Information discusses Tele Liban affairs with News and Archives Directors
NNA/March 16/2022
Information Minister, Ziad Al-Makari, on Wednesday tackled an array of Tele Liban affairs, especially in terms of productivity. He met for this purpose with Tele Liban’s News Director, Dina Ramadan Tabbara, to whom he stressed "the paramount importance of Tele Liban’s objectivity when transmitting news, especially in light of the impending parliamentary elections."Al-Makari also discussed the importance of preserving Tele Liban’s archives with Archives Director, Othman Al-Majzoub.

Ministry of Interior: 1,043 electoral candidates, including 155 women
NNA/March 16/2022
The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities - the General Directorate of Political Affairs and Refugees - on Wednesday announced in a statement that at 12:00 am on Tuesday 15/3/2022, the nomination window for parliamentary elections that will take place on May 15, 2022 has closed, and the number of candidates has reached 1043, including 155 females. The statement also noted that the deadline for submitting permits to withdraw candidacy ends at 12:00 am on Wednesday 30/3/2022.

Report: Hariri Pushing for Sunni Boycott of Elections
Naharnet/March 16/2022 
Despite its withdrawal from parliamentary elections, al-Mustaqbal Movement is still present in the electoral equation and is pushing for a major Sunni boycott of the polls, a media report said on Wednesday. Ex-PM Saad Hariri is “exerting strenuous efforts to ensure a very low Sunni voter turnout in all regions, with the aim of consolidating his leadership and confining the Sunnis to him as a figure,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported. He wants to tell everyone inside and outside the country that he is “the only representative of the community,” the daily added. “For this mission, Hariri has selected al-Mustaqbal Movement Secretary-General Ahmed Hariri and the head of the Beirut Association for Social Development, Ahmed Hashmiyeh, with whom he met in the UAE several days ago,” al-Akhbar said. He has tasked them with “holding meetings with influential figures and families” in Beirut and the various regions, the newspaper added.

Nasrallah Wants All Allies to Win, Says Opponents Have No Plan, Only Words
Naharnet/March 16/2022
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said that Hizbullah will work for the success of its allies in the parliamentary elections. “Our battle is our allies’ battle,” Nasrallah said in a meeting for Hizbullah’s cadres, as reported by al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday. Nasrallah called for increasing the turnout, even if it necessitates "going to the voters’ houses."“Our aim is not only for Hizbullah’s candidates to succeed, we also want all of our allies to win with us,” Nasrallah said. He revealed that Hizbullah will only run with Amal Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement in the Beirut II district and that they haven’t promised a preferential vote for any ally. He added that Hizbullah’s presence in Cabinet and in Parliament is necessary to “protect the resistance,” even if it implies being accused of "being in the company of corrupted people."Nasrallah stressed that “elections should not be taken lightly" and that "they are as important as other battles that the resistance has fought." “Our opponents have not presented a plan. They have only talked about the resistance’s arms, the Iranian occupation and Hizbullah’s dominance over the state,” Nasrallah said.

'Not a Penny' of Saudi Aid Will Pass through Lebanese State
Naharnet/March 16/2022
The French and Saudi officials who met in Paris on Tuesday discussed “the coordination of the executive steps that have been agreed to assist Lebanon, especially through the joint fund that has been set up for this purpose,” sources who accompanied the Saudi visit to Paris said. “Not a single penny of the Saudi aid parcel for the Lebanese will pass through the official Lebanese institutions,” the sources told Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Wednesday. The French-Saudi agreement to fund humanitarian projects in Lebanon had first been announced during a February 28 Paris meeting between foreign ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Prince Faisal bin Farhan. A statement issued that day had said that the assistance will be offered to several hospitals and primary care health centers as well as educational institutions and NGOs that distribute infant milk and food to the most vulnerable segments of the population.

Tokyo Prosecutors Appeal Ruling against Ghosn Aide Kelly
Associated Press/March 16/2022
Japanese prosecutors filed an appeal Wednesday against the verdict in the trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, who recently was cleared of almost all charges he had faced related to alleged under-reporting of his former boss Carlos Ghosn's pay. The Tokyo District Court handed down a six-month sentence suspended for three years earlier this month. It found Kelly, an American, guilty of under-reporting former Nissan Chairman Ghosn's compensation for just one of the eight years cited in the charges. The defense has already appealed and is pushing for Kelly's total innocence. Tokyo prosecutors have said they had been studying whether they had grounds for an appeal for the years Kelly had been cleared of any offenses. They had demanded Kelly be sentenced to two years in prison. The case now goes to the Tokyo High Court, which will examine all eight years in the allegations, since both sides are appealing.
People who are given suspended sentences are not required to be in Japan. Kelly was welcomed back to Tennessee earlier this week by Sen. Bill Hagerty, who supported his case from the start. "It took over three years to get him home, but today I'm delighted to be here to welcome Greg back," he said. Kelly worked for Nissan for three decades and was in semi-retirement in the U.S. when he was summoned to a meeting in Japan in November 2018. He was arrested then at the same time as Ghosn, the former head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Kelly's trial began in September 2020. Ghosn has not been tried because he jumped bail in late 2019 and fled the country for Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan. Yokohama-based Nissan Motor Co., which makes the March subcompact, Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, pleaded guilty in the same trial, has been fined and will not be part of the appeal.

Mawlawi Promises 'Transparent' Elections, as Candidacy Doors Close
Naharnet/March 16/2022
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced Wednesday that Lebanon is ready to hold the elections, as doors have closed for parliament candidacy with 1043 candidates. He asked the civil and international communities to monitor the elections and make sure they are transparent.
"We are taking care of every detail to achieve successful and democratic elections," Mawlawi said, promising to give "a positive image of Lebanon to the Lebanese and international communities." He also assured that there are no logistic obstacles. "I am not worried," he said. "Do not worry." The international community has been urging Lebanon for reforms as a prerequisite to unlock support and aid. The west and the United Nations have been stressing the importance of holding the parliamentary elections on time, as they blamed the political class for corruption and mismanagement leading up to Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis.

Lebanon’s last chance as Ukraine fallout looms
Bahaa Hariri/Arab News/March 16, 2022
Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine will have ramifications that reverberate around the world for years to come. In the West, the immediate concern remains the invasion’s impact on the oil and gas markets. Yet, in countries like Lebanon, with just six weeks to two months of wheat reserves, the war’s impact on agricultural supply chains could well be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back.
With an economy struggling due to the impacts of decades of corruption, a financial crisis and COVID-19, the upcoming parliamentary elections have never been so important. My fellow Lebanese face a bleak future, with no jobs for workers, no fuel at the gas stations and food at record prices. Children are already going hungry up and down the country and, should the crisis in Ukraine continue, food prices will only skyrocket further. Given Lebanon imports more than 60 percent of its wheat from Ukraine, the situation has the potential to escalate at a frightening pace.
The elections in May remain the last chance Lebanon has to vote for a government that is willing to implement concrete policies to ease the pain of our people. Inaction or maintaining the status quo is not an option. As long as the people of Lebanon allow sectarian politics to continue, the country will be subject to manipulation, political interference and attempts to cause more chaos from the outside as well as from the political elites within. Unfortunately, the political establishment in Lebanon has closed ranks, determined to maintain its tenuous grip on power, and there is worrying speculation that the elections could be delayed. Unhelpfully, whereas the US and EU had been applying pressure on Lebanon to hold these elections, another side effect of the crisis in Ukraine is that their attention could be elsewhere.
We should not underestimate the political elites’ desire to maintain their tenuous grip on power by avoiding electoral accountability. After all, nothing better highlights the political establishment’s desire for self-preservation than its reaction to the Port of Beirut explosion. Nobody — not a single government official or Cabinet member — has been held to account for a completely avoidable tragedy that cost Lebanon 219 souls and billions of dollars. Any attempt at due process has been continually blocked by those motivated solely by maintaining the current status quo. That such actions mean forcing the victims’ families into a never-ending campaign for justice is of little concern to such people.
There is no good reason to vote for the old sectarian parties, which have done nothing in recent years to improve the country’s dire situation.
My father, Rafik Hariri, was a passionate advocate for Lebanon and the Lebanese people. He rose to prominence in the aftermath of the civil war with the sole agenda to rebuild Lebanon and put our nation on the path to prosperity. He fought for a Lebanon free from the sectarian constraints that led to the civil war and wanted to build a country that worked for everyone, not just the elites. In the end, he paid the ultimate price, yet his vision for a better, more prosperous Lebanon shines a light on a potential path to prosperity and a return to the kind of Lebanon my father died trying to build.
To honor his legacy, I have been an early supporter of Sawa Li Lubnan, a new political party that is fighting to end the sectarian stranglehold on Lebanese politics and is willing to implement the much-needed reforms to our judiciary, politics and economy. I hope my fellow countrymen and women see in Sawa a chance at a fresh start. The clock is ticking as the reverberations of what Russia started in Ukraine approach Lebanon. I hope that the Lebanese people wake up to this stark reality. There is no good reason to back the old sectarian parties, which have done nothing in recent years to improve the dire situation facing Lebanon. If the people do not act now and back parties like Sawa Li Lubnan, there may not be a Lebanon left.
I just pray they act before the crisis in Ukraine reaches our shores.
• Bahaa Hariri is the eldest son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Suppressors and freedom of expression
Sally Abou AlJoud/Now Lebanon/March 16/2022
A brawl at the Beirut Book Fair over a portrait of IRGC former commander Qassem Soleimani imitating pop culture effigies of Che Guevara exposes deeper rifts in Lebanese society, which cannot be healed by a debate on freedom of expression, analysts say. After bouncing back following a forced three-year interruption, the Beirut International and Arab Book Fair slid into conflict last week when a group of activists protested the portrayal of a grand painting of slain Iranian Major General, Qassem Suleimani. Two of the activists, identified as Shafiq Badr and Nelly Qandil, were assaulted for chanting, “Beirut free, Iran out,” and Badr was severely beaten up after punching the poster, demanding its removal, and tossing the stall’s books off the shelves.  A video showing the confrontation was widely circulated on social media with one activist yelling, “I am Lebanese, I am Sunni,” when asked to leave the booth. While the activist was holding his ground, a group of men charged toward him stating, “we will show you what freedom is like.” The incident sparked controversy on Lebanese social media, between pro-Hezbollah groups and opponents of Iranian influence in the country, in addition to freedom of expression activists.
But some analysts say the problem goes deeper than a mere incident involving freedom of speech and violence at the Beirut Book Fair. “The controversy reflects a division that is much deeper than what happened during the Book Fair. It is a division that has defined Lebanese politics at least since 2005 and was exacerbated by the Syrian conflict. The solution cannot be cosmetic, neither at the level of cultural events nor at the level of what to do with billboards,” said Ayman Mhanna, executive director of the Samir Kassir Foundation, an organization that supports freedom of expression and democratic freedoms in Lebanon and across the Middle East.
A controversial figure at a book fair
Qassem Soleimani was the Iranian commander of the Quds Force, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that handles Iran’s overseas operations before he was hunted down at Baghdad airport and assassinated by a U.S. drone strike in 2020.  A highly controversial figure in Lebanon, Soleimani is frequently rendered a war criminal for being responsible for the death of thousands of civilians in Syria and Iraq. His Lebanese supporters, on the other hand, often adherents of Iran-backed Hezbollah, deem him a “hero”, and welcome billboards and statues of him around the country’s Shiite neighborhoods and villages, including the airport road, provoking opponents who interpret it as a symbol of Iranian hegemony. “There shouldn’t be any problem with you having books from multiple political backgrounds about events, history, personality, etc. Otherwise, it would be censorship,” journalist and writer Luna Safwan told NOW. The writer came under fire on Twitter when she expressed her disapproval for the presence of Soleimani’s poster at the book fair and for the disproportionate violence the activists were met with when they tried to take the picture down.
“There’s a big difference between having a section for Iran as a country, with its culture and history, and having a stand that is politically bold about a leader who is that controversial,” she said. The publishing house defended the picture, a colorful life-size effigy of the IRGC former commander copying pop-culture images of Marxist symbol Che Guevara. “In times when he’s referred to as a terrorist and as a criminal, we want to tell our version of the story and this [the book fair] is a chance to do that,” said Hasan Fneish, the technical advisor of “Dar al-Mawada” publishing house. Registered in 2015, Dar al-Mawada has been present at Beirut’s book fair since then, with literary materials revolving around the Iran-led “Resistance Axis” and their martyrs. They publish books that deal with the culture around these fighters, and they tell their stories from their perspective, as opposed to the perspective of who killed them, according to Fneish. “The exhibition is an opportunity to share exactly that with people,” he added. “The painting is merely to market our book on Qassem Soleimani.”
But Safwan explains that politics in its activist form, rather than the presence of the books themselves,is what bothered the group of protesters. “What they did in that section is that they made it so hard to separate culture from politics, specifically politics related to war and war crimes,” she said.
While it is normally held in December, the organizers were determined to launch this year’s exhibition both in March and December to compensate for its dormancy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the destruction following the August 4 explosion in 2020, and the wrenching economic and financial crises shooting book prices up. At least 90 publishing houses participated in the exhibition, including four from Egypt and Syria and 10 from Iran, with a significant absence of Gulf publishing houses and publishers who sell English and French language materials and books. They decided to, instead, given the severe economic crisis, participate in other Arab book exhibitions abroad to amass revenue in hard currency, namely in Muskat, Kuwait and Bahrain, some of which were eventually canceled due to the pandemic, according to Hammoud. However, many blamed the Iranian influence for the imbalance of representing publishing houses and opted for “Tehran Book Fair” and “Persian Book Fair” when referring to the exhibition. The fact is that 14 publishing houses, such as Antoine, Samir, The Eastern Library, Estephan, including the publishing syndicate, refused to participate in Beirut’s fair upon invitation, Hammoud said, ”because they opposed the fair’s launch ahead of its standard date”. “They are free to do whatever they want,” Hammoud said. “We did not want to wait until December to revive Beirut’s cultural life. We want to buy books and we want to read.”Thirsty for books, the attendance has been remarkable and beyond expectations considering the economic downfall, soaring fuel prices, and the leveling of 60 percent of the exhibition’s establishment by the port’s explosion, according to Hammoud and some participating houses.
“It was a challenge for Beirut,” he added.
“Iran out” vs. “Long live Iran”
Many experts say Lebanon has been a battleground for vying geopolitical schemes where Iran is in the lead, especially after the Lebanon-Gulf diplomatic row, with Hezbollah being its firmest pillar in Lebanon. “The country’s interests are without any doubt hostage of Iranian interests and geopolitical ambitions,” Mhanna said.”Yet, this should not be an excuse to turn a blind eye to serious mistakes made by Iran’s opponents in Lebanon.”On the other hand, Hezbollah supporters have been reportedly censoring other people’s work in the country. It also suppresses freedom of movement and freedom of assembly of their opponents. They are deploying sophisticated online disinformation/bullying campaigns that also contribute to their strategy of censorship, Mhmanna explained.
According to The Daily Star, the artist had tweeted about the incident at the time typing: ”i’ve just been censored. my painting was taken down @BEIRUT ART FAIR – harsh reminder of why I try to avoid these things in the 1st place!!!” “It did not have any political message, why didn’t they endorse art back then?” Safwan pointed out. Prior to the recent clash at the book expo, a choir by the name “Bikar”, who were hosted for a musical evening, were harassed into discontinuing their performance as a group of publishers threatened to withdraw from the exhibition if the ensemble carried on with their singing and then disconnected their cables. Online hate and disinformation campaigns, wielded by networks of Hezbollah supporters, target the party’s critics and opponents with the intent to smear and defame. Lokman Slim, who was assassinated last year in February, was framed as a dishonorable man deserving of his destiny when the late strident Hezbollah critic was accused on social media of collaboration with Israel — a crime punishable by jail time in Lebanon. The Samir Kassir Foundation was founded following the assassination of journalist Samir Kassir, a vocal and staunch opponent of the Syrian occupation in Lebanon. The foundation, a fierce defender of freedom of speech, reported on a cluster of networks, “the hate network”, which celebrated Slim’s death and were linked to influential Lebanese journalists with big social media following and to Hezbollah supporters who mirror messages of the group’s leader, Hasan Nasrallah.
The party’s proponents had been sending Slim death threats, which were being plastered across his building’s walls, before he was murdered in Lebanon’s south, the Shiite party’s stronghold. Slim had also issued a statement in 2019 holding Hezbollah’s lead commander and his ally Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, along with the Lebanese army, liable for his security.
The Lebanese are continuously losing whatever is left of common language, common understanding, common living. They only nominally share the same citizenship. The only solution comes from a serious re-design of the Lebanese social contract and a level playing field, in which no side holds weapons and coercion measures. Many analysts have seen these actions as tools of suppression and intimidation employed toward anyone who holds counter views that can sabotage the party’s image. Similar attacks have been directed toward other journalists and activists, namely Dima Sadek, Luna Safwan, Mariam Seif Eddine, and others, who dared to speak out against the militant group or its leader, and who are inured to threats and Hezbollah’s impunity. “Countering and opposing this censorship is an act of civic resistance,” Mhanna said. “This should be done by creating safe spaces for dissent, not by having other groups replicate Hezbollah’s behavior to defend their own symbols.” The clash goes much deeper than freedom of expression and is linked to the political dysfunction of the Lebanese system and its connections to the regional turmoil, Mhanna added.
“The solution is, on the one hand, linked to how the Iranian role in the region will evolve, which in turn is very much related to the Iranian regime itself,” he stressed. “On the other hand, it is linked to the disintegration of the Lebanese social contract as long as the country is managed by the current sectarian parties. The Lebanese are continuously losing whatever is left of common language, common understanding, common living. They only nominally share the same citizenship. The only solution comes from a serious re-design of the Lebanese social contract and a level playing field, in which no side holds weapons and coercion measures,” he pointed out.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 16-17/2022
Israeli Media: 6 Drones Bombed UAV Base in Iran
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 16 March, 2022
Israeli media confirmed on Tuesday that Israeli drones destroyed a fleet of Iranian drones in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah in mid-February. The reports come three days after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) launched ten ballistic missiles at alleged Israeli sites in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Haaretz newspaper stated that six Israeli drones carried out a strike on a site that includes hundreds of IRGC drones in Kermanshah. At the time, the Nour News website, which is affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, reported that a fire had broken out at a military base in western Iran. It said the fire erupted in a stockroom where motor oil and other flammable materials were stored in one of the support bases of the Revolutionary Guards in the Mahidasht region of Kermanshah province, causing damage to an industrial shed. Rescuers put out the fire, and teams were dispatched to the area to investigate the cause of the incident. Last week, Israeli military officials said Iran’s “UAV terror” is a new global issue, accusing Tehran of directly attacking military and civilian targets in the Middle East. The Israeli military also released footage of what it said were the interception of Iranian drones. On Monday, officials said Israeli government websites were downed for over an hour due to a major cyberattack. They did not immediately say who was behind the attack, but media reports quickly pointed the finger at Iran. Also on Monday, Iranian state television reported that the IRGC arrested members of a “network” working for Israel that planned to sabotage Iran’s central underground nuclear facility at Fordow.

Zelenskyy Tells U.S. Congress, 'We Need You Right Now'
Associated Press/March 16/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited Pearl Harbor and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on Wednesday as he appealed to the U.S. Congress to do more to help Ukraine's fight against Russia. “We need you right now,” Zelenskyy said in remarks livestreamed at the U.S. Capitol. He added, "I call on you to do more” Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation as he appeared on the video screen. Zelenskyy's livestreamed appearance Wednesday into the U.S. Capitol is part of his very public strategy, in which he has invoked Winston Churchill, Hamlet and the power of world opinion in his fight to stop Russia. Nearing the three-week mark in an ever-escalating war, Zelenskyy has used his campaign to implore allied leaders to “close the sky” to prevent the Russian airstrikes that are devastating his country. It has also put Zelenskyy at odds with President Joe Biden, whose administration has stopped short of providing a no-fly zone or the transfer of military jets from neighboring Poland as the U.S. seeks to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia. Instead, Biden will deliver his own address following Zelenskyy’s speech, in which he is expected to announce an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official. That would bring the total announced in the last week alone to $1 billion. It includes money for anti-armor and air-defense weapons, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Appearing in his now-trademark army green T-shirt as he appeals to world leaders, Zelenskyy has emerged as a heroic figure at the center of what many view as the biggest security threat to Europe since World War II. Almost 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine, the fastest exodus in modern times. The Ukrainian president is no stranger to Congress, having played a central role in Donald Trump's first impeachment. As president, Trump was accused of withholding security aid to Ukraine as he pressured Zelenskyy to dig up dirt on political rival Biden. Zelensky is speaking on a giant auditorium screen to many of the same Republican lawmakers who declined to impeach or convict Trump, but are among the bipartisan groundswell in Congress now clamoring for military aid to Ukraine. Invoking Shakespeare's hero last week, Zelenskyy asked the British House of Commons whether Ukraine is “to be or not to be.” On Tuesday, he appealed to “Dear Justin” as he addressed the Canadian Parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Zelenskyy called on European Union leaders at the start of the war to do the politically unthinkable and fast-track Ukraine’s membership — and he has continued to push for more help to save his young democracy than world leaders have so far pledged to do.
”I know he will ask for more help,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Biden has insisted there will be no U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine and has resisted Zelenskyy's relentless pleas for warplanes as too risky, potentially escalating into a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia. “Direct conflict between NATO and Russia is World War III,” Biden has said. U.S. defense officials say they are puzzled by Zelenskyy’s demand for more warplanes. They say Ukraine isn’t often flying the planes it has now, while making good use of other weapons the West is providing, including Stinger missiles for shooting down helicopters and other aircraft. While officials are anticipating that Zelenskyy may once again call on the U.S. and the West for fighter jets or help establishing a no-fly zone, the Biden administration is looking to send Ukraine “more of what’s been working well,” according to an official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Already the Biden administration has sent Ukraine more than 600 Stinger missiles, 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems, unmanned aerial system tracking radars; grenade launchers, 200 shotguns, 200 machine guns and nearly 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition, along with helicopters, patrol boats, satellite imagery and body armor, helmets, and other tactical gear, the official said. Even though Zelenskyy and Biden speak almost daily by phone, the Ukrainian president has found a potentially more receptive audience in Congress. This won’t be the first time he has appealed directly to members of the House and Senate, who have remained remarkably unified in their support of Ukraine. Nearly two weeks ago, Zelenskyy delivered a desperate plea to some 300 lawmakers and staff on a private call that if they could not enforce a no-fly zone, at least send more planes. "We think the United States needs to do more," said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., returning from a weekend visit with other lawmakers to Poland.
Congress has already approved $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and the newly announced security aid will come from that allotment, which is part of a broader bill that Biden signed into law Tuesday. But lawmakers expect more aid will be needed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Zelenskyy asked for help in rebuilding his country when they spoke last week. It was in that call that Zelenskyy asked to address the U.S. Congress, something the Democratic leader readily agreed to. “The Congress, our country and the world are in awe of the people of Ukraine,” said Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement Monday announcing the address. They said Congress “remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting Ukraine as they face Putin’s cruel and diabolical aggression.”Zelenskyy's next stop could be Spain. The speaker of Spain’s Congress of Deputies has invited the Ukrainian president to address Spanish lawmakers via videolink. In a letter to Zelenskyy, Speaker Meritxell Batet wrote that the address “will be a magnificent opportunity for the chamber, all Spanish people and the thousands of Ukrainians living in Spain to listen to your message and express our firmest support.”

Russia Says Ukraine Talks Progressing as Onslaught Continues
Associated Press/March 16/2022
Russia's military forces battered Ukraine's capital region and other major cities in a bid to crush the resistance that has frustrated any hopes the Kremlin had for a lightning victory, while the two countries projected optimism for another round of scheduled talks Wednesday.
With Russia's ground advance on Kyiv stalled despite the sustained bombardment, statements from the two sides suggested room for progress in their negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a neutral military status for Ukraine was being "seriously discussed," while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia's demands for ending the war as becoming "more realistic."Zelenskyy said Russian forces had been unable to move deeper into Ukrainian territory but had continued their heavy shelling of cities including Mariupol, a southern seaport that has been under attack for almost all of the nearly three-week war.Kyiv residents huddled in homes and shelters amid a citywide curfew that runs until Thursday morning, as Russia rained shells on areas in and around the city. A 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv erupted in flames after being hit by shrapnel.
"Efforts are still needed, patience is needed," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. "Any war ends with an agreement."
British and U.S. intelligence assessments supported the Ukrainian leader's view of the fighting, saying Russian ground forces remained about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the center of Kyiv. Hopes for diplomatic progress rose after Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukraine realized it could not join NATO, his most explicit acknowledgment that the goal, enshrined in Ukraine's Constitution, was unlikely to be met. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long depicted Ukraine's NATO aspirations as a threat to Russia, something the Western military alliance denies. Lavrov welcomed Zelenskyy's comment and said "the businesslike spirit" starting to surface in the talks "gives hope that we can agree on this issue.""A neutral status is being seriously discussed in connection with security guarantees," Lavrov said Wednesday on Russian channel RBK TV. "There are concrete formulations that in my view are close to being agreed." Russia's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said the sides were discussing a possible compromise idea for a future Ukraine with a smaller, non-aligned military. Prospects of a diplomatic breakthrough were highly uncertain, however, with a gulf between Ukraine's demand that the invading forces withdraw completely and Russia's suspected war aim of replacing Kyiv's Westward-looking government with pro-Moscow leadership.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied Russian claims Ukraine was open to adopting a model of neutrality comparable to Sweden or Austria's. Podolyak said on Telegram that Ukraine needed powerful allies and "clearly defined security guarantees" to keep it safe.
Zelenskyy was making a direct appeal for more American help Wednesday in a rare speech by a foreign leader to the U.S. Congress, with President Joe Biden set to announce $800 million in new military assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official.
There was no immediate prospect of an end to the fighting that has upended Europe's post-Cold War security order, driven millions from their homes in Ukraine and turned large parts of the country into war zones. The U.N. refugee agency says the number of people fleeing Ukraine amid Europe's heaviest fighting since World War II has passed 3 million. The U.N.'s human rights body reported Wednesday that 726 civilians have been killed and 1,174 injured but acknowledged those numbers were likely an undercount.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday to try to obtain greater access for aid groups and increased protection of civilians.
Amid the vast humanitarian crisis caused by the war, the Red Cross has helped evacuate civilians from besieged areas and has delivered 200 tons of aid, including blankets, water and over 5,200 body bags to help "ensure the dead are treated in a dignified manner,"
Nowhere has suffered more than Mariupol, a strategic port city of 430,000 on the Sea of Azov that has been surrounded by Russian troops for two weeks. Local officials say missile strikes and shelling have killed more than 2,300 people and left residents struggling for food, water, heat and medicine. A mass grave trench contains the bodies of children, and more corpses lie in streets and in a hospital basement awaiting someone to pick them up. With food running out and humanitarian aid unable to get in amid the constant bombardment, people burn scraps of furniture in makeshift grills to warm their hands and cook the little food still available.
In a sign of relief, 20,000 people managed to escape the city on Tuesday in 4,000 vehicles, according to Zelenskyy's office.
But Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk expressed dismay Wednesday at reports that Russian forces had taken hundreds of people hostage at a Mariupol hospital and were using it as a firing position. Regional leader Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian troops forced about 400 people from nearby homes into the Regional Intensive Care Hospital and were using them and roughly 100 patients and staff as human shields by not allowing them to leave. Doctors from other Mariupol hospitals made a video to tell the world about the horrors they've been seeing. "We don't want to be heroes and martyrs posthumously," one woman said. She said it was insufficient to refer to the patients being treated as wounded: "It's torn off arms and legs, gouged out eyes, bodies torn into fragments, insides falling out."The artillery shrapnel that hit the 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv on Wednesday obliterated the top floor and ignited a fire that sent plumes of smoke over the area. Residents carried possessions and pets from the building as firefighters doused the flames amid a sea of rubble. The Kyiv emergencies agency said there were two victims, without saying if they were injured or killed. Kyiv regional leader Oleksiy Kuleba said Russian forces had intensified fighting in the Kyiv suburbs and a highway leading west. Across the capital region, "kindergartens, museums, churches, residential blocks and engineering infrastructure are suffering from the endless firing," Kuleba said, and 12 towns around Kyiv were reported to be without water and six without heat. He said Russian troops were trying to cut off transportation links to the capital and to destroy logistical capabilities while planning a wide-ranging attack to seize the capital. Russian forces succeeded in occupying the city of Ivankiv, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Kyiv, and control the surrounding region on the border with Belarus, Kuleba said.
In addition to airstrikes and shelling by ground forces, Russian naval ships fired overnight on a town south of Mariupol on the Azov Sea and another near Odesa on the Black Sea, according to local officials. Ukraine also appeared to have successes, with satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press showing helicopters and vehicles ablaze at the Russian-held Kherson International Airport and Air Base after a suspected Ukrainian strike on Tuesday. Zelenskyy's office said Ukrainian forces thwarted Russian efforts to enter Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which was pounded by almost non-stop strikes over the last 24 hours. A powerful explosion thundered across the city overnight. Hospital workers in the city found themselves on two frontlines, battling COVID-19 in intensive care units as war raged outside. Air raid sirens go off multiple times daily, forcing fragile patients into the the Kharkiv Regional Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital's makeshift bomb shelter, the hospital's director, Dr. Pavel Nartov, said. "Bombing takes place from morning into night. Thank god a bomb has not yet hit our hospital. But it could hit at any time," Nartov told The Associated Press. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Russian forces destroyed 111 Ukrainian aircraft, 160 drones and more than 1,000 tanks or other military vehicles since the start of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
The Russian military's daily public statements on the war focus almost exclusively on fighting in the separatist-held Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and on Ukrainian military targets, without acknowledging attacks on civilians. As the West tried to bolster Ukraine's defenses while ratcheting up sanctions on Russia, defense ministers from NATO member nations met in Brussels on Wednesday ahead of an emergency summit of the military alliance next week. Meanwhile the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia returned to Poland on Wednesday after a risky visit to Kyiv meant to show support for Ukraine. They went ahead with the hours-long train trip despite worries within the European Union about the security risks. "Ukraine of these days and weeks needs above all arms supply," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at a Prague airport Wednesday after arriving home from the trip. He said massive supplies of military equipment have to be delivered quickly by as many countries as possible for Ukraine to have a chance of holding off the invading Russian troops. "We have to realize that (the Ukrainians) do also fight for our independence, for our freedom, and we have to support them," Fiala said. "That's the reason why we traveled there, to show them they're not alone."

Report: Ukraine and Russia Draw Up Neutrality Plan to End War
Naharnet/March 16/2022
Ukraine and Russia have made “significant progress” on a tentative 15-point peace plan that would involve Kyiv renouncing NATO membership ambitions in return for security guarantees, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The plan include a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal if Kyiv declares neutrality and accepts limits on its armed forces, the FT quoted three people involved in the talks as saying. “The proposed deal, which Ukrainian and Russian negotiators discussed in full for the first time on Monday, would involve Kyiv renouncing its ambitions to join NATO and promising not to host foreign military bases or weaponry in exchange for protection from allies such as the U.S., UK and Turkey,” the sources told the Financial Times. Two of the sources said the putative deal also includes provisions on enshrining rights for the Russian language in Ukraine, where it is widely spoken though Ukrainian is the only official language. Russia has framed its invasion as an attempt to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine from what it claims to be a “genocide” by “neo-Nazis”. Ukraine said Wednesday it wants its security to be guaranteed by international forces and rejected proposals pushed by Russia for it to adopt a neutral status comparable to Austria or Sweden. "Ukraine is now in a direct state of war with Russia. As a result, the model can only be 'Ukrainian' and only on legally verified security guarantees," its top negotiator Mikhailo Podolyak said in comments published by President Volodymyr Zelensky's office.
He called for a legally binding security agreement, signed by international partners, who would "not stand aside in the event of an attack on Ukraine, as they do today." The Kremlin earlier Wednesday said that a neutral Ukraine along the lines of Sweden or Austria was being discussed at talks with Kyiv to end three weeks of fighting in Ukraine. "This is an option that is being discussed now and that can be considered as a compromise," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of negotiations with the latest bout ending late Tuesday and Kyiv pointing to "fundamental contradictions". Russia's foreign minister said earlier Wednesday that Moscow and Kyiv were "close to agreeing" the wording of an agreement on neutrality. Both sides had earlier raised hopes of a breakthrough, referring to documents that were close to being put to paper and signed. Russia's lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told reporters earlier Wednesday that talks were "slow and difficult" but said the Kremlin wants peace "as soon as possible."Other than neutrality for Ukraine, Medinsky said issues including the status of the Crimean peninsula as well as territories held for years by pro-Moscow separatists were being discussed.

Council of Europe Expels Russia from Human Rights Body
Associated Presst/March 16/2022
The Council of Europe on Wednesday expelled Russia from the continent's foremost human rights body in an unprecedented move over Moscow's invasion and war in Ukraine. The 47-nation organization's committee of ministers said in statement that "the Russian Federation ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe as from today, after 26 years of membership."Early in the week, the group's parliamentary assembly already initiated the process of expulsion and unanimously backed that Russia would be kicked out. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted Wednesday that it would have left the body regardless. In an interview with Russian broadcaster RBK, he accused NATO and EU countries of "abusing their majority in the council, eventually transforming it into a tool for anti-Russian policy." Ukraine is also a member of the Council of Europe. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba immediately welcomed the decision, tweeting that there was "no place for Russia in European bodies as it wages a barbaric war of aggression against Ukraine and commits multiple war crimes."It was unclear what the extent of support was for the expulsion since the Committee of Ministers arrived at a "consensus" behind closed doors, making it impossible to have a full breakdown of votes.

Russia says Ukraine talks progressing as onslaught continues
AP/March 16, 2022
KYIV: Russia’s military forces battered Ukraine’s capital region and other major cities in a bid to crush the resistance that has frustrated any hopes the Kremlin had for a lightning victory, while the two countries projected optimism for another round of scheduled talks Wednesday.
With Russia’s ground advance on Kyiv stalled despite the sustained bombardment, statements from the two sides suggested room for progress in their negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a neutral military status for Ukraine was being “seriously discussed,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia’s demands for ending the war as becoming “more realistic.”
Zelenskyy said Russian forces had been unable to move deeper into Ukrainian territory but had continued their heavy shelling of cities including Mariupol, a southern seaport that has been under attack for almost all of the nearly three-week war.
Kyiv residents huddled in homes and shelters amid a citywide curfew that runs until Thursday morning, as Russia rained shells on areas in and around the city. A 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv erupted in flames after being hit by shrapnel.
“Efforts are still needed, patience is needed,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. “Any war ends with an agreement.”
British and US intelligence assessments supported the Ukrainian leader’s view of the fighting, saying Russian ground forces remained about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the center of Kyiv.
Hopes for diplomatic progress rose after Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukraine realized it could not join NATO, his most explicit acknowledgment that the goal, enshrined in Ukraine’s Constitution, was unlikely to be met. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long depicted Ukraine’s NATO aspirations as a threat to Russia, something the Western military alliance denies.
Lavrov welcomed Zelenskyy’s comment and said “the businesslike spirit” starting to surface in the talks “gives hope that we can agree on this issue.”“A neutral status is being seriously discussed in connection with security guarantees,” Lavrov said Wednesday on Russian channel RBK TV. “There are concrete formulations that in my view are close to being agreed.”Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said the sides were discussing a possible compromise idea for a future Ukraine with a smaller, non-aligned military. Prospects of a diplomatic breakthrough were highly uncertain, however, with a gulf between Ukraine’s demand that the invading forces withdraw completely and Russia’s suspected war aim of replacing Kyiv’s Westward-looking government with pro-Moscow leadership. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied Russian claims Ukraine was open to adopting a model of neutrality comparable to Sweden or Austria’s. Podolyak said on Telegram that Ukraine needed powerful allies and “clearly defined security guarantees” to keep it safe. Zelenskyy was preparing to make a direct appeal for more American help Wednesday in a rare speech by a foreign leader to the US Congress, with President Joe Biden set to announce $800 million in new military assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official. There was no immediate prospect of an end to the fighting that has upended Europe’s post-Cold War security order, driven millions from their homes in Ukraine and turned large parts of the country into war zones. The UN says the number of people fleeing Ukraine amid Europe’s heaviest fighting since World War II has passed 3 million. The UN’s human rights body says 691 civilians have been killed and 1,143 injured, but acknowledges those numbers were likely an undercount.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday to try to obtain greater access for aid groups and increased protection of civilians. Amid the vast humanitarian crisis caused by the war, the Red Cross has helped evacuate civilians from besieged areas and has delivered 200 tons of aid, including blankets, water and over 5,200 body bags to help “ensure the dead are treated in a dignified manner,” Nowhere has suffered more than Mariupol, a strategic port city of 430,000 on the Sea of Azov that has been surrounded by Russian troops for two weeks. Local officials say missile strikes and shelling have killed more than 2,300 people and left residents struggling for food, water, heat and medicine. A mass grave trench contains the bodies of children, and more corpses lie in streets and in a hospital basement awaiting someone to pick them up. With food running out and humanitarian aid unable to get in amid the constant bombardment, people burn scraps of furniture in makeshift grills to warm their hands and cook the little food still available.
In a sign of relief, 20,000 people managed to escape the city on Tuesday in 4,000 vehicles, according to Zelenskyy’s office.
But Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk expressed dismay Wednesday at reports that Russian forces had taken hundreds of people hostage at a Mariupol hospital and were using it as a firing position. Regional leader Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian troops forced about 400 people from nearby homes into the Regional Intensive Care Hospital and were using them and roughly 100 patients and staff as human shields by not allowing them to leave. Doctors from other Mariupol hospitals made a video to tell the world about the horrors they’ve been seeing. “We don’t want to be heroes and martyrs posthumously,” one woman said. She said it was insufficient to refer to the patients being treated as wounded: “It’s torn off arms and legs, gouged out eyes, bodies torn into fragments, insides falling out.”The artillery shrapnel that hit the 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv on Wednesday obliterated the top floor and ignited a fire that sent plumes of smoke over the area. Residents carried possessions and pets from the building as firefighters doused the flames amid a sea of rubble. The Kyiv emergencies agency said there were two victims, without saying if they were injured or killed.
Kyiv regional leader Oleksiy Kuleba said Russian forces had intensified fighting in the Kyiv suburbs and a highway leading west.
Across the capital region, “kindergartens, museums, churches, residential blocks and engineering infrastructure are suffering from the endless firing,” Kuleba said, and 12 towns around Kyiv were reported to be without water and six without heat. He said Russian troops were trying to cut off transportation links to the capital and to destroy logistical capabilities while planning a wide-ranging attack to seize the capital. Russian forces succeeded in occupying the city of Ivankiv, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Kyiv, and control the surrounding region on the border with Belarus, Kuleba said.
In addition to airstrikes and shelling by ground forces, Russian naval ships fired overnight on a town south of Mariupol on the Azov Sea and another near Odesa on the Black Sea, according to local officials. Ukraine also appeared to have successes, with satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press showing helicopters and vehicles ablaze at the Russian-held Kherson International Airport and Air Base after a suspected Ukrainian strike on Tuesday. Zelenskyy’s office said Ukrainian forces thwarted Russian efforts to enter Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which was pounded by almost non-stop strikes over the last 24 hours. A powerful explosion thundered across the city overnight. Hospital workers in the city found themselves on two frontlines, battling COVID-19 in intensive care units as war raged outside. Air raid sirens go off multiple times daily, forcing fragile patients into the the Kharkiv Regional Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital’s makeshift bomb shelter, the hospital’s director, Dr. Pavel Nartov, said.
“Bombing takes place from morning into night. Thank god a bomb has not yet hit our hospital. But it could hit at any time,” Nartov told The Associated Press. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Russian forces destroyed 111 Ukrainian aircraft, 160 drones and more than 1,000 tanks or other military vehicles since the start of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. The Russian military’s daily public statements on the war focus almost exclusively on fighting in the separatist-held Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and on Ukrainian military targets, without acknowledging attacks on civilians. As the West tried to bolster Ukraine’s defenses while ratcheting up sanctions on Russia, defense ministers from NATO member nations met in Brussels on Wednesday ahead of an emergency summit of the military alliance next week. Meanwhile the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia returned to Poland on Wednesday after a risky visit to Kyiv meant to show support for Ukraine. They went ahead with the hours-long train trip despite worries within the European Union about the security risks.

Russia Drafting Thousands in Syria for Ukraine War, Monitor Says
Agence France Presse/March 16/2022
Russia has drawn up lists of 40,000 fighters from Syrian army and allied militias to be put on standby for deployment in Ukraine, a war monitor said Tuesday. The Kremlin said last week that volunteers, including from Syria, were welcome to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activists said Russian officers, in coordination with the Syrian military and allied militia, had set up registration offices in regime-held areas. "More than 40,000 Syrians have registered to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine so far," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the UK-based monitor. Moscow is recruiting Syrians who acquired combat experience during Syria's 11-year-old civil war to bolster the invasion of Ukraine it launched on February 24. Russian officers deployed as part of the force Moscow sent to Syria in 2015 to support Damascus had approved 22,000 of them, Abdel Rahman said. Those fighters are either combatants drawn from the army or pro-regime militias who have experience in street warfare and received Russian training. In a country where soldiers earn between $15 and $35 per month, Russia has promised them a salary of $1,100 to fight in Ukraine, the Observatory reported. They are also entitled to $7,700 in compensation for injuries and their families to $16,500 if they are killed in combat. Another 18,000 men had registered with Syria's ruling Baath party and would be screened by the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor with links to the Kremlin, the monitor said. Misinformation about Syrian recruits in Ukraine has been spreading online. Last week, pictures were shared of a Syrian soldier they said had died in Ukraine, but it later appeared he had been killed in his homeland in 2015.
Lack of jobs
The Observatory said it had no confirmed reports yet of any Syrian recruits leaving for Ukraine. Abdel Rahman said Russia had drawn Syrian army recruits from the 25th Special Mission Forces Division, once better known as the "Tiger Forces", and from the Russian-run 5th Division.
Fighters from the Palestinian Liwaa al-Quds group and the Baath party's military branch had also enlisted. A Syrian government representative denied the recruitment drive. "Until now no names have been written down, no soldiers registered in any centers nor has anyone travelled to Russia to fight in Ukraine," Omar Rahmoun of the National Reconciliation Committee told AFP. Syrian mercenaries have already fought on opposing sides of foreign conflicts, in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. More than a decade of war has pushed 90 percent of the population into poverty, a factor Syrians for Truth and Justice said was a key factor in the recruitment. A Syrian soldier told the activist group this month that he enlisted to fight in Ukraine because he could not find a job after his military service. "The situation is extremely dire. There is no electricity, heating, or household gas," he said, adding he had registered at an air force intelligence office near Damascus.
'A few hundred dollars'
Regime-allied forces opened recruitment centers in the eastern towns of Al-Mayadeen and Deir Ezzor, according to Omar Abu Layla, who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet. "Wagner started the whole thing in Deir Ezzor; only dozens have registered so far," he said. "In a country that lacks basic necessities, some have no choice but to fight... for a few hundred dollars."Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria are also gearing up to send fighters on the opposing side. An AFP reporter in northern Syria said the factions preparing for Ukraine include the Sultan Murad, Sulaiman Shah and Hamza divisions, all of which had previously sent hundreds of fighters to fight in Libya and Azerbaijan. While money is the main driver for Syrian mercenaries on both sides of the conflict, rights groups said Ankara's proxies often exploited fighters and withheld wages. One fighter told AFP he was promised $3,000 to join the Ukraine battlefield. "We are tired of the hunger... I will go and never come back. From Ukraine, I plan to go to Europe," another said.

UK PM Lands in Riyadh for Russia, Oil Talks
Agence France Presse/March 16/2022
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, an embassy official said, on a tour to lobby Gulf leaders to pump more oil. Johnson was in the energy-rich Gulf to press key producers Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to do more to calm world markets after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He becomes one of the few Western leaders to visit Riyadh since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi crown prince meets British prime minister in Riyadh
Arab News/March 16, 2022
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Riyadh on Wednesday, Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic partnership council.
The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in various fields and opportunities to develop it. They also discussed regional and international issues of common interest including the latest developments in Ukraine. Johnson is on a visit to the Gulf as part of efforts to secure more oil supplies and increase pressure on President Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He will be seeking greater investments in the UK’s renewable energy transition and ways to secure more oil to lessen British dependence on Russian energy supplies. Russian President Vladmir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine is “causing global uncertainty and a spike in the price of oil,” Johnson told reporters in Abu Dhabi ahead of his meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. “Everybody can see the effect of the increase in gas prices that’s coming through,” he added. Because of Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas, Putin has been “been able to blackmail the West to hold Western economies to ransom,” he said. “We need independence,” Johnson added.

U.N. Seeks $4.27 Billion in Appeal for War-Ravaged Yemen
Associated Press/March 16/2022
A United Nations appeal for Yemen Wednesday is aiming at raising $4.27 billion to alleviate what it describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 161,000 people likely to experience famine there in 2022. The virtual pledging conference is co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will address donors on the dire needs of the Arab world's poorest country. The conference comes as world attention is gripped by the war in Ukraine, which has overshadowed other humanitarian crises across the world since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 — raising concerns that that Yemen's plight may be forgotten. Over 3 million people have fled Ukraine, in Europe's largest exodus since World War II. "The Ukrainian crisis could also dramatically impact Yemenis' access to food," said Erin Hutchinson, Yemen director at the Norwegian Refugee Council. "We hope that Yemenis will find the same level of support and solidarity as we've seen with the people of Ukraine."Speaking in a briefing ahead of the fundraising conference, Swedish diplomat Carl Skau urged donors to pay attention to Yemen. "While Ukraine understandably and rightly requires our urgent attention, we can't drop the ball on other crises," he said. A prolonged conflict in Ukraine is likely to further reduce Yemenis' access to their basic needs, as food prices, especially the cost of grain, are likely to increase. Yemen depends almost entirely on food imports, with 22% of its wheat imports coming from Ukraine, according to the World Food Program."The horrendous situation in Ukraine will have an indirect and direct impact on our ability to assist children in Yemen," said Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF's representative in Yemen. "Operations around the world will be more expensive." Last year's conference raised only some $1.7 billion for Yemen, out of $3.85 billion the U.N. had appealed for as the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating consequences hit economies around the globe. The U.N. chief called the 2021 result "disappointing." Yemen's war started in 2014 when the Iran-backed rebel Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition intervened months later to dislodge the rebels and restore the internationally recognized government. The conflict has in recent years become a regional proxy war that has killed more than 150,000 people, including over 14.500 civilians. The war has also created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine. The majority of Yemen's around 32 million people live in Houthi-held areas. The rebels have for years been implicated in aid theft and withholding for extortion.
U.N. experts earlier this year said they documented that the rebels provided or denied humanitarian aid to families "solely on the basis whether their children participated in fighting or to teachers on the basis of whether they taught the Houthi curriculum."
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, has warned that a total of 19 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity by the second half of this year — an increase of around 20% compared to the first six months of 2021. Of them, 161,000 people are likely to experience famine, it said.
OCHA said that half of the country's health facilities are shuttered or destroyed. It said the Yemeni currency, the rial, lost 57% of its value in 2021 in government-run areas, while persistent fuel shortages drove up the prices of food and other basic commodities in the Houthi-controlled north. It said 4.3 million Yemenis have been driven from their homes; around one-fifth of new displaced people in 2021 were in the energy-rich province of Marib which Houthis have attempted to seize for over a year, it said. Ghalib al-Najjar and his family lives in the Dharwan camp on the outskirts the rebel-held Sanaa. The 48-year-old father, his wife, and seven children are at risk of famine amid price hikes and lack of humanitarian assistance. "In the morning, half of us are fasting and I'm doing my best to provide food - if available - to the others," he said in a recent interview. "We live like ants on the ground or fish in the sea. We eat what we find on our way."With the $4.27 billion for Yemen, the U.N. aims to provide support to 17.3 million people in 2022, out of the 23.4 million who need aid, OCHA said. The conference comes as peace efforts are still stalled, with fighting escalating since the beginning of 2022. The Saudi-led coalition has stepped its support to government ground forces to fend off the Houthis in Marib. Clashes have also intensified elsewhere, and the Houthis accelerated their cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi King Leaves Hospital after Pacemaker Battery Changed
Associated Press/March 16/2022
Saudi Arabia's octogenarian monarch underwent medical tests had the battery of his pacemaker changed, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday. King Salman will rest for several days following the procedure and "successful medical tests," the news agency said. Government-produced images showed the king leaving the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the capital, Riyadh, hunched forward and using a cane, but otherwise walking unassisted. King Salman was accompanied by an entourage that included his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as he left the hospital.
The monarch's health is closely watched because he holds absolute power in the kingdom. King Salman has appointed his 36-year-old son, Prince Mohammed, as his successor, though he's also already empowered him to lead day-to-day affairs. The crown prince's assertive and brazen style of leadership, as well as his consolidation of power and sidelining of potential rivals, have been controversial. He's denied any involvement in the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, contradicting Western intelligence assessments. In July 2020, the king was admitted to a hospital in Saudi Arabia for medical tests due to inflammation of the gallbladder. He spent 10 days in the hospital, during which the gall bladder was removed.

GCC Seeks to Host Yemen Govt., Rebels in Riyadh for Rare Talks
Agence France Presse/March 16/2022
Gulf Arab countries are seeking to host rare talks between Yemen's warring parties, including the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, in Riyadh at the end of the month, officials said on Tuesday. Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been wracked by a devastating war since 2014, pitting the Huthis against the internationally recognized government. Repeated diplomatic efforts to get the two sides to agree a peace deal have failed over the years. The Saudi-based Gulf Cooperation Council "is considering holding talks between Yemen's warring parties to put an end to the conflict", an official from the six-nation bloc, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday. An official from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, which has been embroiled in a seven-year conflict with the Huthis, said the conference would take place between March 29 and April 7. "We don't have a problem if the Huthis attend the talks to try to find a solution to security, military and political issues," the official told AFP. But he added it was unlikely the insurgents would accept the invitation to go to Riyadh, which has been leading a military coalition to back the government against the rebels since 2015. Another official in Riyadh confirmed efforts for talks were underway, saying: "Saudi Arabia will not be party to negotiations."Efforts would be led by Oman, which hosts Huthi officials and has regularly played the role of mediator in regional conflicts. A Huthi spokesman told AFP the rebels had yet to receive an invitation. "Saudi Arabia wants to present itself as a neutral country... but this call (for talks) is for media attention, nothing serious," he said, without confirming whether or not they would take part. The talks are scheduled to take place as the Saudi-led coalition marks seven years since its intervention in the Yemen war on March 26, 2015 -- shortly after the rebels seized the capital Sanaa.
Famine conditions
Riyadh has repeatedly called on the US administration to redesignate the Huthis as a terrorist organization. The grinding war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, directly or indirectly, and displaced millions, in what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Around 80 percent of Yemen's population of nearly 30 million depend on some form of aid for survival. On Monday, U.N. agencies warned the number of people in the country starving in famine conditions is projected to increase five-fold this year to 161,000 amid fears of a dire shortfall of life-saving aid. Over 30,000 people are already struggling in famine conditions, they said, calling the sharp rise "extremely worrying". Efforts to convene Yemen's warring parties in Riyadh comes on the heels of a high-level conference to raise aid for Yemen, as fears mount that Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens global food supplies. Yemen depends almost entirely on food imports, with nearly a third of wheat supplies coming from Ukraine, the U.N. said. The U.N. has repeatedly warned that aid agencies are running out of funds, forcing them to slash "life-saving" programs. Last year the UN pleaded for $3.85 billion for aid, but raised just $1.7 billion.

US to deliver F-15 jets to Egypt as it seeks to reassure allies
The Arab Weekly/March 16/2022
The top US general for forces in the Middle East said on Tuesday that he believed the United States would provide Egypt with F-15 aircraft. "I think we have good news in that we're going to provide them with F-15s, which was a long, hard slog," General Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said during a congressional hearing. McKenzie did not provide details on timing or how many F-15 aircraft, made by Boeing, would be provided. Last month, McKenzie emphasised the resilience of US military assistance to Egypt as he flew into Cairo in the wake of a decision by President Joe Biden administration's to cut $130 million in military aid to the country over human rights concerns. "We still have a very robust weapons programme with Egypt and we're still very heavily engaged with them," McKenzie said. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief, has been criticised for a crackdown on dissent since coming to power after leading the 2013 ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi. Sisi and his supporters have said security measures were necessary to stabilise the country in front of violent extremism. Authorities have recently published a lengthy rights strategy, appointed a national human rights council and lifted a state of emergency in place since 2017. US officials have said the American relationship with Egypt is complex. The most-populous Arab country is a vital ally and key voice in the Arab world. US military officials have long stressed Egypt's role expediting the passage of US warships through the Suez Canal and granting overflight for American military aircraft. Rights groups welcomed the Biden administration's announcement of the aid cut. But some downplayed it since it closely followed US approval of an arms package worth more than $2.5 billion for air defence radars and C-130 Super Hercules planes. Despite deep ties to the US military, Egypt has moved to diversify its sources of arms after then-US President Barack Obama in 2013 froze delivery of some military aid to Egypt after Morsi's overthrow. Egypt's imports of arms from Russia, France, Germany and Italy have surged, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The US is also seen by analysts as seeking to reassure allies in the Middle East whose confidence has been shaken in many cases by Washington's wavering policies and military disengagement from the region. Nowhere is the state of uncertainty about US support better illustrated than in the Gulf region where Saudi Arabia and the UAE do not conceal their reservations about Washington's lack of resolve in front of Iran provocations. Both countries have displayed an intent to diversify their partnerships in political, economic and military fields and hence no longer rely fully on their traditional ties with the US.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, fellow British-Iranian freed to return to UK
AP/March 16, 2022
DUBAI: British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and dual national Anousheh Ashouri were freed on Wednesday after a long ordeal during which they became a bargaining chip in Iran’s negotiations with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program. A video aired by Iran’s Tasnim news agency, affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guards, showed a woman dressed in black Iranian Islamic clothes, boarding an aircraft. Tasnim said it was Zaghari-Ratcliffe leaving Iran. The video did not show her face. Reuters could not independently confirm this. “I am very pleased to confirm that the unfair detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri in Iran has ended today, and they will now return to the UK,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter. Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard and the family of Ashouri did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Antonio Zappulla, CEO of her employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said her release was “a ray of light and hope” at a time when the world was in turmoil. The foundation is a charity that operates independently of Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters. In February, as months of talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal inched closer to an agreement, Iran, which holds a dozen of Western dual nationals, said it was ready for a prisoner swap in return for the unblocking of frozen assets and release of Iranians held in Western jails. The nuclear talks were close to an agreement 11 days ago until last-minute Russian demands for sweeping guarantees that would have hollowed out sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine threw the negotiations off track. Russia now appears to have narrowed its demands to cover only work linked to the nuclear deal, leaving a small number of issues to be resolved between Washington and Tehran, diplomats say.
Tank debt
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashouri were freed after Britain repaid a historic debt.
Iran’s clerical rulers say Britain owed Iran 400 million pounds ($520 mln) that Iran’s former monarch, the Shah, paid up front for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles. Almost none of which were eventually delivered after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the US-backed leader.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss Britain had been looking at ways to pay the debt, which related to the sale of main battle tanks to Iran’s former ruler, the Shah. “We have the deepest admiration for the resolve, courage and determination Nazanin, Anousheh and Morad, and their families, have shown. They have faced hardship that no family should ever experience and this is a moment of great relief,” she said in a statement. “In parallel, we have also settled the IMS debt, as we said we would,” she added, referring to the debt for military equipment. She said the debt had been settled in full in compliance with international sanctions on Iran and the funds would be ring-fenced for buying “humanitarian goods.” Iran’s judiciary and Britain confirmed the releases and state media said Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashouri were handed over to a British team at the airport and left Tehran.
Separately, Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, said detained Iranian-American environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who also holds British citizenship, was also released on furlough on Wednesday.
Ill-fated visit
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s protracted difficulties began with her arrest by Revolutionary Guards at Tehran airport on April 3, 2016, while trying to return to Britain with her then 22-month-old daughter Gabriella from an Iranian new year’s visit with her parents.
She was later convicted by an Iranian court of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. Her family and the foundation denied the charge. Ashouri was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2019 for spying for Israel’s Mossad and two years for “acquiring illegitimate wealth,” according to Iran’s judiciary.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation said that she had traveled to Iran in a personal capacity and had not been doing work in Iran. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is a charity organization that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 16-17/2022
For the U.S.-Saudi-Israel Triangle, Ukraine Is a Shocking Endorsement
Hussain Abdul-Hussain and Shany Mor/Haaretz/March 16/2022
With MBS declaring Israel is 'not an enemy' but a 'potential ally,' and Biden’s upcoming trip to Riyadh, the war in Ukraine is triggering the belated return of sober thinking about relations between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the U.S.
Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has set out a clear marker indicating Saudi Arabia’s new thinking regarding relations with Israel, when he declared in a recent interview that Riyadh does “not look at Israel as an enemy but as a potential ally.”
The Saudi king-in-waiting clearly sees his country’s relations with America, similarly, as a two-way street based on pragmatism, an approach that President Joe Biden is now likely to adopt, likewise, in considering a visit to Riyadh in May, despite his pledge as a candidate to make MBS a “pariah.”
The war in Ukraine is just the most recent trigger for the return of realpolitik in the triangle of relations between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States.
Gone are the days of tribal loyalties and dogmatic positions, often informed by religious views, in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has seen that Washington no longer has a clear sense of how its own interests depend on the balance of power in the Gulf, so Riyadh must be more flexible. Trusting Russia and Iran to manage a post-America Middle East has yielded results similar to every post-war American disengagement: Washington found its national interests and the world order under severe threat and was forced to come back.
Over the past decade, at least two American presidents downplayed the importance of the Gulf region as a source of energy, but still called Riyadh every few months asking for an increase in oil production in order to decrease global prices.
In an earlier era of American strategic thinking, Washington looked the other way on Riyadh’s human rights violations, given Saudi Arabia’s importance on the global energy market.
This became more difficult thanks to the post-9/11 freedom agenda, and it became even more tenuous in the past decade when some Washington politicians found it politically expedient to pound on Riyadh, taking America’s alliance with Saudi Arabia for granted and calculating that the Saudis have nowhere else to go. MBS has tried to dispel this American misconception.
Saudi Arabia is not a Jeffersonian democracy, but its repression and autocracy are shared by almost all U.S. allies who are not full democracies, whether in Egypt, Turkey or the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. should indeed nudge its allies to improve their human rights record, but it does not make participatory liberal democracy a condition for alliances, nor does the D.C. critique take account of MBS’ defanging of violent Islamism within the kingdom.
Like the Saudis, the Israelis face two inexorable facts about the superpower structure in the region. The first is that America has been retreating, or planning to retreat from the region, since at least 2005, when reality forced a drastic scaling down in the ambitions of the Iraq War. The second is that there is still no replacement for the U.S. in the security considerations of both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and no replacement for the mutual security guarantees, however informal, of the network of U.S.-aligned states in the region.
At the same time, U.S. policy elites recognize that there is no substitute for their traditional allies in the region. Dissenting voices argued throughout the Bush and Obama years that Turkey and Iran could replace America’s sometimes difficult allies in Cairo, Riyadh, and Jerusalem, but such views have largely faded under the weight of their own implausibility.
Nonetheless, for Israelis and the Saudis, a diversification of the regional portfolio is a strategic and economic imperative. The U.S. will remain the most important military and economic partner for both countries. But in a time of continued American retrenchment, the Israelis and Saudis will have to also engage, however warily, other regional powers such as Turkey and Russia. More than that, they will need to engage each other.
If Washington finds it in its national interest to ally with Riyadh, Saudi will reciprocate. If not, Riyadh will pursue its interests with which ever country is willing to make common cause, a policy that mimics how Israel tries to navigate a tough region in an ever-changing world.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is a human disaster, but the resulting shock, fear, and revulsion are also an opportunity for some overdue sobriety. Voices in Washington that have been blaming America’s global role for creating enemies out of what they characterize as otherwise peaceful autocracies, like Russia and Iran, might have discovered that tyrants will always be tyrants, whether America plays an active role on the world stage or retrenches.
The energy shortage resulting from Russia’s war on Ukraine has led Biden back to realpolitik, at least as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned. Biden might be landing in Riyadh soon. This is an opportunity for America to pursue its interests and its principles, rather than swinging from one pole to the other.
It’s not always a simple balancing act. It requires an unwavering focus on the largest threats and open lines of communication with allies on issues of strategy and values, including human rights.
This was, however imperfectly, how America handled its foreign policy in the Cold War. There were some very contested and frustrating compromises in that path too, depending on the severity of the perceived Soviet threat in each region. But the alternatives then, as now, were much worse.
*Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow Hussain on Twitter @hahussain. Shany Mor is at an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow Shany on Twitter @ShMMor.

خالد أبو طعمة/معهد كايتستون: تحذير نهائي من العرب لبايدن
A Final Warning from Arabs to Biden
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/March 16/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/107083/khaled-abu-toameh-gatestone-institute-a-final-warning-from-arabs-to-biden-%d8%ae%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af-%d8%a3%d8%a8%d9%88-%d8%b7%d8%b9%d9%85%d8%a9-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3/
In a message directed at the Biden administration and the other Western powers involved in the Vienna negotiations, the Arab countries said that Iran and its terrorist militias are continuing to create chaos and instability, especially in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.
The Arabs, including the Arab League, are telling the Biden administration that, in their view, it is not only Iran that threatens their security, but also its terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
The Arabs are clearly worried about the financial and military aid that Iran is providing to the terrorist groups.
Any deal with Iran will further strengthen these groups and encourage them to step up their terrorist attacks.
The Arabs are also worried that when Iran obtains nuclear weapons, they will sooner or later find their way into the hands of its terrorist proxies and other terrorist groups, including Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda.
“This president [Biden] is deaf. He cannot be trusted.” – Ali Al-Sarraf, Iraqi political analyst, Al-Arab, March 12, 2022.
If the Biden administration and its friends reach a new deal with Iran’s mullahs, we are likely to see more Arabs come out against the US.
“We have made it very clear that if Iran acquires a nuclear capability we will do everything we can to do the same.” — Adel al-Jubeir, then Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, to CNN, May 9, 2018.
The Arabs consider Iran a lethal threat to their national security and the stability of the entire Middle East and other parts of the world. If the Biden administration is going to align itself with the mullahs, it will lose the support of its Arab and Muslim allies, who feel bitterly betrayed and fear that nuclear weapons will end up in the hands of these very mullahs and their terrorist groups.
Arab states are worried that when Iran obtains nuclear weapons, they will sooner or later find their way into the hands of its terrorist proxies and other terrorist groups, including Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda. “We have made it very clear that if Iran acquires a nuclear capability we will do everything we can to do the same,” said Saudi Arabia’s then Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in 2018. Pictured: Al-Jubeir speaks to the media at the Saudi Embassy in London on June 20, 2019. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)
In what appears to be an eleventh hour and desperate warning to the Biden administration against striking a deal with the Iranian regime, four Arab countries have expressed deep concern over Iran’s ballistic missile program and ongoing support for terrorism.
In a statement issued in Cairo on March 9, the Arab Quartet Committee — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt — said that Iran continues to interfere in the internal affairs of Arab countries and play a role in sowing sectarian discord among them by supporting and arming terrorist groups such as the Houthi and Hezbollah militias.
The statement was issued amid growing concern in some Arab countries, that the US and other Western powers could reach a deal with Iran to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Iran poses a threat to the security of Arab states and impedes regional and international efforts to resolve issues and crises in the region through peaceful means, the committee said.
While the Arab countries above — which have long been considered close allies of the US — stressed the importance of supporting efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons at the Vienna negotiations, they said any deal reached with Tehran should be seen as a temporary, and not final, agreement.
Reflecting the Arabs’ distrust of Iran, the Arab countries emphasized the need for strengthening the International Atomic Energy Agency’s monitoring role over the Iranians’ nuclear program.
In a message directed at the Biden administration and the other Western powers involved in the Vienna negotiations, the Arab countries said that Iran and its terrorist militias are continuing to create chaos and instability, especially in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.
The Arabs, including the Arab League, are telling the Biden administration that, in their view, it is not only Iran that threatens their security, but also its terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
The Arabs are clearly worried about the financial and military aid that Iran is providing to the terrorist groups.
Any deal with Iran will further strengthen these groups and encourage them to step up their terrorist attacks.
The Arabs are also worried that when Iran obtains nuclear weapons, they will sooner or later find their way into the hands of its terrorist proxies and other terrorist groups, including Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda.
The Arab countries condemned Iran’s continued support for terrorist and sabotage acts in the Arab countries, and Iran’s continued development of its ballistic missile program and other types of missiles, as well as supplying the Houthi terrorist militia in Yemen with these weapons.
They also condemned the continued launching of Iranian-made ballistic missiles and drones from Yemen against vital and civilian targets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The attacks, the Arab countries said, “constitute a serious threat to security and stability in the region and a flagrant violation of Security Council Resolution No. 2216 (2015).”
The Arab countries accused Iran of supporting, training and arming terrorist groups in Bahrain and condemned Hezbollah’s repeated threats and assaults against Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Yemen.
They condemned Iran’s interference in the Syrian civil war and affirmed their solidarity with Morocco in confronting the interference of the Iranian regime and Hezbollah in the kingdom’s internal affairs, especially in regard to arming and training the separatist elements that threaten territorial integrity, security and stability. In 2018, Morocco severed diplomatic ties with Iran after accusing Hezbollah of training Polisario Front separatist fighters in Western Sahara.
This concern over Iran’s dangerous schemes and actions is shared by a growing number of Arab political analysts, commentators and journalists. Each time the Arabs hear that the Biden administration and its Western allies are negotiating with Iran’s mullahs about a possible return to the nuclear deal, they panic and send a volley of warnings against the policy of appeasement towards Iran.
For now, it seems that Washington’s major Arab allies — Saudi Arabia and the UAE — are so frustrated with the Biden administration that their leaders do not even want to hear from US President Joe Biden.
“The Biden administration is very foolish,” wrote Iraqi political analyst Ali Al-Sarraf.
“Instead of taking advantage of the capabilities of two major allies such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE and listening to their concerns, it chose to bet on Iran’s return to the oil market. Then, it chose to win over another adversary, Venezuela, to persuade it to export its oil to the US in exchange for lifting the sanctions.”Al-Sarraf said that when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed rejected Biden’s attempts to contact them, “it is not because they want to abandon the alliance with the US, but because they do not see a president in the White House. This president is deaf. He cannot be trusted. Going to Iran and Venezuela does not come without a without a price. They are not a real compensation for the role that the Gulf states can play in the battle for the stability of the international system.”
The Iraqi analyst said that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have repeatedly tried to draw the White House’s attention to the fact that relations are fracturing due to US “reluctance” to respond to the threats of Iran and the acts of terrorism practiced by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Hussein Al-Sufi, a Yemeni researcher and head of the Al-Bilad Center for Studies and Media, is another prominent Arab who has added his voice to those who are warning the world about the dangers of appeasing the mullahs in Tehran or placing any confidence in them.
“Iran practices state terrorism and commits crimes in various parts of the world,” Al-Sufi cautioned.
“Iran has established terrorist militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, and finances and arms these gangs. Iran has adopted a ‘scorched earth’ strategy to create chaos in the Arab countries and destroy their societies.”
Noting that the mullahs’ regime in Tehran defies all international laws and norms and acts brutally, the Yemeni researcher pointed out that the US and the West have failed to hold Iran accountable for its unabated terrorism.
In the absence of a US and Western stance to stand up to Iran, he said, the Arab countries need to increase cooperation and diplomatic activity to hold Iran’s mullahs accountable for their crimes.
Sayed Zahra, deputy editor of the Bahraini newspaper Akhbar Al-Khaleej, said that in order to understand the crisis between the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia and the UAE, one needs to ask how it started, what are the reasons behind it and who is responsible.
“The crisis began during the administration of former US President Barack Obama,” Zahra wrote.
“Obama turned against the alliance with the Arab Gulf states, signed the nuclear agreement with Iran, and launched a new era of Iranian terrorism in the region without taking into account everything related to the interests, security and stability of our countries.”
Zahra said that this was accompanied by a “political speech that Obama publicly adopted and which included hostility and hatred for the Arab Gulf states and peoples.”
During the Obama era, he said, the Gulf-American and Arab-American relations in general witnessed a severe crisis and a deep rift.
“In 2011, the US administration conspired to overthrow Arab regimes and undermine the security and stability of other countries. The Obama administration showed that it did not care about the longtime alliance and ties with the Gulf states. When Biden took office, he repeated the same hostile rhetoric towards the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia. The catastrophe is that Biden’s positions have been translated into practical policies and steps taken by his administration that target the Gulf states. The Biden administration, in one of the biggest hostile moves, removed the Houthis from the terrorist list. Biden gave a free hand to the Houthis, who understood his decision as an American green light to escalate their terrorist operations from Yemen against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Then there is the great disaster, which is Biden’s rush to reach an agreement with Iran in at any price, deliberately marginalizing the Gulf states and ignoring their concerns and demands. A new agreement with Iran will lead to a major wave of Iranian terrorism against Arab countries…
“The important thing is that in the end, these positions and developments have created a state of mistrust on the part of the Arab states in America and established a general conviction that it is no longer possible to rely on the US. It has become very difficult to ask the Arab states to continue dealing with America as a trusted strategic ally.”
In yet another sign that the Arabs are growing increasingly frustrated with the Biden administration for its perceived appeasement of Iran and its terrorist proxies, the Arab interior ministers have endorsed a resolution for classifying the Iranian-backed Houthi militia as a terrorist organization. Again, the resolution is directed towards the Biden administration, which last year delisted the Houthis from the list of terrorist organizations.
Many Arabs were hoping that the Biden administration would reinstate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, especially in wake of the recent drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The resolution adopted by the Arab interior ministers sends a message to the Biden administration to the effect that the Arabs are not going to wait for Washington to put the Houthi militia back on the list of terrorism.
The Arab ministers are telling the US that if it cannot see a terrorist group for what it is, the Arabs are capable of doing so.
The message that many Arabs are sending to Washington is that the appeasement of the mullahs and failure to stand with friends in the Arab world is emboldening the Houthis and other Islamic terrorist groups that are threatening not only Arabs and Muslims, but the US and other Western countries as well.
If the Biden administration and its friends reach a new deal with Iran’s mullahs, we are likely to see more Arabs come out against the US.
Saudi Arabia’s then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, already warned years ago, “We have made it very clear that if Iran acquires a nuclear capability we will do everything we can to do the same.”
The Arabs consider Iran a lethal threat to their national security and the stability of the entire Middle East and other parts of the world. If the Biden administration is going to align itself with the mullahs, it will lose the support of its Arab and Muslim allies, who feel bitterly betrayed and fear that nuclear weapons will end up in the hands of these very mullahs and their terrorist groups.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18332/arabs-warning-biden

The scandal of the Beirut Book Fair
Farouk Youssef/The Arab Weekly/March 16/2022
Some might have wished that the Iranian publishing houses that took control of the Beirut Book Fair had introduced something from contemporary Iranian culture to cover up the scandal.
It is no less than a scandal that the fair was transformed into a partisan front, in a naïve, destructive move driven by reckless ignorance.
The Lebanese participation in this year’s fair was merely symbolic, while the Iranian presence was the main event. Tragedy has taken an ironic turn. Lebanon, which has lost its substance, had kept up some appearances. But these are being destroyed one by one. The Lebanese had something of their personality on display in this free, elegant, rebellious and modern exhibition. That was so until someone felt it necessary to throw an Iranian chador over it to spread darkness.
Hezbollah was not able to hide its tyranny, hegemony, obscurantism and violence, which characterise the party’s relationship with the Lebanese. Letting them express some of their freedoms, was a way to mislead Arab and international public opinion into believing Lebanon still possessed some measure of freedom. Even this deceptive ploy was no longer acceptable to the militant party. It decided to disregard the tradition whereby the Lebanese advocate freedom and maintain a venue for tolerance in their country. The purpose of this new retrogressive assault was to announce the birth of an Iranian Lebanon.
It was to make an enemy of books, which are usually man’s best companion. This is the Lebanon they want. That is what Hezbollah desires. There will be no book left for future generations to distribute except those yellow books written by the geniuses of the Revolutionary Guards who are committed to the line of the Imam and Wilayat al-Faqih.
There is a lie about contemporary Iranian culture to which some people want to give credence. The vast majority of Iranian authors, poets and musicians are not at odds with the theoretical foundation of the regime. They only object to the way that theoretical foundation is applied.
Contemporary Iran is a lie being passed on through the Iranian diaspora, which, through its meticulous organisation and cohesive fabric, has managed to create pressure pushing for vague demands but has remained generally hostile to the Arabs. Did someone dream of seeing something else from contemporary Iran at the Beirut fair? What for? Is it in order to prove that there is an Iran other than the expressions presented by the media?
Iran does not hide anything. But most importantly, Hezbollah does not hide anything. All that Hezbollah dreams of is to make all of Beirut in the image of the southern suburb. To make this suburb the standard for the establishment of a shabby and ugly place that is hostile to the country’s beautiful nature and its deep-rooted history.
Arab identity is no longer necessary while all means of living collapse. Holding an exhibition of Arab books in Beirut without Lebanese writers is just hilarious. The photo of Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Qods Force who was killed in the beginning of 2020, illustrates the failure of Hezbollah to coexist with the idea of ​​Arab identity. Arabism has failed or no longer has a place on that battlefield. Did the Arabs commit a sin by leaving Lebanon and hence the Arab book became an orphan? That is a lie. The Lebanese have just compounded their historical failures. This shabby exhibition is the very picture of that historic failure. Hezbollah defeated the Lebanese and threw them into the pit of economic misery. Any claim of its cultural victory over the Lebanese is plain ridiculous, because Lebanon is culturally greater than Hezbollah. However, weapons make Hezbollah appear larger than Lebanon.
The Beirut Book Fair was a scandal for Hezbollah. It did not have to turn it into a Husseiniya (Shia place of congregation and mourning).
Hezbollah cannot abandon Qassem Soleimani as an icon of victimisation. But should his memory be celebrated here? Even the Lebanese leaders killed in the civil war were not featured in previous book fairs. We would laugh, but there is something that stops us from laughing. Hezbollah is laughing to itself. But all of Lebanon is laughing at Hezbollah, despite all this great collapse.

Israel-Turkey marriage of interests depends on stability
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/March 16, 2022
When Israeli soldiers in 2010 stormed civilian boats in an attempt to break a humanitarian blockade of Gaza, Turkey’s president was their most vocal critic. A life-long advocate of the Palestinian cause, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also withdrew the Turkish ambassador from Israel in 2018 following America’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the country’s capital. The two countries have had frosty relations since then — a far cry from the relatively close relationship they enjoyed during the Cold War, when both were firmly within the American regional sphere of influence. In 1949, Turkey became the first Muslim country to recognize Israel. Last week’s visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey marked a change as both parties chose to draw attention to their mutual interests and the necessity of their willingness to now cooperate.
Not since the late Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament in 2007 had a visit such as that by Herzog taken place. Couched by Erdogan in terms such as “historic” and “a turning point,” Ankara spared no expense in hosting Herzog, keen to show itself as the Holy Land’s former imperial power. In snowy Ankara, the Israeli president was received with a military guard of honor at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. For a trip that was not admitted to until very recently, the importance of the occasion was not lost on the Israelis, who, following the diplomatic coup of the Abraham Accords, have felt concerned regarding unresolved tensions with one-time allies like Turkey. Keen to isolate Iran regionally, the visit was an opportunity to mend ties through offering opportunities to Ankara, while limiting the opportunities for Israel’s regional security hegemony to be undermined.
Surrounding the steps toward a rapprochement with Israel is the wider Turkish regional charm offensive. Groaning with economic troubles, Ankara has been trying to end its perceived isolation by improving strained ties with several countries in the region, including Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Late last year, it mended fences with Abu Dhabi, winning a pledge of $10 billion of investment in the energy sector. It has also been working to demarcate maritime territory with Egypt as the exploitation of the Eastern Mediterranean’s newfound hydrocarbon deposits has been delayed by political differences. The visit of Herzog similarly married the political with the economic, as the two sides announced that they are seeking a 17 percent increase in bilateral trade to $10 billion this year.
Turkey’s strained relations with Egypt and Israel have seen Greece and Cyprus’ stars rise as the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, to which Turkey is not a party, has grown in importance. There is no doubt that the Turkish olive branch to Israel is intended to dislodge these Greek interests, but any hope that Tel Aviv might reciprocate has, at least publicly, been refuted by an Israeli government source, who in January said: “Improvements in Jerusalem-Ankara relations will not come at the expense of Israel’s alliance with Greece and Cyprus.”
Ankara has been trying to end its perceived isolation by improving strained ties with several countries in the region.
Nevertheless, following the Biden administration’s withdrawal of its support for an envisioned Israel-Cyprus-Greece pipeline last month and renewed fears of compromised gas supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is now greater scope for cooperation. The possibility of building an Eastern Mediterranean pipeline to bring Israeli natural gas to Turkey and then to Europe is an urgent priority for Ankara, which has been crippled by power shortages and skyrocketing energy bills. Faced with the very real possibility of a big tent opposition bloc threatening to unseat Erdogan in next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, the government is desperate for a solution to the country’s cost of living crisis as it aims to win over a forlorn electorate.
Over dinner with Herzog, Erdogan said he raised “the Palestine issue” and “the improvement in the social and political status of Palestinians.” Despite the outward friendliness of the state visit, the Palestinian question remains the most prominent cause for differences of opinion between the two countries. Turkey has maintained ties with Hamas Islamists who have controlled Gaza since 2007. Taking issue with Israeli attempts to coerce them to cease their activity from Turkey, Ankara has offered the group’s leaders sanctuary and citizenship. However, having unsuccessfully sought to undermine the Abraham Accords, Turkey now seems to be more concerned with sharing interests with Israel rather than differences.
Aside from currying favor with Washington, improved relations with Israel will rebuild Turkey’s tarnished status as an investment destination. The unprecedented exodus of Western capital from Turkey brought home the perils of unpredictable economic policies to the country’s leaders, who are keen to show they have the situation under control.
Ahead of the trip, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett underlined the importance of “stability” in regards to his country’s foreign policy. The apparent lack of predictability from Ankara will continue to affect its political and economic fortunes. The previous plan to build an underwater pipeline to see Israeli natural gas transported to Europe was to bypass Turkey despite the favorable rights it offered Israel because the latter preferred the reliability it had found in its Greek and Cypriot interlocutors. Aside from Turkey’s efforts to mend bridges with regional countries, the most valuable exercise it can engage in is to embark on transparent and clear plans that will reassure allies and investors alike.
• Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator, and an adviser to private clients between London and the GCC.