English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 24/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.september24.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Laborers in the Vineyard/Am I not allowed to do
what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the
last will be first, and the first last.”
Matthew 20/01-16/”For the kingdom of heaven is
like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for
his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent
them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others
standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard
too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about
the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour
he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand
here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to
them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the
vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages,
beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the
eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first
came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a
denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying,
‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have
borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of
them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give
to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you
begrudge my generosity?’So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Question: “What signs indicate that the end times are
approaching?”
GotQuestions.org/September 23/2022
Answer: Matthew 24:5–8 gives us some important clues for discerning the approach
of the end times: “Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and
will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that
you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be
famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth
pains.” An increase in false messiahs, an increase in warfare, and increases in
famines, plagues, and natural disasters—these are signs of the end times. In
this passage, though, we are given a warning: we are not to be deceived, because
these events are only the beginning of birth pains; the end is still to come.
Some interpreters point to every earthquake, every political upheaval, and every
attack on Israel as a sure sign that the end times are rapidly approaching.
While the events may signal the approach of the last days, they are not
necessarily indicators that the end times have arrived. The apostle Paul warned
that the last days would bring a marked increase in false teaching. “The Spirit
clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow
deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). The last days
are described as “perilous times” because of the increasingly evil character of
man and people who actively “oppose the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1–9; see also 2
Thessalonians 2:3).
Other possible signs would include a rebuilding of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem,
increased hostility toward Israel, and advances toward a one-world government.
The most prominent sign of the end times, however, is the nation of Israel. In
1948, Israel was recognized as a sovereign state, essentially for the first time
since AD 70. God promised Abraham that his posterity would have Canaan as “an
everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8), and Ezekiel prophesied a physical and
spiritual resuscitation of Israel (Ezekiel 37). Having Israel as a nation in its
own land is important in light of end-times prophecy because of Israel’s
prominence in eschatology (Daniel 10:14; 11:41; Revelation 11:8). With these
signs in mind, we can be wise and discerning in regard to the expectation of the
end times. We should not, however, interpret any of these singular events as a
clear indication of the soon arrival of the end times. God has given us enough
information that we can be prepared, and that is what we are called to be as our
hearts cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 23-24/2022
77 migrants drown after ‘death boat’ capsizes off Syria after leaving
Lebanon
At least 77 dead after migrant boat from Lebanon sinks off Syria
Lebanon mourns victims of migrant shipwreck
President Aoun meets French delegation, follows up on details of sinking
Lebanese boat off Arwad
Aoun lauds Saudi-Western statement, stresses need for new president, govt.
Mikati hopes to finalize govt. formation with Aoun next week
Berri meets EU delegation, stresses importance of preserving depositors' rights
Mayyas thanks Lebanese Republic for medal, says proudly awaiting to receive it
Finance Minister holds final meeting with IMF Tax Policy Mission team, promises
“just implementation of any tax system to be adopted in Lebanon”
'Optimistic' Franjieh says wants to be 'unifying president'
Geagea renews call for 'salvation president' after new boat tragedy
Calls in Lebanon’s Parliament to Reach Solution with IMF
Combined Salaries of Lebanon’s President, Speaker & PM Drop Below $1,000
Israel PM: World Must Use Force if Iran Builds Nuclear Bomb
Mikati hopes government dossier will be concluded next week
FM affirms Egypt’s support for Lebanon
Plight of Middle East’s Christians deserves more attention/Plight of Middle
East’s Christians deserves more attention
Ray Hanania/Arab News/September 23/2022
Hezbollah Emerging as Winner from Israel-Lebanon Maritime Talks
Tony Badran/The Foundation for Defense of Democracies/(FDD)/September 23/2022
Etienne Sakr-Abu Arz: Letter to Mayyas, the Queen/Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz)/September
23/2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 23-24/2022
Pro-government marchers call for executions, as protests continue in Iran
Iran State TV Suggests at Least 26 Dead from Protests
At least 50 dead in Iran protest crackdown, says NGO
Sergei Lavrov calls Zelensky ‘b*****d’ and walks out of UN meet amid ‘collective
condemnation’ of Russia
Tearful and angry viral videos show families saying goodbye and fights with army
officers as Russia drafts thousands for war in Ukraine
Ukraine 'poised to trap 20,000 Russian troops' in key Kherson battlefield
Russia Holds Breakaway Polls in Ukraine
At UN, Armenia Accuses Azerbaijan of 'Unspeakable Atrocities'
Israel no longer 'partner' for peace, Abbas tells UN
Hurricane Fiona buffets Bermuda as Canada braces for major jolt
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on September 23-24/2022
'Europe Should Be Grateful to Erdoğan'/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone
Institute/September 23/2022
The Golden Road to Samarkand/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/September, 23/2022
The Era of the Global Central Bank May Have Arrived/Daniel
Moss/Bloomberg/September, 23/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 23-24/2022
77 migrants drown after ‘death boat’ capsizes off Syria after leaving
Lebanon
Najia Houssari/Arab News/September 23/2022
BEIRUT: At least 77 people drowned when an illegal migrant boat traveling from
Lebanon sank off Syria’s coast in the eastern Mediterranean. Around 150 people,
mostly Lebanese and Syrians, were on board the small vessel that went down on
Thursday off the Syrian city of Tartous. “Seventy-seven people have died,”
Syria’s Health Minister Hassan Al-Ghabash told Agence France-Presse. Lebanon has
become a starting point for illegal migration, with its citizens joining Syrian
and Palestinian refugees clamoring to leave their homeland. Illegal “death
boats” set off every day from the northern coast of Lebanon. Some succeed in
reaching their destination, a few are rescued by the coast guards of the
countries in whose territorial waters their boats capsize, and the rest are
swallowed up by the sea.
Former Tripoli MP Mustafa Alloush told Arab News: “People have completely lost
hope that the situation in Lebanon could improve and there are mafias exploiting
this.” He said 95 percent of such illegal trips succeed in reaching their
destinations, and those people who make it to Europe encourage their relatives
and acquaintances to make the same journey. He added: “The Lebanese authorities
know who these smugglers organizing such trips are. They get huge sums of money.
Security officers are paid off to facilitate such journeys or turn a blind eye.
“Why did this boat head toward Syria? Is it not to escape UNIFIL (the UN Interim
Force in Lebanon), which patrols Lebanese waters? “Drug trafficking is illegal,
but remains active given the amounts of money paid to dealers and distributors.
“The same goes for human trafficking and smuggling. Money is paid, specifically
to those who are supposed to protect people in this country.”Caretaker Minister
of Public Works Ali Hamieh said: “This type of boat was not made for such trips
and cannot carry that many people. It turned out that it was recently imported
and arrived in Lebanon two months ago.”Most passengers were residents of
northern Lebanon, some were Palestinian refugees from the Nahr Al-Bared camp,
but the majority were Syrians, from Idlib, Aleppo and Latakia.
These Syrians had illegally made their way into Lebanon to escape by sea through
the north of the country. Among the victims were two girls who were buried in
Akkar, north Lebanon, after being transported there by car from Tartous. The
mayor of Qarqaf, in Akkar, said: “The mother of the two girls drowned, as did
her two sons. The father is still alive, but he is in a hospital in Syria.” The
boat had embarked from Lebanon’s northern Minyeh region, with passengers paying
$3,000 for children and $7,000 per adult for the trip. Lebanon’s
Secretary-General of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party Ali Hijazi, who traveled to
Tartous on Friday, said survivors had informed him the boat “left from Minyeh on
Tuesday morning and experienced a technical malfunction. It capsized due to the
waves on Thursday morning.”The Lebanese Army announced it has arrested eight
suspected smugglers. The tragedy coincided with the announcement on social media
of another boat that left the northern coast of Lebanon bound for Italy and
broke down between Greece and Turkey. Its passengers were rescued and are
currently in Turkey.
At least 77 dead after migrant boat from Lebanon sinks
off Syria
Agence France Presse/September 23/2022
At least 77 migrants drowned when a boat they boarded in Lebanon sank off
Syria's coast, Syria's health minister said Friday, in one of the deadliest such
shipwrecks in the eastern Mediterranean. Lebanon,
which since 2019 has been mired in a financial crisis branded by the World Bank
as one of the worst in modern times, has become a launchpad for illegal
migration, with its own citizens joining Syrian and Palestinian refugees
clamoring to leave their homeland. Around 150 people,
mostly Lebanese and Syrians, were on board the small boat that went down
Thursday off the Syrian city of Tartus. "Seventy-seven
people have died," Syria's Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabash told state
television from Al-Basel hospital in Tartus, where he said 20 survivors were
being treated, including eight in critical condition.
Of those rescued, five were Lebanese, Lebanon's caretaker transport minister Ali
Hamieh told AFP. Tartus is the southernmost of Syria's main ports, and lies some
50 kilometers north of the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, where the
migrants had boarded. "We are dealing with one of our largest ever rescue
operations," Sleiman Khalil, an official at Syria's transport ministry told AFP,
as the search for survivors continued. "We are covering a large area that
extends along the entire Syrian coast," he said, adding that high waves were
hampering their efforts. Russian ships were assisting in search operations,
according to Syrian authorities.
'Identify the dead'
Rana Merhi of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said identified bodies would be
transported to a border crossing to be handed over to the Lebanese Red Cross.
"Some of the relatives of the victims came from Lebanon... to identify the
dead," said Ahmed Ammar, a Tartus health official. Many of the boat's Lebanese
passengers hail from impoverished regions in the country's north, including
Tripoli. The city has emerged as a illegal migration
hub, with most migrant boats departing from its shores. Among the survivors was
Wissam al-Talawi, a Tripoli resident who was being treated in hospital, his
brother Ahmad told AFP. But the corpses of Wissam's two daughters, aged five and
nine, had been returned to Lebanon where they were buried early Friday, Ahmad
said. "They left two days ago," he added. "(My brother) couldn't afford his
daily expenses, or the cost of enrolling his children in school," he said,
adding that Wissam's wife and two sons were still missing. The Syrian Arab Red
Crescent published images on its Facbeook page showing volunteers carrying
corpses covered in bags into an ambulance. Other rescuers were pictured
searching for survivors along the coast of Tartus.
'Humiliating life'
At the Arida border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, dozens waited for
corpses to arrive.They included residents of the Palestinian refugee camp of
Nahr al-Bared north of Tripoli -- which is home to some of the dead and missing.
"I am an old man but if I had the chance to die at sea I would rather do that
than lead a humiliating life in this country," one of them said from the
crossing as awaited news of his missing niece and nephew. Since 2020, Lebanon
has seen a spike in the number of migrants using its shores to attempt the
perilous crossing in jam-packed boats to reach Europe. In April, the sinking of
an overcrowded migrant boat pursued by the Lebanese navy off the northern coast
of Tripoli killed dozens of people, sparking anger in the country. The exact
circumstances of that incident are still unclear, with some on board claiming
the navy rammed their vessel, while officials insisted the smugglers made
reckless bids to escape. Many of the bodies were never recovered. On September
13, Turkey's coastguard announced the death of six migrants, including two
babies, and rescued 73 people trying to reach Europe, off the coast of the
southwestern province of Mugla. They had reportedly
boarded from Tripoli in Lebanon in an attempt to reach Italy. Most of the boats
setting off from Lebanon head for European Union member Cyprus, an island about
175 kilometers to the west.
Lebanon mourns victims of migrant shipwreck
Agence France Presse/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Mustafa Misto embarked on a sea voyage from crisis-hit Lebanon seeking a better
life for his family, but he drowned in a shipwreck alongside his children and
dozens of others, relatives said Friday. "His dream
was not to obtain another nationality, but simply to enroll his children in a
school and feed them," his relative Jihad al-Maneh said.
Lebanon, which since 2019 has been mired in a financial crisis branded by
the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times, has become a launchpad for
illegal migration. Its desperate citizens are joining Syrian and Palestinian
refugees clamoring to leave the country, where more than 80 percent of the
population lives below the poverty line. Misto, a taxi driver, and his three
children were among at least 73 people who died when the boat they boarded in
northern Lebanon sank off Syria's coast on Thursday, in one of the deadliest
such tragedies from the eastern Mediterranean nation. His wife was among the 20
people who survived, but with more than 100 people believed to have been aboard
the vessel, many are still missing. In the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon's
poorest, anger mixed with grief as relatives received news of the death of their
loved ones. In Bab al-Raml, one of Tripoli's most impoverished districts,
Misto's bereaved relatives gathered in a family home. According to Maneh, Misto
had paid between $3,000 to $5,000 for each member of his family who joined him
on the boat. He had sold his car and borrowed money from his brothers to pay the
smuggler's fees, Maneh said. Misto's mother even sold her jewelry to help her
son cover the costs.
'Dead or alive'? -
Misto's family was not informed of the boat's intended destination.
They have repeatedly tried to reach out to caretaker prime minister Najib
Mikati, who hails from Tripoli, but they have yet to receive a reply.
"Where are the authorities? We don't know if our children are dead or
alive," Maneh said. One of Misto's childhood friends, Omar, was among the
mourners who visited the family to pay his condolences.
"Poverty and dire living conditions made Mustafa leave Lebanon," Omar
told AFP. He said that Misto had been determined on securing a better life. "I
will leave even if I die: either I succeed or I die," he had kept repeating
before he left, Omar said. The Talawi family, which hails from the northern
region of Akkar but lives in Tripoli, were among the first to bury their dead.
The body of two children were returned to them by Syria. Early on Friday
morning, they buried two sisters, aged five and nine, who were among the victims
of the shipwreck. Their mother and two brothers are still missing. Their father,
Wissam al-Talawi, who works in a cleaning company, survived the tragedy, and was
receiving treatment in hospital. Ahmed, Wissam's brother, said he had decided to
leave Lebanon because he "couldn't afford his daily expenses, or the cost of
enrolling his children in school."
President Aoun meets French delegation, follows up on
details of sinking Lebanese boat off Arwad
NNA/Friday, 23 September, 2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, expressed his satisfaction with
the tripartite statement issued yesterday by France, the United States of
America and Saudi Arabia regarding the situation in Lebanon.
President Aoun asserted the need to elect a new President of the Republic within
the constitutional deadline and to form a new government that will gain the
confidence of the Parliament before the presidential term ends next October 31.
The President also reiterated the necessity of implementing the reforms agreed
upon with the International Monetary Fund, and removing all obstacles that
prevent this issue.
The President’s positions came while meeting the head of the region of southern
France, Provence, the Alpes and the Côte d’Azur, and former Minister Renaud
Muselier at the head of a delegation from the region, in the presence of the
French Ambassador to Lebanon, Mrs. Anne Grillo, and the head of the
Lebanese-French Parliamentary Friendship Committee, MP Simon Abi Ramia.
The delegation included Messrs. Jean-Pierre Colin, Frédéric Lofaro, Sébastien
Viano, Bernard Valero and a number of administrative officials in the region.
At the beginning, Mr. Mussolier expressed his happiness at his presence in
Lebanon, describing his visit and the accompanying delegation as “A visit of
brotherhood and solidarity” to emphasize the strong relations between the two
countries and peoples that have taken root more throughout history.
Mussolier also conveyed to President Aoun the greetings of French President
Emmanuel Macron and his affirmation of his support for Lebanon and the Lebanese
and his work to achieve all that is good for “This dear country to the hearts of
the French”.
Then, Mr. Mussolier presented the role played by the region of southern France,
Provence, the Alpes and the Cote d’Azur, in helping Lebanon and contributing to
the development of economic life in it.
Afterwards, a dialogue took place between President Aoun and members of the
delegation.
The President had discussed the difficult conditions that Lebanon went through
during the past six years of his reign, and the repercussions it left, including
the Syrian war, the closure of the borders and the influx of large waves of
displaced Syrians, leading to the events of October 17, 2019, the outbreak of
the “Corona” pandemic, then the explosion of the port of Beirut, and the severe
economic and financial crisis that the country is going through, which made the
poverty rate rise to 75% of the Lebanese people.
“Perhaps the most difficult thing that Lebanon faced was emptying the financial
funds and the state treasury of money, and some of that took place in ambiguous
circumstances. We worked to assign an international company to audit it and we
are waiting for the results of this audit” President Aoun said.
On the other hand, President Aoun addressed the government crisis that the
country is going through, pointing out that he is working to remove the
political obstacles placed before the formation of the government.
Moreover, the President emphasized the importance of having a full-fledged
government that has the confidence of the Parliament to be able to assume the
responsibility of exercising the powers of the President of the Republic in the
event that the president is not elected, pointing to the need to preserve the
national balance in all the expected constitutional deadlines.
In response to a question, the President renewed Lebanon’s commitment to
implement what was agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund, noting that
the budget law for the year 2022 is awaiting approval in the Parliament, to
which the law amending the banking secrecy law was returned to become more in
line with international standards.
On the indirect negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime borders,
President Aoun stated that progress has been made in this field, expressing his
hope to reach an agreement that would enable Lebanon to invest its oil and gas
wealth and its positive impact on the Lebanese economy.
Boat Sinking in Arwad:
President Aoun followed up on the details he received about the sinking of the
Lebanese boat off Arwad Island, which was carrying a number of people, both
Lebanese and non-Lebanese.
President Aoun was briefed on the latest data on the rescue operations and the
provision of treatment to the survivors in Tartous, and the retrieval of a
number of victims’ bodies.
President Aoun asked the competent authorities to provide all facilities to the
families of the victims and survivors as a result of this tragic accident.
Congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques:
The President sent a congratulatory cable to the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on Saudi National Day. President Aoun
wished on his behalf and on behalf of the Lebanese people that “The Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, under your wise leadership, enjoys glory, development and
blessings”.
President Aoun also affirmed his aspiration to develop cooperation between the
two countries in all fields, “In order to achieve the interests of our two
brotherly peoples within the framework of weaving the best brotherly
relations”.—Presidency Press Office
Aoun lauds Saudi-Western statement, stresses need for new
president, govt.
Naharnet/Friday, 23 September, 2022
President Michel Aoun on Friday expressed his relief over “the tripartite
statement that was issued yesterday by France, the U.S. and the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia regarding the situation in Lebanon.”He also stressed “the need to elect a
new president within the constitutional timeframe in addition to forming a new
government that would win parliament’s confidence prior to the expiry of the
presidential term on October 31.”Moreover, the president reiterated the need to
“implement the reforms that have been agreed on with the International Monetary
Fund and to remove all obstacles that are still preventing this.”
Mikati hopes to finalize govt. formation with Aoun next
week
Naharnet/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati has expressed hope to finalize the cabinet
formation file in the meetings that he will hold with President Michel Aoun next
week, adding that the issue “does not need a lot of discussions.”Speaking to MTV
from New York, where he took part in the works of the U.N. General Assembly and
met with several leaders, Mikati said the issues of the presidential vote, the
aspired agreement with the International Monetary Fund and sea border
demarcation with Israel were the focus of his talks there. “The issue is
certainly in an advanced stage but we must wait for the conclusions. There are
some final steps for which we are expecting some answers, which should be formal
so that we can act accordingly,” Mikati added. As for the issue of Iranian fuel
oil, Mikati said “Iran has announced donating 600,000 tons, but there is a minor
problem related to specifications that is being addressed.” “It is a free,
unconditional donation, and if the obstacles are resolved we will welcome it,
because we need this support,” the premier added.
Berri meets EU delegation, stresses importance of
preserving depositors' rights
Naharnet/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday met with the ambassadors of the EU and
its member states resident in Beirut. During the meeting, Berri thoroughly
explained “the roadmap to rescue the situation in Lebanon, topped by the
agreement with the International Monetary Fund and finalizing the reformist laws
such as the state budget, the capital control law, the banking secrecy law and
the economic recovery plan that have recently reached parliament.”The Speaker
also underscored “the importance of preserving depositors’ rights, seeing as it
is an essential motive to regain confidence in the financial and baking fields
and for the recovery of the economic cycle in the country.”“There is a tight
timeframe to achieve what’s needed from us, which requires close cooperation
between the parliament and government, in order to allow parliament to tackle
the top constitutional juncture, which is the election of a new president,”
Berri added.
Mayyas thanks Lebanese Republic for medal, says proudly
awaiting to receive it
NNAt/Friday, 23 September, 2022
The "Mayyas" troupe on Friday said via its official Twitter account: "We thank
the Lebanese Republic for granting us the Golden Lebanese Order of Merit; we
proudly await to set an appropriate date to receive it."
Finance Minister holds final meeting with IMF Tax Policy
Mission team, promises “just implementation of any tax system to be adopted in
Lebanon”
NNA/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Caretaker Finance Minister, Youssef El-Khalil, on Friday affirmed that the
Ministry of Finance was keen on “a just implementation” of any tax system to be
adopted by Lebanon. He also stressed the importance of assessing the impact of
any such measure on the most vulnerable groups, and the adoption of an expanded
and comprehensive safety net. Al-Khalil spoke during
his final meeting with the IMF Tax Policy Mission team, to whom he reiterated
the importance of adopting tax policies that take into account the existing
conditions, especially in terms of enabling the state to play its role in
providing basic social and health services by boosting treasury revenues. For
its part, the delegation presented the summary of its 2-week visit to Lebanon,
during which it reached recommendations that were basically in line with most of
what the Ministry of Finance had presented, especially the latter’s perception
of the need to implement immediate measures to reform the country’s tax policy
system in order to halt the drainage of tax revenues in the short and medium
terms through a more efficient, fair, and comprehensive system.
'Optimistic' Franjieh says wants to be 'unifying president'
Naharnet/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh has confirmed that his nomination is on
the table in the presidential race, as he voiced optimism over his chances.
“We are monitoring things… and I’m more optimistic than last time,”
Franjieh said in an interview on MTV.
“The settlement might lean towards me and in the past there had been a promise
from Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to President Michel
Aoun, but today there is no promise to anyone from Hezbollah but rather a
pragmatic approach and the March 8 camp will go with one candidate to the
presidential vote session,” Franjieh added. “I want to
be a unifying president who would unify the country, not a spiteful president,
seeing as Lebanon today is in an extraordinary stage, amidst a destructive
economic war and in a situation that is worse than the post-civil war period,”
the Marada chief went on to say. He added: “I’ve never
been centrist, but I’m a man of dialogue and openness, and should I become
president, it would be my duty to involve everyone so that all parties can
shoulder their responsibilities.”“I’m committed to the Taef Accord, U.N.
resolutions and an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, on the
condition that it happens after settlements,” Franjieh stated.
The Marada chief also confirmed that he will visit Syria if he is elected
president. “When (ex-PM Saad) Hariri asked me in the
past, I told him the same answer, and I’m Maronite, Lebanese and Arab,” Franjieh
added.
“When did I ever put Syria’s interest before that of Lebanon,” he asked.
As for his relation with Hezbollah, Franjieh said: “I’m close to
Hezbollah but I’m not its candidate, and any citizen cannot accept the present
of two arsenals of arms, but the resistance’s weapons need regional, domestic
and international circumstances in order to be settled, or else what would the
alternative be? War?” Franjieh added that he is not seeking “power” but rather
for his name to “go down in history” and for the “country’s crisis to be
resolved” during his tenure. “I don’t want to be part
of axes, but rather part of the Lebanese axis exclusively. A president cannot be
elected without the approval of the Hezbollah and Amal Movement duo and I do not
accept insults against Saudi Arabia, the Arab countries or any friendly nation,”
the Marada leader said. Stressing that there no American or French veto on his
nomination, Franjieh also revealed that he has been told that the Saudis also do
not have a “problem” with him. “I will not request from anyone to make me
president,” he said. Franjieh also said that he would seek to change the
electoral law should he become president, adding that he is “against undermining
the banking sector in Lebanon.”
Geagea renews call for 'salvation president' after new boat
tragedy
Naharnet/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday reiterated his call for electing a
“salvation president” who can rescue Lebanon, in comments related to the new
boat tragedy in Tripoli. “Today there is a new death ferry from Tripoli, dozens
of victims and continued tears and pain, and yesterday there had been storming
operations against a host of banks that led to a general strike of banks and
additional suffering for the Lebanese citizens,” Geagea said. “Before that parts
of the wheat silos at the Beirut port collapsed, causing further pollution, pain
and suffering for the capital’s residents and before that there had been another
death ferry in Tripoli,” the LF leader added. Noting that the Lebanese have
“grown tired of the statements of solidarity and condolences whenever a tragedy
hits us,” Geagea called for “putting an end to the tragedies that are
recurring.”“The Lebanese people want salvation and only a new, salvation
president can rescue us of this hellish cycle, not a president in which the
political parties would have shares,” the LF leader added.
“Lebanon is increasingly sinking, which obliges us to speed up the
election of a president who would rise to the level of the challenges in order
to rescue the Lebanese from the cycle of death, despair and destruction they
have led us into,” Geagea went on to say.
Calls in Lebanon’s Parliament to Reach Solution with IMF
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee at the Lebanese parliament MP
Ibrahim Kanaan called for holding constructive dialogue with the international
community to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that
takes into consideration the economic situation in Lebanon.
He slammed the fees included in the country’s 2022 state budget, which the
parliament will resume discussing on Monday. Kanaan made the remarks after an
IMF delegation concluded their visit to Lebanon. “Despite the urgency for action
to address Lebanon’s deep economic and social crisis, progress in implementing
the reforms agreed under the April staff-level agreement remains very slow,” the
IMF said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement also said the country's
financial recovery plan should respect the internationally recognized hierarchy
of claims, in which the state and depositors receive more protection than the
private sector. “Small depositors must be fully protected and the recourse to
public resources—assets belonging to all Lebanese citizens, with or without a
bank account —should be limited,” the statement stressed. Following a meeting
with EU ambassadors at the parliament’s headquarters, Kanaan stressed that
constructive cooperation is necessary if there really is a will to save Lebanon
and implement a recovery plan. He considered that “the ambiguity is not in the
legislation, but in the executive branch and the content of its negotiations
with the IMF” and asked about the fate of the depositors’ money. Kanaan further
slammed the 2022 budget prepared by the government and referred to the
parliament. “How do we accept, for example, that the budget tax be based on the
exchange rate while we are paying citizens wages at the rate of 1,500 pounds per
dollar?” Kanaan wondered. He also pointed out that the cost of Syrian
displacement is more than $30 billion and asked about the solution for this
problem. The international community is responsible for returning the Syrians to
their country and providing them with the financial aid there, according to
Kanaan. The major parliamentary committees had held the government responsible
for the delay in reaching an agreement with the IMF.They accused the government
of failing to present a detailed, comprehensive, economic, financial and
monetary recovery plan that clarifies the general path. MP George Adwan, who
chairs the parliamentary committee on Administration and Justice, reiterated in
a press statement on Wednesday that the parliament and his committee are fully
prepared to deal positively with all the necessary laws hoping for an quick
agreement with the IMF to facilitate matters.
Combined Salaries of Lebanon’s President, Speaker & PM Drop Below $1,000
Beirut - Thaer Abbas/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 23 September, 2022
The financial and economic collapse sweeping Lebanon has managed to drastically
change the lifestyle of many Lebanese as it continues to threaten stability in
the country. Since 2019, the Lebanese pound has shed more than 90% of its value,
dropping from an exchange rate of 1,505 pounds to the dollar to a staggering
37,800 pounds. With the improvement of the incomes of some private sector
employees, public sector staff remained the most affected by this crisis. Many
experts believe that the 2017 increase in the wages of civil servants was a
major cause of Lebanon’s financial collapse today. The hike had doubled costs
more than once to an already exhausted treasury. Naturally, senior state
officials were also affected by the collapse. Their salaries were virtually
turned into crumbs. The highest paycheck, which stands at about $330, goes to
the country’s president.
Meanwhile, soldiers in the army and security officers are getting paid as little
as $60 a month. Even though the value of salaries has shrunk across the board,
not all civil servants are suffering the same way. No significant decline has
been registered in terms of services offered to senior government officials,
despite the low value of the operational budgets of state institutions.
Nevertheless, the financial and economic crisis had taken its toll on the
parliament building, where lawmakers were unable to hold some sessions due to
power outages. Moreover, electricity is being rationed at the prime minister’s
office. Muhammad Shamseddine, a researcher at the Beirut-based consultancy firm
“Information International,” confirmed that the crisis did not affect the
lifestyle enjoyed by the president, speaker of parliament and prime minister.
Additionally, Shamseddine pointed out that the life standards of leaders in
security services had also remained the same. However, the crisis has
overwhelmed the lifestyle of employees, officers and judges, whose salaries
became frighteningly low. The basic salary of the president is 4.5 million
pounds. Presidents also receive a similar amount as a “representation allowance”
and 3.5 million pounds in “honorary” compensations. This brings the total to
12.5 million pounds. At the end of 2019, this amount equaled around $8,300.
Today, it equals around $330 according to the black-market dollar exchange rate
on Thursday afternoon. As for the speaker of parliament and prime minister, they
each receive a total of 11.825 million pounds (around $312).
Israel PM: World Must Use Force if Iran Builds Nuclear Bomb
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 23 September, 2022
The international community should use military force if Iran develops nuclear
weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid told the United Nations on Thursday,
as he reiterated support for creation of a "peaceful" Palestinian state. Israel
has been conducting an intense diplomatic offensive in recent months to try to
persuade the United States and main European powers such as Britain, France and
Germany not to renew the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, AFP said. For the past 10 days,
various officials have suggested the deal -- which US then-president Donald
Trump scrapped in 2018 -- might not be renewed until at least mid-November, a
deadline that Lapid has tried to use to push the West to impose a tougher
approach in their negotiations. "The only way to prevent Iran from getting a
nuclear weapon is to put a credible military threat on the table," Lapid said in
a speech at the UN General Assembly. Only then can a "longer and stronger deal
with them" be negotiated. "It needs to be made clear to Iran that if it advances
its nuclear program, the world will not respond with words, but with military
force," he said. And he made no secret that Israel itself would be willing to
engage if it felt threatened. "We will do whatever it takes," he said. "Iran
will not get a nuclear weapon."A senior US official downplayed any differences
between Lapid and President Joe Biden, who has vowed not to let Iran develop an
atomic bomb. Diplomacy is "by far the best way" to achieve that goal, but "as a
last resort, he would resort to military force if that's what it took," the
official said on condition of anonymity. From the General Assembly podium, Lapid
accused Tehran's leadership of conducting an "orchestra of hate" against Jews,
and said Iran's ideologues "hate and kill Muslims who think differently, like
Salman Rushdie and Mahsa Amini," the woman whose death after being arrested by
Iran's morality policy has triggered widespread protests there. Israel, which
considers Iran its archenemy, also blames Tehran for financing armed movements
including the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas.
- Support for two states -
Despite existing "obstacles," he said, "an agreement with the Palestinians,
based on two states for two peoples, is the right thing for Israel's security,
for Israel's economy and for the future of our children."Lapid, who is
campaigning for November 1 legislative elections, said a large majority of
Israelis support a two-state solution, "and I am one of them.""We have only one
condition: that a future Palestinian state be peaceful," said Lapid, whose UN
speech drew criticism from his political rivals back home. Biden, however, said
he welcomed Lapid's "courageous" support for a two-state solution. "I could not
agree more," the Democratic president tweeted. Two days earlier, Biden at the
United Nations renewed his backing for the establishment of a Palestinian state
but gave no indication of any new peace initiative. Israeli-Palestinian peace
negotiations have been stalled since 2014. The Lapid government's current
strategy is to try to support the Palestinian economy, but without embarking on
a peace process with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is
scheduled to address the United Nations Friday. Israel has occupied East
Jerusalem and the West Bank since 1967 and from 2007 has imposed a blockade on
the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory controlled by the Hamas group. Since
2008, Hamas and Israel have waged four wars in which the Islamic Jihad, the
second-largest armed movement in Gaza, has also participated. "Put down your
weapons and prove that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not going to take over the
Palestinian state you want to create," Lapid said. "Put down your weapons, and
there will be peace."
Mikati hopes government dossier will be concluded next
week
NNA/September 23/2022
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, expressed his hope that during the
meetings he will hold with President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, next
week, the government dossier will be concluded, "because the country needs a
government to be able to address as much as possible the problems we are
suffering from, and we hope in cooperation with the parliament, we can address
all these problems."Caretaker Premier Mikati was speaking in an interview he
accorded to MTV Station, during his participation in the 77th session of the UN
General Assembly in New York. Regarding the issue of Iranian fuel, Mikati said:
"Iran has announced the supply of 600,000 tons, but there is a minor problem
which is being addressed related to the specifications, and it is a free gift
without conditions, and if the obstacles are overcome, we welcome this matter,
because we need this support."
FM affirms Egypt’s support for Lebanon
Egypt Today staff/CAIRO – 23 September 2022
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with the Prime Minister of Lebanon,
Najib Mikati, on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General
Assembly in New York. Shoukry expressed Egypt's constant keenness to support
Lebanon's stability, discussing the current Lebanese developments, said Egyptian
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid in a statement. Egyptian Foreign
Minister highlighted the importance of completing the constitutional obligations
to achieve stability in Lebanon, Abu Zeid added. Mikati said that he is looking
forward to Egypt's continued support for his country at the regional and
international levels, the spokesperson said. Both sides agreed to continue
coordination and consultation during the next stage, Abu Zeid said.
Plight of Middle East’s Christians deserves more
attention
Ray Hanania/Arab News/September 23/2022
The global refugee crisis continues to grow, with these impoverished and
helpless people left to wander without much fanfare from the international
community. At the end of 2021, there were more than 89 million displaced people
in the world — those who have been forced from their homes but remain in their
country of origin — and another 27 million refugees, those who have left their
countries and live only on the minimal charitable support of a handful of
nations and organizations. Another crisis involves the fate of the Christians of
the Middle East, which is ironic considering this religion began at the heart of
the Levant more than 2,000 years ago. Christians in the Middle East are slowly
but steadily disappearing, but they get even less attention paid to their plight
than the refugees. While the numbers show a dramatic drop in the total Christian
population in the region, the situation is even worse than it looks. Data shows
that Christians today make up only about 5 percent of the Middle East’s
population, which is down from more than 20 percent in the early 20th century.
However, that does not present an accurate picture of the crisis, considering
that the downward trend does not factor in the community’s potential for growth.
What I mean is that, if the Christian population of 20 percent had been thriving
instead of being persecuted, the population would likely now be bigger. But
persecution, violence from terrorist groups like Daesh, oppression in Israel and
everyday discrimination because they are in a minority have forced Christians to
seek other venues for survival. Cyprus has the largest Christian population in
the region, while only two Arab countries give Christians special status: Jordan
and Lebanon.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who has shown great concern for the Christians of the
Middle East, on Tuesday expressed his outrage during his speech to the 77th
session of the UN General Assembly. He criticized how Israel was abusing
Christians, and others, in the city of Jerusalem, which is considered to be the
cradle of Christianity along with Bethlehem. Abdullah’s concerns constituted
nearly all of the public discourse on the fate of Christianity in the Middle
East. And that is the biggest problem. No one is talking about the vanishing
Christians. It is not just the Arab world or Israel that has been muted, but
also the so-called Christian world that includes Europe and the US. Their
silence is a tragedy. There has been not a word from US President Joe Biden, the
most powerful Christian government leader in the world. Or from Europe, where
Christianity found its strongest base. You cannot really point a finger at the
Arab world, which has been racked with violence, civil wars and conflict, and
where refugees have become the region’s No. 1 unresolved concern. Lebanon is a
disaster, so I do not expect the dysfunctional society there to be able to focus
on the needs of Christians any time soon. It is not just the Arab world or
Israel that has been muted, but also the so-called Christian world that includes
Europe and the US. Israel claims to care about Christians, but it does nothing
for them. Israeli propagandists falsely assert in their massive PR campaigns
that Christians are treated better in Israel than in the Arab world. However,
the truth is that Christians suffer as badly as Muslims and other non-Jews in
Israel and are subjected to the same apartheid discrimination. Only Abdullah has
so far found the time to address their needs, elevating the issue to the global
spotlight, even if only for a few minutes before being eclipsed by other major
challenges.
The fate of the Middle East’s Christians is not included in the UNs Sustainable
Development Goals, which identify 17 major challenges that need to be tackled by
2030. Nothing is perfect, of course, but the overall situation can be improved
significantly. Another cause of their demise is their own failure — their
inability to come together in a significant way to exploit the massive influence
of the larger Christian world outside of the Middle East to strengthen their
voices. How can Christians demand that the Arab world pay attention to them when
the Christian world does not? Christians need to better organize and set aside
their differences. They need to demand that the Christian presence be
reestablished in a significant way, with communities restored to Jerusalem and
Bethlehem. They need a strong voice to advocate for their survival because, if
they were to vanish from their Middle East, their spirit would begin to erode
throughout the world. Christianity is based on the miracles of the faith that
took place in the Middle East. Those events need to be reenforced and respected,
demonstrating that Christians’ history is a part of the history of the Arab
world. It would also help Christians if the Islamic community put the emphasis
back on the power that was once the Middle East, symbolized by the simple word
“Arab.”
We are Arab. And what happens to us as Arabs is what we should all be concerned
about. That might be the only way to save Middle Eastern Christians from
extinction.
• Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter
and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com.
Twitter: @RayHanania
طوني بدران/مؤسسة الدفاع عن الديمقراطيات: حزب الله يبرز
كفائز من محادثات إسرائيل – لبنان البحرية
Hezbollah Emerging as Winner from Israel-Lebanon Maritime Talks
Tony Badran/The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)/September
23/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/112202/tony-badran-fdd-hezbollah-emerging-as-winner-from-israel-lebanon-maritime-talks-%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a4%d8%b3%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%81%d8%a7/
Israel and Lebanon are apparently close to a final agreement delineating their
maritime border after a Lebanese government delegation met with the Biden
administration’s energy envoy, Amos Hochstein, this week in New York. If the
deal goes through, the Biden administration will have turned Hezbollah into a
significant player in the Eastern Mediterranean energy industry, a development
that will both enrich the terrorist group and expand its regional influence.
While the Lebanese delegation consisted of government officials, the real, if
indirect, interlocutor for the Biden administration was always Hezbollah. The
group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, set the parameters and the tempo of the
negotiations and has found an eager and cooperative partner in the Biden team.
In fact, Hochstein leveraged Hezbollah’s threats to obtain major Israeli
concessions.
With talks apparently headed toward the finish line, Nasrallah reiterated last
week the ultimatum that has framed the talks. As before, Nasrallah threatened to
attack Israel’s Karish offshore gas rig, unless the U.S. and Israel agreed to
his conditions before starting to pump gas from Karish, even though it lies
entirely in Israeli waters. The Hezbollah leader said, “our red line is the
start of extraction at Karish. … We cannot allow for oil and gas extraction from
Karish before Lebanon obtains its rights.” Nasrallah added, “our eyes and our
missiles are [fixed] on Karish.”
Nasrallah’s threats are cost-free, especially as he knows the Biden
administration has leveraged them to impose a sense of urgency on Israel’s
caretaker government to concede Lebanon’s demands and conclude the agreement
without any escalation.
Based on official Lebanese statements and reports in pro-Hezbollah media, the
talks are in their final stage and Hochstein is supposed submit a formal draft
agreement shortly. While the details of a final agreement have not been made
public, the satisfied assessments from the Lebanese side indicate that
Washington has managed to extract critical concessions from Israel that meet
Hezbollah’s demands. First, Israel will cede the entire disputed area of 854
square kilometers of Mediterranean waters. It will also cede the whole of a
prospective gas field that protrudes into Israeli waters beyond Line 23, which
Lebanon has filed as its border.
Israel has reportedly requested a buffer area extending a few kilometers out to
sea from its land border with Lebanon. UN peacekeepers would presumably monitor
the area, although Israel would still cede sovereignty to Lebanon. The details
of this buffer area and its coordinates were reportedly the final item to be
determined. Once the agreement is finalized, French energy giant TotalEnergies
would begin operations in Lebanon’s Block 9, which borders Israel — a core
Hezbollah demand. Despite concerns of a conflagration before the end of
September, given Hezbollah’s threats against Karish, Nasrallah’s speech affirmed
the likelihood of that scenario was small. He was clear that an Israeli test of
the gas transport system from the Karish platform to the shore and back would
not cross Hezbollah’s red line. The key Hezbollah condition was for production
at Karish to be frozen until the consortium led by TotalEnergies had agreed it
would begin drilling for gas in Block 9 of Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone,
which Israel now will have conceded in full. The Biden administration sought to
satisfy that condition, meeting with French officials and TotalEnergies
executives to discuss the start of operations.
If a border agreement is finalized, the Biden administration will have set a
terrible precedent by leveraging Hezbollah threats to secure Israeli concessions
that enrich and empower a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. The
administration will also have turned Hezbollah into a significant player in
Eastern Mediterranean energy, enshrining the group’s partnership with France and
its investments in Lebanon. The precedent might even extend beyond Lebanon as
now Hezbollah is encouraging Hamas to follow its lead with gas fields off the
coast of Gaza.
*Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD),
where he contributes to FDD’s Israel Program. For more analysis from Tony and
the Israel Program, please subscribe HERE. Follow Tony on Twitter @AcrossTheBay.
Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research
institute focused on national security and foreign policy.
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2022/09/22/hezbollah-winner-from-maritime-talks/'
Etienne Sakr-Abu Arz: Letter to
Mayyas, the Queen
اتيان صقر- ابوارز/رسالة إلى "مياس" الملكة
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/111995/%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%b5%d9%82%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b2-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%84%d9%83/
Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz)/September 23/2022
While counterfeit Lebanon practices today the highest levels of ignominy,
immorality and political prostitution in the government basements and black
rooms, The real Lebanon shows supreme radiance, creativity and superiority on
the AGT stage in the United States, to confirm once again that this people do
not die, and that the phoenix bird is getting ready to rise and fly. Despite
its small size Lebanese people have tremendous energies, this country is capable
to be the lighthouse of the East and the West as soon as he gets rid of the
ruling gang that is plotting against him and persisting on destroying and
killing him with open eyes.
You are the glamorous Mayyas, so beautiful, you radiant bride who sits on the
throne of elegance and creativity, you represent everything that is beautiful in
Lebanon, its kind people, its high mountains, its green fields, its immortal
cedar, its great heritage and Phoenicia in its glory.
In one night, you brought back to Lebanon his beautiful face that was distorted
by the merchants of politics, and his good reputation, which is defamed by it’s
despicable politicians.
Within hours, you restored the expatriates confidence in their motherland, as
you gave hope to residents to hold on to their sacred land.
And you, the most beautiful among the queens of creative dance and fine art,
Lebanon is proud of you, its people greet you. We dedicate our appreciation ,
love and admiration to you with all respect and success.
Lebanon at your service
#etienne_sakr
#Abu_Arz
#Lebanon_at_your_service
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 23-24/2022
Pro-government marchers call for
executions, as protests continue in Iran
AFP/September 23, 2022
TEHRAN: Thousands demonstrated across Iran on Friday at government-backed pro-hijab
counter rallies, after a week of bloody protests over the death of a woman
arrested for wearing the Islamic headscarf “improperly.” At least 50 people have
been killed by security forces in the anti-government protests, Iran Human
Rights, an Oslo-based organization, said on Friday — more than three times the
official death toll of 17, which includes five security personnel. The street
violence, which IHR says has spread to 80 towns and cities, was triggered by the
death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd who had spent three days in a coma
after being detained by the morality police in Tehran.
As part of the crackdown, Iran has imposed tough restrictions on the use of the
Internet in a bid to hamper protesters gathering and stop the flow of images of
the backlash from reaching the outside world. The US announced Friday it was
easing export restrictions on Iran to expand Internet services, days after
SpaceX owner Elon Musk said he would seek an exemption from sanctions to offer
his company’s Starlink satellite service in the Islamic republic. The new
measure will allow technology companies to “expand the range of Internet
services available to Iranians,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.
On Friday, thousands took to the streets in support of the hijab and a
conservative dress code at government-backed counter rallies in Tehran and other
cities including Ahvaz, Isfahan, Qom and Tabriz. “The great demonstration of the
Iranian people condemning the conspirators and the sacrileges against religion
took place today,” Iran’s Mehr news agency said. State television broadcast
footage of pro-hijab demonstrators in central Tehran, many of them men but also
women dressed in black chadors. Amini died on September 16, three days after she
was hospitalized following her arrest by the morality police, the unit
responsible for enforcing the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
Activists said she suffered a blow to the head in custody but this has not been
confirmed by the Iranian authorities, who have opened an investigation.
After she was pronounced dead, angry protests flared and spread to major cities,
including Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz and Tabriz as well as the capital. In the
latest violence, security forces fired “semi-heavy weapons” at demonstrators
during overnight clashes in the northern city of Oshnaviyeh, the Oslo-based
Kurdish rights group Hengaw said on Friday. The report could not be
independently verified. In nearby Babol, demonstrators were seen setting ablaze
a large billboard bearing the image of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, in videos shared online. Iran Human Rights said that its updated toll
of 50 dead included six people who were killed by fire from security forces in
the town of Rezvanshahr in the northern Gilan province on Thursday night, while
the other deaths were recorded in Babol and Amol. A previous toll from the New
York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) put the death toll at 36. Some
women demonstrators have defiantly taken off their hijabs and burned them in
bonfires or symbolically cut their hair before cheering crowds, video footage
spread virally on social media has shown. Security forces have arrested
activists including Majid Tavakoli, who has been repeatedly imprisoned in recent
years, including after disputed 2009 elections.
Demonstrators have hurled stones at them, set fire to police cars and chanted
anti-government slogans, IRNA reported. “The government has responded with live
ammunition, pellet guns and tear gas, according to videos shared on social media
that have also shown protesters bleeding profusely,” the CHRI said. Internet
access has been restricted in what web monitor NetBlocks has called a
“curfew-style pattern of disruptions” amid the angry protests sparked by Amini’s
death. “Online platforms remained restricted and connectivity is intermittent
for many users and mobile Internet was disrupted for a third day on Friday,”
NetBlocks said. Access to social media services, Instagram and WhatsApp have
been blocked since Wednesday night, and connections were still largely disrupted
on Friday. The measure was taken in response to “the actions carried out via
these social networks by counter-revolutionaries against national security,”
Iran’s Fars news agency said. President Ebrahim Raisi, at a news conference in
New York where he attended the UN General Assembly, said: “We must differentiate
between demonstrators and vandalism.”The unrest comes at a particularly
sensitive time for the leadership, as the Iranian economy remains mired in a
crisis largely caused by sanctions over its nuclear program.
Iran State TV Suggests at Least 26 Dead from Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Iranian state television suggested that the death toll of protests over the
death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody has risen to over two dozen,
without providing more information as the unrest continues. An anchor on Iran’s
state television suggested the death toll from the mass protests could be as
high as 26 on Thursday, but did not elaborate or say how he reached that figure.
“Unfortunately, 26 people and police officers present at the scene of these
events lost their lives,” the anchor said, adding official statistics would be
released later. Clashes between Iranian security forces and protesters have
killed at least 11 people since the violence erupted over the weekend, according
to a tally Thursday by The Associated Press.The demonstrations in Iran began as
an emotional outpouring over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman held by the
country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress
code.
The police say she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family
has cast doubt on that account. Iran’s state-run media this week reported
demonstrations of hundreds of people in at least 13 cities, including the
capital, Tehran. Iranian authorities imposed some restrictions on the internet
and blocked access to WhatsApp and Instagram. People in Tehran and some other
cities planned to hold a counter-protest rally after the Friday prayer.
At least 50 dead in Iran protest crackdown, says NGO
The National/September 23/2022
State-organised marchers earlier called for execution of protesters
At least 50 people have reportedly been killed in Iran in a crackdown on
anti-government protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, Norway-based IHR
NGO said on Friday. State-organised demonstrations took place in several Iranian
cities on Friday to counter the anti-government protests, with some marchers
calling for the execution of protesters. The demonstrations followed the
strongest warning from the authorities yet, when the army told Iranians it would
confront “the enemies” behind the unrest. “At least 50 people killed so far, and
people continue protesting for their fundamental rights and dignity,” the
organisation's director M Amiry-Moghaddam wrote on Twitter. “Restrictions on the
internet. International community must stand by Iranian people against one of
our time’s most suppressive regimes.” Demonstrators had earlier condemned the
anti-government protesters as “Israel's soldiers”, live state television
coverage showed. They also shouted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”,
slogans commonly used by the country's clerical rulers to try to stir up support
for authorities. “Offenders of the Quran must be executed,” the crowds chanted.
Iranians have staged mass protests over the case of Amini, 22, who died last
week after being arrested by the morality police due to her wearing “unsuitable
attire”.Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said on Friday her death would be
“steadfastly” investigated.
The morality police, attached to Iran's law enforcement, are responsible for
ensuring the respect of Islamic morals as described by the country's clerical
authorities. Amini's death has reignited anger over issues including
restrictions on personal freedoms in Iran, strict dress codes for women and an
economy reeling from sanctions. The Iranian army's message on Friday, seen as a
warning to protesters enraged by the death, read: “These desperate actions are
part of the evil strategy of the enemy to weaken the Islamic regime.”The
military said it would “confront the enemies' various plots in order to ensure
security and peace for the people who are being unjustly assaulted”.
Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi also on Friday warned “seditionists” that
their “dream of defeating religious values and the great achievements of the
revolution will never be realised”, according to the Asriran website. The
anti-government protests were especially strong in Amini's home province of
Kurdistan and nearby areas. State television said two caches of weapons,
explosives and communications equipment were seized and two people were arrested
in north-west Iran, which includes the border with Iraq where armed Kurdish
dissident groups are based. Internet blockage watchdog NetBlocks said mobile
internet has been disrupted in Iran for a third time. “Live metrics show a
nation-scale loss of connectivity on leading cellular operator MCI,” it said on
Twitter. Mobile internet had been partially reconnected overnight.
Sergei Lavrov calls Zelensky ‘b*****d’ and walks out of
UN meet amid ‘collective condemnation’ of Russia
Shweta Sharma/The Independent/September 23, 2022
The world’s top diplomatic stage at the UN Security Council (UNSC) devolved into
the Russian foreign minister calling Volodymyr Zelensky a “b*****d” and walking
out after a round of condemnation and accusations of war crimes aimed at Russia.
Almost all foreign ministers of the 15 UNSC members present at Thursday’s
meeting expressed growing frustration with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with
even Moscow’s closest allies taking an increasingly dim view.
Many called out Vladimir Putin for the recent nuclear threats he has made, with
the strength of tone of that criticism depending on their government’s stance on
the war.
Eventually Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called the Ukrainian
president a “b*****d” and slammed the “collective west” for regarding him as
“their b*****d”.
“Such outrages remain unpunished because the United States and their allies with
the connivance of international human rights institutes have been covering up
the crimes of the Kyiv regime based on the policy of ‘Zelensky might be a
b*****d, but he’s our b*****d’,” the foreign minister said. He walked out after
his speech and remained absent for most of the session having already arrived 90
minutes late – missing the UN chief Antonio Guterres’s briefing.
“What’s particularly cynical here is the position of states that are pumping
Ukraine full of weapons and training their soldiers,” Mr Lavrov said. “The goal
is… to drag out the fighting as long as possible in spite of the victims and
destruction in order to wear down and weaken Russia. “The intentional fomenting
of this conflict by the collective west remains unpunished.”
Addressing the council immediately after Mr Lavrov, Britain’s foreign secretary
James Cleverly said he was “not surprised” that Russia’s foreign minister left
the chamber after receiving the “collective condemnation of this council”.
He said the Kremlin had tried to “lay the blame on those imposing sanctions” and
that “every day, the devastating consequences of Russia’s invasion become more
clear”.
Russia’s allies – India, China and Brazil, which have often shunned or outright
opposed western views on the invasion – also spoke about the grave consequences
of war upending food and energy securities in the world in a harsher tone than
before.
“The trajectory of the Ukraine conflict is matter of profound concern for the
entire international community. The future outlook appears even more
disturbing,” said Indian foreign minister Subramaniam Jaishankar.
“If egregious attacks committed in broad daylight are left unpunished, this
council must reflect on the signals we are sending on impunity. There must be
consistency if we are to ensure credibility,” he added.
Without mentioning Russia in a carefully worded statement, Chinese foreign
minister Wang Yi laid out China’s firm stance that “the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of all countries should be respected. The purposes of the
principles of the UN Charter should be observed.”
US secretary of state Antony Blinken slammed Mr Putin for his veiled reference
to use of nuclear weapons in war.“Every council member should send a clear
message that these reckless nuclear threats must stop immediately. Tell
President Putin to stop the horror he started,” Mr Blinken said.
“One man chose this war. One man can end it,” he added. “Because if Russia stops
fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.”Foreign
ministers and top officials from Albania, France, Ireland, Gabon, Germany,
Ghana, Kenya, Mexico and Norway offered similar rebukes of Russia and the war.
“Russia’s actions are blatant violation of the Charter of the United Nations,”
said Albanian foreign minister Olta Xhacka. “We all tried to prevent this
conflict. We could not, but we must not fail to hold Russia accountable.”Mr
Lavrov was not in the meeting when Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba
demanded a special tribunal to hold Russia’s leaders accountable for alleged war
crimes. “There will be no peace without justice,” Mr Kuleba said. “None of the
crimes of Russia in Ukraine would be possible without the crime of aggression.”
He ridiculed Mr Lavrov for leaving the room, saying: “I notice that Russian
diplomats flee almost as quickly as Russian soldiers.” Mr Guterres branded
Russia’s nuclear threats against the west “totally unacceptable” and warned the
latest developments in Ukraine were “dangerous and disturbing”. He said it was a
step closer to an “endless cycle of horror and bloodshed”.
Tearful and angry viral videos show families saying
goodbye and fights with army officers as Russia drafts thousands for war in
Ukraine
Kieran Press-Reynolds/Insider/September 23, 2022
Vladimir Putin announced that citizens would be mobilized to fight in the war on
Ukraine. Viral videos show men saying goodbye to their families and others
fighting with officers. Some Russians have fled the country while others
protested against the mobilization order. After Russian President Vladimir Putin
announced 300,000 reservists would be ordered to fight in the country's war on
Ukraine, a wave of videos began to circulate on social media showing scenes of
conscription. The videos show families crying, children calling out tearfully
for their conscripted fathers, groups of men shuffling onto buses, and citizens
arguing with authorities. One of the most-shared videos, posted by Pjotr Sauer,
a journalist for The Guardian who credited the Siberian news outlet Tayga for
the footage, shows a cluster of men in heavy jackets carrying bags into a bus.
The men can be seen hugging others who appear to be family members, including a
child who is pressed up to the window of the bus to say goodbye.
The clip was taken on Thursday morning in Yakutsk, a Russian city in east
Siberia, the post says. One activist from Yakutsk told The New York Times that
authorities were lifting draftees out of villages by plane. In another video,
shared by The Telegraph, a Russian man described how he was given a draft notice
despite being a student, and that an officer said he had to depart so soon that
his mother may not have been able to get out of work in time to see him off. A
video with almost two million views appears to show local citizens in the
Dagestan region arguing with a recruitment officer, who urged the people that
they have to fight for the future, according to a Belarusian journalist who
shared the clip on Twitter. In response, a man reportedly said "We don't even
have a present, what future are you talking about."Insider also previously
reported on a viral video that showed a child wailing and crying, "Daddy,
goodbye, please come back!" as a crowd of men could be seen loading onto a bus.
The video was originally shared by The BBC's Will Vernon, who said the video's
legitimacy was verified. There are also videos with men presenting the summons
they've received, while others show scenes from inside places where Russian men
have already been drafted. The videos started spilling out and spreading on
social media after Putin's announcement of the conscription on Wednesday, which
resulted in widespread tension as many sought to leave the country while mass
protests broke out in specific towns and regions.
Despite Putin calling it a "partial mobilization" of citizens, the president of
a local activist group told The Guardian that it was a "100% mobilization," with
some people outside of the expected combat-experienced range of draftees
receiving notices. Russia has reportedly drafted students with no military
history, and a 62-year-old man with a brain condition and second-degree
diabetes. The mobilization has also led to Russians attempting to flee the
country to avoid being drafted into the war, the BBC reported on Friday, with
long lines at border crossings and officials in neighboring countries addressing
the potential for Russian citizens seeking refuge. The Kremlin denied that
citizens were attempting to flee. Russia's military has faced losses over the
past month as a significant counter-offensive from Ukrainian forces retook large
portions of occupied territory from Russian forces in the northeast of the
country.
Ukraine 'poised to trap 20,000 Russian troops' in key
Kherson battlefield
Thomas Harding/The National/September 23/2022
Kremlin's mobilisation of 300,000 reservists comprises troops of 'very low
quality', western officials say. Twenty thousand of Russia’s most capable troops
face being surrounded and defeated if Moscow’s generals do not order their
withdrawal, western officials said on Friday. The mobilisation of 300,000
reservists by President Vladimir Putin to prevent further Ukrainian gains had
led Russia to call in troops of “very low quality”, officials told a media
briefing. The Kremlin’s threat of nuclear retaliation if Ukraine crosses “red
lines” by entering territory now claimed by Russia after “sham referendums” are
understood to be hollow, the officials said. The counter-offensive in the
strategically important port of Kherson, the only city to be seized by the
Russians in their seven-month campaign, has been under way since August. Using
western-supplied long range artillery, Ukraine has been able to cut-off the
Russian occupiers, that include airborne troops, on the western bank of the
1,000-metre wide Dnipro river. However, this month's defeat in the Kharkiv
region, with Ukraine seizing back territory the size of Cyprus, Moscow would be
extremely unwilling to order a withdrawal. “We assess that Russian commanders
will now consider the roughly 20,000 force on the West Bank to be extremely
vulnerable and withdrawal from that ground would make operational sense,” one
official said. “But the area clearly has political significance and it's the
only regional capital that Putin has seized since the start of the invasion.”
The Ukrainian advance has been incremental around Kherson, mainly focusing on
destroying Russian supplies including large artillery stockpiles and bridges.
Asked by The National if a Ukrainian breakthrough could lead to a sudden
collapse with a swift push on Crimea 90 kilometres away, the official said
Russia had “defence in depth” beyond the Dnipro’s eastern bank, making a
break-out difficult.
“But one of the challenges in assessing this is the morale factor because these
things are a genuinely hard to assess and you can't rule it out,” the official
said. With the loss of territory in the north-eastern Kharkiv region and the
pressure on Kherson in the south, Mr Putin has called up a raft of reserves to
make up for the losses of 80,000 troops either killed, severely wounded or
deserted. But the call up is causing disquiet in Russia and the troops are said
to be poorly trained and equipped, with some in their 60s. “Russian military
planners will face a dilemma of either very low-quality reinforcements soon or a
better-trained force later,” the source said. “Russia has effectively exhausted
the pool of willing volunteers for combat duty and Ukraine.” “Russian forces
have been largely fixed, trying to hold a line effectively across an area the
size of Great Britain with very few reserves of any quality." Despite the
partial mobilisation Mr Putin, still has no plans to admit that Ukraine is a war
rather than what he has called a “special military operation”. But the
contradiction, with more men being forced on to the front line, was creating a
“dissonance in Russian society” and this was “likely to certainly increase”. The
mobilisation was unlikely to include sons from “well-off families” and there was
increasingly “shallow support for the war across Russian society”. The current
referendum in Donbas, which is highly likely to be fraudulent, is partly to
produce red lines with a nuclear threat. However, officials believe that the
Kremlin’s red lines “are not probably in exactly the places where they say they
are”. “These statements are made with intent and the intent is to deter, it
doesn't necessarily reflect the true calculus of the Kremlin,” the official
said. However, Ukraine’s gains in Kharkiv, and potentially Kherson, were
“politically significant and have caused extreme concern in the Kremlin and
elsewhere in Moscow”.
Russia Holds Breakaway Polls in Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Moscow-held regions of Ukraine begin voting Friday on whether to become part of
Russia, in referendums that Kyiv and its allies have condemned as an unlawful
land grab. The referendums in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as in
the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have been roundly dismissed as a
sham by Kyiv's Western allies, AFP said. They come after Putin announced this
week a mandatory troop call-up for about 300,000 reservists, which also sparked
resounding condemnation in the West. The mobilization comes after Ukrainian
forces seized back most of the northeastern Kharkiv region in a huge
counter-offensive that has seen Kyiv retaking hundreds of towns and villages
under Russian control for months. The four regions' integration into Russia --
which for most observers is already a foregone conclusion -- would represent a
major new escalation of the conflict. "We cannot –- we will not -– allow
President Putin to get away with it," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said
in a UN Security Council session on Thursday, lashing out against the
referendums as a "sham". "The very international order we've gathered here to
uphold is being shredded before our eyes... (Defending Ukraine's sovereignty) is
about protecting an international order where no nation can redraw the borders
of another by force," he said. The referendums are reminiscent of a similar sort
in 2014 that saw the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine annexed by Russia. Western
capitals have maintained that the vote was fraudulent and hit Moscow with
sanctions in response. In New York this week, Western leaders have unanimously
condemned the ballots and the troop call-up, with French President Macron
telling the UN General Assembly that the referendums were a "travesty". Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lashed out at the accusations, condemning Ukraine
for driving "Russophobia". "There's an attempt today to impose on us a
completely different narrative about Russian aggression as the origin of this
tragedy," Lavrov told the Security Council.
'A farce'
In the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions -- already recognized as independent
by Putin right before he launched the invasion in February -- residents will
have to answer if they support their "republic's entry into Russia", according
to Russian news agency TASS. Ballots in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions will
have this question: "Are you in favor of secession from Ukraine, formation of an
independent state by the region and its joining the Russian Federation as a
subject of the Russian Federation?" And the voting process in the four regions
would be untraditional, TASS said. "Given the short deadlines and the lack of
technical equipment, it was decided not to hold electronic voting and use the
traditional paper ballots," it added. Instead, authorities would go door-to-door
for the first four days to collect votes, and then polling stations would be
open on the final day, Tuesday, for residents to cast ballots. Leonid Pasechnik,
the leader of self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic, told TASS they have
been waiting for this referendum since 2014, calling it "our common dream and
common future". But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the
referendums as a "farce", and hailed Western allies for their condemnation of
Russia's moves. "I am grateful to everyone in the world who supported us, who
clearly condemned another Russian lie," he said during his daily address on
Thursday. Putin said Moscow would use "all means" to protect its territory -- a
statement that former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said on social media would
mean including "strategic nuclear weapons".Medvedev also predicted the voting
regions "will integrate into Russia".
Russians fleeing
Moscow on Thursday began its mandatory troop call-up, after Putin's call for
about 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort. Amateur footage posted on
social media purported to show hundreds of Russian citizens across the country
responding to the military summons, and the Russian military said that at least
10,000 people had volunteered to fight in 24 hours since the order. But men were
also leaving Russia in droves before they were made to join, and across Russia
on Wednesday, more than 1,300 people were arrested during protests, a monitoring
group reported. Flights to neighboring countries, mainly former Soviet republics
that allow Russians visa-free entry, are nearly entirely booked and prices have
skyrocketed, pointing to an exodus of Russians wanting to avoid going to war. "I
don't want to go to the war," a man named Dmitri, who had flown to Armenia with
just one small bag, told AFP.
"I don't want to die in this senseless war. This is a fratricidal war."Military-aged
men made up the majority of those arriving off the latest flight from Moscow at
Yerevan airport and many were reluctant to speak. The Armenian capital has
become a major destination for Russians fleeing since war began on February 24,
drawing fierce international opposition that has aimed to isolate Russia.
Looking lost and exhausted in Yerevan airport's arrivals hall, 44-year-old
Sergei said he had fled Russia to escape being called up. "The situation in
Russia would make anyone want to leave," he told AFP. Calling on Russians to
resist the mobilization, Zelensky urged them to protest, fight back "or
surrender" to the Ukrainian army. "You are already complicit in all these
crimes, murders and torture of Ukrainians. Because you were silent," he said.
At UN, Armenia Accuses Azerbaijan of 'Unspeakable
Atrocities'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 23 September, 2022
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used his address before the United
Nations Thursday to accuse Azerbaijan of "unspeakable atrocities" during the
latest clashes between the two rivals, including mutilating the bodies of dead
soldiers. Fighting flared up last week between the Caucasus countries, leaving
nearly 300 dead in the worst violence since a war in 2020, AFP said. "There are
evidences of cases of torture, mutilation of captured or already dead
servicemen, numerous instances of extra-judicial killings and ill treatment of
Armenian prisoners of war, as well as humiliating treatment of the bodies," he
told the UN General Assembly. "The dead bodies of Armenian female military
personnel were mutilated, and then proudly video recorded with particular
cruelty by the Azerbaijani servicemen." As Pashinyan spoke, Azerbaijan's Foreign
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, who is set to address the global body this weekend,
watched impassively. Pashinyan went on: "No doubt, committing such unspeakable
atrocities is a direct result of a decades-long policy of implanting
anti-Armenian hatred and animosity in the Azerbaijani society by the political
leadership."He also accused Azerbaijan of shelling civilian facilities and
infrastructure deep inside his country's territory, displacing more than 7,600
people, as well as leaving three civilians dead and two missing. "This was not a
border clash. It was a direct, undeniable attack against the sovereignty and the
territorial integrity of Armenia," he said.
The speech comes just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged
peace between the two sides in a meeting where he hosted both countries' top
diplomats. "Strong, sustainable diplomatic engagement is the best path for
everyone," Blinken said. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during a visit Sunday to
the Armenian capital Yerevan, blamed Baku for "illegal" attacks on Armenia,
condemning an "assault on the sovereignty" of the country. Washington's ties are
deepening with Yerevan whose traditional ally Moscow is distracted with its
invasion of Ukraine. Russia has close ties with both former Soviet states. It is
obligated to intervene if Armenia is invaded under a security pact, but did not
rush to help despite an appeal from Yerevan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought
two wars -- in the 1990s and in 2020 -- over the contested region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan. A six-week war in
2020 claimed the lives of more than 6,500 troops from both sides and ended with
a Russian-brokered ceasefire. Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory
it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian
peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.
Israel no longer 'partner' for peace, Abbas tells UN
Agence France Presse/September 23/2022
Israel is deliberately impeding progress toward a two-state solution and can no
longer be considered a reliable partner in the peace process, Palestinian leader
Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations on Friday. Israel
"is, through its premeditated and deliberate policies, destroying the two-state
solution," Abbas said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly. "This proves
unequivocally that Israel does not believe in peace," he added. "Therefore, we
no longer have an Israeli partner to whom we can talk."
Hurricane Fiona buffets Bermuda as Canada braces for
major jolt
Reuters/September 23/2022
Hurricane Fiona drenched Bermuda with heavy rain and buffeted the Atlantic
island with hurricane-force winds on Friday as it trackednorthward toward Nova
Scotia, where it threatens to become one of the most severe storms in Canadian
history. Fiona already battered a series of Caribbean islands earlier in the
week, killing at least eight people and knocking out power for virtually all of
Puerto Rico's 3.3 million people during a sweltering heat wave. The storm
skirted Bermuda as a monster Category 4 storm but diminished in power to
Category 3 as it passed well to the west of the British territory, which lies
700 miles off the U.S. state of North Carolina. Still, gusts reached as high as
103 mph overnight, with sustained winds of up to 80 mph, the Bermuda Weather
Service said in a bulletin. The Bermuda Electric Light Co, the island's sole
power provider, said about 25,000 customers, or more than 60% of its customer
base, had no electricity on Friday. With the storm still lashing the island with
rain and high winds, all government offices and schools were closed on Friday.
While there were no additional assessments on damage or reports of casualties,
Bermudans appeared to have prepared well for the storm, which devastated Puerto
Rico and the Dominican Republic earlier in the week. --
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on September 23-24/2022
'Europe Should Be Grateful to Erdoğan'
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/September 23/2022
Erdoğan is bringing NATO member Turkey more and more into Russia's orbit.
Turkey is once again blackmailing the U.S. that "it would further deepen its
defense cooperation with Russia if Congress blocks its request to buy 40 F-16
Block 70 fighter jets from the U.S."
Turkey's Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is bringing NATO member Turkey
more and more into Russia's orbit. Pictured: Erdoğan meets with Russian
President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in
Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022. (Photo by Alexandr Demyanchuk/Sputnik/AFP
via Getty Images)
"Europe Should Be Grateful to Erdoğan": The quote is the praise Russian dictator
Vladimir Putin bestowed upon Turkey's Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Translated into realpolitik, what Putin is saying is: "Russia is grateful to
Erdoğan's anti-Western ideology." He is right. Erdoğan is bringing NATO member
Turkey more and more into Russia's orbit.
Erdoğan is overtly challenging the alliance of which his country is a member.
Here is a brief account of how Erdoğan steered Turkey further away from Western
interests, in favor of his Eurasian adventurism, in just a couple of months:
In early July, Erdoğan told a group of top party executives that Putin, during a
meeting in Tehran, suggested a deal in which Turkish drone maker Baykar, whose
chief engineer is Erdoğan's son-in-law, cooperates with Russia. "Putin told me
that he wants to work with Baykar," Erdoğan said.
At the end of July, a Russian state-owned company was caught transferring money
to a subsidiary that is building a $20 billion nuclear power plant on Turkey's
Mediterranean coast, thereby alleviating concerns that the project could be
delayed by war sanctions. Rosatom Corp. sent around $5 billion to the
Turkey-based builder, formally known as Akkuyu Nuclear JSC.
The beginning of August. Putin proudly announced that the trade between Russia
and Turkey doubled in the first five months of 2022, and had surged 57% in the
last year.
After a face-to-face meeting with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi,
Erdoğan said that Turkey would now pay Russia in rubles for its natural gas
purchases. Meanwhile, Erdoğan happily accepted Putin's invitation to join the
September meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Uzbekistan.
The SCO, launched in 2001, consists of Eurasian member states and declares its
mission as combating radicalism and other security concerns in China, Russia and
four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics.
As part of the Sochi deal, Erdoğan announced, five Turkish banks adopted
Russia's Mir payments system, another blow to Western sanctions on Russia.
Turkey had earlier abstained from joining the U.S. and Europe's sanctions on
Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
In a joint statement after the Sochi summit, Erdoğan and Putin "reaffirmed their
determination to act in coordination and solidarity in the fight against all
terrorist organizations in Syria." Shortly after that statement, the Turkish
government stepped up its lethal drone attacks against U.S.-allied Kurdish
forces in northern Syria ahead of a threatened full-scale invasion. A Turkish
drone attack was reported to have killed four people in a town on the
Syria-Turkey border.
Dmitri Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said that "Military-technical cooperation
between the two countries is permanently on the agenda, and the very fact that
our interaction is developing in this sensitive sphere shows that, on the whole,
the entire range of our interrelations is at a very high level."
A few days after Peskov's opaque statement, Dmitry Shugayev, the head of the
Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said that a contract had
been signed to deliver a second shipment of the S-400 missile system to Turkey,
with the production of some components to be localized [some parts made locally]
in Turkey. Now that is a real challenge.
Turkey had earlier been expelled from the U.S.-led, multinational partnership
that builds the F-35 fifth-generation fighter jet, and been taken under the
scope of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
The Russians are talking about a second S-400 contract, but this may not exactly
be what is taking place. The original contract involves two systems. There is no
need for a second agreement for a second system. But the Russians would not be
entirely fabricating fake news. The original S-400 contract, at $2.5 billion,
involves the Turkish acquisition of two systems. Turkey has so far received the
first system but has abstained from activating it, fearing further U.S.
sanctions. The second system has not been delivered yet. The TASS agency is
reporting it as if it is a new deal but sources are telling this correspondent
that the new deal is about the localization of some parts production for the
second system.
A senior defense procurement official also told Gatestone that "there is
progress in talks for the localization of the second system." That is new news.
It also has propaganda mission. Russians are happy to create a new crack, via
Turkey, within the NATO alliance. And Turkey is once again blackmailing the U.S.
that "it would further deepen its defense cooperation with Russia if Congress
blocks its request to buy 40 F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from the U.S."
This plan might make sense to Russia and Turkey, but it does not to the Western
civilization to which Erdoğan claims Turkey belongs. To put it simply, more and
more Erdoğan's Islamist Turkey simply does not belong where Erdoğan claims it
belongs.
When will the West, please, wake up to this shift?
*Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the
country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is
taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 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 Golden Road to Samarkand
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/September, 23/2022
But what is it for? This is the question that the media in Russia, China, Iran
and half a dozen countries were posing all last week in the wake of a summit in
Samarkand that brought their leaders together as members or aspiring members of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The Russian media, echoing President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the summit, say
SCO is designed to end “the unipolar world “by creating a “multipolar system”.
The Chinese media offer a different version. SCO is meant to offer a new
political system for the whole world as an alternative to the Western democratic
model. To the Islamic media in Tehran, celebrating the Islamic Republic’s
admission to the club after 11 years of supplication, SCO is an extension of the
Resistance Front” created to contain and defeat the American “Great Satan.”
A closer look, however, might show that the SCO is form without a clear content,
an empty frame which different artists could project different fantasies. SCO
was created in 1996 as the Shanghai Five bringing together China, Russia,
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan together for two purposes: 1-Delineating
China’s borders with Russia and the three ex-Soviet republics and 2-Fighting
“Islamic terrorism” which affected China in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), Russia in
Chechnya, and Tajikistan in Kulyab and Kyrgyzstan in the Fergana Valley.
A quarter of a century later neither of those goals has been achieved.
Russia’s long border with China, which includes vast stretches of Chinese
territory annexed by the Soviet Union in two border wars in the 1960s, remains
undesignated. China has also failed to persuade Tajikistan to cede a chunk of
land needed to widen the corridor Beijing has with Pakistan. (Beijing is now
trying to ‘buy’ the Wakhan Corridor form Afghanistan for the same purpose.)
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan also have failed to demarcate their borders. (The two
neighbors fought a border war on the eve of the Samarkand summit.) At the same
time China has long maintained a claim on large chunks of Kazakhstan which
Russia annexed under the tsars.
Uzbekistan, another former Soviet republic, joined the group in 1997 to get help
against terrorism led by the Islamic Liberation Party. But it, too, has complex
irredentist problems with Tajikistan. In fact in ethnic and cultural terms,
Samarkand, where the summit was held, is the largest Tajik city in the world. In
exchange, the Kulyab area in Tajikistan has an Uzbek majority. SCO’s identity as
a club of queer fellows has been further emphasized by the admission of a host
of new members all of whom have territorial disputes with each other. India has
fought two border wars with China, losing large chunks of territory in Ladakh
and Kashmir. It has also had four wars with its Pakistani neighbor, losing a
chunk of land in Ran-e-Kuch but succeeding in splitting Pakistan by creating
Bangladesh.
To make the club even more queer, other nations with troubles of their own are
lined up for membership. These include Azerbaijan and Armenia, currently at war
against one another, Nepal, torn between India and China, Sri Lanka where the
very word Chinese provokes intense hatred, Türkiye which is fighting Russian
surrogates in Libya and Syria, Belarus which has become an extension of
Putinistan, and Mongolia which cannot swallow the Chinese occupation of Inner
Mongolia. Perhaps the only would-be member of the club without such impediments
is Cambodia.
Casting himself as the leader of a new “pole”, Putin has also spoken about
inviting four Arab countries plus The Maldives lands to join the club. Some
Western commentators have dubbed the SCO “a new power bloc”. That may be jumping
the gun a bit. SCO members are more dependent on trade with the European Union,
the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia than with each other.
In 2020 exchanges within the SCO orbit accounted for less than 15 percent of
their total foreign trade.
To be sure, that could change because offering huge discounts, Russia, currently
the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, is making a big entry into the
two largest markets for energy, China and India. But that is happening at the
expense of Iran and Iraq which are also losing their Turkish market to Russia.
In any case, this new trend could create a neo-colonial relationship in which
Russia exports raw material to China and imports manufactured goods and business
services.
But even then the alliance of which Putin dreams won’t be easy to shape because
of deep cultural divides. Moscow has not forgotten the 1967 attack on its
embassy in Beijing and over a decade of anti-Russian propaganda that followed.
The fact that China’s President Xi Jinping refused to endorse Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine punctured the balloon that Putin had hoped to float.
Putin had been careful not to mention Ukraine in Samarkand in the hope that he
could later claim to have received “full support” in private meetings with the
leaders present. That ploy failed when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
shook a finger at Putin, saying “This war must end! This is no time for war!”
Putin was forced to say he understood Modi’s “concerns”, and deceitfully
promising to work for ending the war. (An hour later, however, he told Russian
TV that he didn’t care how long the war might last!)
It would be good news if SCO succeeds in persuading its members to resolve their
territorial disputes and bury their hatchets. Sadly, however, the various
members of this strange club seem to be motivated by different, often
contradictory and seldom the best, motives.
The Samarkand club represents some 40 percent of the world population and over
20 percent of the global gross domestic product, not to mention four of the 9
nations with nuclear arsenals. Yet, it seems unlikely to become an anchor of
stability in Eurasia; its members are more interested in petty schemes than
grand ideas of peace and cooperation. Their rhetoric reminds one of a character
in James Elroy Flecker’s 19th century play “The Golden Road to Samarkand”, Ishak,
a notorious black-mareketeer, who tries to soft-soap the city’s gate-keepers
into admitting his caravan with these lines:
“We travel not for trafficking alone;
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
For lust of knowing what should not be known,
We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.”
The Era of the Global Central Bank May Have Arrived
Daniel Moss/Bloomberg/September, 23/2022
The hazards of keeping up with the Joneses. The relentlessness with which
central banks are increasing interest rates reflects alarm at rising prices —
and an aversion to being portrayed as insufficiently courageous at a time of
economic peril. With so much hiking, officials should fret about the broader
impact of the course they are on. The recession they are courting may be no
ordinary downturn. We are experiencing one of the most synchronized bouts of
monetary and fiscal tightening in the past five decades, according to the World
Bank. While the Federal Reserve may steal the show Wednesday with a third
consecutive hike of 75 basis points, rates will almost certainly march higher in
coming days in places as diverse as the UK, Indonesia, the Philippines and
Norway. Earlier this month, the European Central Bank pulled off its first 75
basis-point jump, and left the door open for more. Sweden’s Riksbank shocked
markets Tuesday by lifting its main rate by a full percentage point.
It’s the countries that haven’t ratcheted up borrowing costs — often by
significant margins — that stand out. The era of the global central bank may be
with us in all but name, as much as policy makers themselves would bristle at
the suggestion. About 90 central banks have raised rates this year, and half of
them have increased by at least three-quarters of a percentage point in a single
bound, based on Bloomberg News calculations. This week’s hikes alone may exceed
500 basis points.
Even the outliers are less than comfortable. The Bank of Japan, which has
refused to budge, faces hard questions about why it clings to an ultra-easy
stance when inflation has well and truly breached its 2% target. Inflation
climbed to the highest in more than three decades last month. China is trying to
support a fragile expansion, though authorities fret about inflation and are
hesitant to unleash massive stimulus. (Such an approach by the People’s Bank of
China would be limited in effectiveness, given Beijing’s Covid-zero strategy
that has locked down huge cities.)
It’s a brave central banker who worries too loudly about other countries when
headlines scream about inflation at home and politicians pile on. Most monetary
agencies have at least some autonomy, but they still operate in a political
environment. Policy makers face hostile questions in parliamentary hearings and
some legislators go so far as to call for resignations. That’s an
understandable, if disappointing, reaction when jumps in CPI lead the evening
news. If officials harbor concerns about the subpar performance of the global
economy — and there are sound reasons to be anxious — they tend to be publicly
muted about it. One person who has flagged the need to think globally is Fed
Vice Chair Lael Brainard. While not for a minute challenging the desirability of
reining in demand and prices, she did keep an eye on the potential consequences
of the global policy lockstep. “The rapidity of the tightening cycle and its
global nature, as well as the uncertainty around the pace at which the effects
of tighter financial conditions are working their way through aggregate demand,
create risks associated with over-tightening,” Brainard said in a Sept. 7
speech. A bleak global outlook may also keep the Fed from moving by a full
percentage point today, according to Bloomberg Economics.
In other words, the collapsing world picture will prevent a jumbo hike from
turning into a mega hike. But that’s about it, for now. While World Bank
economists don’t have a global slump as their baseline scenario, they are
pessimistic. Drawing on insights from earlier recessions, a paper released last
week noted that every world downdraft since 1970 has been presaged by
significant weakness the prior year. “These developments do not auger well for
the likelihood a global recession can be avoided,” wrote Justin Damien Guenette,
M. Ayhan Kose and Naotaka Sugawara. It might conceivably resemble the 1982
vintage, they said. That was the slide that followed then-Fed Chair Paul
Volcker’s assault on inflation. While inflation was beaten and Volcker earned
his place in the pantheon of economic history, the economy was strangled in the
process.
There’s danger today that, acting out of domestic concerns, the response to
higher inflation will ricochet far beyond national boundaries. “Because these
policies are highly synchronous across countries, they could be mutually
compounding in their effects — tightening financial conditions and steepening
the global growth slowdown more than envisioned,” according to Guenette, Kose
and Sugawara. A rallying cry for fans of central banks, whenever politicians
make noises about rates, is to protect autonomy at almost any cost. But what
about central banks being independent of each other, especially the Fed? The
impact of the whole may be more consequential — and keenly felt — than the sum
of the parts. An atlas may be as useful as dot-plots at this point.