English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 16/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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15 آذار/2023
Bible Quotations For today
Jesus Appears to The 12 When Thomas Was With Them: Put your finger here; see my
hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.
John20/14-29/Now Thomas (also known as Didymus, one of the
Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told
him, “We have seen the Lord!”But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks
in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his
side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again,
and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your
finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop
doubting and believe.”Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”Then Jesus told
him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have
not seen and yet have believed.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 15-16/2023
The Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand receives the Holy Flame
Report: Top Iranian general visited Beirut prior to rockets on Israel
1 hurt as Israel fires stun, smoke grenades at Hezbollah supporters
Geagea: Opposing parties, FPM are disrupting the municipal elections due to
their lack of confidence in the results
Judge Aoun: Corruption mafia in Lebanon is very large, beneficiaries are many
Political parties restore the Engineers Syndicate: Amal, the Future Alliance and
the Free Movement win
Army: Raid in Brital in search of wanted persons
Qualitative operation by Airport Customs: Thwarting of attempt to smuggle
Cocaine capsules swallowed by a passenger
Security Forces: Information Division thwarts international network's plan to
smuggle more than 8 million Captagon pills through Tripoli's Port
Al-Murtada praises Saudi-Iranian agreement: Everyone must realize the importance
of liberation from spirit of rivalries, our support for Palestinian...
Two earthquakes were felt by residents of the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon and a
number of regions
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 15-16/2023
No consensus on Syrian Arab League return after Saudi summit
Arab nations call for 'leadership role' in solution to Syria crisis
Israeli police assault Christians heading to Jerusalem church
Israeli protests of legal overhaul show no signs of slowing
In First, Iran's President Addresses Palestinians in Gaza
Iran vows crack down on people who promote removing the veil
Could Putin be using the war in Ukraine to annex Belarus by stealth?
Vladimir Putin closes loophole that allowed Russian men to avoid military
service
Ukraine awaits US missile system after latest Russian strike
Ukraine's Marchenko says G7 support crucial for 'longer' war with Russia
Polish government bans grain and food imports from Ukraine
France's Macron signs contested pension bill into law
China says conducted mid-course missile interception test
Deadly fighting between army, paramilitaries in Sudan capital
Sustained Firing Heard in Sudanese Capital
Titles For
The Latest
English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 15-16/2023
The Iran-led bloc senses an opportunity to threaten Israeli life ... Does
Iran see an opportunity in the cracks in Israeli society?/Jonathan Spyer/Jerusalem
Post/April 15/2023
Libya and the Blue Gold Reservoir/Jebril Elabidi/Asharq Al Awsat/April 15/2023
Tunisia’s decision to snub IMF deal is both reckless and bizarre/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab
News/April 15/ 2023
France’s Constitutional Council approves key elements of pension reforms/Zaid M.
Belbagi/Arab News/April 15/ 2023
Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on April 15-16/2023
The Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand receives the Holy
Flame
LCCC/April 15/2023
The flame of the Holy Light, which poured out from the tomb of Christ in the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, reached the Patriarchal Monastery of
Our Lady of Balamand and was received by a crowd of believers.
The sacred flame was carried from Rafic Hariri International Airport - Beirut to
the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, by Archimandrite Alexy Abboud,
accompanied by the President of the University of Balamand, Dr. Elias Warraq.
Report: Top Iranian general visited Beirut prior to rockets
on Israel
Naharnet/April 15/2023
Esmail Qaani, who leads Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds
Force, has held a series of clandestine meetings with militant leaders across
the region in recent weeks, The Wall Street Journal quoted “people familiar with
the discussions” as saying. “The Quds Force chief was in Lebanon last week,
where he met with the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad
at the Iranian embassy in Beirut,” the sources said. Around the same time,
militants in southern Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets at Israel, the largest
such attack since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. “The details of the
rocket attack were finalized in Gen. Qaani’s meetings in Beirut, including with
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his deputy Saleh al-Arouri and Hezbollah chief
Hassan Nasrallah,” the sources added. Rockets were also fired at Israel from
Gaza and Syria, and Israel responded by launching airstrikes against what it
said were militant targets in those areas. “In late March, during the early days
of Ramadan, Gen. Qaani held meetings in Syria with members of Palestinian
militant groups to discuss a possible coordinated attack on Israel,” sources
familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. He told attendees that
Iran had obtained information about Israeli plans for operations against members
of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Syria and Lebanon, according to the sources.
“Qaani urged them to take action quickly” the sources added. He said that Iran
would “provide the necessary tools to carry out attacks to deter Israel from
making its own strikes,” they said. “On April 3, IRGC advisers landed in Beirut
to plan for a strike on Israel,” sources people familiar with the matter told
the Wall Street Journal. “Gen. Qaani said it was important to attack Israeli
targets within days in response to Israeli strikes that had killed Iranian
advisers in Syria,” the sources added. Neither Hezbollah nor Hamas claimed
responsibility for last week’s rocket fire at Israel. Israeli leaders blamed
Palestinian militants such as Hamas for the attack from Lebanon and emphasized
that they were focusing their firepower on them, and not Hezbollah, a message
intended at the time to prevent the fighting from spreading. U.S. officials were
also on alert in the days following Qaani’s meetings after obtaining
intelligence that Iran was poised to carry out a drone strike on a commercial
ship in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal said.
1 hurt as Israel fires stun, smoke grenades at Hezbollah
supporters
Associated Press/April 15/2023
U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon appealed for calm late Friday after supporters of
Hezbollah clashed with Israeli border guards as Iran and Arab countries marked
Jerusalem Day. The annual commemoration is staged in support of the Palestinian
cause, and earlier in the day Palestinian factions paraded in the Burj al-Barajneh
refugee camp in Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold. Later, Hezbollah supporters
approached the border fence with Israel in south Lebanon and placed one of the
group's flags there. "UNIFIL peacekeepers observed a crowd of 50 or 60
individuals throwing stones and placing a Hezbollah flag in the technical
fence," deputy U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said.
Israeli forces "responded with stun and smoke grenades," she said, adding that
Lebanese troops soon arrived and worked with UNIFIL to calm the situation.
"Especially at this sensitive time, we strongly urge everyone to refrain from
any acts that could be perceived as provocative and could cause the situation to
escalate," Ardiel said. Recent weeks have seen deadly attacks and clashes in
Israel, annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, as well as
cross-border fire between Israeli forces and militants in the Gaza Strip,
Lebanon and Syria. Lebanon's official news agency said one person was injured
when hit in the head by a smoke grenade during a demonstration at the border.
Hours earlier, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a televised statement
said his party would respond to "any action targeting anyone in Lebanon, in an
appropriate scale and manner."
Geagea: Opposing parties, FPM are disrupting the municipal
elections due to their lack of confidence in the results
NNA/April 15/2023
Lebanese Forces Party Chief, Samir Geagea, said that “those who claim that they
are going to Tuesday’s legislative session to avoid a vacuum in municipal and
mayoral posts, especially the opposing party blocs and the Free Patriotic
Movement, have false claims, given that Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for a
government meeting on Tuesday with securing the necessary funds for conducting
the elections on its agenda, and hence there is absolutely no reason to prevent
their completion on time."Geagea added in a statement: "As for the
administrative and logistical readiness, I will reiterate that the Interior
Minister, who is mainly concerned with the municipal elections, has repeatedly
affirmed his administrative and logistical readiness to hold them as long as the
necessary budget is approved to complete them." He continued to indicate that
the blocs of the opposing parties and the Free Patriotic Movement obstructed
throughout the past period the course of the municipal elections under flimsy
pretexts, until they were forced to fabricate a legislative session on the same
day for one unified goal, which is to try to block the road towards securing the
budget required for this entitlement. Geagea asserted that "it has become
known to all the Lebanese that the opposing parties' blocs and the Free
Patriotic Movement are obstructing the municipal and mayoral elections for one
reason: their lack of confidence in the results of the electoral process,"
adding that they have also shown no respect for constitutional deadlines and
institutional regularity since their only basic concern is limited to their
narrow and private interests.
Judge Aoun: Corruption mafia in Lebanon is very large, beneficiaries are many
NNA/April 15/2023
Public Prosecutor of Appeal in Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, tweeted today:
"Morning...How are the media trumpets doing, those who attack, fabricate and lie
each time a judge opens a corruption file, ought they not be held accountable?!
The corruption mafia in Lebanon is very large, and the beneficiaries are
many...We need the cooperation of all honest journalists, all people of
conscience, to defend the truth and the judge who is struggling alone. Greetings
to Judge Nazik...and for information only, there is a law called the protection
of corruption whistleblowers. Sometimes this law remains the only way to
motivate the interrogated to speak. Therefore, the 'suspicious' evictions, as
claimed, occurred only in the Nafaa dossier in this context. As a court, we
abide by the text of Article 108, except in the event that someone divulges
certain information that would benefit the investigation."
Political parties restore the Engineers Syndicate: Amal,
the Future Alliance and the Free Movement win
LCCC/April 15/2023
Candidates of the Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, and the Future
Movement were able to win the Engineers Syndicate elections in Beirut, this
morning, Saturday, April 15, after the electoral battle between them and
independent groups intensified in the last hours before the Engineers Syndicate,
Aref Yassin, announced the results of the electoral entitlement to choose three
Members of the General Assembly, the head of the second branch is an architect,
and the head of the sixth branch are state employees. It was announced that the
candidate, Bassam Suhail Ali Hassan, as president of the membership of the
second branch of the Syndicate Council, Salman Ali Sobh as president of the
membership of the sixth branch of the Syndicate Council, Hassan Muhammad Damj,
Jihad Jean Shaheen, and Roy Michel Dagher for membership in the General Assembly
of the Council of the Syndicate.
Army: Raid in Brital in search of wanted persons
NNA/April 15/2023
The Army Command announced, on its Twitter account, that an army force is
carrying out a raid in the town of Brital in search of wanted persons for
murder, theft, shooting, drug and weapons trade, and currency counterfeiting,
whereby it seized a factory that contained machines for counterfeiting currency
and a large number of forged dollars.
Qualitative operation by Airport Customs: Thwarting of attempt to smuggle
Cocaine capsules swallowed by a passenger
NNA/April 15/2023
The Customs Unit at the Passengers and Duty Free Department at Rafic Hariri
International Airport in Beirut were able, through a qualitative process and
careful follow-up, to thwart an attempt to bring in a quantity of cocaine that
one of the passengers coming from Brazil via Turkey had swallowed.
In details, and after following up on the passengers' manifest and the countries
they are coming from, a Brazilian passenger was targeted for suspicion of
swallowing a quantity of capsules containing drugs. After reviewing with the
concerned judiciary, the passenger was handed over to the Central Narcotics
Control Office, and following an extensive investigation, it was found that
there were a large number of capsules containing cocaine in his stomach, which
he had swallowed to smuggle into Lebanon.
Security Forces: Information Division thwarts international network's plan to
smuggle more than 8 million Captagon pills through Tripoli's Port
NNA/April 15/2023
The Internal Security Forces General Directorate’s Public Relations Division
issued a communiqué this evening, in which it indicated that “in wake of field
and technical efforts carried out by the Information Division to pursue drug
smuggling networks to and from Lebanese territory, the Division was able to
obtain confirmed information about an international drug smuggling network
preparing to smuggle a large amount of Captagon pills to Senegal as a first stop
through the port of Tripoli.”“As a result, the Division assigned its specialized
units to follow up on this information, reveal the identity of those involved in
the operation and track them in preparation for their arrest and thwarting of
the drug smuggling operation,” the communiqué added. Following extensive
investigations, the Division's personnel determined the location of the
warehouse where the quantities of drugs were hidden, in addition to revealing
the identity of those involved in this operation, whereby orders were given to
the special force within the Division to tighten surveillance on the
aforementioned warehouse and the network members involved in the operation in
preparation for the appropriate moment to raid the warehouse. “On April 13,
2023, and after a careful monitoring and control process, the Special Forces
were able to arrest those involved in the locality of Al-Qubbah while they were
transporting two containers carrying a quantity of drugs to the port of
Tripoli,” the communiqué stated. Following interrogation of the arrested, they
confessed to their crime whereby the legal measures were carried out against
them and they were handed over along with their possessions to the concerned
judiciary, as work is still underway to arrest the remaining suspects.
Al-Murtada praises Saudi-Iranian agreement: Everyone must
realize the importance of liberation from spirit of rivalries, our support for
Palestinian...
NNA/April 15/2023
Caretaker Minister of Culture, Judge Muhammad Wissam Al-Murtada, participated
this afternoon in a political meeting on the occasion of International Quds Day,
which was held by Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, at the new
headquarters of the Iranian embassy in the Beirut-Golf area.
In his delivered speech on the occasion, Al-Murtada hailed the Saudi-Iranian
agreement, considering that "everyone must realize the importance of unity in
the battle of liberation: liberating the land from usurpers and liberating
people from the spirit of rivalries that only produce extremism, which in turn
leads to ruin, loss of the future and ensuring the rooting of the usurper
entity." Al-Murtada considered that the differences of the peoples of the region
and the division between their countries is a reassurance for Israel and the
first wall that protects it more than the concrete wall of isolation it has
built across occupied Palestine, adding that the Israeli enemy is diligently
spreading the factors of fragmentation and causes of wars to ensure that its
violation of the rights of the people of the land continues. He warned of the
Israeli danger to the continued existence of the Lebanese entity and the
Lebanese formula, noting that Lebanon “represents the opposite image of the
occupation entity that is based on racism and the rejection of the other,
leading even to his killing and to genocide...”“Therefore, the Zionists always
seek to destroy the Lebanese formula that exposes the essence of their abhorrent
entity,” Al-Murtada asserted.
He also paid tribute to the Palestinian people “who have proven that the
usurpation of the land is a continuous crime that is not subject to the passage
of time,” and that “patriotism is an inherent feature of its historical
identity.”
“From here, we can confirm that history, in its movement within the eternal laws
of nature, will inevitably lead to the end of the occupation,” Al-Murtada
underlined.
Two earthquakes were felt by residents of the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon and a
number of regions
NNA/April 15/2023
An earthquake measuring 4.2 degrees on Richter scale, originating from Al-Nabak
in Syria, was felt by the residents of Lebanon, especially the residents of the
Bekaa and Kesrouan regions, some time ago, NNA correspondent reported. Residents
of Mount Lebanon also felt a second earthquake that struck the Fraides area in
the Chouf, measuring 3 degrees on the Richter scale.
Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 15-16/2023
No consensus on Syrian Arab League return after Saudi summit
BEIRUT (AP)/April 15, 2023
After meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss Syria's political fate, a group of
regional leaders promised Saturday to continue talks to reach a political
solution to the Syrian conflict, but stopped short of endorsing its return to
the Arab League.
The meeting, which included top diplomats from the Arab Gulf countries as well
as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, was convened days after Syria's foreign minister
visited Saudi Arabia for the first time since the kingdom cut off diplomatic
relations with Syria in 2012. Syria and Saudi Arabia said Thursday they were
moving toward reopening embassies and resuming flights between the two countries
for the first time in more than a decade. Syria was widely shunned by Arab
governments over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters
in a 2011 uprising that descended into civil war. The breakdown in relations
culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League. However, in recent
years, as Assad consolidated control over most of the country, Syria’s neighbors
have begun to take steps toward rapprochement. The overtures picked up pace
since the massive Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the
Chinese-brokered reestablishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which
had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict. Saudi Arabia is hosting the
next Arab League summit in May, when Syria’s membership is widely expected to be
on the table. Some members, mainly Qatar, have opposed Damascus’ return to the
organization. Qatar did not appear to have changed its stance after the meetings
convened in Jeddah late Friday. A statement issued by the Saudi foreign ministry
Saturday said the ministers had “stressed that a political solution is the only
solution to the Syrian crisis, and the importance of having an Arab leadership
role in efforts to end the crisis.” They agreed to “set up the necessary
mechanisms” to do so and hold "intensifying consultations among Arab countries
to ensure the success of these efforts. The ministers also condemned recent
Israeli police raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City and “emphasized
the centrality and priority of the Palestinian cause, and condemned illegal
Israeli practices that undermine the two-state solution” with an “independent
and sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem” based on
pre-1967 borders, the statement said.
Also on Thursday, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad arrived in Algeria on an
official visit to discuss “strengthening bilateral relations” and “coordinating
positions between the two countries” in the “Arab and international arenas,”
Syrian state media reported. Algeria is one of the few Arab countries that did
not cut off relations with Syria during the conflict.
Arab nations call for 'leadership role' in
solution to Syria crisis
Agence France Presse/April 15, 2023
Diplomats meeting in Saudi Arabia agreed Saturday that the Arab world must play
a leading role in efforts to broker a solution to Syria's war, following talks
aimed at easing Damascus's isolation. Top diplomats from the six Gulf
Cooperation Council countries -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates -- plus Egypt, Iraq and Jordan met in Saudi Arabia at
the kingdom's request. They stressed the "importance of having an Arab
leadership role in efforts to end the crisis", according to a statement released
by the Saudi foreign ministry early Saturday. They also discussed "the necessary
mechanisms for this role" and agreed to intensify "consultations among Arab
countries to ensure the success of these efforts."Backed by Iran and Russia,
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been shunned by many Middle Eastern
countries and is a Western pariah over the war -- which has killed more than
half a million people and forced about half of Syria's pre-war population from
their homes. Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 over Assad's
brutal crackdown of pro-democracy protests. But on Wednesday, in the latest sign
of an easing in tensions with Damascus, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad
arrived in Jeddah, the first such visit since the war began. Mekdad and his
Saudi counterpart discussed "the necessary steps" to end Damascus's isolation,
according to a Saudi statement on Wednesday. And following the latest foreign
minister meeting, top Arab diplomats "agreed on the importance of resolving the
humanitarian crisis" in Syria and securing conditions that would allow for
refugee returns, the Saudi foreign ministry said Saturday.
'Betrayed' -
Syria's rehabilitation sends "a message to the opposition that Assad will
triumph in the end and that their foreign backers will betray them", Aron Lund
of the Century International think tank told AFP earlier before Saudi Arabia's
statement.
Inhabitants of rebel-held Idlib, in northern Syria, said they felt "betrayed" by
the moves to rehabilitate Assad's government. "We, the people who live in
northern Syria, felt extremely betrayed when we heard about the normalisation
with Assad," Rama Sifu, 32, who lives in Idlib, told AFP. "How come after 12
years of struggle and revolution, they come today and tell him: here is your
seat back at the Arab League? This is unacceptable, we really felt let down."But
late Thursday, the prime minister of Qatar -- an opponent of Assad's government
-- poured cold water on talk of Syria's possible return to the Arab League.
"There is nothing proposed, it is all speculation," Sheikh Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said in a television interview. The Jeddah
meeting is one of a flurry of initiatives following Saudi Arabia and Iran's
landmark, Chinese-brokered announcement on March 10 that they would resume ties,
seven years after an acrimonious split. On Friday, an exchange of nearly 900
prisoners from Yemen's civil war between the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and a
Saudi-led coalition got under way when flights carrying captives travelled
between rebel- and government-controlled areas. The Saudi ambassador to Yemen
this week held talks with Huthi forces aimed at ending the devastating civil war
that has raged since the Saudi-led military intervention started in 2015.
'Overcome Gulf differences' -
And late on Wednesday, gas-rich Qatar and its tiny but strategic Gulf neighbor
Bahrain agreed to re-establish relations, putting aside a long-running
diplomatic feud. Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, and
Shiite theocracy Iran have long been vying for influence around the region, with
Yemen and previously Syria among their proxy conflicts. But analysts say Saudi
Arabia is now trying to calm the region to allow it to focus on ambitious
domestic projects aimed at diversifying its energy-dependent economy. Although
the Arab League takes decisions by consensus, unanimous agreement is unlikely,
said a Riyadh-based diplomat who declined to be identified. "The meeting aims to
overcome the Gulf differences over Syria as much as possible," the diplomat told
AFP, singling out Qatar. "The Saudis are trying at least to ensure that Qatar
does not object to Syria's return to the Arab League if the issue is put to any
vote," the diplomat added.
Israeli police assault Christians heading to
Jerusalem church
Arab News/April 15/ 2023
RAMALLAH: Israeli police have been criticized for heavy-handed tactics after
hundreds of Orthodox Christians were blocked from celebrating Holy Saturday in a
church in the Old City of Jerusalem. Several Coptic Orthodox priests were
assaulted in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, according to videos
circulating on news websites. Israeli forces blocked the celebrations with
roadblocks and barriers at the gates of the Old City, allowing only small
numbers of Christians and those with entry permits to enter. They also
obstructed traffic in Khan Al-Zeit market and assaulted dozens of worshippers
trying to cross the checkpoints, local sources said. The millennium-old
celebration usually draws thousands of worshippers to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was buried. In contrast to previous
years, when as many as 10,000 worshippers packed into the church, only 1,800
will be allowed inside this year, with another 1,200 outside. Additional
checkpoints around the Old City will also restrict access to the area around the
church. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described it as a “blatant
attack on the freedom of worship.”The ministry condemned what is said was a
“flagrant attack on the existing political, historical and legal status quo in
occupied Jerusalem and on Israel’s obligations as an occupying regime in
Jerusalem.”These measures “violate international law, international humanitarian
law and signed agreements,” it said. The churches said they would refuse to
cooperate with the police restrictions, which they see as part of long-standing
efforts to push out the local Christian community. Some church leaders have
voiced concern over what they describe as an environment of impunity in the face
of rising acts of violence and vandalism targeting Christians and their
properties in Jerusalem.
The supreme presidential committee for Palestinian church affairs called for
mass participation of Christians in the Saturday of Light activities, despite
Israeli restrictions. The Holy Sepulchre lies at the heart of the Old City’s
Christian Quarter in East Jerusalem. After hours of anticipation, the ceremony
culminates when Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox patriarch emerges from the sealed
empty tomb with a lighted candle, a mysterious act considered an annual Holy
Saturday miracle before Orthodox Easter Sunday. The light is then quickly
dispersed among the faithful gathered in the darkened church and outside it.
Israeli police said they were working to ensure safety for participants in the
Holy Fire ceremony. “The safety of all those participating is crucial to the
Israel police. Officers are working to assist the flow of participants arriving
in large crowds,” a statement said. Nevertheless, the National Christian
Coalition in the Holy Land expressed profound anger and sorrow as the Israeli
occupation forces turned Jerusalem into a military barracks and blocked access
to the church in an apparent escalation of state-sponsored religious
persecution. Dimitri Diliani, president of the coalition, condemned the
oppressive measures, “which flagrantly violate the most basic human rights.” He
said that the world at large “should express deep concern about the racist
nature of the Israeli occupation authorities, which manifests these days in
religious persecution against anyone who is not Jewish. The National Christian
Coalition calls for protecting the rights of all, including Muslims and
Christians, in Palestine.” He added that despite the brutal suppression of the
Israeli occupation forces, the coalition “has worked tirelessly over the past
week to mobilize as many worshippers and celebrants as possible, challenging the
tyrannical restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation.” Diliani praised the
unified stance taken by the patriarchs and heads of the churches of Jerusalem in
rejecting the occupation forces’ decisions and refusing to recognize their
authority over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. “We will continue to exercise
our natural right to worship freely in Jerusalem, regardless of the risks and
challenges we face,” he said. Elsewhere, on Saturday, Israeli police again
raided the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in large numbers and removed banners and
flags placed on the Dome of the Rock on Friday.
Israeli protests of legal overhaul show no
signs of slowing
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)/Sat, April 15, 2023
Israeli demonstrations against the government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary
continued on Saturday, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to
pause the contentious proposals. Tens of thousands of people participated in the
main protest held in the central city of Tel Aviv, while smaller demonstrations
took place across the country. Protest organizers, who have held these weekly
protests for over three months, aim to maintain momentum and increase pressure
on Netanyahu and his government until the proposed changes are scrapped.
Bending to the mass protests, Netanyahu paused the overhaul plans in March,
saying he wanted “to avoid civil war.”The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on
trial on corruption charges, and his allies in Israel's most hard-line
government the final say in appointing the nation’s judges. It would also give
parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme
Court decisions and limit the court’s ability to review laws. Opponents say it
will destroy a system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands
of Netanyahu and his allies in parliament. They also say that Netanyahu has a
conflict of interest at a time when he is on trial.
In First, Iran's President Addresses
Palestinians in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 15 April, 2023
Iran’s president on Friday delivered an unprecedented speech to an annual
pro-Palestinian rally in the Gaza Strip — a display of Iran’s importance to the
Hamas group that rules the territory.In a virtual address to hundreds of
supporters of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group gathered at a soccer
field, Ebrahim Raisi urged Palestinians to press on with their struggle against
Israel, The Associated Press said. “The initiative to self-determination is
today in the hands of the Palestinian fighters,” Raisi said, dismissing Hamas'
domestic political rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. The
Palestinian Authority administers autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank. Raisi's speech was seen as part of efforts to mend a rift between
Hamas and its long-time patron, Iran, over the devastating civil war in Syria.
Raisi addressed the crowd on the occasion of “Jerusalem Day,” or al-Quds Day
after the city’s Arabic name, which falls on the final Friday of the Islamic
holy month of Ramadan. Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third
holiest site of Islam. The compound has repeatedly been a flashpoint in the
long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Last week, Israeli police forcefully
removed Palestinian worshippers who had barricaded themselves in the mosque with
stones and firecrackers, demanding the right to pray there overnight. After the
raid, in which hundreds of Palestinians were detained and dozens hurt, rockets
were fired from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria toward Israel.
The Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, praised the rocket fire during
Friday's rally. “The response came like a simple electric shock,” Sinwar said.
For the past four decades, al-Quds Day parades have drawn thousands to the
streets around the Middle East. The event is most dramatic in Iran, where crowds
burn Israeli flags and chant pledges to liberate Jerusalem. Israel captured
Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it as its capital. Palestinians
seek the eastern part of the city as a future capital. Hamas has a wing that has
long nurtured close ties with Iran, a source of funding and a Shiite powerhouse.
Hamas and Iran are brought together by a shared enmity toward Israel. While Iran
has not revealed the details of its support, Hamas has publicly praised it for
its assistance.
Iran vows crack down on people who promote removing the veil
(Reuters)Sat, April 15, 2023
People who encourage women to remove the hijab will be prosecuted in criminal
courts and will have no right of appeal against any conviction, Iran's deputy
attorney general was quoted as saying on Saturday. His comments come as an
increasing number of women have been defying Iran's compulsory dress code,
appearing unveiled in malls, restaurants, shops, streets, and other public
areas. Several female celebrities and activists have also in recent months
posted photos of themselves on social media without the veil. Iranian police on
Saturday installed cameras in public places to identify and penalise unveiled
women, Iranian media reported. Police announced the plan last week. "The crime
of promoting unveiling will be dealt with in the criminal court whose decisions
are final and unappealable," the semi-official Mehr News quoted deputy attorney
general Ali Jamadi as saying. "The punishment for the crime of promoting and
encouraging others to remove the hijab is much heavier than the crime of
removing the hijab itself, because it is one of the clear examples of
encouraging corruption," he added. He did not say what the punishments might be
or what exactly entails promoting unveiling. A growing number of Iranian women
have been ditching their veils since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman
while in custody of the morality police last September. Mahsa Amini had been
detained for allegedly violating the hijab rule. Security forces violently put
down the protests following her death. Videos of unveiled women resisting the
morality police have flooded social media.
Could Putin be using the war in Ukraine to annex Belarus by stealth?
Sky News/April 15, 2023
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are now members of NATO, so
are probably beyond Russia's grasp - for now - but with the war in Ukraine
dominating world headlines, Russia has been quietly increasing its influence and
control over Belarus. Is Belarus the next target on Putin's radar, and is there
anything the West can do to arrest Putin's expansionist ambitions? President
Lukashenko has been the head of state of Belarus since 1994. Under his rule, the
government has been accused of regularly repressing the opposition, and
Lukashenko is often referred to as "Europe's last dictator" by media outlets.
The 2020-2021 Belarusian protests were the largest anti-government
demonstrations in the country's history. But, with Russia's assistance, the
riots were quelled. Between August 2020 and February 2022, Putin then pledged
$1.5bn in loans to Belarus and deferred debt payments, providing a lifeline to
the already indebted Lukashenko. Russia also provides gas to Belarus at a
fraction of the open market price, helping to protect an increasingly unpopular
Belarusian leader from domestic unrest. In return, Lukashenko has revisited
discussions on the Union State Treaty - a proposed partnership without borders -
which would, in effect, make Belarus a "county" of Russia. But domestically,
fewer than 25% of the Belarusian population believe they should support Russia -
and the most recent poll suggested that less than 5% believe Belarus should join
Russia to fight against Ukraine.
It may be that Putin does not want Belarus to become a thriving democracy, but
he also knows that his beleaguered military would struggle to take Belarus by
force. Instead, Putin appears to be tightening his grip on Lukashenko. Russia
has been conducting extensive military training - and basing Russian military
aircraft - in Belarus. Moscow has also mounted Russian offensive operations
against Ukraine from Belarus soil and, most recently, agreed to deploy tactical
nuclear weapons into the country. Lukashenko has also sought security guarantees
from Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu during a visit this past week.
However, Ukraine has neither the military capability nor intent to attack
Belarus, and NATO is a defensive alliance that presents no threat to Belarus.
Instead, Russia is leveraging Lukashenko to portray Russia as the only trusted
guarantor of Belarusian peace and security, whilst also justifying increasing
the Russian military presence in the country. Arguably, Putin is slowly but
surely annexing Belarus by stealth. How does Belarus resist? Although the
Russian military is overstretched and would struggle to contain an organised
Belarusian rebellion, how would any rebellion gain traction? The wider
consequences of Belarusian annexation would be profound. Ukraine's long-term
security would be further complicated, and it would also risk destabilising
neighbouring countries such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland. Putin
could claim a strategic success - perhaps even suggesting that the "special
military operation" in Ukraine was some form of sideshow to the main event.
And what could the West do?
Belarus is not a NATO country, and it is unlikely that Lukashenko would appeal
to the West for help. Notwithstanding the use of sanctions, there is very little
that the West could do to intervene. The West rallied to Zelenskyy's appeal for
help in its fight for independence - however, is Putin now using the conflict in
Ukraine to drain the West's appetite for military intervention if it ever
prepared to annex Belarus?
Vladimir Putin closes loophole that allowed Russian men to
avoid military service
Sky News/April 15, 2023
Vladimir Putin has signed a bill allowing authorities to issue electronic
mobilisation notices to draftees and reservists. Russia's military service rules
previously required the in-person delivery of notices to those who are called up
for duty.
Under the new law, the notices issued by local military conscription offices
will continue to be sent by post, but they would be considered valid from the
moment they are put on a state portal for electronic services.
Ukraine war latest: US secrets leak suspect Jack Teixeira charged in court. In
the past, many Russians avoided the draft by staying away from their recorded
address. The new law closes that loophole in an apparent effort to enable the
Kremlin to speedily beef up the military ahead of a widely anticipated Ukrainian
counteroffensive in the coming weeks. Recipients who fail to show up for service
would be barred from leaving Russia, have their drivers' licences suspended, and
would be barred from selling their apartments and other assets. The bill signed
into law by Mr Putin was published on the official register of government
documents. Kremlin critics and rights activists denounced the legislation as a
step toward a "digital prison camp" that gives unprecedented powers to the
military conscription offices. Lyudmila Narusova, the widow of former St
Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak, was the only house member who spoke against
the measure when the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament,
considered the bill on Wednesday. Ms Narusova, whose late husband was once the
president's mentor, claimed that the bill contradicts the country's constitution
and various laws, and strongly objected to its hasty approval. The swift
enactment of the law fuelled fears of the government initiating another wave of
mobilisation following the one that Putin ordered in the autumn. Russian
authorities deny that another mobilisation is being planned. Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov said this week that the measure was needed to streamline the
outdated call-up system in view of the flaws that were revealed by last fall's
partial mobilisation. "There was a lot of mess in military conscription
offices," he said. "The purpose of the bill is to clean up this mess and make
the system modern, effective and convenient for citizens."
Putin announced a call-up of 300,000 reservists in September after a Ukrainian
counteroffensive pushed Russian forces out of broad areas in the east. The
mobilisation order prompted an exodus of Russian men that was estimated to
number in the hundreds of thousands.
Ukraine awaits US missile system after latest
Russian strike
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)/Sat, April 15, 2023
The death toll from Russian missile strikes on eastern Ukraine's city of
Sloviansk rose to 11 Saturday as rescue crews tried to reach people trapped in
the rubble of an apartment building, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine's air
force said the country would soon have weapons with which to try to prevent
attacks like the one Friday. The delivery of the Patriot air defense system
promised by the U.S. was expected in Ukraine sometime after Easter, Ukrainian
air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said. The primarily Orthodox Christian
country is preparing to observe Easter on Sunday. Speaking Saturday on Ukrainian
state TV, Ihnat declined to give a precise timeline for the arrival of the
defensive missile system but said the public would know “as soon as the first
Russian aircraft is shot down.” A group of 65 Ukrainian soldiers completed their
training at Oklahoma's Fort Still Army Post last month and returned to Europe to
learn more about using the defensive missile system to track and shoot down
enemy aircraft. Officials said at the time that the Ukrainians would then go
back to their country with a Patriot missile battery, which typically includes
six mobile launchers, a mobile radar, a power generator and an engagement
control center.
Germany and the Netherlands also have pledged to provide a Patriot system each
to Ukraine. In addition, a SAMP/T anti-missile system pledged by France and
Italy “should enter Ukraine in the near future,” Ihnat said this week.
The Ukrainian military is looking to beef up its ability to intercept missiles
as it prepares for an expected spring counter-offensive to retake
Russian-occupied areas of the country. Although more than a year of fighting has
depleted weapons supplies on both sides, Russian forces have intensified their 8
1/2-month campaign to seize the city of Bakhmut, the focus of the war's longest
battle so far. Bakhmut and Sloviansk both are located about 45 kilometers (28
miles) apart in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province. Rescue teams in Sloviansk
recovered the bodies of two people from under the rubble of a house hit in
Friday's missile strikes, according to the State Emergency Service. They also
searched Saturday for five people who remained in the wreckage of the apartment
building, as well as the residents of three units who were reported missing,
Vadym Liakh, the head of the local government, said.
A new law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that allows
military offices to send draft notices electronically instead of delivering them
in person is part of Russia’s preparation for a protracted war in Ukraine, the
U.K. Defense Ministry said in a Saturday morning assessment.
According to British intelligence, a “unified registry of individuals eligible
for military service” will be digitally linked to other government services,
allowing Russian authorities to “punish draft-dodgers by automatically limiting
employment rights and restricting foreign travel.”
Since the law does not come into force until later in the year, the U.K. Defense
Ministry said the e-notices do not automatically point to a “major new wave of
enforced mobilization” but rather form part of a “longer-term approach to
provide personnel as Russia anticipates a lengthy conflict in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, 52,000 young Russian men already have received draft orders as part
of the country's regular spring call-up, and 21,000 of them qualified for
military service, Col. Andrey Biryukov, who is in charge of mobilization, said
Saturday.
Biryukov addressed concerns that the new electronic conscription law presaged a
broader mobilization of reservists, like one Putin ordered in September. “I’d
like to stress that all army deferrals for citizens will still be valid. And
e-draft orders will not be mailed in bulk,” Biryukov said.
Ukraine's Marchenko says G7 support crucial
for 'longer' war with Russia
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/Sat, April 15, 2023
A new international economic support package of $115 billion gives Ukraine more
confidence that it can prevail in battling Russia's invasion, amid growing
recognition that the war could continue for longer than expected, Ukrainian
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Saturday.
Marchenko said Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers assured him during this
week's International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington that
they will support Ukraine for as long as needed, a shift from last year, when
there was more pressure for Ukraine to agree to end the war.
He said the fresh pledge of economic support - unlocked by a new four-year,
$15.6 billion IMF loan - was "tremendously" important for Ukraine, now in a
second year of war after Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. "It helps us
tremendously because it provides certainty that the IMF, together with G7
nations and supporters of Ukraine, will step in with money to cover our needs
for four years," he said. "Compared with the last spring meetings, I'm feeling
more confident that we can prevail in this war." "Financial support is very
necessary, as well as military support," he said, acknowledging growing
acceptance that the military conflict could drag on. "We should be ready that
this war will last longer than we expected,” he said, noting that G7 partners
were no longer pushing Ukraine to accept an end to war - as they had last year -
but were now signaling their support for a longer conflict.
Marchenko underscored Ukraine's appreciation for U.S. economic and military
support - some $50 billion since the start of the war - and said he was
confident the U.S. Congress would maintain bipartisan support for Ukraine,
despite calls by some Republicans to scale back funding.
He also underscored the urgency to begin some reconstruction, including energy
infrastructure, roads, schools and housing, and that Ukraine needed to expand
its capacity to absorb funding. He said one key step would be development of war
insurance, something already underway with the World Bank's Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), to reassure global companies to participate
in rebuilding the country - an undertaking estimated to cost at least $411
billion. On over $20 billion of debt owed to overseas bondholders, the minister
said that he is not yet in talks on whether to extend a two-year debt moratorium
agreed in August. "It is necessary to protect the reliability of the markets for
future reconstruction," he said. "We will have time to find a solution."
Marchenko said there was also growing openness among donor countries to explore
using Russia's frozen assets to pay for Ukraine's reconstruction than even six
months ago. "Our partners are thinking about the possibility of using Russian
assets as a necessary tool to support Ukraine. They don't want to wait until the
war ends, they want to find a solution faster," he said. Marchenko said U.S.
Treasury officials had told him the United States had a low amount of Russian
assets, but the issue was of greater concern in Japan, Switzerland and EU
countries. He said G7 officials had told him they were broadly supportive of
finding a way to utilize Russian assets, but still needed to find a legal
solution to "a very complicated question."U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
on Saturday cautioned in an interview with CNN there were legal constraints on
using frozen Russian assets to pay for damage to Ukraine. Marchenko also said
there were intense discussions about financial stability during the week's
meetings after the collapse of two U.S. banks and one Swiss bank last month, but
he saw no signs of spillover on the Ukrainian banking sector.
Polish government bans grain and food imports from Ukraine
WARSAW (Reuters)/Sat, April 15, 2023
The Polish government has decided to ban imports of grain and other food from
Ukraine to protect the Polish agricultural sector, the leader of the ruling Law
and Justice Party (PiS), Jaroslaw Kaczyński, said on Saturday. Large quantities
of Ukrainian grains, which are cheaper than those produced in the European
Union, have ended up staying in Central European states amid logistical
bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers. This has created a
political problem for the PiS in an election year. "Today, the government has
decided on a regulation that prohibits the entry, importation of grain into
Poland, but also dozens of other types of food (from Ukraine)," Kaczyński said
during the PiS party convention. The list of these goods will be included in the
government regulation, and there are goods "from grain to honey products, very,
very many things," he added. "We are and remain unchanged friends and allies of
Ukraine. We will support her and we support her. ... But it is the duty of every
state, every authority, good authority in any case, to protect the interests of
its citizens," Kaczyński said. Kaczyński said Poland was ready to start talks
with Ukraine to settle the grain issue and the Ukrainian side had already been
notified of the decisions of the Polish government.
France's Macron signs contested pension bill into law
PARIS (Reuters)/Sat, April 15, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron has signed into law a bill to raise the state
pension age that sparked mass protests, the government's official journal showed
on Saturday. The proclamation of the law came after France's Constitutional
Council on Friday approved the main pension-age increase and follows months of
demonstrations against the plan, which the government forced through parliament
without a final vote. The legislation, which will progressively push up the age
for drawing a state pension to 64 from 62, is deeply unpopular and protests
immediately broke out when the Constitutional Council's decision was announced.
Crowds marched through Paris on Friday evening, with some burning trash bins,
while in the northwestern city of Rennes the entrance to a police station was
set on fire. Trade unions on Friday called on the government not to enact the
legislation, despite the green light from the Constitutional Council, and urged
workers to turn out in force for marches on Labour Day on May 1. They rejected
an invitation by Macron to meet on Tuesday. The president has staked his
reputation as a reformer on the pension changes, which he says are needed to
avoid billions of euros of deficit each year by the end of the decade. "Never
give up, that's my motto," he said on Friday before the Constitutional Council
verdict, as he visited Notre-Dame on the anniversary of a fire that gutted the
celebrated Paris cathedral. The government plans to apply the new legislation
from Sept. 1. Francois Ruffin, a lawmaker from the left-wing LFI party, on
Twitter accused the government of proclaiming the pension law "like thieves in
the night". Opposition parties have tabled another bid for a citizens'
referendum on the reform after the Constitutional Council on Friday rejected a
first such proposal. The pension system is a cornerstone of France's cherished
social protection model and trade unions say extra funding can be found
elsewhere, including by taxing the rich more heavily. Public hostility to the
reform has increased since the government, which does not have a majority in
parliament, pushed through the bill in March without a final vote using special
constitutional powers.
China says conducted mid-course missile interception test
BEIJING (AP)Sat, April 15, 2023
China says it carried out a successful ground-based mid-course missile
interception test in an apparent sign of progress in its ability to bring down
weapons incoming from space. The Defense Ministry says the operation was carried
out late Friday night within Chinese territory and achieved “the desired test
objective.”The test was “defensive in nature and not targeted against any
country,” the ministry said, giving no other details such as whether it actually
struck an object, how many interceptors were fired and where they landed. Such
systems, which consist of ground-based interceptor missiles and a huge array of
radars and fire control systems, aim to bring down ballistic missiles, including
ICBMs carrying nuclear or other warheads, while they are flying in space
midcourse on the way to their targets. Referred to by the U.S. as ground-based
mid-course defense, or GMD, such systems are hugely complex and expensive to
build, test and maintain, and China’s capabilities in the field are not well
known. Previously, the Defense Ministry issued a near-identical statement
announcing it had conducted just such a test on Feb. 4, 2021, which it said had
also met its goals. Another Chinese test reportedly took place in 2018.
Such “kinetic-kill" interceptors can also be used as anti-satellite weapons, and
China sparked considerable criticism when it used such a missile to destroy a
defunct Chinese weather observation satellite in early 2007. China did not
announce the operation and the explosion left a massive debris field that
continues to imperil objects in orbit, including China's own space station,
Tiangong. China's military-run space program and missile development efforts are
intimately linked and it is believed to have used satellite launch centers to
conduct missile tests. China already has one of the world's largest arsenals of
all types of missiles and is believed to be expanding it rapidly. A Pentagon
report released last year said China currently has about 400 nuclear warheads
and that number could grow to 1,500 by 2035. GMD forms a major component of
missile defense for the U.S. military, which has put it through additional
testing in response to North Korea’s increasing number of missile tests. The
U.S. has 44 interceptors deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air
Force Base, California intended to cover the entire American homeland, according
to the U.S. Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency. That's enough to
counter a rogue attack from a country such as North Korea, which is developing
missiles that could strike the continental United States, but would be easily
overwhelmed by a large-scale attack from Russia or China. North Korea said
Friday it flight-tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the
first time, a possible breakthrough in its efforts to acquire a more powerful,
harder-to-detect weapon targeting the continental United States. U.S. tests have
shown such systems are far from infallible and that roughly three interceptors
must be fired to bring down one incoming missile. The U.S. also operates the
Patriot and THAAD anti-missile systems that cover a smaller geographic area.
Deadly fighting between army, paramilitaries
in Sudan capital
Agence France Presse/April 15/2023
Fighting continued into the night in the Sudanese capital Saturday after a day
of deadly battles between paramilitaries and the regular army that left at least
three civilians dead and sparked international alarm. Explosions and gunfire
could still be heard on the deserted streets of Khartoum, according to
witnesses, after the paramilitaries said they were in control of the
presidential place, Khartoum airport and other vital facilities. The army denied
the claims, and in a late Saturday statement, the Sudanese air force urged
people to stay indoors as it continued air strikes against bases of the
paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Fighter jets were earlier seen flying
overhead. Windows rattled and apartment buildings shook in many parts of
Khartoum during the clashes, according to AFP correspondents. Medics reported
the three civilian deaths, including at Khartoum airport and in North Kordofan
state, but cautioned that the exact toll was still unclear. Saudi Arabia's flag
carrier Saudia said one of its planes, with passengers and crew aboard waiting
for departure, was "exposed to gunfire damage".Bakry, 24, who works in
marketing, said Khartoum residents had "never seen anything like" this unrest,
which left dark smoke hanging over the capital."People were terrified and
running back home. The streets emptied very quickly", said Bakry, who gave only
a first name. Violence erupted after weeks of deepening tensions between
military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, paramilitary commander
Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, over the planned integration of Daglo's RSF into the
regular army. The integration was a key element of talks to finalise a deal that
would return the country to civilian rule and end the political-economic crisis
sparked by the military's 2021 coup. Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the
Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab
ethnic minorities in the western Darfur region a decade earlier, drawing
accusations of war crimes. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
through his spokesperson, warned that "further escalation in the fighting will
have a devastating impact on civilians and further aggravate the already
precarious humanitarian situation in the country." He said he is engaging with
regional leaders and reaffirmed UN support for efforts to restore Sudan's
democratic transition.
In a joint call, the Saudi and United Arab Emirates foreign ministers along with
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasised "the importance of stopping the
military escalation", the Saudi ministry said.
Trading blame
Similar appeals came from the African and Arab regional blocs, the European
Union, France, Italy, Russia and Iran. But in an interview with UAE-based Sky
News Arabia, Daglo, who is also known as Hemeti, said, "Burhan the criminal must
surrender."He denied that RSF had started the fight, after Burhan in an earlier
statement said he "was surprised by Rapid Support Forces attacking his home at
9:00 am". The army, on its Facebook page, declared Daglo a "wanted criminal" and
the RSF a "rebel militia", saying there "will be no negotiations or talks until
the dissolution" of the group. The military said it carried out air strikes and
destroyed two RSF bases in Khartoum. It said the airport and other bases remain
under its "full control", and published a photograph of black smoke billowing
from what it said was the RSF headquarters. The latest deaths, during the Muslim
holy fasting month of Ramadan, came after more than 120 civilians had already
been killed in a crackdown on regular pro-democracy demonstrations since the
coup. RSF published on Twitter a video showing uniformed men which it claimed
were "Egyptian soldiers who surrendered with Sudanese military" in Meroe,
northern Sudan. Egypt's army confirmed "the presence of Egyptian forces" in
Sudan for exercises, and said it was following the situation. Daglo told Sky
News Arabia that the Egyptians will not be harmed and will be returned home.
Haggling between Daglo and Burhan has twice delayed the signing of an agreement
with civilian factions setting out a roadmap for restoring the democratic
transition disrupted by the 2021 coup. On Saturday, witnesses reported clashes
around the state media building in Khartoum's sister city Omdurman. Others
described clashes in the Darfur region and elsewhere. Chad, which borders Darfur,
said it was closing its frontier, "faced with this troubling situation."
Waking up to gunfire -
The military's civilian interlocutors and ex-prime minister Abdalla Hamdok
appealed for a ceasefire, a plea echoed by US ambassador John Godfrey who
tweeted that he "woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and
fighting".
Daglo has said the coup was a mistake that failed to bring about change and
reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime ousted by the army in 2019 following
mass protests. Burhan, who rose through the ranks under Bashir's three-decade
rule, maintained the coup was necessary to bring more groups into the political
process.
Sustained Firing Heard in Sudanese Capital
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 15 April, 2023 - 09:00
Sustained firing broke out in the Sudanese capital Saturday morning amid
simmering tensions between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The sounds of heavy shooting could be heard in a number of areas, including
central Khartoum and the neighbourhood of Bahri.
An Asharq Al-Awsat correspondent said that heavy gunfire could be heard in the
eastern side of the army's headquarters, near Khartoum International Airport. In
a statement issued Saturday morning, the RSF accused the army of attacking its
forces at one of its bases in South Khartoum. The military used light and heavy
weapons in the attack, it said. Also, a Reuters witness saw cannon and armoured
vehicles deployed in streets, and heard the sound of heavy weaponry in the
vicinity of the headquarters of both the army and RSF. The source of the gunfire
could not be immediately confirmed by Reuters. People could be seen running in a
state of panic in Khartoum. The rift between the forces came to the surface on
Thursday, when the army said that recent movements by the RSF had happened
without coordination and were illegal. A statement by the RSF on Saturday called
the army's actions a "brute assault" and called for it to be condemned. It said
that the RSF had been in contact with local and international mediators to
inform them. A confrontation between the two forces could spell prolonged strife
across a vast country already dealing with economic breakdown and flare-ups of
tribal violence. The move follows days of tension between the army and the RSF,
a powerful paramilitary group, that had sparked concern about a confrontation.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on April 15-16/2023
الكتلة التي تقودها إيران تستشعر وجود
فرصة لتهديد الحياة الإسرائيلية .. هل ترى إيران فرصة في التصدعات في المجتمع
الإسرائيلي؟
جوناثان سباير / جيروزاليم بوست / 15 نيسان / أبريل 2023
The Iran-led bloc senses an opportunity to threaten
Israeli life ... Does Iran see an opportunity in the cracks in Israeli society?
Jonathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/April 15/2023
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-739165
Recent events in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel and the West Bank suggest that a
concerted effort is underway by the Iran-led regional bloc to increase pressure
on Israel. The evidence suggests that the possibility that this may result in
war has been taken into account, and the Iranians and their allies have decided
to move ahead nevertheless and take this risk.
The infiltration from south Lebanon by an operative carrying a Claymore mine on
March 13, and the launching of 34 rockets from south Lebanon by Hamas on April 6
are the main indications that a concerted attempt is under way. These attacks
have been accompanied by a series of ostentatious meetings between Hezbollah
leaders in south Lebanon and delegations from both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and
by incendiary messages from the leaders of various components in this bloc.
“Zionists are fighting each other and are in a hurry to destroy
themselves.”Ebrahim Raisi
Statements by senior Iranian officials in recent days have, for example,
enthusiastically predicted the imminent collapse of Israel. President Ebrahim
Raisi, quoted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Tasnim channel on
Wednesday, said that the “Zionists are fighting each other and are in a hurry to
destroy themselves.” Iranian Army chief Maj.-Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi said that
“we are observing the confusion and disorientation of the hegemonic system,
especially the clearer signals of collapse and breakdown of the Zionist regime.”
Rumblings in pro-Iran regional media, such as the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper,
repeat the strategy according to which the unifying symbol of al-Aqsa Mosque is
to be used to “unify the arenas” of Lebanon, Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank and
pre-1967 Israel.”
Israel’s response, so far, has been hesitant and uncertain. A recent Israeli
media report quoted an assessment given by the IDF to the cabinet according to
which the Hezbollah leadership was not forewarned of the Hamas plan to launch
rockets from south Lebanon, did not give the go ahead for it, and hence should
not be held responsible for it.
The military is, of course, privy to sources of information vastly beyond those
of this author. Nevertheless, some skepticism toward this assessment is
unavoidable. Perhaps unusually among Israel-based correspondents, I have had the
experience of traveling across Lebanon south of the Litani River in a
non-military context. It is one of the most tightly secured areas on earth.
Vehicles without license plates, often with blacked-out windows, are ubiquitous
in every village and town. These and similarly unmarked motorcycles are visible
evidence of Hezbollah's presence. Behind this representation, without doubt, is
a yet wider circle of invisible surveillance.
The notion that Hamas or any other Palestinian organization could have brought
into this area the necessary personnel and equipment required to launch 34
rockets at Israel without the knowledge of Hezbollah severely strains credulity.
Quite apart from the practical difficulties, it seems less than likely that at a
time of visible rapprochement between the two organizations, Hamas would take
upon itself of its own volition to embroil Hezbollah in its actions against
Israel. Sunni Hamas and Shia Hezbollah backed different sides in the Syrian
civil war.
Hamas, with its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, sought to align with what it
thought was an emergent new bloc of conservative Islamic regimes. Hezbollah, of
course, as a Shia franchise of the IRGC, stayed with its patron. But the Sunni
Islamic bloc that Hamas sought to be part of never emerged. Hamas was forced to
try to find its way back to the pro-Iran bloc. With the Arab Spring period now a
fading memory, it has largely done so. It makes no sense that it would now
jeopardize this process.
The inevitable conclusion is that this assessment is most likely inaccurate. As
to whether it was given in order to support a policy preference according to
which Israel would respond to the rocket fire in only a limited way, avoiding
all damage to Hezbollah facilities, one can only speculate.
Strategic attacks on the Israeli homefront
THE APPARENTLY coordinated series of attacks which Israel is currently
experiencing should be seen as emerging from a strategy and praxis of long
standing held by Iran and its various franchises and clients. Veteran Israeli
journalist and analyst Ehud Yaari, writing shortly after the Second Lebanon War
of 2006, termed this outlook the “Muqawama [resistance] Doctrine.”
This doctrine, according to Ya’ari, advocates an open-ended campaign of military
pressure against Israel, conducted for the most part by non-state forces. The
goal, as he expressed it, is the “methodical erosion of the enemy’s resolve.”
The belief underlying this project is that Israel is an internally weak society,
beset by contradictions. The intention therefore is to subject this fragile
vessel to unrelenting pressure, in the belief that eventually it will begin to
crack, and will eventually crumble.
The adherents to this doctrine evidently think that an important moment in this
process has been reached, given the current internal crisis in Israel. They are
therefore keen to increase the pressure, and are prepared to take significant
risks and depart from previous patterns of operation.
The outlook described above is in many ways a descendant of earlier Arab and
Palestinian nationalist perceptions of Israel, dating back to the first days of
the conflict with Zionism. The current challenge differs from earlier
manifestations, however, in that it is headed by a state (Iran) with a
particular and sophisticated understanding of the melding of state power with
irregular military activity, and the combining of conventional military,
paramilitary and political forms of activity. Iran’s methods in this regard have
delivered it significant achievements elsewhere in the region, in Syria, Yemen,
Iraq and Lebanon.
The focus on this campaign goes back to the first days of the Islamist regime in
Iran, and indeed precedes the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in the thinking of those
who led it. Ayatollah Khomeini, writing in 1968, for example, asserted that “the
danger is directed at the very essence of Islam, it is the duty of all Muslims,
and specifically of Islamic states, to take the initiative for the obliteration
of this pond of decay [Israel] with all possible means.”
“Zionists are fighting each other and are in a hurry to destroy themselves.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
Sheikh Naim Qassem, a veteran and very senior official of Lebanese Hezbollah,
quoted from Surah al-Israa of the Koran in his history of his movement, to
explain the nature of its campaign. The quote reads: “And we decreed for the
Children of Israel in the scripture: Ye verily will work corruption in the earth
twice, and ye will become great tyrants. So when the time for the first of the
two came, We roused against you slaves of Ours of great might, who ravaged
[your] country, and it was a threat performed... When the time for the second of
the judgments came, We roused against you others of Our slaves to ravage you,
and to enter the Temple even as they entered it the first time, and to lay waste
all that they conquered with an utter wasting.”
The available evidence would suggest that the leaders of this bloc have
discerned a moment of opportunity for the advancement of the project described
above. Israeli planners may have concluded that the current divided Israeli
house was in no shape for embarking on a determined response to the recent acts
of aggression. If so, Israel’s leaders should be aware that given the nature of
the thinking on the other side, the projection of weakness and hesitancy is
likely to instill greater confidence, leading to further erosion of deterrence,
and increasing the likelihood of additional and yet more reckless moves in the
period ahead.
Libya and the Blue Gold Reservoir
Jebril Elabidi/Asharq Al Awsat/April 15/2023
Talk of water scarcity in Libya is nothing more than a series of mere lies and
unfounded statements. According to the report issued by the Man-Made River
Project Authority, massive quantities of water are found in the Nubian Sandstone
Aquifer in the Kufra and Sarir Basins. While it shares this water with Chad,
Sudan and Egypt, Libya alone is entitled to enough groundwater to last around
4,800 years. Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Chad have already signed a Strategic Action
Program to manage the world’s largest reserve of groundwater (the Nubian
Sandstone Aquifer). Located in the eastern Sahara, this two-million-square-meter
aquifer holds an estimated 150,000 cubic kilometers of water.
With the exception of valleys and temporary dams, Libya has no surface water,
which accounts for less than three percent of the water the country consumes.
Thus, Libya relies heavily on groundwater, which accounts for more than 97
percent of the water it consumes. However, Libya shares its aquifers with many
of its neighbors. This is true for the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, which has a
surface area of over 2.2 million square kilometers. 760,000 square kilometers
are in Libya, 828,000 square kilometers are in Egypt, 376,000 square kilometers
are in Sudan, and 235,000 square kilometers are in Chad.
Libya addressed its water crisis early on, developing the Man-Made River
project. This Project allowed groundwater to be transported from the depths of
the desert to the Libyan north through massive pipelines. All of them, from the
desert to the north, are four meters wide and 4,000 kilometers long. According
to the reports of the Man-Made River Project Authority, the countries sharing
the aquifer need only 2.5 percent of its water for their consumption.
According to the statement of the Man-Made River Project Authority, it was built
to pump 6.4 million cubic meters per day, 70 percent of which is used for
agricultural purposes, 28 percent for urban consumption, and two percent for
industrial consumption.
The Man-Made River Project is the most consequential project addressing the
problem of water being scarce in some regions of Libya and abundant in other
regions. It is not merely a pipeline transporting water from the south to the
north as the detractors of Gaddafi, who built the Project, claim. While the
river maps were available during the reign of the monarch, construction did not
begin until he was deposed. The pretext at the time, the extremely high cost of
the Project, was not an obstacle to Gaddafi. It proved a genuine success.
Indeed, the Project transports more water through natural flow than any other
man-made river in the world, covering a network over 4,0000 kilometers long.
Without this man-made river, many cities would have gone thirsty, including
Tripoli, Benghazi, and the areas around them.
Scientific reports have indicated that Libya has a massive groundwater reservoir
estimated to last the country thousands of years that the country shares with
its neighbors in the Sahara Desert that is home to the Nubian Basin, which holds
the world’s largest aquifer. Regardless of the scale of consumption, this huge
reserve of groundwater will not be depleted, and its water will not dry up. The
main crisis in Libya is not water scarcity but the management of the water.
Indeed, these reports have found that water has been flowing through this
man-made river water for over 25 years without interruption or decreases in
quantity. This fact affirms that there is plenty of water, particularly in the
Kufra Basin, the Libyan oasis that intersects with the Nubian Basin. This
massive reservoir of water means Libya will never be associated with water
scarcity again.
Tunisia’s decision to snub IMF deal is both reckless and bizarre
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/April 15/ 2023
In a move that was less of a surprise and more a reflection of just how far gone
Tunisia now is, President Kais Saied this month rejected the idea of
implementing economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund as
part of a $1.9 billion bailout package agreed in October last year.
Tunisia, a North African country that emerged from the Arab Spring as a beacon
of democracy, has been grappling with economic hardships and political
instability in recent years.
Citing concerns over subsidy cuts and potential unrest, Saied rejected the terms
of the bailout package. His administration also balked at cutting public sector
wages, even though Tunisia has one of the biggest public wage bills in the
world. Meanwhile, record high inflation has left the Tunisian government highly
sensitive about making any decisions that might hurt the average citizen’s
rapidly decreasing purchasing power.
Without the IMF’s help, however, Tunisia faces significant sociopolitical and
economic consequences that are not exactly unknown, and so Saied’s decision has
far-reaching implications for the nation’s sociopolitical and economic
landscape.
Firstly, the country faces a balance of payments crisis without any readily
available financial support. Its fiscal deficit has been growing, with public
debt now exceeding 90 percent of the gross domestic product. An already
precarious economic situation could be exacerbated, as long as combative
politics continues to weigh heavier in the government’s decision-making
processes than the more evident needs of average Tunisians.
Ironically, in an attempt to ease pressure on the domestic front, Saied’s
government continues to trudge along through a disaster of its own making,
neither keen to accept much-needed assistance nor in a hurry to find alternative
financing. Nonetheless, Tunis will not be able to dodge the inevitable, because
the only way out of this quagmire is to resort to increased borrowing, even if
it places further strain on already high debt levels.
Secondly, inflation has been a significant issue for Tunisia, now edging past 10
percent. Without the IMF’s support, the country might struggle to implement the
necessary fiscal and monetary policies to curb inflation, which would lead to
rapidly rising prices for essential goods and services. This would
disproportionately affect the most vulnerable people who are already struggling
with high unemployment, stagnant wage growth, and worsening poverty levels.
Paradoxically, if Tunisia is to increase social protections for its most
vulnerable people, it will have to rely on the IMF’s help, which entails
enacting austerity measures to reduce the fiscal deficit. However, cutting
public spending will imperil public sector wages, social safety nets, and other
interventions designed to reduce the impact on the swelling ranks of Tunisia’s
struggling lower and middle classes.
Thirdly, the deal with the IMF would not only help Tunisia avoid defaulting on
debt, it would also enable the embattled country to access up to $5 billion in
external funding, mostly from creditors in Europe and the Arabian Gulf,
equivalent to about 65 percent of 2023 government-funding needs, or 17 percent
of the gross domestic product.
The remaining financing could be provided mostly by local banks but the
mechanics of how they can do this without putting significant pressure on their
own liquidity remains unclear.
The puzzling decision to reject a bailout could further polarize Tunisia,
hindering the government’s ability to implement much-needed reforms.
This only strengthens the case for accepting the IMF’s terms, since doing so
would help restore some investor confidence in the country, which would be key
to attracting voluminous foreign direct investment to help accelerate economic
growth.
Foreign direct investment inflows have been crucial to the nation’s development,
particularly in sectors such as tourism and manufacturing. Any further declines
would likely result in reduced job opportunities, complicating economic
diversification efforts and long-term interventions to enhance Tunisia’s
resilience to external shocks - for example, the ongoing adverse effects of the
war in Ukraine on food inflation.
Fourthly, tensions arising from a three-way standoff between the Saied regime,
the labor unions, and the political opposition will only rise, sparking even
more sociopolitical crises and governance deficiencies in a landscape that has
been marked by intense fragmentation and instability since 2011.
Tunisia's post-Arab Spring era has experienced multiple changes in government
and lack of consensus on key policy issues; the puzzling decision to reject a
bailout could further polarize the country, hindering the government’s ability
to implement much-needed reforms.
Moreover, Saied himself has acknowledged that subsidy cuts could lead to unrest,
and when this is coupled with the potential for reduced social programs, mass
civil sector layoffs and rising prices, the risk of violent protests will only
increase.
Tunisia has experienced waves of social unrest in recent years, particularly in
2018 when demonstrations erupted in response to austerity measures and increased
living costs. Thus, the memories in Carthage Palace are somewhat fresh which
likely explains the costly hesitancy.
Unfortunately, without a viable alternative, the Saied regime risks inflaming
tensions among Tunisian youths who constitute a significant segment of the
country’s population. Chronic unemployment among young people has been a
persistent issue, one that Saied’s “back to basics” brand of populism sought to
tackle, yet has consistently failed. Now, nearly one in three Tunisian youths
are out of work and, with inevitable austerity measures looming, the bleak
economic prospects will only continue to agitate a promising demographic that is
key to unleashing the country’s so-far squandered potential.
Tunisia’s maladies are eerily reminiscent of the prolonged periods of economic
hardship, social unrest, and political instability faced by Argentina and
Greece. Those countries ultimately faced years of austerity measures and reduced
social services, which led to widespread public protests and political upheaval.
Therefore Saied’s decision to reject IMF help is more than just confounding — it
is reckless.The regime in Tunis has not put forward any alternative plan for
reducing a ballooning debt-to-GDP ratio, which is compounding fiscal pressures
and slowly forcing the Tunisian government into a corner.
For instance, without urgent assistance Tunisia will probably fail to make some
foreign loan repayments this year totaling about $2 billion, including a €500
million ($554 million) Eurobond maturing in October.
Meanwhile, Tunisia’s business community is increasingly frustrated with Saied
for his seemingly erratic decision-making, so it seems likely that protests will
erupt regardless of what happens with the IMF deal.
The short-term consequences of Saied’s expected, yet nonetheless bizarre,
decision are already apparent; the longer-term consequences, however, could be
more severe and extend beyond the nation’s borders, potentially plunging another
North African country into chaos.
Time is quickly running out for Tunis to implement necessary reforms and
prolonging the inevitable will only compromise Tunisia’s stability, ultimately
hindering its recovery, development, and prosperity.
*Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the Ibn Khaldun
Strategic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., and the
former adviser to the dean of the board of executive directors of the World Bank
Group. Twitter: @HafedAlGhwell
France’s Constitutional Council approves key elements of
pension reforms
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/April 15/ 2023
It has been decades since France’s 17th-century Palais-Royal has been under such
heavy guard. However, in circumstances unique to France’s very particular
republic, the royal building has been surrounded by police and armored vehicles
— for it hosts France’s Constitutional Council.
France’s highest constitutional authority has been the center of attention this
week as protests wracked the country on the 12th day of rage in a year that has
seen significant political turbulence. Established by the Constitution of the
Fifth Republic to ensure its basic principles are upheld, the council has a role
central to French democracy. Usually a discreet body, the council no doubt
carries out the important work of ruling whether proposed statutes conform with
the constitution after they have either been voted on by the parliament or, as
in the case of current pension reforms, passed by the government as a decree.
Over its lifespan, the council has reviewed 744 bills and struck down 369, only
17 of them completely. Currently headed by former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius,
the council’s members, known as les sages or “the wise,” have a significant
influence on new legislation. Only when they have made their ruling can new
proposals be signed into law by the president of the republic.
Their task on Friday was to decide if the pension reform and the process through
which the legislation was passed is in line with the constitution, and if a
referendum can be held on the retirement age.
Given the lack of parliamentary majority for the president’s Renaissance party
following elections last year, the proposed reforms to France’s pensions system
have faced significant opposition from the outset. Bolstered by significant
social unrest, and despite the reforms having been passed in France’s Senate,
the president’s would-be allies and political opponents alike in the National
Assembly withheld their critical support, leading the government to employ
Article 49.3 of the French Constitution and compel the majority to adopt its
proposals.
Macron can expect further political upheaval, which Friday’s legal decision will
not have discouraged.
Friday’s ruling had been keenly anticipated, as within the context of French
President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance losing its parliamentary majority,
a no confidence vote, and already having used special constitutional powers to
pass the 2023 budget — the government was on shaky ground.
Having approved the most controversial element of the proposal, namely the
raising of the retirement age, the council’s work is far from over. An 11th-hour
proposal from the opposition on Thursday requesting a referendum on the reforms
was resubmitted in the hope of stalling matters. However, given that the court
has announced it will take several weeks to review this latest proposal, it is
more likely that the president will see his reforms become law within a
fortnight.
The president said that he would meet with relevant trade unions on Tuesday
regardless of Friday’s outcome. Though this meeting is still expected to take
place, several trade unions have announced they will not be attending. Rather,
France is likely to see more protests. Following the court’s decision, far-left
leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, said “the fight will continue” — setting France up
for further turmoil. On Friday, the headquarters of the leading French luxury
group LVMH was stormed and protesters clashed with police across the country.
France’s socialist opposition have made sure not to criticize the council’s
decision, sharing that its decision was a legal one though this issue has become
a wider societal problem in which the majority of the French people are in
opposition and therefore to promulgate this law in haste would be undemocratic.
The leaders of the conservative Les Republicains have belatedly supported the
reforms following the council’s decision. Though they have advocated for the
raising of the retirement age, they have been hesitant to extend their support
to a government that has undermined their previous electoral success.
France’s unions will be issuing a statement concerning the reforms and will
continue to advocate for a decision on a referendum that is expected on May 3.
In the interim, Macron can expect further political upheaval, which Friday’s
legal decision will not have discouraged. His Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has
said that “there are no winners or losers” from the ruling, echoing a wider
sentiment in the country regarding the controversial reforms. In circumstances
where the cost of France’s aging population and outdated generous public
spending must be reviewed, it is little surprise that the government has already
stated the reforms will become law by September. Nevertheless, in a country
where welfare spending is sacred, the president will face a very tough remaining
four years of his presidency should his reforms come into effect.
*Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients
between London and the GCC. Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid