English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 25/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
The angel Gabriel Delivers the Godly Message To Virgin Mary
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 01/26-38/:”In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 24-25/2022
President Aoun broaches general situation with Prime Minister Mikati, meets French Ambassador
Mikati meets IFRC Regional Director, Social Affairs Minister, lawmakers
Berri chairs Parliament Bureau meeting, welcomes Spanish Ambassador and Lebanese Red Cross
Lebanon: Brother of Central Bank Chief Kept in Custody
Judge Nicolas Mansour Issues Arrest Warrant against Raja Salameh
Distraught Lebanese depositors fight for their life savings
Lebanese judge calls c.bank governor for questioning
LBP Reaches 25,000 amid Judicial Escalation against Banks
Iranian FM Arrives in Beirut for Talks with Lebanese Leaders
Lebanese prime minister proposes inviting central bank governor Salameh to Cabinet meeting
Mikati meets IFRC Regional Director, Social Affairs Minister, lawmakers
Miqati Welcomes Kuwaiti-Saudi Statements, Says 'Cloud Will Pass'
U.S. Provides $64 Million in Emergency Food Assistance for Vulnerable Lebanese
Reports: Hochstein Asks Lebanese Leaders to Discuss Demarcation with Shea
Saudi ambassador to return to Lebanon after Mikati statement - report
Minister of Information welcomes Iranian cultural advisor

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 24-25/2022
Under Sweeping Sanctions, Iran Hawks its Weapons in Qatar
Iran Welcomes Syria Ties with Arabs, Says Nuclear Deal Close
Human rights groups urge UN to keep watch on Iran’s ‘dire situation’
UN Blames Russia for Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis
Ukraine's Zelensky Urges Global Protests against Russia's War
Russian Army 'Taking Defensive Positions' in Ukraine, Says Pentagon
Russia's Defense Minister Resurfaces after Dropping Out of View
US, Allies could give Ukraine anti-ship missiles
Ukraine says destroyed Russian naval vessel in Azov Sea
NATO extends Jens Stoltenberg's term for a year due to Russia's war
U.S. sanctions more Russian companies, lawmakers, elites
West unites behind Ukraine entering second month of Russian assault
G-7 nations restrict Russian Central Bank's use of gold in transactions
Russian War in Ukraine Marks 1 Month with no End in Sight
Biden, Western Allies Gather at Tense Moment in Ukraine War
Ukraine President to Press Biden, NATO for More Support
Israel Declares State of Emergency Following Beersheba Incident
Egypt, Saudi Arabia Agree to Boost Cooperation, Relations
Madeleine Albright, 1st Female U.S. Secretary of State, Dies
North Korea Fires Suspected Long-Range Missile toward Sea

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 24-25/2022
Audio From FDD/Breaking Hezbollah's Golden Rule/Hezbollah “Black Ops” in the Western Hemisphere
China Closer to Dominating Southeast Asia/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/March 24/2022
Palestinians: The 'Criminal' Pastor Who Met with the Rabbi/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/March 24/2022
The Iraq Crisis, An Opportunity For Change/Rebar Ahmed/Asharq Al-Awsat/March 24/2022
What Happens in Russia If Putin Can’t Win in Ukraine?/Hal Brands/Bloomberg/March 24/2022
Iraq’s missing state/Ibrahim al-Zobeidi/The Arab Weekly/March 24/2022
A changed Turkey can be a benefit to all/Rabbi Marc Schneier/Arab News/March 24/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 24-25/2022
President Aoun broaches general situation with Prime Minister Mikati, meets French Ambassador
NNA/March 24/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Thursday met Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, at the Presidential Palace. General developments and Cabinet deliberations were addressed in the meeting where PM Mikati briefed the President on the objectives of his upcoming visit to Qatar. Moreover, President Aoun briefed the Prime Minister on the meetings he held with Pope Francis, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Foreign Minister, Paul Richard Gallagher. The results of President Aoun’s meeting with his Italian counterpart, President Sergio Mattarella, were also tackled.
French Ambassador:
The President received the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Mrs. Anne Grillo, and discussed with her Lebanese-French relations and regional and international developments. The situation in Ukraine was also addressed, in addition to the French-Gulf move to support Lebanon socially and humanitarianly. In addition, negotiations between Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund and the necessity of approving the financial recovery plan as soon as possible, were discussed.
Spanish Ambassador:
President Aoun met the Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon, Jose Maria Ferri, on the end of his diplomatic tasks in Lebanon. The President thanked Ambassador Ferri for his efforts in strengthening Lebanese-Spanish relations and wished him success in his new duties.
Orient Club for Dialogue of Civilizations:
The President met a delegation of the Orient Club for Dialogue of Civilizations.
Head of the delegation, Mrs. Foula Tannouri Abboud, thanked President Aoun for his congratulations for the honorary President of the club, Bishop Youhanna Darwish, on the occasion of the honorary celebration that the club held for him a few days ago. Vice President, Mr. Elie Serghani also spoke about the club’s work and activities in multiple fields. Moreover, the member of the Board of Trustees, Lawyer Abdel Latif Sinno, read a poem in which he focused on the role played by President Aoun in combatting corruption in Lebanon.
For his part, Professor Sheikh Mukhlis Al-Jedda, pointed out to the importance of what President Aoun had done in achieving stability and peace in Lebanon.
President Aoun:
For his side, the President welcomed the delegation and praised the club’s activities, especially in terms of strengthening cultural ties between the Lebanese society and other societies.
President Aoun asserted that dialogue is the only way to resolve conflicts and promote mutual understanding within one society and among different societies. “Based on the importance of dialogue, I submitted a project to establish the Human Academy for Convergence and Dialogue, at the UN. 165 votes were in favor of this academy in order to achieve peace among peoples” the President said.
President Aoun also affirmed his keenness to follow up on what he started in terms of combating corruption, “Despite the efforts of some parties to obstruct it, which was evident two years ago in the face of his insistence on investigating BDL accounts”.
In addition, the President indicated that some decisions hinder the issuance of this law in the Cabinet due to the lack of approval of two-thirds, “But despite that we were able to ratify the gas and oil extraction projects, as the presence of gas was found, but international pressures prevented the completion of the work. Lebanon succeeded in clearing its lands of terrorists and the adoption of the election law, achieving financial order by completing budgets, in addition to filling the void in the diplomatic body, before the economic crisis escalated” the President continued. Finally, the President concluded by referring to the obstruction that some continue to practice and the failure to take measures to stop the financial collapse taking place. President Aoun spoke about the lack of approval of Capital Control until now, as an example, stressing that “Lebanon must rise again”.

Mikati meets IFRC Regional Director, Social Affairs Minister, lawmakers
NNA/March 24/2022
Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Thursday at the Grand Serail with Middle East and North Africa Regional Director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Hossam Elsharkawi, accompanied by his Office Coordinator Nadine Khoury. Talks reportedly touched on the humanitarian conditions in Lebanon and the IFRC role in supporting the Lebanese people. Premier Mikati also met at the Grand Serail with Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar, with discussions reportedly touching on the "AMAN" program and issues related to the Social Affairs Ministry. Mikati later received MP Bahiya Hariri, with whom he discussed the current general situation. He also met with MPs Ihab Hamade and Ibrahim Moussawi.

Berri chairs Parliament Bureau meeting, welcomes Spanish Ambassador and Lebanese Red Cross
NNA/March 24/2022
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday chaired at the second presidential headquarters in Ain El-Tineh a meeting of the Parliament’s bureau. In the wake of the meeting, Deputy House Speaker, Elie Ferzli said that the House Speaker had called for a plenary session to be held at 11:00 am on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, at the UNESCO Palace, in order to study the Capital Control bill and approve other bills and proposals on the parliament's agenda. On another level, Berri welcomed Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon, Jose María Ferrer De La Peña, who paid him a farewell visit marking the end of his diplomatic mission in Lebanon. Berri also welcomed a delegation representing the Lebanese Red Cross, with whom he discussed a number of demands and legislative issues that involve the Lebanese Red Cross.

Lebanon: Brother of Central Bank Chief Kept in Custody
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 24 March, 2022
A Lebanese judge decided Thursday to keep the brother of the country’s embattled central bank governor in custody, a week after he was first arrested on corruption allegations, state media reported. The brothers — Governor Riad Salameh and Raja Salameh — have been charged with illegal enrichment and money laundering over the past few years, during Lebanon’s economic meltdown. Their assets have been frozen under an order from a judge. A second judge, Nicola Mansour at Mount Lebanon district court, reviewed the case of Raja Salameh on Thursday, a week after his initial arrest and issued a second warrant for him, essentially keeping him in custody, The Associated Press reported. Riad Salameh, who has not been arrested, has steered Lebanese finances since 1993, through post-war recovery and bouts of unrest. He was once praised as guardian of Lebanon’s financial stability but has drawn increasing scrutiny since the meltdown started in 2019. Judge Mansour also summoned Riad Salameh for questioning next Thursday, according to National News Agency. The governor did not show up for previous questioning sessions. When contacted by Reuters, he denied any wrongdoing, saying he had ordered an audit which showed public funds were not a source of his wealth. Judge Ghada Aoun, also an investigative judge at Mount Lebanon district court who referred the case to Mansour, said that the Salameh brothers and Ukrainian citizen Anna Kosakova had formed three illusive companies in France to buy property there. Aoun said last week that Riad Salameh had used his brother to buy real estate in France worth nearly $12 million. The lawsuit against the Salameh brothers was initiated by a group of lawyers. In January, Aoun imposed a travel ban and froze some of the assets of the 71-year-old governor. He is also being investigated in several European nations, including Switzerland and France, for potential money laundering and embezzlement. Critics of Judge Aoun accuse her of acting in line with the political agenda of President Michel Aoun, who appointed her as a prosecutor and whose Free Patriotic Movement wants Salameh removed from his post. Judge Aoun says she is applying the law.

Judge Nicolas Mansour Issues Arrest Warrant against Raja Salameh
Naharnet/March 24/2022
Judge Nicolas Mansour issued Thursday an arrest warrant against Raja Salameh, the brother of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, after questioning him. Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun had ordered last week the detention of the businessman Raja Salameh, after questioning him for several hours. The questioning was related to a lawsuit filed by an activist group. The lawsuit accused Raja Salameh of suspicious contracts and money transfers to accounts outside Lebanon, it said. The lawyers who had filed the suit said they will file an appeal, as they were not allowed to attend the interrogation session. They considered the act to be illegal, while a legal expert told the MTV that the lawyers did not have the right to attend the session. Aoun had accused Riad Salameh of illicit enrichment and money laundering, while his brother Raja, along with a Ukrainian national Anna Kosakova were accused for interfering in the alleged offenses. The central bank governor failed to appear before Aoun, while his brother was detained last week, after being interrogated by Aoun. After issuing the arrest warrant against raja, Judge Mansour scheduled a hearing session for Riad Salameh for next Thursday. In January, Aoun had imposed a travel ban and froze some of the assets of the 71-year-old governor who is also being investigated in several European nations, including Switzerland and France, for potential money laundering and embezzlement. Judge Aoun told The Associated Press that the Salameh brothers and the Ukrainian woman had formed three illusive companies in France to buy property there. Aoun said last week that Riad Salameh had used his brother to buy real-estate in France worth nearly $12 million. Kosakova, who lives in France, reportedly has a daughter from Salameh. Kosakova also jointly owns a company with Raja Salameh. Judge Aoun is investigating whether a number of residential apartments in Paris belong to Riad Salemeh, according to a judicial source. His brother had previously claimed the flats belong to the central bank, the source added. Riad Salameh had steered Lebanese finances since 1993, through post-war recovery and bouts of unrest. Once praised as the guardian of Lebanon's financial stability, he has drawn increasing scrutiny since the small country's economic meltdown began in late 2019.

Distraught Lebanese depositors fight for their life savings
Reuters/24 March ,2022
When a Lebanese bank told Aref Yassin it had closed accounts worth $20 million belonging to the professional syndicate he heads and issued a check for the balance that was worth a fifth of its face value, he took the matter to court. The money, saved from engineers’ subscriptions and deposited at Fransabank, was earmarked for healthcare and pensions covered by the syndicate for about 100,000 people who now face losing a lifeline in a country in the third year of an economic meltdown. “Retrieving the syndicate’s money stuck at the banks has become a matter of life or death for engineers,” Yassin said, adding some beneficiaries needed cash for life-saving treatment. Fransabank said banking secrecy rules meant the bank could not disclose information about a client. Lebanon’s ruling elite have so far failed to come up with a recovery plan to address Lebanon’s financial meltdown that erupted in late 2019 - and the crisis is now increasingly playing out in the courts between depositors and banks. Fearing for their life savings, more account holders are suing banks, hoping to get their cash. And, in response, more banks have been closing accounts and issuing cheques for the balance without consulting clients, lawyers acting for depositors say. Ruling politicians have yet to agree on how to deal with the financial system’s huge losses incurred when the economy collapsed under a mountain of debt built up from decades of corruption, sectarian patronage and mismanagement. Nor have they passed a capital control law to deal with what the World Bank calls one of the world’s worst financial crashes on record. Such a law would help ensure savers are treated fairly and stop what funds are left bleeding out of the country. More than $100 billion remains trapped in Lebanese banks which lent to the state - and court battles to access any cash still left in the banking system are gathering pace. In one of the most high-profile cases, a court in London ruled in favor of a saver seeking $4 million deposited with Bank Audi and its peer SGBL.
‘They don’t want to pay’
Banks, which have called for a capital control law, say the London ruling means there is now less cash left for less well-off depositors who cannot afford to bring such action. But small depositors have already been hit hardest, said Fouad Debs, co-founder of the Depositors Union, which groups lawyers and activists. The union has filed around 300 suits on behalf of savers in Lebanon and abroad since 2019. They include cases to request transfers of funds and to reopen closed accounts. But only a dozen cases had concluded in favor of depositors, he said.
“They are simply closing peoples accounts because they don’t want to pay people their money back - and they are doing it more and more because they’ve seen that no regulatory body is standing against them,” Debs said. The government is showing increasing concern about rulings supporting depositors and about other court orders freezing assets of some of Lebanon’s biggest banks while a judge probes their transactions with the central bank. “We should not celebrate the freezes on the banks and the actions that are happening,” Prime Minister Najib Mikati said, adding that “nothing will remain” for smaller depositors if wealthy depositors were given back their cash. Many savers accuse Lebanon’s ruling elite of doing more to protect the wealthy and the banks, some of which have senior politicians as shareholders, than small account holders.
“Elite people are always transferring money out,” said Dana Trometer, a 48-year-old filmmaker who lives in Britain, adding that “normal people” were not getting the same treatment.
‘It’s not fair’
Although most savers cannot access their cash, the lack of a capital control law means there is no legal reason stopping transfers. A source with knowledge of the matter said some banks had transferred money for politicians and their allies. The Association of Banks in Lebanon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Banks have said they have sought to treat all depositors fairly and have limited most transfers to essential needs, such as schooling and healthcare. Trometer filed a lawsuit two years ago in Lebanon to access her mother’s trapped retirement savings, without success. “It’s not fair,” Trometer said, adding that her mother “can’t even get a penny out of the bank to help her through every day, just buying everyday essentials.”Lawyer Ali Zbeeb said the accelerated rate of account closures by banks may have been prompted by the London ruling in favor of British businessman Vatche Manoukian, whom he advised. “Banks may therefore be aiming to prevent a similar situation by pre-emptively closing accounts,” Zbeeb said. Debs of the Depositors’ Union said more than 50 British savers had been in touch since the ruling because their accounts had been unilaterally closed, or they feared their closure.
Most had accounts with Blom Bank and Bank Audi, he said. Blom Bank legal counsel said the bank had closed some accounts held by Lebanese and foreign citizens during the crisis and said the contract signed by clients granted the bank the right to unilaterally close accounts with no prior notice. Some of the closed accounts were held by British citizens or residents and some were closed since the London ruling, the bank said. Bank Audi, which had no comment for this report, said after the London ruling that it was asking UK residents to apply terms applicable to anyone opening a new account, meaning no international transfers and no cash withdrawals. If this was not accepted, the bank said it would close the account. Karim Daher, head of the Beirut Bar Association’s Commission for Depositors Rights, said he had received regular calls from distraught savers struggling to access just part of their cash.
“These people have put money aside for retirement, to send children to school and university,” he said. “It’s a catastrophic situation.”

Lebanese judge calls c.bank governor for questioning
Reuters/March 24, 2022
BEIRUT: A Lebanese judge on Thursday summoned central governor Riad Salameh to appear for questioning on March 31 after he was charged with illicit enrichment, the Lebanese state news agency (NNA) reported on Thursday. Judge Nicolas Mansour also ordered Salameh’s brother, Raja to remain in custody following his detention a week ago when he was charged with complicity in the same case, a judicial source and the NNA said. The charges against the Salameh brothers were brought by Judge Ghada Aoun, who referred the case to investigating Judge Mansour earlier this week. Aoun told Reuters on Monday that the case pertained to the purchase and rental of Paris apartments, including some to the central bank. Salameh, governor for nearly three decades, denied the charge when contacted by Reuters on Monday, saying he had ordered an audit which showed public funds were not a source of his wealth. He was not present when Aoun charged him on Monday and has not been detained. Salameh did not immediately reply to a question from Reuters on Thursday about whether he had received a summons or whether he would attend the hearing. Salameh’s tenure as central bank governor has faced increased scrutiny since the financial system imploded in 2019, the most destabilising crisis since Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. A lawyer for Raja Salameh has previously said the charge against his client is unfounded. The lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday. At a hearing on Thursday, Judge Mansour ordered Raja Salameh remain in detention, pending the provision of documents that show the source of funds used to buy the properties under investigation, the judicial source said. Riad Salameh’s wealth is being investigated by authorities in at least five European countries. A Swiss inquiry is probing alleged aggravated money laundering at the central bank involving $300 million in gains by a company owned by Raja Salameh. Denying wrongdoing, Riad Salameh said last year that he had ordered an audit that had shown no public funds were used to pay fees and commissions to the company owned by his brother. Critics of Judge Aoun accuse her of acting in line with the political agenda of President Michel Aoun, who appointed her as a prosecutor and whose Free Patriotic Movement wants Salameh removed from his post. Judge Aoun denies this, saying she is applying the law. Riad Salameh still has powerful backers in the Lebanese government, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Mikati on Wednesday proposed inviting the central bank governor to a forthcoming cabinet session, in an apparent show of support.

LBP Reaches 25,000 amid Judicial Escalation against Banks
Naharnet/March 24/2022
The Lebanese pound reached 25,000 against the dollar on Thursday, after having been relatively stable in the past months following a central bank circular that had allowed banks to buy dollar banknotes from the BDL. The central bank intervention in January had led to a major recovery of the Lebanese lira value as it strengthened to around 20,000 after it had reached a low of 34,000. Banks on Monday had declared a two-day strike to protest recent moves by Lebanon's judiciary against local lenders. Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun had frozen the assets of Creditbank, Bank of Beirut, Bank Audi, SGBL, BLOM Bank and BankMed, as she investigates possible transfers of billions of dollars aboard during the country’s economic meltdown. Last week, Lebanese authorities had also seized the assets of Fransabank, based on an order issued by Judge Mariana Anani. A senior banking official warned that Lebanon will likely plunge into a dire LBP liquidity crisis, amid the current unusual escalation in judicial measures against banks.

Iranian FM Arrives in Beirut for Talks with Lebanese Leaders
Naharnet/March 24/2022
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived Thursday in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders. Abdollahian expressed his country's willingness to provide aid to Lebanon in different fields, especially in the economic and commercial sectors. He said he had already informed Prime Minister Najib Miqati in Munich, a month ago, that Iran is ready to help Lebanon build two power plants. Abdollahian had been in Damascus Wednesday where he discussed with his Syrian counterpart the war in Ukraine and other developments.

Lebanese prime minister proposes inviting central bank governor Salameh to Cabinet meeting
The National/March 24/2022
The move is a show of support after Riad Salameh was charged with illicit enrichmentIn a show of support, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday proposed inviting embattled central bank governor Riad Salameh to a Cabinet meeting. It followed "lots of discussion about the matter of the relationship with the banks," Information Minister Ziad Al Makary said. It was an apparent reference to a standoff between Lebanese banks and members of the judiciary who have frozen the assets of seven lenders this month. Mr Salameh himself is facing charges of embezzlement and corruption – which he denies. No date had been set for Mr Salameh to attend a cabinet meeting, Reuters reported, citing Mr Makary. The move would be a show of support after Mr Salameh who was charged with illicit enrichment. Mr Salameh has denied the charge brought against him by a Lebanese judge on Monday.
It was the first charge to be brought against the governor, whose wealth is also being probed by authorities in at least five European countries. Denying the charge, Mr Salameh said he had ordered an audit, which showed public funds were not a source of his wealth. His tenure has faced increased scrutiny since the financial system imploded in 2019, the most destabilising crisis since Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. Judge Ghada Aoun charged Mr Salameh in absentia. Last week, judge Aoun charged Riad's brother, Raja Salameh, in the same case and ordered his arrest. He has since been detained. Mr Raja Salameh’s lawyer has said allegations of illicit enrichment and money laundering against his client were unfounded. Mr Riad Salameh faces other investigations, including a Swiss inquiry over alleged aggravated money laundering at the central bank involving $300 million in gains by a company owned by his brother. Judge Aoun's critics accuse her of acting in line with the political agenda of President Michel Aoun, who appointed her as a prosecutor and whose Free Patriotic Movement wants Mr Riad Salameh removed from his post. Judge Aoun says she is applying the law. Mr Riad Salameh has described accusations against him as politically motivated.

Mikati meets IFRC Regional Director, Social Affairs Minister, lawmakers
NNA/March 24/2022
Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Thursday at the Grand Serail with Middle East and North Africa Regional Director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Hossam Elsharkawi, accompanied by his Office Coordinator Nadine Khoury.
Talks reportedly touched on the humanitarian conditions in Lebanon and the IFRC role in supporting the Lebanese people. Premier Mikati also met at the Grand Serail with Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar, with discussions reportedly touching on the "AMAN" program and issues related to the Social Affairs Ministry. Mikati later received MP Bahiya Hariri, with whom he discussed the current general situation. He also met with MPs Ihab Hamade and Ibrahim Moussawi.

Miqati Welcomes Kuwaiti-Saudi Statements, Says 'Cloud Will Pass'
Naharnet/March 24/2022
Prime Minister Najib Miqati described Wednesday the Lebanese-Gulf rift as a cloud that will pass. He said at the start of a Cabinet session that the Kuwaiti and Saudi statements indicate that the "cloud that has engulfed the Lebanon-Gulf relations will soon dissipate."Miqati stated that "Lebanon and the Gulf states share a common history and a belief in a common destiny." "We call on the Arabs to stand by Lebanon," he added. Kuwait and KSA had welcomed Tuesday a statement issued by Miqati that expressed Lebanon’s commitment to repair its ties with the Gulf. Meanwhile, media reports said Wednesday that the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors will return to Beirut in the upcoming weeks. KSA, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait had expelled the Lebanese ambassadors and recalled their diplomats from Beirut last October, after ex Information Minister George Kordahi described the war in Yemen as an aggression by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, sparking the rift.

U.S. Provides $64 Million in Emergency Food Assistance for Vulnerable Lebanese
Naharnet/March 24/2022
In response to growing food security needs in Lebanon, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing nearly $64 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help feed vulnerable people in Lebanon. "Lebanon is facing increased food insecurity amid the country’s ongoing economic crisis, as well as prolonged impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the August 2020 Beirut port blast," The U.S Embassy in Beirut said. It added that "this situation is exacerbated by Putin’s war against Ukraine due to Lebanon’s reliance on imported wheat, primarily from Ukraine."USAID remains concerned that increasing prices of staple foods and fuel in Lebanon will worsen food insecurity, the statement said, adding that the U.S. government is "committed to providing much-needed assistance to the most vulnerable populations in Lebanon."The embassy went on to say that the United States is the largest bilateral donor of humanitarian assistance in Lebanon and that "this additional $64 million in funding through the U.N. World Food Program will provide emergency food assistance for more than 740,000 people." This latest USAID contribution will include rice, chickpeas, pasta, lentils, and other non-perishable items, in addition to vouchers for purchasing food staples from local markets, thereby supporting the Lebanese economy. The U.S. embassy added that the United States government has contributed nearly $510 million in assistance to Lebanon since October 2020. "The United States remains deeply concerned about the rising humanitarian needs in Lebanon and continues to urge other donors to increase their contributions for this response," the statement concluded.

Reports: Hochstein Asks Lebanese Leaders to Discuss Demarcation with Shea
Naharnet/March 24/2022
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is leaning toward cancelling a visit to Beirut to receive the Lebanese response on his proposal regarding the demarcation of the maritime border with Israel, al-Akhbar newspaper said. The daily said Thursday that Hochstein has asked Lebanese senior leaders to discuss their future proposals, if any, with the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea. Last week, President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati had called on the U.S. to “continue its efforts for the resumption of demarcation talks, in a manner that would preserve Lebanon’s interests,” after media reports had said there is a Lebanese inclination toward rejecting Hochstein's proposal. Israel and Lebanon had resumed negotiations over their disputed maritime border in 2020 but the process was stalled as Beirut asked the United Nations to modify the map used in the talks. Lebanese politicians hope today that commercially viable hydrocarbon resources off Lebanon's coast could help lift the debt-ridden country out of its financial crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet's worst in modern times, while Israelis are pushing for speeding up the negotiations to start drilling for gas in the disputed Karish field.

Saudi ambassador to return to Lebanon after Mikati statement - report
Jerusalem Post/March 24/2022
A diplomatic crisis exploded in November after a Lebanese minister expressed support for the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon will return to Lebanon by the start of Ramadan next week, Lebanese newspaper al-Joumhouria reported on Wednesday, after Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati affirmed the country's commitment to restore relations with Gulf states on Tuesday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mikati wrote that he had spoken with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah about restoring normal relations between Lebanon and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). "I renew the commitment of the Lebanese government to take the necessary and required measures to enhance cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Lebanon’s commitment to all the decisions of the Arab League and international legitimacy, and its commitment to serious and actual work to follow up and complete the implementation of its provisions in a manner that guarantees civil peace and national stability for Lebanon and fortifies its unity," Mikati wrote in the statement. The Lebanese prime minister stressed the need to end all political, military, security and media activities originating from Lebanon that affect the "sovereignty, security and stability" of Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries. Mikati also renewed his commitment to combat the smuggling of contraband, especially drugs, to Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries from Lebanon. He additionally affirmed Beirut's commitment to the Riyadh Agreement on judicial cooperation and the extradition of wanted persons to Saudi Arabia. Lebanon would work to "prevent the use of Lebanese financial and banking channels to conduct any financial transactions that might harm the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the countries of the GCC," the prime minister said.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry welcomed Mikati's statements on Tuesday, saying it "hopes that this will contribute to Lebanon's restoration of its role and status in the Arab and international arenas." The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry also welcomed the prime minister's statements, saying it looked forward to "completing constructive and practical measures in this regard." A DIPLOMATIC crisis exploded in November after Saudi Arabia expressed outrage against comments made by then Lebanese information minister George Kordahi supporting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and criticizing the military intervention led by Saudi Arabia, calling the war in the country "futile."Saudi Arabia and the UAE, along with other Gulf states, withdrew their diplomatic envoys and expelled Lebanese envoys in response to the comments. The Saudis also designated the financial charity body Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association, which is linked to Hezbollah, as a terrorist entity, saying it "works on managing funds for the terrorist organization (Hezbollah) and its financing." Gulf states have expressed strong condemnations of Hezbollah in recent months, linking the movement to the Iran-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen. Even though Kordahi is a Maronite Christian, he received support from the Hezbollah movement who expressed strong opposition against calls for the minister to resign. The movement claimed Saudi Arabia was "waging war" on Lebanon with its diplomatic measures issued in response to Kordahi's statements. The information minister resigned in December in light of the moves made by the Gulf states. Arab and Lebanese diplomatic sources told al-Joumhouria on Tuesday that Saudi Ambassador Walid al-Bukhari will return to Beirut at the end of this week or, at the latest, by the beginning of Ramadan which starts next week.
A senior political source told the newspaper that the statements by the Saudi and Kuwait foreign ministries were a "positive sign," adding, however, that it was too early to tell how long it would take for relations to completely return to normal.
Government sources also told the paper that Mikati's statement took into account the current situation in Lebanon, the Arab world and internationally, adding that the "positive repercussions" of the statement on the overall situation in Lebanon would "soon become clear."
"Informed sources" stated that the moves by Mikati and Saudi Arabia come amid planned talks concerning Yemen, Saudi-Iranian talks (which have stalled in recent weeks), the recent visit of Syrian President Bashar Assad to the United Arab Emirates and ongoing talks between Iran and world powers to return to the JCPOA nuclear deal, Al-Joumhouria wrote. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian led a Foreign Ministry delegation to Syria on Wednesday to meet with senior Syrian officials and discuss the development of bilateral relations, regional developments and the situation around the world.

Minister of Information welcomes Iranian cultural advisor
NNA/March 24/2022
Minister of Information, Ziad Al-Makary, on Thursday welcomed Iranian cultural advisor, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, with whom he discussed the general situation, as well as Lebanese-Iranian bilateral relations. The pair also discussed the possibility of reviving agreements in the field of media and activating joint cooperation. Following the meeting, Mortazavi said that the meeting had been an opportunity to discuss the best means to revive agreements previously signed between Lebanon and Iran in the field of audio-visual media, as well as the possibility of developing executive programs for these agreements and MoUs.
The Iranian diplomat also extended an official invitation to Minister Al-Makary to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran in a bid to revive the aforementioned agreements.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 24-25/2022
Under Sweeping Sanctions, Iran Hawks its Weapons in Qatar
Associated Press/March 24/2022
Iran, under sweeping economic sanctions, was hawking weapons on Wednesday at a Qatari defense exhibit, a surprising sight at the major conference also showcasing American companies and fighter jets. Tucked away in the far left corner of the carpeted convention center, commanders from Iran's defense ministry marketed their missiles and air defense weapons systems. The defense ministry manufactures arms for both Iran's military and its powerful paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard, a group that plays a singular role in the creation and execution of Iran's national security and foreign policy. The DIMDEX exhibition serves to promote Qatar, a major non-NATO ally of the United States that's home to the largest American military base in the Middle East. The tiny Gulf Arab country, however, also maintains good relations with Iran, with which it shares the world's largest gas field. Iranian representatives declined to speak with The Associated Press. They handed out brochures to an AP journalist promoting their homemade jet trainers, helicopters and hovercraft. The Qatari armed forces chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Salem al-Nabet, toured Iran's pavilion before the exhibition wrapped up, inspecting displays of lethal merchandise in glass cases and listening to a sales pitch about machine guns. A giant American flag representing U.S. military contractor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems could be seen hanging just beside the Iranian stand. Notably, Iran's pavilion cannot be found on the conference map. The country's defense ministry and armed forces logistics remain under crushing U.S. sanctions over suspected illegal weapons trade. The Revolutionary Guard, for its part, is widely regarded as a toxic business partner for its designation as a terrorist group by the Trump administration, its global reputation for meddling in regional conflicts and sanctions over its ballistic missile programs and alleged human rights violations. With talks to restore Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers nearing a resolution four years after former President Trump abandoned it, the possible removal of the Guard's terrorism designation has drawn fierce criticism from America's Mideast allies, like Israel. The U.S. has balked at the Iranian demand, barring commitments from Tehran to stop funding and arming extremist groups in the region and beyond. Nuclear negotiators have yet to reconvene in Vienna.

Iran Welcomes Syria Ties with Arabs, Says Nuclear Deal Close
Associated Press/March 24/2022
The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria, two allies of Russia, discussed the war in Ukraine and other developments during a meeting in Damascus on Wednesday. Syria's top diplomat said Moscow is defending its people. Faisal Mekdad spoke to reporters in Damascus after his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, held talks with President Bashar Assad, Mekdad and top security official Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk. Amirabdollahian welcomed the reconciliation approach by the United Arab Emirates toward Syria. He added that Tehran is close to reaching an agreement on its nuclear program with world powers. Iran is a strong ally of Assad and has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the region to bolster Syrian government forces against opponents in the 11-year Syrian conflict. Russia has also supported Assad militarily, turning the tide of the war in his favor. The Syria war has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country's pre-war population of 23 million. Speaking about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Mekdad said "Russia is defending its right in protecting its people (by pushing) away the NATO presence on its direct border.""Russia is defending us all and is defending its sovereignty," Mekdad added. State news agency SANA said that during Assad's meeting with Amirabdollahian they discussed the conflict in Ukraine and they both agreed that "international balance should not be subjected to dangerous shocks through which Western countries threaten international peace and security." During his visit, Amirabdollahian discussed the latest developments in Iran's negotiations to restore Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. He also discussed Assad's visit to the United Arab Emirates last week, which marked his first to an Arab country since the Syria war broke out, and meetings of the constitutional committee in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition. "We welcome and we are satisfied with what some Arab countries are doing by normalizing relations with Syria," Amirabdollahian said. Amirbdollahian said in Farsi that strategic relations between Iran and Syria are at their best. He later made a rare comment in Arabic, saying: "We are in the same trench, and we support Syria's leadership, government and people." Like Iran, Russia is a strong ally of Syria and joined the war in 2015, which helped Assad's forces regain control of much of the country. Russia has hundreds of troops deployed in Syria and an air base on the Mediterranean coast. Nuclear negotiations nearly reached completion earlier this month before Moscow demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over Ukraine, throwing the process into disarray. Negotiators have yet to reconvene in the Austrian capital, and its unclear exactly what hurdles lie ahead. The Iranian official said he believes that Tehran is close to reaching an agreement over its nuclear program and put the blame for delays on the American side, which he said should take "a realistic stance." He did not elaborate. Amirabdollahian's visit comes two weeks after two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard were killed in an Israeli strike near the capital Damascus. Days later Iran claimed responsibility for a missile barrage that struck near a sprawling U.S. consulate complex in northern Iraq, saying it was retaliation for repeated Israeli strikes in Syria. The Revolutionary Guard said it fired off 12 cruise missiles at what it described as a "strategic center" of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, a claim denied by Iraqi officials.

Human rights groups urge UN to keep watch on Iran’s ‘dire situation’
Arab News/March 24/2022
LONDON: Leading human rights advocacy groups have urged UN member states to renew the mandate of a UN special rapporteur responsible for monitoring what they describe as a “dire situation” in Iran. The groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and dozens more, wrote to member states: “We, the undersigned Iranian and international human rights organizations, call on your country to support the renewal of the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran at the 49th session of the Human Rights Council. “The renewal of this mandate is essential in light of the persistent pattern of serious human rights violations and international crimes committed by Iranian authorities, as extensively documented by civil society monitors and by the special rapporteur.”The special rapporteur is a voluntary position appointed by the UN, responsible for working on and highlighting a given topic, such as torture, freedom of expression, or on specific troubled locations, such as Iran. In a recent report, the current special rapporteur said that in Iran “discrimination in law and practice remains pervasive and perpetuates violence against women and girls,” as well as “persons belonging to ethnic or linguistic minorities, including Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis, Kurds and Turkmen.”The report added that repression also extends to “persons belonging to religious or belief minorities, including Baha’is, Christian converts, the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haq), Sunni Muslims, atheist beliefs and nonbelievers.”Long-standing patterns of human rights violations have been facilitated by what the special rapporteur described as “institutional impunity” due to “the absence of a system for accountability.”“Obtaining accountability for human rights violations is arbitrary at best and impossible at worst,” the special rapporteur said.
The groups’ letter concluded: “We urge your government to support the renewal of the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran at this session and to press Iran to give the expert unfettered access to the country.”It added: “We also call on your government to voice concern at the dire situation of human rights in Iran, and to send a strong message to the Iranian authorities that the cycle of impunity must be broken.”

UN Blames Russia for Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 24 March, 2022
The UN General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution blaming Russia for a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and urging an immediate cease-fire and protection for millions of civilians and the homes, schools and hospitals critical to their survival. The vote on the resolution was 140-5 with only Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea joining Russia in opposing the measure. There were 38 abstentions, including China. The resolution deplored Russia’s shelling, airstrikes and “besiegement” of densely populated cities, including the southern city of Mariupol, and demanded unhindered access for humanitarian aid. The vote was almost exactly the same as on the March 2 resolution the assembly adopted demanding an immediate Russian cease-fire and withdrawal of all its forces and demanding protection for all civilians and infrastructure indispensable to their survival. That vote was 141-5 with 35 abstentions. When the result of the vote was announced, many diplomats in the General Assembly chamber burst into applause.

Ukraine's Zelensky Urges Global Protests against Russia's War
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 24 March, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged citizens around the world to take to the streets to stop Russia's invasion of his country. "Come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life," Zelensky said in a video address in English. "Come to your squares, to your streets, make yourselves visible and heard."In a passionate speech on the eve of a one-month anniversary of Russia's invasion, Zelensky urged people around the globe "to stand against the war starting from March 24... and after then" and speak up against Russia's bloody war, AFP said. "Show your standing, come from your offices, your homes, your schools and your universities, come in the name of peace," Zelensky said. "The world must stop the war."Hundreds of civilians have been killed, hundreds more injured and over three million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24 with the goal of thwarting its pro-Western course.

Russian Army 'Taking Defensive Positions' in Ukraine, Says Pentagon
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 24 March, 2022
The Russian army has retreated more than 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Kyiv in the past 24 hours and has begun to establish defensive positions on several fronts in Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday. "The Ukrainians have managed to push the Russians back 55 kilometers east and northeast of Kiev," the senior official, who requested anonymity, told reporters. "That is a change from yesterday."On Tuesday the Pentagon had estimated that Russian forces were around 20 kilometers from the center of the capital, AFP said. To the northwest, "they're basically digging in and they are establishing defensive positions," the official added. "So it's not that they're not advancing. They're actually not trying to advance right now." Moscow's indiscriminate attacks have devastated several Ukrainian cities since it sent tens of thousands of troops into its eastern European neighbor on February 24, with the civilian toll soaring and more than ten million people fleeing their homes. Many analysts still see no clear path out of the conflict. Even so, Ukraine's resistance -- backed by millions in Western military aid -- has been unexpectedly fierce. Russian forces also remain blocked 10 kilometers from the center of Chernihiv, northeast of Kiev, according to Pentagon estimates. They are "stalled" and in some places "they are ceding ground, they are actually moving in the opposite direction, but not by much," the official noted. While in Kharkiv in the east, where fighting remains intense, Russian forces are still 15 to 20 kilometers from the city center and face "very, very stiff resistance" from the Ukrainians, according to the official. The Russians appear to be focusing on the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east. The official said the Pentagon believes Moscow is "at least to some degree trying to fix Ukrainian forces" in that area "so that they can't be used elsewhere." To the south, however, the Russian Navy is using the port of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov for refueling. Finally, the Pentagon has seen no change around the city of Odessa, on the Black Sea. While several missiles were fired in the direction of Odessa from Russian ships earlier this week, this did not happen on Tuesday or Wednesday, the official said. The comments come a day after Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the Ukrainians are "in places and at times going on an offensive," and are "going after Russians and pushing them out of places."

Russia's Defense Minister Resurfaces after Dropping Out of View
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 24 March, 2022
Russia's powerful defense minister resurfaced in a short snippet of video footage aired by state media on Thursday after dropping out of public view for days during Russia's war in Ukraine. Sergei Shoigu, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, was spotted on a split screen of top officials as Putin met his Security Council remotely in footage aired by Russia's RIA news agency. The 66-year-old minister had not been seen for 12 days, some Russian media outlets said on Wednesday, prompting speculation about his whereabouts, Reuters reported. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov played down that speculation on Thursday, saying that Shoigu had a lot on his plate and it was understandable he was not devoting a lot of time to media appearances. "The defense minister has a lot on his mind right now. A special military operation is underway. Now is not really the time for media activity," Peskov told reporters.

US, Allies could give Ukraine anti-ship missiles
AFP/March 24/2022
The United States and its NATO allies are discussing sending anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, a senior US official said Thursday, after Russian vessels attacked Kyiv's Black Sea ports. "We have started consulting with allies on providing anti-ship missiles to Ukraine," the official told reporters as a NATO summit got under way in Brussels."There may be some technical challenges with making that happen, but that is something that we are consulting with allies and starting to work on."

Ukraine says destroyed Russian naval vessel in Azov Sea
AFP/March 24/2022
Ukraine on Wednesday said it had struck a Russian naval transport vessel docked in the Azov Sea near the besieged port city of Mariupol, a month into the Russian invasion. "The Orsk large landing ship of the Black Sea Fleet of the occupiers has been destroyed in the port of Berdyansk captured by Russia," the Ukrainian navy wrote on social media. Plumes of black smoke billowed from a large gray vessel docked next to big cranes in amateur footage of what the Ukraine navy said was the strike on the ship. There was no immediate response to the claim from Russia's defence ministry and AFP could not independently confirm the strikes. Russia's state-run TASS new agency earlier this week had described the arrival of landing craft as "an epic event" that "opens up opportunities for the Black Sea in terms of logistics," citing the Russian defence ministry-linked television channel, Zvezda.
TASS reported that the vessel was capable of carrying up to 1,500 tonnes of cargo.

NATO extends Jens Stoltenberg's term for a year due to Russia's war
AP/March 24/2022
NATO leaders are extending the mandate of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for an extra year to help steer the 30-nation military organisation through the security crisis sparked by Russia's war on Ukraine. Stoltenberg tweeted Thursday that he is honoured by the decision of NATO leaders to extend my term as Secretary General until 30 September 2023. As we face the biggest security crisis in a generation, we stand united to keep our alliance strong and our people safe, he said. The former Norwegian prime minister was named to NATO's top civilian post in October 2014. It's the second time that his term of office has been extended. His mandate was due to expire in September. In February, Norway's government appointed Stoltenberg as head of the Scandinavian country's central bank and said it hoped he could start in his new role around Dec 1. It later said that deputy governor Ida Wolden Bache would be in charge until Stoltenberg can take over. Stoltenberg, 63, has described Russia's war on Ukraine as the most serious security situation we have been in for decades. Stoltenberg has been praised for steering NATO through a difficult and divisive period under the Trump administration, when the US threatened not to come to the aid of member countries that weren't spending enough on defence. Speaking to reporters on an Air Force One flight to Brussels on Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden thinks very highly of Secretary-General Stoltenberg. They've developed a relationship of trust, Sullivan said. Secretary-General Stoltenberg has played an instrumental role in helping secure the powerful unity you've seen at NATO through this crisis. Stoltenberg was twice prime minister in Norway from 2005 to 2013 and from 2002 to 2014 and he also served as finance minister, and industry and energy minister.--

U.S. sanctions more Russian companies, lawmakers, elites
NNA/March 24/2022
The U.S. announced a new package of sanctions on Russian elites, lawmakers and defense companies, punishments designed to ramp up pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The measures announced Thursday during summit meetings between President Joe Biden and NATO, as well as the Group of Seven, will be followed by others to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas -- the lifeblood of the nation’s economy, according to senior administration officials. The U.S. will impose full blocking sanctions on more than 400 individuals and entities, including the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, and 328 of its members, more than a dozen Russian elites and 48 Russian defense companies. “I’m announcing additional sanctions on over 400 Russian elites, lawmakers, and defense companies in response to Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine,” Biden said in a tweet. “They personally gain from the Kremlin’s policies, and they should share in the pain.”The sanctions will hit Herman Gref, the head of Russia’s Sberbank and an adviser to President Vladimir Putin; Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko, his companies and his family members; as well as 17 board members of the Russian financial institution Sovcombank. Among the defense companies being sanctioned are Russian Helicopters, Tactical Missiles Corporation, High Precision Systems, NPK Tekhmash OAO and Kronshtadt, according to the White House. An agreement with European Union countries to reduce their dependence on Russian energy sources is expected to be announced Friday, according to a senior administration official, who declined to detail the measures. The U.S. and EU are working on an agreement to ensure American natural gas and hydrogen supplies go to European member states in an effort to end its reliance on Russian fuels, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. G-7 leaders agreed on an initiative to coordinate on sanctions enforcement so that the countries can jointly respond to any attempts to evade the measures. The steps include banning transactions in gold with the Russian central bank and a call to restrict Russia’s access to loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The EU is considering tightening or expanding existing sanctions against Russia in coordination with the U.S., while refraining from major new steps to cut off oil and gas purchases amid a deepening divide within the bloc over how to limit Moscow’s biggest source of revenue.  Any new measures countries can agree on this week would be limited in scope and possibly focused on closing loopholes, according to an EU diplomat. Europe is continuing to purchase coal, oil and gas from Russia, while energy-related transactions are exempt from financial sanctions, shielding some of Russia’s biggest banks from the bulk of penalties.--Bloomberg news

West unites behind Ukraine entering second month of Russian assault
Reuters/March 24, 2022
BRUSSELS/LVIV/MARIUPOL: Western leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday agreed to strengthen their forces in Eastern Europe, increase military aid to Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia whose invasion and bombardment of its neighbor entered a second month.At an unprecedented summit of transatlantic alliance NATO, G7 rich nations and European leaders to address the continent’s biggest military crisis since the 1990s Balkans wars, new battle groups were announced for four Eastern European nations. The United States and Britain expanded sanctions blacklists. Various nations announced new military and humanitarian aid plus promises to take in refugees. And the EU was set to unveil steps to wean itself off Russian energy.“We must ensure that the decision to invade a sovereign independent country is understood to be a strategic failure that carries with it ruinous costs for Putin and Russia,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the EU parliament. Still, the pledges stopped short of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s calls for a full boycott of Russian energy and a no-fly zone over Ukraine where Moscow’s bombs are wreaking havoc.Thousands of people have been killed, millions made refugees, and cities pulverised since Russian leader Vladimir Putin unleashed his invasion on Feb. 24. “We ask for protection from (Russia) bombing us from the sky,” said refugee Svetlana, 55, on her way back to Ukraine from Poland to rejoin family after initially seeking refuge. “And help us not only with equipment but with peace forces and professional soldiers.”More than 3.6 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the United Nations. More than half of Ukraine’s children have been driven from their homes.
Cowering below ground
In the besieged southern port of Mariupol, which lies between Russian-annexed Crimea and eastern regions held by Russian-backed separatists, tens of thousands are hiding in basements with scant water, food, medicine or power. In one part of the city captured by Russian troops, a patch of grass between charred hulks of blasted apartment buildings has become a makeshift graveyard. Freshly-dug mounds are marked with plastic flowers and crosses made from broken window frames. Explosions sound in the background. “It could have been me,” sobbed Viktoria as she buried her 73-year-old stepfather Leonid, killed when the car ferrying him to a hospital was blown up 12 days ago. Ukrainian officials accused Russia on Thursday of having forcibly deported 15,000 people from the city to Russia.
Moscow denies this.
In a month of fighting, Ukraine has fended off what many analysts had anticipated would be a quick Russian victory. So far, Moscow has failed to capture any major city. Its armored columns have barely moved in weeks, stalled at the gates of the capital Kyiv and besieging cities in the east.
They have taken heavy casualties and are low on supplies. Ukrainian officials say they are now shifting onto the offensive and have pushed back Russian forces, including north of Kyiv. “In some sectors the enemy was driven back by more than 70 km (44 miles), in some sectors the enemy is at a distance of 35 km,” said Defense Ministry spokesperson Oleksander Motuzyanyk. Ukraine said its forces had destroyed the Russian landing ship the “Orsk” at the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk. Video footage, which Reuters confirmed was from Berdyansk, showed smoke rising from a blaze at a dock and the flash of an explosion. Russian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Biden comes to Europe
As US President Joe Biden rallied allies on his first trip aboard since the war began, Washington announced latest sanctions against Russia, $1 billion more in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and an offer to take in 100,000 refugees. The Kremlin said NATO suffered from an “hysterical and inadequate” understanding of what is going on in Ukraine. Zelensky, who has won admiration across the West for leadership under fire, urged people around the world to take to the streets in support of Ukraine. “Come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities, come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life,” he said in a video address. Ukraine’s armed forces chief of staff said on Thursday Russia was still trying to resume offensive operations to capture the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol. In Mariupol, satellite photographs from commercial firm Maxar showed massive destruction of what was once a city of 400,000 people, with apartment buildings in flames. Journalists have not been able to report from inside the Ukrainian-held part of Mariupol for 10 days, during which time Ukraine says Russia has bombed a theater and an art school being used as shelters, burying hundreds alive. In the Russian-held part of the city, trucks arrived with food supplies in cardboard boxes bearing the “Z” logo that has become the Russian symbol of its “special operation.” Hundreds of people, many elderly, emerged from surrounding ruins, queuing mostly in silence as men in Russian emergencies ministry uniforms distributed boxes. Angelina, a young mother-of-two, said she had received bread, nappies and baby food. “It’s difficult to leave by bus now. We hope the number of people trying to get out will go down and it will get easier for us to leave,” she said.

G-7 nations restrict Russian Central Bank's use of gold in transactions
AP/March 24/2022
Group of Seven leaders have announced they are restricting the Russian Central Bank's use of gold in transactions, while the US announced a new round of sanctions targeting more than 400 elites and members of the Russian State Duma. Previously, sanctions against Russian elites, the country's Central Bank and President Vladimir Putin did not impact Russia's gold stockpile, which Putin has been accumulating for several years. Russia holds roughly $130 billion in gold reserves, and the Bank of Russia announced Feb 28 that it would resume the purchase of gold on the domestic precious metals market. White House officials said Thursday the move will further blunt Russia's ability to use its international reserves to prop up Russia's economy and fund its war against Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced more sanctions targeting 48 state-owned defense companies, 328 members of the Duma, Russia's lower parliament, and dozens of Russian elites. The Duma as an entity was also named in the new sanctions. The G-7 and the European Union also announced a new effort to share information and coordinate responses to prevent Russia from evading the impact of sanctions that western nations have levied since the Feb 24 invasion.—

Russian War in Ukraine Marks 1 Month with no End in Sight
Associated Press/March 24/2022
Russia's war in Ukraine has killed thousands of people, reduced entire cities to rubble and forced millions to flee their homes. The largest military conflict in Europe since World War II has also upset the international security order and sent dangerous ripples through the global economy.
A look at pivotal moments of the conflict, a month later:
THE ROAD TO WAR
In early 2021, a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine raised fears of an offensive. Moscow withdrew some of the forces in April, paving the way for a June summit between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their meeting failed to meaningfully ease Russia-U.S. tensions, however. A renewed buildup of Russian troops along Ukrainian borders began in late October and reached an estimated 150,000 troops by the year's end. From the beginning of the troop surge, Moscow denied any plans to attack Ukraine, calling such Western concerns part of a campaign to discredit Russia. At the same time, it urged the U.S. and its allies to keep Ukraine from joining NATO and roll back the alliance forces from Eastern Europe, demands the West rejected as non-starters. Then on Feb. 21, Putin abruptly upped the ante, recognizing the independence of pro-Russia rebel regions in eastern Ukraine. Insurgents have been fighting Ukrainian forces there since 2014, when Ukraine's Moscow-friendly president was driven from office by mass protests and Russia responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula.
INVASION BEGINS
In a televised address on Feb. 24, Putin announced the launch of what he called a "special military operation" intended to demilitarize Ukraine and uproot alleged "neo-Nazi nationalists." As he spoke, the Russian military unleashed a series of air raids and missile strikes on Ukraine's military facilities and key infrastructure. Russian troops rolled into Ukraine from Crimea in the south, all along the eastern border and from Moscow's ally Belarus, which borders Ukraine from the north. Putin argued that Russia had no choice but to act after Washington and its allies ignored its demand for security guarantees. Western leaders dismissed the claims as a false pretext for the attack. The Russian military advanced on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, located just 75 kilometers (47 miles) south of the border with Belarus, closed in on Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv in the east and pushed along the Sea of Azov and Black Sea coasts in the south. While Russia claimed it was only targeting military facilities, air raids and artillery strikes hit residential areas, schools and hospitals across Ukraine.
The assault turned particularly deadly in March:
— On March 1, a Russian rocket hit the regional administration building in Kharkiv, killing 24.
— On March 9, a Russian airstrike devastated a maternity hospital in the besieged port of Mariupol, killing at least three and injuring 17.
— On March 16, a Russian bomb flattened a historic theater in Mariupol, even after Ukrainians had scrawled the word 'children' in huge white letters on the pavement next to it to indicate that civilians were sheltering inside. Officials said hundreds of people who were hiding in the basement survived.
— On Monday, at least eight people died in a Russian airstrike on a shopping mall in Kyiv. Russia's top objective in the south is Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov that has been under siege for weeks. Relentless bombardment by the Russians has reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and killed thousands, turning the city into an emblem of civilian suffering. Thousands have fled the city, part of a wave of refugees fleeing the country that United Nations officials estimate at more than 3.5 million.
RUSSIA STUNG BY WESTERN SANCTIONS
Western allies quickly responded to the invasion with unprecedented economic and financial sanctions. Several waves of crippling penalties froze an estimated half of Russia's $640 billion hard-currency reserves, cut key Russian banks out of the SWIFT financial messaging system, barred Moscow from getting cash in dollars and euros and targeted broad sectors of the Russian economy with rigid trade restrictions. Major international companies moved quickly to leave the Russian market. The severe measures — of a magnitude previously only levied against such countries as Iran and North Korea — sent the ruble into a nosedive, provoked a run on deposits and triggered consumer panic. Russian authorities responded by introducing tight restrictions on hard-currency transactions and stock markets.
UKRAINE PLEADS FOR MORE WEAPONS, NO-FLY ZONE
While hailing Western sanctions and weapons supplies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has challenged the U.S. and other Western allies to take even stronger measures to stop Russia. He has continuously urged the U.S. and NATO to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a demand the allies rejected for fear that it could result in a direct confrontation with Russia and even spark a global conflict. Zelenskyy also has pleaded with Western allies to provide Ukraine with warplanes and long-range air defense systems. Russia has sternly warned the West against such a move, and discussions on possible deliveries of Soviet-era fighter jets and air defense weapons from Eastern Europe to Ukraine have stalled as the West seeks to avoid a dangerous escalation.Ukraine has also asked the U.S. and the EU to ramp up sanctions to include a ban on Russian oil and gas exports, a move opposed by many EU members that depend on Russia for a large share of their energy needs.
RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE BOGS DOWN
From the first days, the invasion hasn't gone the way Putin expected. After quickly advancing to the outskirts of Kyiv in the first days of the invasion, Russian troops soon got bogged down in the suburbs. Instead of surrendering as the Kremlin hoped, Ukrainian troops fought back fiercely in every sector, thwarting Russian attempts to quickly roll into other large cities, including Kharkiv and Chernihiv. Russia also failed to win full control of the skies over Ukraine despite massive strikes targeting the country's air force and air defense assets. Russian military convoys have stretched for dozens of kilometers (miles) along a highway leading from Belarus, becoming an easy target for Ukrainian raids and ambushes. In the east, the Russian troops have faced reinforced Ukrainian positions in the rebel regions and made only incremental gains. And despite their hold on Mariupol, and a quick capture of the ports of Berdyansk and Kherson, the Russians' have failed to capture the key shipbuilding center of Mykolaiv and press the offensive farther west toward Odesa.
Western officials say that throughout the war, Russian troops have been hampered by persistent supply shortages, struggling to get food and fuel and lacking proper cold weather gear. In early March, the Russian military reported the loss of 498 soldiers, then never updated the toll again. In stark contrast, NATO estimated on Wednesday that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian troops were killed in four weeks of fighting. By way of comparison, the Soviet Union lost about 15,000 troops over a 10-year period during the war in Afghanistan.
NUCLEAR THREATS; CHEMICAL WEAPONS FEARS
On the very first day of the assault, Russian forces took control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where radioactivity is still leaking from history's worst nuclear disaster 36 years ago. Several days later, they seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, hitting a training center there and sparking a brief fire that raised fears of a catastrophe until it was put out. And on Wednesday, Russian military forces destroyed a new laboratory at Chernobyl, according to the Ukrainian state agency responsible for the Chernobyl exclusion zone.The international community has raised concerns about both plants' safety. There have been other threats as well. On March 21, an ammonia leak at a chemical plant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy contaminated an area with a radius of more than 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) but didn't hurt any civilians in the city of 263,000 because the wind didn't blow in that direction.The Russian military has repeatedly alleged that Ukrainian "nationalists" are hatching plans to blow up a nuclear or chemical facility and then blame it on the Russians — warnings that Western officials fear could herald such an attack from Russia. Many in the West also fear that with the Russian offensive stalled, Putin could order the use of tactical nuclear weapons or chemical weapons to scare Ukraine and bring it to its knees.
WHAT'S NEXT
Even as his offensive stalls and the Russian economy shudders under the blow of Western sanctions, Putin shows no sign of backing down.
Despite the plummeting ruble and soaring consumer prices, Russian polls show robust support for Putin. Observers attribute those results to the Kremlin's massive propaganda campaign and crackdown on dissent.
Putin demands that Ukraine adopt a neutral status, drop its bid to join NATO, agree to demilitarize, recognize Russia's sovereignty over Crimea and acknowledge the independence of the rebel republics in the Donbas region. Zelenskyy said earlier this week that Ukraine is ready to discuss a neutral status along with security guarantees that would preclude any further aggression. But he's said the status of Crimea and the separatist regions could be discussed only after a cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian troops. Putin may now hope to gain more ground and negotiate from the position of force to strong-arm Zelenskyy into making concessions. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators say they are still far from drafting a prospective deal that Putin and Zelenskyy could discuss.

Biden, Western Allies Gather at Tense Moment in Ukraine War
Associated Press/March 24/2022
As the war in Ukraine grinds into a second month, President Joe Biden and Western allies are gathering to chart a path to ramp up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin while tending to the economic and security fallout that's spreading across Europe and the world.
Over the course of a half-day Thursday, the European diplomatic capital will host an emergency NATO summit as well as a gathering of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and a summit of the 27 members of the European Union. Biden will attend all three meetings and plans to hold a news conference at the end of the day. Biden arrived here late Wednesday with the hopes of nudging allies to enact new sanctions on Russia, which has already seen its economy crippled by a steady stream of bans, boycotts and penalties over the last four weeks. While the West has been largely unified in confronting Russia after it invaded Ukraine, there's wide acknowledgement that unity will be tested as the costs of war chip at the global economy.
"What we would like to hear is that the resolve and unity that we've seen for the past month will endure for as long as it takes," Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters on Air Force One en route to Brussels. The energy crisis exacerbated by the war will be a particularly hot topic at the European Council summit, where leaders from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are hoping for an urgent, coordinated bloc-wide response. EU officials have said they will seek U.S. help on a plan to top up natural gas storage facilities for next winter, and they also want the bloc to jointly purchase gas. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed calls to boycott Russian energy supplies, saying it would cause significant damage to his country's economy. Scholz is facing pressure from environmental activists to quickly wean Germany off Russian energy, but he said the process will have to be gradual.
"To do so from one day to the next would mean plunging our country and all of Europe into recession," Scholz said Wednesday. Poland and other eastern flank NATO countries will also be looking for clarity on how the United States and fellow European nations can assist in dealing with their growing concerns about Russian aggression as well as a spiraling refugee crisis. More than 3.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine in recent weeks, including more than 2 million to Poland. Biden is scheduled to travel to Poland on Friday, where both issues are expected to be at the center of talks with President Andrzej Duda. Another significant moment could come shortly before Biden returns to Washington on Saturday. The White House said he plans to "deliver remarks on the united efforts of the free world to support the people of Ukraine, hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and defend a future that is rooted in democratic principles."Sullivan said that Biden and fellow leaders would aim to "set out a longer-term game plan" for what forces and capabilities are going to be required for the alliance's eastern flank countries. NATO leaders have agreed to station more forces in Eastern Europe to deter Russia from invading any member of their ranks and to send equipment to Ukraine to help it defend against chemical or biological attacks.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said four new battlegroups, which usually number between 1,000-1,500 troops, are being set up in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. "Along with our existing forces in the Baltic countries and Poland, this means that we will have eight multinational NATO battlegroups all along the eastern flank, from the Baltic to the Black Sea," Stoltenberg said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is expected to address the NATO summit by video, said late Wednesday that he wants the alliance to "declare that it will fully assist Ukraine to win this war" by supplying any weapons necessary. All the while, national security officials from Washington to Warsaw are increasingly worried that Putin might deploy chemical, biological or even nuclear weaponry. Sullivan said the allies would consult on how to respond to "potential contingencies" of that sort, including "this whole question of the potential use of nuclear weapons."Biden, before departing for Brussels on Wednesday, told reporters that he believed the possibility of Russia deploying chemical weapons was a "real threat."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a CNN interview this week said that Russia could consider using its nuclear weapons if it felt there was "an existential threat for our country."
The head of the European Union's executive arm said she wanted to discuss with Biden the possibility of securing extra deliveries of liquefied natural gas from the United States for the 27-nation bloc.
Speaking at the European Parliament ahead of Biden's visit, Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was seeking a a commitment for additional LNG supplies from the U.S. "for the next two winters."
The EU imports 90% of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40% of EU gas and a quarter of its oil. The bloc is looking at ways to reduce its dependence on Russian gas by diversifying suppliers.
Sullivan said the United States was looking for ways to "surge" LNG supplies to Europe to help make up for supply disruptions. Biden, for his part, was expected to detail plans for new sanctions against Russia and humanitarian assistance for the region. One new sanctions option that Biden is weighing is to target members of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The official added that a final decision hadn't been made and that the new sanctions would be rolled out in coordination with Western allies. Biden arrived in Brussels with Americans increasingly accepting of the need for the U.S. to play a role in stopping in Putin, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
But even as concern among Americans has swelled and and support for a major U.S. role in the conflict strengthened in the last month, Biden's negative approval rating has not budged, the AP-NORC poll found. Few are very confident that he can handle a crisis, and a majority thinks he lacks toughness in dealing with Russia. Biden promised voters that he had the experience to navigate a complicated international emergency like the one unfolding in Europe now, and his trip will be the latest test of that proposition as he tries to maintain unity among Western allies and brace for potentially even bigger challenges. At a time when it is essential to avoid fissures in what's been a largely unified Western response to Russia, the U.S. president will look to press important allies like Poland to dial back the idea of deploying a Western peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. It's an idea that the U.S. and some other NATO members see as too risky as they seek to deny Russia any pretext to broaden the war beyond Ukraine's borders. For his domestic audience, Biden is expected to once again underscore the heroics of the Ukrainian military and volunteers who have managed to hold off an imposing Russian military. He will highlight those remarkable efforts — as well as the generosity of the Poles and other allies at the front lines of the humanitarian crisis — as he redoubles his calls for Americans to stand firm against a Russian war that is spurring gas price hikes and adding to inflationary pressures in the U.S.

Ukraine President to Press Biden, NATO for More Support
Naharnet/March 24/2022
Ukraine President Volodymr Zelenskyy called on people worldwide to gather in public Thursday to show support for his embattled country as he prepared to address U.S. President Joe Biden and other NATO leaders gathered in Brussels on the one-month anniversary of the Russian invasion. "Come to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard," Zelenskyy said in English during an emotional video address late Wednesday that was recorded in the dark near the presidential offices in Kyiv. "Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters."When Russia unleashed its invasion Feb. 24 in Europe's biggest offensive since World War II, a swift toppling of Ukraine's government seemed likely. But a month into the fighting, Moscow is bogged down in a grinding military campaign of attrition after meeting fierce Ukrainian resistance. Ukraine's navy reported Thursday that it had sunk the Russian ship Orsk in the Sea of Asov near the port city of Berdyansk. It released photos and video of fire and thick smoke coming from the port area. Russia did not immediately comment on the claim.
Russia has been in possession of the port since Feb. 27, and the Orsk had debarked armored vehicles there on Monday for use in Moscow's offensive, the Zvezda TV channel of the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier this week. According to the report, the Orsk was the first Russian warship to enter Berdyansk, which is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west along the coast from the besieged city of Mariupol. To keep up the pressure on Russia, Zelenskyy said he would ask in a video conference with NATO members that the alliance provide "effective and unrestricted" support to Ukraine, including any weapons the country needs.
Biden was expected to discuss new sanctions and how to coordinate such measures, along with more military aid for Ukraine, with NATO members, and then talk with leaders of the G7 industrialized nations and the European Council in a series of meetings on Thursday.
On the eve of a meeting with Biden, European Union nations signed off on another 500 million euros ($550 million) in military aid for Ukraine. Heading in to the talks, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters the alliance had already stepped up military support but needed to invest more to make good on pledged commitments. "The meeting today will demonstrate the importance of North America and Europe standing together facing this crisis," he said. In its last update, Russia said March 2 that nearly 500 of its soldiers had been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. NATO estimates, however, that between 7,000 to 15,000 Russian troops have been killed — the latter figure about what Russia lost in a decade of fighting in Afghanistan. A senior NATO military official said the alliance's estimate was based on information from Ukrainian authorities, what Russia has released — intentionally or not — and intelligence gathered from open sources. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by NATO. Ukraine also claims to have killed six Russian generals. Russia acknowledges just one dead general.
Ukraine has released little information about its own military losses, and the West has not given an estimate, but Zelenskyy said nearly two weeks ago that about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed.
With its ground forces slowed or stopped by hit-and-run Ukrainian units armed with Western-supplied weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops are bombarding targets from afar, falling back on the tactics they used in reducing cities to rubble in Syria and Chechnya.
A senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that Russian ground forces appear to be digging in and setting up defensive positions 15 to 20 kilometers (9 to 12 miles) outside Kyiv, the capital, as they make little to no progress toward the city center.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments, said it appears the forces are no longer trying to advance into the city, and in some areas east of Kyiv, Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian soldiers farther away.
Instead, Russian troops appear to be prioritizing the fight in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the Donbas, in what could be an effort to cut off Ukrainian troops and prevent them from moving west to defend other cities, the official said. The U.S. also has seen activity from Russian ships in the Sea of Azov, including what appear to be efforts to send landing ships ashore with supplies, including vehicles, the official said.
Despite evidence to the contrary, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted the military operation is going "strictly in accordance" with plans. In an ominous sign that Moscow might consider using nuclear weapons, senior Russian official Dmitry Rogozin said the country's nuclear arsenal would help deter the West from intervening in Ukraine. "The Russian Federation is capable of physically destroying any aggressor or any aggressor group within minutes at any distance," said Rogozin, who heads the state aerospace corporation, Roscosmos, and oversees missile-building facilities. He noted in his televised remarks that Moscow's nuclear stockpiles include tactical nuclear weapons, designed for use on battlefields, along with far more powerful nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles. U.S. officials long have warned that Russia's military doctrine envisages an "escalate to deescalate" option of using battlefield nuclear weapons to force the enemy to back down in a situation when Russian forces face imminent defeat. Moscow has denied having such plans. Rogozin, known for his bluster, did not make clear what actions by the West would be seen as meddling, but his comments almost certainly reflect thinking inside the Kremlin. Putin has warned the West that an attempt to introduce a no-fly zone over Ukraine would draw it into a conflict with Russia. Western nations have said they would not create a no-fly zone to protect Ukraine. Zelenskyy noted in his national address that Ukraine has not received the fighter jets or modern air-defense systems it requested. He said Ukraine also needs tanks and anti-ship systems. "It has been a month of defending ourselves from attempts to destroy us, wipe us off the face of the earth," he said.
In Kyiv, where near-constant shelling and gunfire shook the city Wednesday as the two sides battled for control of multiple suburbs, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 264 civilians have been killed since the war broke out. The independent Russian news outlet The Insider said Russian journalist Oksana Baulina had been killed by shelling in a Kyiv neighborhood on Wednesday.
In the south, the encircled port city of Mariupol has seen the worst devastation of the war, enduring weeks of bombardment and, now, street-by-street fighting. But Ukrainian forces have prevented its fall, thwarting an apparent bid by Moscow to fully secure a land bridge from Russia to Crimea, seized from Ukraine in 2014. In their last update, over a week ago, Mariupol officials said at least 2,300 people had died, but the true toll is probably much higher. Airstrikes in the past week destroyed a theater and an art school where civilians were sheltering.
Zelenskyy said 100,000 civilians remain in the city, which had a population of 430,000 before the war. Efforts to get desperately needed food and other supplies to those trapped have often failed. In the besieged northern city of Chernihiv, Russian forces bombed and destroyed a bridge that was used for aid deliveries and civilian evacuations, regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said. Kateryna Mytkevich, 39, who arrived in Poland after fleeing Chernihiv, wiped away tears as she said the city is without gas, electricity or running water, and entire neighborhoods have been destroyed.
"I don't understand why we have such a curse," she said.

Israel Declares State of Emergency Following Beersheba Incident
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 24 March, 2022
A knife-wielding Arab man on Tuesday killed four people and seriously wounded two others in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba before he was shot dead by armed residents. Israeli media identified the attacker as 34-year-old teacher Mohammad Ghaleb Abu al-Qeian from the nearby Bedouin town of Hura.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held security consultations on Wednesday. with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Police Chief Kobi Shabtai, Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev and intelligence representatives. Security forces have acted to reach everyone who had direct or indirect contact with the terrorist, Bennett told ministers. “We will reach whoever aided and abetted, inspired, incited or cooperated,” he stressed. The PM commended the two civilians who acted with “resourcefulness and courage and simply saved lives.”Arab parties warned the residents of Israel (Palestinians 48) from repatriating acts by extremist Jews against Arabs living in the Negev. Member of the Knesset Aida Touma-Suleiman (Joint Arab List) stressed that Arab citizens in Israel condemn this operation and consider it a distortion of their legal struggle for equality, peace and end of occupation. Some people are taking advantage of this individual operation to “incite against Arabs in general and the Negev in particular and threaten Arab youth,” she stressed. Touma-Suleiman recalled the formation of armed Jewish militias, which were encouraged by the police and the government to pursue the Arabs of the Negev under the pretext of losing the rule of law. The four people killed were named as Doris Yahbas, 49, a mother of three, Laura Yitzhak, 43, also a mother of three, Rabbi Moshe Kravitzky, 48, a father of four, and Menahem Yehezkel, 67, a brother to four.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia Agree to Boost Cooperation, Relations
Cairo/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 24 March, 2022
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have agreed to work on boosting the mutual economic, social, humanitarian, and cultural relations during the coming period. The Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, Nevine Gamea, and Saudi Minister of Trade Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi chaired the first meeting of the working group to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations of the Egyptian-Saudi Joint Committee. The meeting was held in Riyadh to enhance economic, commercial, investment, and industrial cooperation between the two countries. Gamea said both Saudi and Egyptian governments are keen to achieve a qualitative leap in joint relations, in light of the great support of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to a statement by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the minister stressed the importance of implementing the recommendations of the 17th session of the Egyptian-Saudi Joint Committee, which was held in Cairo last June at the ministerial level. The committee called for facilitating trade exchange, increasing joint investment and industrial projects, and enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the exchange of knowledge and experiences. It also recommended the application of best practices to develop the vital sector in a way that will positively affect both economies. Trade is the central pillar and driving force for enhancing cooperation and joint efforts in light of regional and global economic and health challenges, said the minister, pointing to activating efforts to develop cooperation relations at the bilateral and multilateral levels. Gamea called for activating joint efforts to increase the volume of intra-regional trade and enhance cooperation between the two countries in air and maritime transport, finance, tourism, agriculture, electricity, and energy. She noted the importance of involving economic departments to speed up the implementation of cooperation and contribute to achieving the desired financial goals. The committee's work yielded many positive results that impacted trade exchange between the two countries, which rose during 2021 to $8.02 billion. The minister called for accelerating the implementation of the committee's recommendations in various fields, especially electricity, renewable energy, and industrial cooperation. The meeting was attended by Egypt's Ambassador to Riyadh Ahmed Farouk, assistant minister of Trade and Industry for Economic Affairs Ibrahim al-Sigini, and Egyptian and Saudi representatives from various ministries concerned with areas of cooperation.

Madeleine Albright, 1st Female U.S. Secretary of State, Dies
Associated Press/March 24/2022
Madeleine Albright, a child refugee from Nazi- and then Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe who rose to become the first female secretary of state and a mentor to many current and former American statesmen and women, died Wednesday of cancer, her family said. She was 84.
A lifelong Democrat who nonetheless worked to bring Republicans into her orbit, Albright was chosen in 1996 by President Bill Clinton to be America's top diplomat, elevating her from U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, where she had been only the second woman to hold that job. As secretary of state, Albright was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. She was not in the line of succession to the presidency, however, because she was born in what was then Czechoslovakia. Still, she was universally admired for breaking a glass ceiling, even by her political detractors. "We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend," her family said in a statement. President Joe Biden ordered flags at the White House and other federal buildings and grounds to be flown at half-staff until March 27.
Outpourings of condolences came quickly.
Biden said, "America had no more committed champion of democracy and human rights than Secretary Albright, who knew personally and wrote powerfully of the perils of autocracy.""When I think of Madeleine," Biden added, "I will always remember her fervent faith that 'America is the indispensable nation.'" Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Albright was "a brilliant diplomat, a visionary leader, a courageous trailblazer, a dedicated mentor, and a great and good person who loved the U.S. deeply and devoted her life to serving it."Clinton called her "one of the finest Secretaries of State, an outstanding U.N. Ambassador, a brilliant professor, and an extraordinary human being.""And through it all," Clinton added, "even until our last conversation just two weeks ago, she never lost her great sense of humor or her determination to go out with her boots on, supporting Ukraine in its fight to preserve freedom and democracy." Former President George W. Bush said Albright "lived out the American dream and helped others realize it. ... She served with distinction as a foreign-born foreign minister who understood firsthand the importance of free societies for peace in our world."Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. envoy to the United Nations, honored Albright as a "trailblazer and a luminary" in remarks on the General Assembly floor. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Albright the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, saying her life was an inspiration to all Americans. Albright remained outspoken through the years. After leaving office, she criticized Bush for using "the shock of force" rather than alliances to foster diplomacy and said Bush had driven away moderate Arab leaders and created potential for a dangerous rift with European allies. As a refugee from Czechoslovakia who saw the horrors of both Nazi Germany and the Iron Curtain, she was not a dove and she played a leading role in pressing for the Clinton administration to get militarily involved in the conflict in Kosovo.
She also took a hard line on Cuba, famously saying at the United Nations that the Cuban shootdown of a civilian plane was not "cojones" but rather "cowardice." Albright advised women "to act in a more confident manner" and "to ask questions when they occur and don't wait to ask."
"It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent," she told HuffPost Living in 2010. When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee asked her in January 2007 whether she approved of Bush's proposed "surge" in U.S. troops in bloodied Iraq, she responded: "I think we need a surge in diplomacy. We are viewed in the Middle East as a colonial power and our motives are suspect."Albright was an internationalist whose point of view was shaped in part by her background. Her family fled Czechoslovakia in 1939 as the Nazis took over their country, and she spent the war years in London. After the war, as the Soviet Union took over vast chunks of Eastern Europe, her father, a Czech diplomat, brought his family to the United States. As secretary of state, Albright played a key role in persuading Clinton to go to war against the Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic over his treatment of Kosovar Albanians in 1999. As U.N. ambassador, she advocated a tough U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the case of Milosevic's treatment of Bosnia and NATO's intervention in Kosovo, was eventually dubbed "Madeleine's War.""My mindset is Munich," she said frequently, referring to the German city where the Western allies abandoned her homeland to the Nazis.Albright helped win Senate ratification of NATO's expansion and a treaty imposing international restrictions on chemical weapons. She led a successful fight to keep Egyptian diplomat Boutros Boutros-Ghali from a second term as secretary-general of the United Nations. He accused her of deception and posing as a friend.
And she once exclaimed to Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who would later succeed her as secretary of state: "What's the point of having this superb military you're always talking about if we can't use it?" Powell, who died last year, recalled in a memoir that Albright's comment almost made him have an "aneurysm." Despite her championing of diplomacy in the Middle East and a late Clinton-era foray to North Korea, which made her the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Stalinist state, Albright drew criticism for her support of sanctions against Iraq that many blame for humanitarian suffering in the country under Saddam Hussein. "I am an eternal optimist," Albright said in 1998, amid an effort as secretary of state to promote peace in the Middle East. But she said getting Israel to pull back on the West Bank and the Palestinians to rout terrorists posed serious problems. Albright made limited progress at first in trying to expand the 1993 Oslo Accords that established the principle of self-rule for the Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza. But in 1998, she played a leading role in formulating the Wye Accords that turned over control of about 40% of the West Bank to the Palestinians.
She also spearheaded an ill-fated effort to negotiate a 2000 peace deal between Israel and Syria under then-President Hafez al-Assad. She helped guide U.S. foreign policy during conflicts in the Balkans and the Hutu-Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
As an outspoken Democrat in private life, Albright often joked that she had her "political instincts surgically removed" when she became secretary of state. True to that, she formed an unlikely friendship with arch-conservative North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms to increase funding for the State Department and U.S. diplomacy and oversaw a radical change in Washington's handling of Cold War-era messaging.
Born Marie Jana Korbel in Prague on May 15, 1937, she was the daughter of a diplomat, Joseph Korbel. The family was Jewish and converted to Roman Catholicism when she was 5. Three of her Jewish grandparents died in concentration camps. Albright later said that she became aware of her Jewish background after she became secretary of state. The family returned to Czechoslovakia after World War II but fled again, this time to the United States, in 1948, after the Communists rose to power. They settled in Denver, where her father obtained a job at the University of Denver. One of Josef Korbel's best students, a young woman named Condoleezza Rice, would later succeed his daughter as secretary of state and was the first Black woman to hold that office. Among current officials who worked closely with Albright are Biden's domestic policy adviser and former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, as well as Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and a host of others. Albright graduated from Wellesley College in 1959. She worked as a journalist and later studied international relations at Columbia University, where she earned a master's degree in 1968 and a Ph.D. in 1976. She worked for the National Security Council during the Carter administration and advised Democrats on foreign policy before Clinton's election. He nominated her as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in 1993. Following her service in the Clinton administration, she headed a global strategy firm, Albright Stonebridge, and was chair of an investment advisory company that focused on emerging markets. She also wrote several books. Albright married journalist Joseph Albright, a descendant of Chicago's Medill-Patterson newspaper dynasty, in 1959. They had three daughters and divorced in 1983.

North Korea Fires Suspected Long-Range Missile toward Sea
Associated Press/March 24/2022
North Korea test-fired a suspected long-range missile toward the sea Thursday, its neighbors' militaries said. The launch, which extended North Korea's barrage of weapons tests this year, came after the U.S. and South Korean militaries said the country was preparing a flight of its biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't immediately say whether the weapon involved in the launch was ballistic or how far it flew. But Japan's Vice Defense Minister Makoto Oniki said the missile, which reached a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles), was possibly a new type of ICBM.Japan's coast guard, which warned vessels in nearby waters about the potential for falling objects, said it believed the missile flew about an hour before landing in waters outside the country's exclusive economic zone. It was North Korea's 12th round of weapons launches this year and came after it fired suspected artillery pieces into the sea on Sunday. Experts say the North's unusually fast pace in testing activity underscores its dual goal of advancing its weaponry and applying pressure on Washington over a deepening freeze in nuclear negotiations. The North has also tested a variety of new missiles, including a purported hypersonic weapon and its first launch since 2017 of an intermediate range missile potentially capable of reaching Guam, a key U.S. military hub in the Pacific. It also conducted two medium-range tests in recent weeks from Sunan, home to the country's main airport, that the U.S. and South Korean militaries later assessed as involving components of the North's largest ICBM. The allies then said the missile, which the North calls Hwasong-17, could be tested at full range soon. Those tests followed another launch from Sunan last week that South Korea's military assessed as a failure, saying the missile likely exploded shortly after liftoff. Details of the explosion and the possibility of civilian damage remain unknown. North Korea's official media insisted that the two successful tests were aimed at developing cameras and other systems for a spy satellite. Analysts say the North is clearly attempting to simultaneously resume ICBM testing and acquire some level of space-based reconnaissance capability under the pretense of a space launch to reduce international backlash to those moves.The launch may possibly come around a major political anniversary in April, the birthday of state founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.The North's previous ICBMs demonstrated potential range to reach the American homeland during three flight tests in 2017. Its development of the larger Hwasong-17, which was first revealed in a military parade in October 2020, possibly indicates an aim to arm it with multiple warheads to overwhelm missile defenses, experts say. North Korea's slew of weapons tests this year, which comes amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy, reflects a determination to cement its status as a nuclear and badly needed economic concessions from Washington and other rivals from a position of strength, analysts say.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 24-25/2022
Audio From FDD/Breaking Hezbollah's Golden Rule/Hezbollah “Black Ops” in the Western Hemisphere
https://shows.acast.com/breaking-hezbollahs-golden-rule/episodes/hezbollah-black-ops-in-western-hemisphere
Hezbollah “Black Ops” in the Western Hemisphere
On June 1, 2017, U.S. authorities arrested two Hezbollah sleeper agents. The operatives had created targeting packages with ready-to go-plans for possible attacks, in the event Iranian or Hezbollah leaders deemed them necessary. They traveled on their American passports when Hezbollah sent them on missions in Asia and South America. Where were their targets? Who was their handler? And what were they sent to do abroad?
Guests:
Mitchell Silber, former director of intelligence analysis, NYPD
Rebecca Weiner, assistant commissioner for intelligence analysis, NYPD
Emil Bove, former co-chief for national security, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York
Ambassador Nathan Sales, former ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism, State Department
Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule is hosted Dr. Matthew Levitt from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
It is produced by Anouk Millet from Earshot Strategies, and written by Dr. Levitt and Lauren Fredericks, a Washington Institute research assistant.

China Closer to Dominating Southeast Asia
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/March 24/2022
"China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby... that buildup of weaponization is destabilizing to the region." — US Admiral John C. Aquilino, Associated Press, March 21, 2022.
"Relevant construction activity that China is undertaking does not target or impact any country and there is no intention to militarize." — Communist Chinese President Xi Jinping, in 2015, The Times, March 21, 2022.
"[T]his presents a security risk to all countries in southeast Asia... where China has now built itself the capacity to control the skies and control the sea lanes through that region very effectively... It reflects the overall growth of the Chinese military... control of the South China Sea would be a major step for the PRC in prosecuting a military campaign against Taiwan. It certainly makes it much harder for the United States for example to get its military forces closer to Taiwan... it really becomes a mechanism to control all of southeast Asia, this is a region of ten countries, 650 million people... if you are the military dominant power in the South China Sea you dominate south east Asia. That at least was the strategic thinking of the Japanese in the Second World War and I think it is the strategic thinking of China right now." — Peter Jennings, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, interview with ABC Radio Australia, March 22, 2022.
The drill coincided with China's announcement of its annual military budget for 2022, according to which China will be increasing its defense spending by 7.1% to $230 billion, up from a 6.8% increase the year before.... The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has found that China consistently under-reports its actual defense budget.
China, however, is not transparent about what its defense budget includes -- and does not include.
"Beijing conducts dozens of operations in its neighbors' EEZs every year which, if civilian in nature, are illegal or, if military, are exactly what China claims other countries are not allowed to do in its own EEZ." — Greg Poling, Center for Strategic and International Studies, rfa.org, March 1, 2022.
While the world is preoccupied with Ukraine, China continues to make aggressive moves in the South China Sea, almost the entirety of which China claims to be part of its territory. One of China's most controversial moves in the area has been to build artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago and then proceed, despite promises to the contrary, to militarize them. Pictured: Sailors and fighter jets on the deck of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning in the sea near Qingdao, in eastern China's Shandong province on April 23, 2019. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AFP via Getty Images)
While the world is preoccupied with Ukraine, China continues to make aggressive moves in the South China Sea, almost the entirety of which China claims to be part of its territory. At least three islands there have become "fully militarized" according to U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Admiral John C. Aquilino, who told Associated Press on March 21, that on the three islands -- Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Fiery Cross -- China has deployed anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets:
"China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby.... They have advanced all their capabilities and that buildup of weaponization is destabilizing to the region."
The South China Sea covers roughly 3.5 million square kilometers, and is estimated to have deposits under the seabed of around 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil, in addition to (fast declining) fishing stocks that are estimated to generate $100 billion annually. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague firmly rejected China's claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea.
China, however, has never accepted the court's authority, and continues to pursue sovereignty over the sea, parts or all of which are claimed by other countries in the area, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
"The ruling is illegal and null and void. China does not accept or recognize it," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said as recently as January 2022.
"China has historical rights in the South China Sea. China's sovereignty and related rights and interests in the South China Sea have been established in a long period of history and are consistent with international law."
Wang's comments were in response to a US State Department report, "Limits in the Seas", released in January, which presented the US view that China's claim is inconsistent with international law and has no legal basis.
One of China's most controversial moves in the area has been to build artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago and then proceed, despite promises to the contrary, to militarize them. "Relevant construction activity that China is undertaking does not target or impact any country and there is no intention to militarize," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in 2015.
"The function of those islands is to expand the offensive capability of the PRC [People's Republic of China] beyond their continental shores," Aquilino said. "They can fly fighters, bombers plus all those offensive capabilities of missile systems."
"It is a very significant military buildup," said Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in a podcast interview with ABC Radio National.
"Now, what we have is three quite large fully functioning military bases with missile systems permanently in place and the ability to take combat aircraft and long-range bomber aircraft and house them securely there, should China deploy them," "What it means is that China has greatly extended the range that it can send its military forces... 1500-1600 kilometers from the Chinese mainland... this presents a security risk to all countries in southeast Asia... where China has now built itself the capacity to control the skies and control the sea lanes through that region very effectively... It reflects the overall growth of the Chinese military, which in the last decade has just been astonishingly fast... control of the South China Sea would be a major step for the PRC in prosecuting a military campaign against Taiwan. It certainly makes it much harder for the United States, for example, to get its military forces closer to Taiwan... it really becomes a mechanism to control all of southeast Asia, this is a region of ten countries, 650 million people... if you are the militarily dominant power in the South China Sea you dominate south east Asia. That at least was the strategic thinking of the Japanese in the Second World War and I think it is the strategic thinking of China right now."
While the militarization of the islands is a crucial aspect of achieving dominance, China's aggressive moves to control the South China Sea are not limited to the islands. In March, China conducted a week-long military drill in parts of Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), prohibiting all others entry to the area of the drill. China's naval exercise, according to Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, former commander in chief of the Japan Self Defense Fleet, was more than just a regular military drill; it was also an attempt to try to deny Vietnam's EEZ. "China is accumulating as many precedents as possible that would support its groundless claims in territorial and EEZ disputes in the South China Sea," Koda said.
Hoang Viet, a lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law in Vietnam, said China was using the military drill to push its claims in the South China Sea, while international attention is focused on the conflict in Ukraine. "This was what China did in 2020 when many countries were focused on dealing with Covid: It undertook many activities to assert its claims in the South China Sea."
The drill coincided with China's announcement of its annual military budget for 2022, according to which China will be increasing its defense spending by 7.1% to $230 billion, up from a 6.8% increase the year before. China has the world's second-largest defense budget after the United States, where the defense budget for 2022 is $715 billion.
China, however, is not transparent about what its defense budget includes – and does not include. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that China consistently under-reports its actual defense budget. In 2019, for instance, SIPRI estimated that China's actual defense budget was nearly 40% higher than the official one. "While China announces an annual defense budget, how much China actually spends on its military is widely debated," the China Power Project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) wrote.
"China's lack of transparency leads to discrepancies between official figures and outside estimates. Official figures do not account for a number of military-related outlays, including some military research and development, aspects of China's space program, defense mobilization funds, authorized sales of land or excess food produced by some units, recruitment bonuses for college students, and provincial military base operating costs."
Furthermore, China's paramilitary units, such as the Coast Guard, which plays a large role in asserting China's maritime claims, and the People's Armed Police (PAP), a part of China's military that is charged with internal security, are excluded from China's official defense budget.
In addition to all of the above, China continues to conduct illegal exploration or survey activities across the span of the entire South China Sea for the purpose of doing marine scientific research, oil and gas exploration, and military research, according to a report by CSIS published in March.
"The immediate impact and apparent intention of these surveys is to demonstrate Chinese control over waters it claims as its own," according to the report.
"Aside from their symbolic goals, these surveys also produce data on seabed conditions that hold value for both civilian and military purposes. While seismic data is critical in assessing geological conditions and the presence of hydrocarbons, water and seabed conditions also affect the ability to detect submarines. And research vessels purportedly involved in scientific research can also use their instruments for naval reconnaissance, gathering intelligence on foreign military facilities and vessels."
The report showed that the surveys regularly led Chinese vessels to go into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of other countries in the area, an activity that is illegal without permission. The report also found that Chinese survey vessels were busy during 2020-2021. "The report highlights the scale and hypocrisy of China's survey activities," said Greg Poling of CSIS. "Beijing conducts dozens of operations in its neighbors' EEZs every year which, if civilian in nature, are illegal or, if military, are exactly what China claims other countries are not allowed to do in its own EEZ."
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Palestinians: The 'Criminal' Pastor Who Met with the Rabbi
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/March 24/2022
Appeals by heads of the Christian community in Bethlehem for the release of Shahwan from prison have been completely ignored by the PA leadership, which appears afraid of a backlash from Islamists and other radical groups if it dares to release the pastor. The appeals have also been ignored by many journalists who mostly chose to focus only on stories that reflect negatively on Israel.
Even more alarming is that the Palestinian Authority, which now has close relations with the Biden administration, is punishing a Palestinian Christian for the "crime" of meeting with a Jew.
If the PA is going to incarcerate every Palestinian who meets with settlers or does business with Jews, it will have to build enough prisons to hold tens of thousands of its people. Moreover, if the PA considers meetings with Jews to be a crime punishable by imprisonment and hard labor, why are its leaders continuing to hold public and secret meetings with Israeli officials?
If PA President Mahmoud Abbas himself is prepared to travel to the Israeli city of Rosh Ha'ayin to meet with Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz, whom the Palestinians have repeatedly condemned as a "war criminal," why isn't a pastor allowed to meet with a rabbi?
This incident is yet another example of the endemic hypocrisy of the PA regarding its dealings with Israel.
The Beit Al-Liqa incident is also further proof of the PA's discrimination and mistreatment of the Christian minority.
It is much easier for the PA to arrest a Palestinian pastor than, say, the head of a Muslim clan. The Christians are not going to take to the streets to riot and attack Palestinian security officers when one of their men is arrested. Muslims, by contrast, would not hesitate to attack the PA and confront its security forces.
All this is happening while the Biden administration continues to engage with the PA about the need to revive the peace process and the PA's purported commitment to the so-called two-state solution, while ignoring the persecution of Christians and major human rights violations committed by the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Pastor Johnny Shahwan, a Palestinian Christian from Beit Jala, just outside Bethlehem, has been in a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison for the past two weeks, after he was arrested for meeting with a Jew who previously served as a member of Israel's parliament. Appeals by heads of the Christian community in Bethlehem for Shahwan's release have been ignored by the PA leadership, which appears afraid of a backlash from Islamists and other radical groups if it dares to release the pastor. Pictured: A view of Beit Jala.
Johnny Shahwan, a Palestinian Christian from the Bethlehem area, has been in a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison for the past two weeks. Shahwan, a pastor who runs the Beit Al-Liqa (House of Encounter) in the town of Beit Jala, just outside Bethlehem, was arrested for meeting with a Jew who previously served as a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
Beit Al-Liqa, which includes a guest house and a child daycare center, was shut down by the PA security forces for allegedly hosting the meeting between Shahwan and Yehuda Glick, a rabbi, politician and activist, who was a member of the Knesset representing the Likud Party.
The next day, unidentified gunmen fired several shots at the center in protest of the meeting between the pastor and the rabbi. No one was hurt.
The pastor was arrested shortly after many Palestinians expressed outrage over the meeting he held at Beit Al-Liqa with the American-born Glick. The Palestinians accused Shahwan of promoting normalization with the "Zionist entity" and welcoming an "extremist Zionist settler" into the center in Beit Jala.
A statement issued by Beit Al-Liqa on March 2, 2022 claimed that Shahwan and the other Palestinians were not aware of Glick's identity when they opened the center's doors to him.
The statement sought to embark on damage control by saying that Glick had sneaked into the center with a group of visitors:
"Beit Al-Liqa hosted a group of German tourists... At the end of the meeting with Pastor Johnny Shahwan, an unidentified person [Glick] suddenly walked in and asked to take a 'selfie' with Shahwan and the tourists. We were not aware of the presence of this extremist Zionist person, and he was not part of the group's itinerary."
In an attempt to appease the Islamists who condemned Shahwan and his community, Beit Al-Liqa said in the statement that it "affirms our commitment as a Palestinian national Christian institution to all Palestinians and opposition to normalization [with Israel]." The statement went on to denounce the Jews living in the West Bank as "criminals."
Despite the strongly worded text, and the claim that the organizers were not aware of Glick's identity, the PA leadership quickly dispatched a large police force to arrest Shahwan. The center was shut down for a week pending an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the presence of Glick at Beit Al-Liqa. Shahwan is now facing trial on charges of "undermining the national sentiments [of Palestinians], stirring up sectarian strife and insulting the prestige of the [non-existent Palestinian] State." If convicted, he could face a lengthy term in prison with hard labor.
Appeals by heads of the Christian community in Bethlehem for the release of Shahwan from prison have been completely ignored by the PA leadership, which appears afraid of a backlash from Islamists and other radical groups if it dares to release the pastor. The appeals have also been ignored by many journalists who mostly chose to focus only on stories that reflect negatively on Israel.
Given the widespread campaign of incitement against Shahwan on social media, it would probably be safer for him to remain in a Palestinian prison than to be released to his home in the Bethlehem area. There, he could be attacked by the extremists who consider him a traitor for meeting with an Israeli Jew.
The widespread incitement against Shahwan is itself quite disturbing. Even more alarming is that the Palestinian Authority, which now has close relations with the Biden administration, is punishing a Palestinian Christian for the "crime" of meeting with a Jew. Even if Glick is seen as a right-winger living in a settlement, that does not give the PA the right to throw him into prison and close down his institution.
If the PA is going to incarcerate every Palestinian who meets with settlers or does business with Jews, it will have to build enough prisons to hold tens of thousands of its people. Moreover, if the PA considers meetings with Jews to be a crime punishable by imprisonment and hard labor, why are its leaders continuing to hold public and secret meetings with Israeli officials?
If PA President Mahmoud Abbas himself is prepared to travel to the Israeli city of Rosh Ha'ayin to meet with Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz, whom the Palestinians have repeatedly condemned as a "war criminal," why isn't a pastor allowed to meet with a rabbi?
If the PA Minister of Civil Affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, is allowed to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, why can't any Palestinian Christian organization host a rabbi -- or any Jew?
This incident is yet another example of the endemic hypocrisy of the PA regarding its dealings with Israel.
On the one hand, the PA and its representatives stridently condemn normalization with Israel and sometimes even call for boycotting the state. On the other hand, the PA continues to work closely with Israel, especially through security coordination in the West Bank. It is also worth noting that many of the leaders of the PA hold Israeli-issued VIP cards that grant them privileges denied to most Palestinians, including free entry into Israel.
The Beit Al-Liqa incident is also further proof of the PA's discrimination and mistreatment of the Christian minority. This was not the first incident of its kind targeting Christians in the Bethlehem area.
Last month, several Palestinians from the village of Nahalin severely beat two members of the Christian Nassar family over a land dispute.
It is much easier for the PA to arrest a Palestinian pastor than, say, the head of a Muslim clan. The Christians are not going to take to the streets to riot and attack Palestinian security officers when one of their men is arrested. Muslims, by contrast, would not hesitate to attack the PA and confront its security forces.
The arrest of Shahwan and the closure of Beit Al-Liqa sends a number of messages to the Palestinian public.
First, that anyone who meets or works with a Jew could end up in prison.
Second, that the Christians remain vulnerable and weak and are subjected to stricter laws and rules, most likely because they are not Muslims and are even regarded as "infidels."
Third, that the PA is no different from Hamas or other radical groups in opposing peace and coexistence with Israel. The PA, in other words, is trying to prove to the Palestinians that it is even more extremist than Hamas in dealing with Israel.
Fourth, the incident should be seen in the context of the PA's ongoing campaign of incitement against Jews in general and settlers in particular. By denouncing Glick as an "extremist Zionist settler" and labeling all settlers as "criminals," the PA leadership is giving a green light to its people to murder these Jews.
All this is happening while the Biden administration continues to engage with the PA about the need to revive the peace process and the PA's purported commitment to the so-called two-state solution, while ignoring the persecution of Christians and major human rights violations committed by the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
It is high time for the Americans and Europeans who are funding Palestinian leaders to start asking hard questions and demand accountability and transparency. While they are at it, they might also ask the PA leaders why they are cracking down on Christians in the Bethlehem area and intimidating them by arresting one of their leaders for the crime of meeting with a rabbi.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The Iraq Crisis, An Opportunity For Change
Rebar Ahmed/Asharq Al-Awsat/March 24/2022
The presidential elections in Iraq come following a difficult reform path, which was undertaken by the political and social actors since the start of the largest protest movement in the country, the early parliamentary elections, and the convening of Parliament.
We are witnessing a new Iraqi era. We heard the voices of our people, who want a regime worthy of the historical greatness of their country, its rich culture, and its important role in the region and the world. It is a moment of truth for the leaders who love their land, who are urged to exert more efforts to consolidate sovereignty and strengthen independence in front of allies and opponents. It is a moment of change that calls for a national readiness for political and administrative responsibilities, which require loyalty to the state and guarantee its higher interests, within an unprecedented reform process, which will not only influence national affairs, but will resonate in the region and in the international crises surrounding it. Since the President of the Republic is the protector of the Constitution, who is entrusted with preserving Iraq’s independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, the reform path that is now imposing itself on everyone calls for assuming the real role enshrined in the Constitution, by protecting the state and its institutions from any threats.
The modern Iraqi crisis is an unconventional opportunity for success. It’s a coincidence that only happens in a country like Iraq, where diversity and abundance of resources are mixed with tough challenges. Here comes the importance of the President’s pioneering role in exploiting this opportunity, which will in turn achieve the interests of the country and the people.
It is necessary here to emphasize solidarity and cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil – a crucial complementarity that seeks to address challenges and reach fruitful results for the best of Iraq.
Based on our experience, and despite the outstanding crises between the Kurdistan region and the federal government, the Iraqis witnessed great results when the two parties worked together, as in cases of solidarity in major security issues. They defeated ISIS, liberated Iraq from the clutches of terrorism, addressed the file of displacement, launched effective diplomatic efforts, and revived ambitious strategic projects in industry and agriculture, from the mountains of Erbil to the coast of Basra.
Since the founding of their modern state nearly a hundred years ago, Iraqis have fought ideological, ethnic and sectarian struggles. Political movements and trends have emerged, with conflicting activities and projects that delayed access to a contemporary political model that protects the status of the nation. Here arises the importance of a strong and vibrant civil society, which remains an indispensable asset for a viable and developing state.
The course of events around us teaches us a new historical lesson. Tension and conflict in a region that we thought was isolated, will have a wide impact on the whole planet. Iraq cannot abandon its civilized role by remaining turbulent and unable to engage in accelerating transformations and become a global center for devising interests, solutions and opportunities.
At this promising moment, the President of the Republic can only be viewed as an effective tool in integrating roles, which requires wise power and a treatment for many of the obstacles and problems that have long hindered this position.
In 2007, as I was completing my studies in Baghdad, at the peak of violence in the country, I had the honor to speak on behalf of my fellow graduate students of Strategic Planning at the National Defense College there, of the dream of developing a concept of politics, where the advancement of the human being is at the center of the leaders’ efforts. Dreams stumble and are reborn in great moments of history. With a good dose of inspiration, they can awaken the elements of goodwill in individuals and groups. The path of national reform is one of these moments.

What Happens in Russia If Putin Can’t Win in Ukraine?
Hal Brands/Bloomberg/March 24/2022
The world has been transfixed by Ukraine’s fight for survival. As the war drags on, we’d better start considering what will become of Russia, as well. President Vladimir Putin’s nation has now been subjected to an isolation more sudden and total than that experienced by any major power in recent history. What that leads to may not be pretty.
Since late February, Russia has been hit with punishing economic, trade and financial sanctions. It is careering toward a debt default, as a rapid technological decoupling is also underway. Foreign firms are fleeing the country, while Russian teams are excluded from international competitions in soccer and other sports. Even the International Cat Federation has barred Russian felines from its events.
Russia isn’t some tinpot tyranny like Cuba or North Korea; it is a major power whose population was, until recently, deeply connected to its larger global environment. Now, Russia is suffering a degree of international ostracism that typically happens only when a country is at war with the world.
What will this mean for Moscow if its conflict with Ukraine drags on for months or years to come? We can imagine a few scenarios, all of which would pose nasty challenges for Russia, and some of which could be quite concerning for America and its allies.
The rosiest is a “Moscow Spring,” in which the costs of conflict lead to regime change and a rebirth of the democracy Russia experienced fleetingly in the 1990s. Russian elites push Putin aside and make peace with Ukraine. Having experienced the consequences of aggression and autocracy, the more urban, liberal swaths of Russian society demand a broader political opening and the country’s reintegration into the world. Just as isolation helped convince South Africa to ditch apartheid in the late 1980s, foreign opprobrium forces dramatic change in Moscow’s foreign and domestic policies.
The odds of this scenario materializing are slim. Two decades of Putinism have left Russia with a weak, fragmented opposition. The president has surely tried to coup-proof his regime by co-opting the security and intelligence services and pitting them against one another. And even if Russia did experience a revolution, look out: The history of the 1990s cautions us that instability and even chaos could follow.
A second, more plausible scenario is “Wounded Giant.” Here, Putin uses his control of the security services to hang onto power and repress whatever popular discontent isolation produces. He exploits the black-market opportunities that sanctions inevitably create to compensate loyal cronies. Russia becomes more dependent on China as it seeks economic and technological alternatives to the West.
What changes is not so much Russian policies but Russian power: The cost of slogging ahead is continued attrition of the economy, retarded technological modernization and a long-term weakening of Moscow’s military potential. This scenario isn’t great for the Western and Pacific democracies, but it isn’t terrible, either: Against a more sluggish, stagnating Russia, the US could fare well enough in a protracted rivalry.
There is a third, darker scenario: “Tehran on the Volga.” Here, isolation and radicalization go hand in hand. Educated, upwardly mobile Russians leave the country, ridding the regime of its most outspoken liberal critics. Hard-liners embrace a “resistance economy” premised on self-sufficiency and avoiding the contaminating influence of the West. Aggressive internal purges, relentless propaganda and the fanning of militant nationalism produce a Russian variant of fascism. When Putin eventually falls, he is replaced by an equally repressive, ambitious and xenophobic leader.
Russia thus becomes a superpowered Iran with nuclear weapons — a country that is permanently estranged from the world and compensates for weakness with heightened belligerency. Far from retreating in its confrontation with the West, this Russia might dial up the intensity of that struggle — pursuing wide-ranging programs of sabotage in Europe or more aggressively training its cyberweapons on targets in the US and other democratic countries.
The eventual reality could diverge from any of these scenarios, of course. But the exercise illustrates two important points.
First, Washington needs to start thinking seriously about Russia’s long-term trajectory. In 1989, the administration of President George H.W. Bush quietly created a planning group to consider what might happen amid earthshaking changes in the Soviet Union. Regardless of what happens in this crisis, Russia is big and powerful enough that its trajectory will be vital to the overall health of the international order — which means that the US needs to be ready for whatever direction the country takes.
Second, be careful what you wish for. The US and its allies are rightly using devastating sanctions, along with tenacious Ukrainian resistance, to impose heavy costs on a Russian regime that has flagrantly violated the most basic norms of international behavior. Appeasement and military intervention are the only obvious, and abhorrent, alternatives to this policy. But we have only begun to consider what its long-term consequences might be.
Even in the best-case scenario, the US would confront enormous challenges helping a liberalizing Russia emerge from authoritarian rule. More plausibly, Washington could face a recalcitrant, perhaps even a further radicalized, Russia instead. The war in Ukraine will eventually end, but America’s problems with Russia may only be getting started.

Iraq’s missing state
Ibrahim al-Zobeidi/The Arab Weekly/March 24/2022
There is no respectable and honourable patriotic Iraqi who does not wish for his country to be free, secure, united, strong, with real sovereignty and under no one else’s guardianship.
For centuries, every Iraqi has been deprived of having one single national holiday, which he can celebrate voluntarily and enthusiastically. He was deprived of the pleasure of singing one national anthem shared by the young and old, of waving a single flag and cheering a respected and beloved president, spontaneously and without coveting a position or fearing a policeman, a security officer or a militiaman. Even under the monarchy, which was much more merciful and less corrupt than in subsequent eras, the British used to make the most important internal and external decisions. And even after Iraq became independent and in 1932 a member of the League of Nations, benefits used to go only to the city specified by the pasha that be, chosen by that one particular sheikh or picked by that political party and no one else.
Since then, there has been a succession of eras. A new one would come on a tank, then disappear under a tank where it then joined the list of lost eras. This went on until there was not a single Iraqi left who was not labelled a follower of this bygone era or that one. Iraqis had their fortunes seized, were imprisoned or disappeared, or left the country looking for greener pastures.
From the first days of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and the start of his regime’s doomed downward march to fall, his opponents and former refugees began to emerge from the dark basements where they were hiding in disguise or fretting over a treacherous bullet or the dagger of a spook.
In all of their statements, conferences, and travels to Washington, London, Tehran, Damascus and Amman, they all promised to compensate the Iraqis for the days of Saddam and for the transgressions of his brothers, two sons and senior aides. They vowed that they would only accept a state of justice, dignity, democracy, equality and prosperity for Iraq. Then the Americans volunteered to rid the people of their entire state, uprooted it and established on its ruins the democracy of the dagger and the cleaver. They offered the country to their ally Iran and handed its government over to the gang of seven, then left in a hurry. The Supreme Guide, the militia leaders and the head of the tribes all celebrated.
From day one it became clear to every Iraqi that change was a mirage and that everything in the new democratic Iraq was neither democratic nor new. Nothing is more bitter for Iraqi citizens who see that their homeland, which is otherwise the homeland of talented and great minds, who excel in science, politics, economy, culture and the arts, is ruled by the likes of Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Nuri al-Maliki, Haider al-Abadi, Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Mustafa al-Kadhimi for years and maybe centuries to come. Another thing. Amid the new missile conflict between yesterday’s Iran and the Iraqi Kurds, the leaders of the pro-Iranian Shia Coordination Framework parties discovered that their allies in Kurdistan had secret centres for the Israeli Mossad. They realised that when the Revolutionary Guards lobbed twelve missiles on Erbil in defence of Persian honour, it was punishment for Masoud Barzani's party’s complicity with the Israelis in threatening Iran's national security. A great sin, undoubtedly.
At that instant, patriotism suddenly erupted after the long slumber of the supporters of Iran, who rose up in defence of its sacrosanct sovereignty and territorial integrity, which had been violated by the Mossad and its Barzani hosts and never by the missiles of the Wali al-Faqih.
Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader who had won most seats in parliament, always insisted on reform, achieving justice and liberating the country from all eastern and western foreign guardians. Moreover, he is an ally of the Erbil group and said through Hakim al-Zamili, a leader in the Sadrist movement and appointed deputy speaker of parliament, that “the targeting of Erbil was an unacceptable breach, but we are looking for its reasons and justifications.” He is still looking for those reasons and justifications. This is the state that makes the Sadrist current and the Coordination Framework, from whom are picked the presidents, the ministers, the directors, the ambassadors, the judges and the laws of the land.
A case in point is Nuri al-Maliki. After all the money he squandered, or smuggled to Tehran, London, Beirut, Amman or Dubai, he and his son, son-in-law and close associates, during the eight years of his premiership to 2014, despite all the blood that he shed in vain and despite the fact that he is the one who caused one third of the country to be occupied, he still stands on his feet, to this day, commanding and being obeyed. There is no government, no president of the republic, no prime minister who is anointed without his consent and advice, even if the country has to remain lost for months and if necessary, for years.
Somehow they seized the entire state and led its people astray.

A changed Turkey can be a benefit to all
Rabbi Marc Schneier/Arab News/March 24/2022
Change is happening fast in Turkey, and countries from Europe to the Middle East and the US are taking note. On the brink of international isolation not so long ago, we have seen President Recep Tayyip Erdogan usher in a far-reaching geopolitical recalibration in recent months, including several actions that have required real leadership at a time when the world is crying out for partnership and peacemaking. Across the Black Sea, the Turkish government has provided critical defensive assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, Erdogan has presented himself as a critical mediator between Moscow and Kyiv, leading the international effort to secure a ceasefire. With neighboring Armenia, a new opportunity now beckons to normalize a relationship that has been almost nonexistent for a century, with reopened borders and mutually beneficial trade ties. Erdogan also visited Abu Dhabi last month to patch up ties with the UAE. At the directive of the president, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in January met with Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa in Manama. He is also scheduled to visit Israel in the first week of April.
For the last several months, I have been directly involved in diplomatic efforts to shore up another bilateral relationship that is critical for regional security: That between Turkey and Israel. The backchannel talks helped lead to a significant breakthrough, as Israeli President Isaac Herzog this month visited Ankara — the most senior Israeli to travel to Turkey in 14 years. The renewal of this relationship was no small feat. Relations tumbled dramatically in 2010 amid the fallout of the Gaza flotilla raid. Eight years later, riots broke out in Turkey after the US recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. And the Israelis have chafed for years over Turkish support for the militant Hamas group.
The many differences between the two countries, particularly over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, will not be solved overnight or through one meeting, but the images of Erdogan welcoming Herzog with open arms undoubtedly sent a signal of hope in a part of the world that needs unity, not division, and security collaboration, not confrontation.
The path to rapprochement was long and winding, stretching all the way to New York and Washington. In the US, I worked closely with Turkish Ambassador Murat Mercan to orchestrate the steps taken by each side, including phone calls between the heads of state and proposed confidence-building measures for each side. At a time when many in the US, including some Jewish leaders, were questioning Washington’s decades-long alliance with Turkey, we discussed how a new Turkish approach toward Israel could be beneficial to all sides.
The summit must not be a one-off. Based on my conversations with the two presidents last week, I feel confident that this new Turkish approach could pay dividends far and wide. As US Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake told me, the new direction in Turkey’s foreign policy has been acknowledged and appreciated in Washington.
Even at home, Erdogan has embarked on important reforms and demonstrated congruence between Turkey’s internal affairs and its outward commitments. He is widely reported to have curtailed the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and made it clear that his party is with the Turkish people in their respect for both Islamic and secular traditions. The images of Erdogan welcoming the Israeli president with open arms undoubtedly sent a signal of hope to the region. In recent months, the president has clearly charted Turkey on a new course that can help solidify its standing as an invaluable force for stability. The Turkish people have sustained a civilization of unrivaled magnetism at the nexus of east and west for centuries and, with the government now embarking on this new, pragmatic foreign policy, we may be able to reconstruct a regional architecture that has been so sorely lacking.
While the future is unknown, we should today credit Turkey for the many steps it is taking to inject hope in places where it has been hard to find. These new bonds of friendship are fragile and must be cultivated by all parties. We all should do all we can to look past our own perceptions of the wrongdoings of the past and explore how we can join together in the quest for greater peace and stability. *Rabbi Marc Schneier is president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and a noted adviser to many Gulf states. He is recognized as one of the most influential Jewish figures in the Greater Muslim World.
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