English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 06/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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15 آذار/2023
Bible Quotations For today
Greater love has no one than this: to lay
down one’s life for one’s friends
John 15/12-15/:”My command is this: Love each other as I
have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for
one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you
servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have
called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made
known to you.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on June 05-06/2023
Lebanese Parliament Speaker
Nabih Berri sets June 14 as date for electing Lebanese president
Al-Rahi presidential tour: Latest developments
Berri's call for electoral session: Is Lebanon heading toward change?
Report: Berri fears foreign forces will sway hesitant MPs on Azour
Berri broaches educational affairs with Caretaker Minister Halabi, discusses
general situation with MP Khair
What is the PSP stance on Azour after opposition endorsed him?
Independent MPs considering alternatives to blank votes in upcoming Presidential
elections: LBCI sources
How will Strong Lebanon bloc distribute its votes?
Sami Gemayel signs petition to form an international fact-finding committee into
the Beirut blast
UNICEF, EU join forces to rehabilitate 11 wastewater treatment plants in Lebanon
Official exams will not be postponed: Education Minister affirms
Mikati welcomes Australia’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, meets ‘Rashid
Karami International Exhibition’ delegation
11 wastewater treatment plants across Lebanon will be rehabilitated and made
operational with EU funding
USAID and LMTA celebrate LMTA’s 15th anniversary and its contribution to the
Lebanese tourism sector
Ambassador Dr. Abir T. Audi honors Lebanese artist Kahlil Gibran at New York
Exhibition
Labor Minister in Geneva to partake in 111th International Labor Conference
New circular by Mikati: Subjecting importing, exporting goods to prior
authorization system
France seeks removal of Lebanese ambassador’s immunity after rape accusation
The appointment of a non-presiding president in Lebanon/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq
Al-Awsat/June 05, 2023
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on June 05-06/2023
US focused ‘on the future,’
Saudi Arabia remains key partner: White House
Saudi Arabia welcomes Venezuelan leader Maduro, reaching out to yet another US
foe
Israel returns body of Egyptian policeman who killed Israeli soldiers
Palestinian toddler shot by Israeli troops in West Bank dies of wounds
Netanyahu reportedly appoints new anti-Biden media advisor
US Navy says Iran boats 'harassed' ship in Strait of Hormuz
Iranian embassy to reopen in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday
Iran launches militia patrol to crack down on abortions
Russia says repelled 'large-scale' Ukraine offensive
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy cheers ‘news we expect’ from troops at Bakhmut
EU executive extends Ukraine grain import restrictions
Nazi Symbols on Ukraine’s Front Lines Highlight Thorny Issues of History
Nato secretary general says Sweden has 'fulfilled obligations' to members
Russian attempts to waste Ukraine's advanced air-defense missiles with cheap
drones are failing, UK intel says
Analysis-Saudi Arabia's 'icing on the cake' oil cut could feed US producers
US Navy shows Chinese warship's 'unsafe interaction' near Taiwan
Sudan battle rages as Saudi Arabia, US urge new truce talks
Titles For
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on June 05-06/2023
‘An Injustice Crying Out to Heaven’: The Jihad on Christians in
Mozambique/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/June 5, 2023
Two Christian Teenagers Charged with Blasphemy and Sent to Jail in Pakistan/CLAAS-UK/Gatestone
Institute./June 5, 2023
Palestinians' Preferred Candidates: Terrorists Who Want To Kill Jews/Bassam
Tawil/Gatestone Institute./June 5, 2023
The war for eastern Syria is just getting started/Baria Alamuddin /Arab
News/June 05, 2023
Afghanistan hands Iran a timely reality check/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab
News/June 05, 2023
How much did you pay to stop the smuggling of Captagon?/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al
Arabiya English/Published: 05 June ,2023
Will We See a New Regional Order?/Dr. Nassif Hitti/Asharq Al Awsat/June 05/2023
Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on June 05-06/2023
Lebanese Parliament Speaker
Nabih Berri sets June 14 as date for electing Lebanese president
Najia Houssari/Arab News/June 05, 2023
BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has set June 14 as the date for holding a
session to elect a Lebanese president. Former President Michel Aoun’s term
expired last October with no successor lined up. Monday’s announcement came
after Lebanon’s disparate opposition, independent and main Christian parties
said on Sunday that they had nominated IMF official Jihad Azour for the
presidency in a challenge to Hezbollah-backed candidate Suleiman Frangieh.
Hezbollah and its allies insist on nominating Frangieh, head of the Marada
Movement, for the position, with political divisions mounting amid debate over
the necessary qualities of the next president. Berri had stopped scheduling
sessions since January after 11 sessions failed to elect a president. Azour,
director of the Middle East and Central Asia department at the IMF, has yet to
officially announce his candidacy for the presidency. However, he has however
held a series of meetings with opposition MPs, during which he answered their
questions and concerns.
There was anticipation on Monday for the outcome of the next presidential
election session. But leaked reports claimed that Hezbollah Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah informed the envoy of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi
during their meeting on Sunday that the party insisted on its support for
Frangieh. The opposition forces are looking forward to the position of the
Progressive Socialist Party bloc. It is scheduled to hold a session this week to
determine the direction of its vote in the upcoming election session. MP Hadi
Abu Al-Hassan of the Progressive Socialist Party expressed his surprise at the
concern shown by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement over Azour. The MP said that
Azour is “a patriotic person who does not stab a Lebanese partner.”
He added: “Also, our system is not presidential, and the president does not make
decisions in isolation from parliament and the Cabinet. “Any agreement with the
IMF is done through the parliament and the government,” he said, adding that
Azour “is not a challenge candidate, and we proposed his name five months ago.”
The MP said that opposition forces have agreed with the Free Patriotic Movement
to nominate Azour. “Our nomination (of Azour) was not a maneuver, but a serious
proposal that we have not changed our mind about. However, the issue now is not
about nomination or voting, but about how to prepare the atmosphere for Azour to
reach the presidency,” Abu Al-Hassan said. “The sharp alignment may create a
kind of polarization that can be interpreted as a challenge nomination.”The MP
suggested “expanding the range of support for Azour and not going to sessions
that resemble previous ones, in order to come out with a president who can
ensure broad consensus.”
He said: “We need a quorum of 86 for a candidate to win in the first round, and
a quorum of 65 for a candidate to win in the second round. In the absence of
consensus, there are two obstacles that stand in the way of Azour’s path to the
presidency. “The first is denying the quorum in the second session, and the
second is sectarianism, meaning the Shiite MPs in the parliament refrain from
electing him.”
MP Bilal Abdullah, a member of the Democratic Gathering, said: “Electing a
president in the absence of Shiite-Christian consensus is impossible. “Filling
the presidential vacancy requires providing a quorum of 86 MPs to attend the
second round and 65 to win, and no one is able to secure them.”
MP Kassem Hashem, from the Amal Movement bloc, played down the importance of the
opposition agreeing to nominate Azour. He said: “What is happening is aimed at
preventing Frangieh from reaching the presidency.” Independent MP Abdulrahman
Bizri said that he and MPs Osama Saad, Charbel Nahas and several Change MPs were
still studying the situation in order to make the right choice. He added: “We do
not want a battle between a candidate supported by Hezbollah and the Amal
Movement, the Shiite duo, against a candidate supported by the Christian
majority.”
One political observer expressed fears that some opposition forces had only
named Azour to confront and overthrow Frangieh — the candidate of the Shiite
parties — only to replace him with a more suitable consensus candidate.
In a joint statement, the Lady of the Mountain gathering and the National
Council to End the Iranian Occupation of Lebanon said that they rejected
Hezbollah’s “attempt to force a president on the Lebanese people, violating the
Lebanese constitution, as well as the political and sectarian diversity in the
country.”The joint statement added: “Since there are two candidates for the
presidency, there is no longer any political excuse for the speaker not to hold
a session for continuous rounds to elect the president. “Whoever obstructs the
quorum should bear full responsibility for the continuation of the presidential
vacuum.”The Lebanese constitution stipulates that sessions of the electoral body
remain open until the president is elected. The constitution also states that
before the end of the term of the incumbent president — at least one month or at
most two months — parliament shall meet at the invitation of its speaker to
elect a new president. “If parliament does not convene for this purpose, it
shall meet by law on the 10th day preceding the end of the president’s term.
“The convened parliament to elect the president is considered an electoral body
and not a legislative body, and it is required to immediately proceed to elect
the president without discussing any other business.” According to the
constitution, the president negotiates and concludes international treaties in
agreement with the prime minister, and they do not become effective until
approved by the Cabinet. Treaties that involve financial conditions related to
the state and commercial treaties cannot be concluded without parliamentary
approval.
Al-Rahi presidential tour: Latest developments
Naharnet/June 05, 2023
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has started to talk to all parties regarding
the presidential file. On Saturday, bishop Paul Abdel Sater, on behalf of al-Rahi,
met with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The bishop urged for
consensus instead of confrontation, and Nasrallah reiterated his support for
Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh, al-Akhbar newspaper said Monday. The daily said
that Nasrallah told Abdel Sater that Hezbollah will not back down from
supporting Franjieh. Al-Rahi had also met with Franjieh and with Free Patriotic
Movement chief Jebran Bassil, media reports said, while Abdel Sater will meet in
the coming hours with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. After a trip last week to
Paris and to the Vatican, al-Rahi announced that France and the Vatican had
asked him to talk to all of the country’s “components” regarding the
presidential file. “We will talk to everyone without exception, even to
Hezbollah,” al-Rahi said.
Berri's call for electoral session: Is Lebanon heading toward change?
LBCI/June 05, 2023
A few days ago, the US administration threatened to impose sanctions on Lebanese
officials obstructing the presidential election. So, has this threat of
sanctions yielded results, leading to the Parliament Speaker's call for a
presidential election session on June 14?
In a surprising turn of events, the opposition group opposing the election of
Sleiman Frangieh considers Speaker Nabih Berri's actions a positive sign for the
international community. Previously, Berri had set June 15 as the deadline for
electing a president. However, the recent developments in adopting Jihad Azour's
candidacy have undermined the pretext of not calling for a session due to the
wide intersection between the opposition forces and the Free Patriotic Movement.
But Berri's team dismisses talks of fearing sanctions as mere illusions.
Furthermore, sources from Ain El-Tineh pointed out that the Speaker's call for a
session aligns with his previous stance, which called for a session once two
serious candidates are available. From now until June 14, more positions will
become clear, especially those of the independent deputies and the Democratic
Gathering MPs, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday following Walid
Jumblatt's return from his trip to determine their position. Despite their
differences, all blocs affirm their attendance in the first session. As for the
surprises regarding quorum, they will be reserved for the second session.
Development and Liberation bloc sources indicated that it is still early to
determine the options for the second session. But undoubtedly, if Azour secures
the necessary 65 votes, it will constitute a new source of strength in the
negotiations.
Report: Berri fears foreign forces will sway
hesitant MPs on Azour
Naharnet/June 05, 2023
The parties of the five-nation gathering on Lebanon might “change their stances”
on the Lebanese presidential file and Jihad Azour’s supporters are saying that
the U.S. stance will be in their favor, a media report said on Monday.
“Washington will find a way to convince Riyadh to intervene in his (Azour’s)
favor and (Speaker Nabih) Berri has expressed concerns over that in his meetings
with his visitors,” informed sources told al-Akhbar newspaper. Berri has
“received information about intentions by regional and international forces to
interfere with the hesitant MPs in order to convince them to vote for Azour,”
the sources added.
Berri broaches educational affairs with Caretaker Minister Halabi, discusses
general situation with MP Khair
NNA/June 05, 2023
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Monday received at the Second Presidency in Ain
El-Tineh, Caretaker Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Abbas Al-Halabi,
with whom he discussed the current educational situation. On emerging, Minister
al-Halabi said: "The meeting with the Speaker, as usual, was very useful and I
briefed him on the atmosphere of work at the Ministry of Education and Higher
Education on the eve of holding the official exams. I informed the Speaker that
these exams will take place on time, contrary to what is being circulated by
some media."Separately, Speaker Berri met with MP Ahmed Khair, with whom he
discussed the current general situation, the latest political developments and
legislative affairs.
What is the PSP stance on Azour after opposition endorsed him?
Naharnet/June 05, 2023
MP Hadi Abou al-Hosn of the Progressive Socialist Party noted that the agreement
between the opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement over Jihad Azour’s
nomination is “positive” although it came “late.”“Ex-MP Walid Jumblat had
proposed ex-minister Jihad Azour as one of three presidential candidates five
months ago, without finding sufficient dynamism from some parties to endorse
this nomination,” Abou al-Hosn said in a radio interview. And calling for
“broadening the circle of support for Azour, so that he does not become a
confrontation candidate to any camp and so that MP Michel Mouawad’s experience
does not get repeated,” Abou al-Hosn urged “direct and indirect dialogue
meetings with the Shiite Duo, our partners in the country, to explore their
concerns, dispel them and go to an electoral process soon.”“Azour has a vision,
positive thinking and a moderate approach that the country needs in this
period,” the lawmaker added. Abou al-Hosn also lauded Maronite Patriarch Beshara
al-Rahi for launching dialogue meetings with all parties. All eyes are meanwhile
fixed on the meeting that the PSP’s Democratic Gathering bloc will hold on
Tuesday. “Alongside the issue of supporting Azour, the MPs will discuss the idea
of delaying the announcement of their stance, in order to leave the doors open
to a national consensus,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday. The daily
added that Speaker Nabih Berri is concerned over outgoing PSP leader Walid
Jumblat’s decision to spend a 10-day vacation in France, which would leave
things in the hands of his son MP Taymour Jumblat. Berri has interpreted the
move as “an evasion of personal embarrassment towards him,” al-Akhbar said.
Independent MPs considering alternatives to blank
votes in upcoming Presidential elections: LBCI sources
LBCI/June 05, 2023
Sources told LBCI that a number of independent MPs are discussing among
themselves not to vote with a "blank vote" for fear that their votes will be
counted in favor of a particular political party, and among the ideas discussed
is to vote for a third name to differentiate it from Frangieh and Azour.
How will Strong Lebanon bloc distribute its votes?
Naharnet/June 05, 2023
Only eleven lawmakers from the Free Patriotic Movement will vote for Jihad Azour
in a presidential election session, a media report said on Monday. Six others
will cast blank ballots after they had demanded that one of the FPM legislators
be nominated for the presidency, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported. The
three MPs of the Tashnag Party, which is part of the bloc, will meanwhile vote
for Suleiman Franjieh and so will MP Mohammed Yahia of Akkar, the daily added.
Sami Gemayel signs petition to form an international fact-finding committee into
the Beirut blast
LBCI/June 05, 2023
The head of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, MP Samy Gemayel, signed a petition
calling for forming an international fact-finding committee in the Beirut Port
explosion. This petition was submitted by the families of the victims of the
Beirut Fire Brigade and the Beirut blast during his meeting with a delegation of
the families. Gemayel assured the delegation that the Kataeb Party always stands
by the victims' families in their "rightful demand to reveal the truth and hold
the criminals responsible for the explosion accountable and bring them to
justice." MP Elias Hankach and William Noun, Peter Bou Saab, Elie Bou Saab,
Georges Hitti, Ralph Hitti, Rita Hitti, and Zeina Noun participated in the
meeting.
UNICEF, EU join forces to rehabilitate 11 wastewater
treatment plants in Lebanon
LBCI/June 05, 2023
On the occasion of World Environment Day, the Ministries of Energy and Water,
and Environment, in partnership with the European Union and UNICEF, have
launched a new project to sustain the continuity of wastewater treatment
services in Lebanon. This project was developed as part of the Water Sector
Recovery Plan to rehabilitate and make 11 essential wastewater treatment plants
(WWTPs) operational across the country. The project's launch comes amidst the
multiple crises in Lebanon, providing a much-needed solution to sustain
wastewater treatment services. It complements the existing support for water
supply services under the Water Establishments, funded mainly by the European
Union and implemented by UNICEF. The project not only focuses on bringing WWTPs
back into operation but also emphasizes raising public awareness about untreated
wastewater's environmental and health impact.
Further, the Proper functioning of WWTPs aligns to reduce vulnerability to
water-borne diseases, particularly among children, and safeguard their health
and nutritional status. During the occasion, Prime Minister Najib Mikati
highlighted the pressing need for radical action to address Lebanon's
accumulated environmental crises. Expressing gratitude to UNICEF and the
European Union for their assistance, the Prime Minister urged the Lebanese
Government to take responsibility for managing and improving wastewater
treatment facilities. In turn, the Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon,
Ralph Tarraf, emphasized that functioning sanitation facilities and proper
wastewater treatment are fundamental for public health and socioeconomic
development. During the occasion, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Lebanon,
Ettie Higgins, highlighted the environmental and public health risks of
inadequate wastewater treatment. She emphasized the commitment of UNICEF and the
European Union to strengthen the capacity of water establishments, ensuring the
equitable and sustainable provision of wastewater services to reduce the spread
of infections and save lives.
Official exams will not be postponed: Education
Minister affirms
LBCI/June 05, 2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri discussed the educational situation during his
meeting with Caretaker Minister of Education and Higher Education, Abbas Halabi,
in Ain El Tineh, who affirmed after the visit that the official exams will take
place on time, “contrary to what some media propagate about the possibility of
postponement.” Halabi also discussed with Speaker Berri the issue called for
under the auspices of the Prime Minister on June 8 to present the plan of the
Ministry of Education to introduce reforms in teaching and learning as a result
of the crisis faced this year, which prompts to tackle the need to meet the next
academic year and introduce governance to the Lebanese educational system and
securing funding. The meeting will also occur in the presence of all ambassadors
and donors “who can put their hand with the hand of the Ministry of Education to
secure the progress of the next academic year,” he said.
Mikati welcomes Australia’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, meets ‘Rashid
Karami International Exhibition’ delegation
NNA/June 05, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday received, at the Grand Serail,
an Australian delegation, chaired by Australia’s Assistant Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Tim Watts, in the presence of Australian Ambassador to Lebanon, Andrew
Barnes. The meeting was also attended by Premier Mikati’s Advisors Ambassador
Boutros Assaker and Ziad Mikati. Discussions reportedly touched on strengthening
the bilateral relations between Lebanon and Australia, as well as on the
economic and financial reform plan undertaken by the government. During the
meeting, the delegation appreciated the "efforts of the Lebanese government" and
called for a speedy election of a president for the republic. On the other hand,
Premier Mikati received a delegation from the team responsible for
rehabilitating the experimental stage at the "Rashid Karami International
Exhibition".
11 wastewater treatment plants across Lebanon will
be rehabilitated and made operational with EU funding
NNA/June 05, 2023
On the occasion of World Environment Day, the Ministry of Energy and Water and
Ministry of Environment in partnership with the European Union and UNICEF,
announced the launch of a new project to sustain the continuity of wastewater
treatment services in Lebanon amid the multiple crisis context .
The project has been developed part of the Water Sector Recovery Plan and
complements the existing support to water supply services under the Water
Establisments, largely funded by the European Union and implemented by UNICEF.
It will bring back into operation 11 key wastewater treatment plants (WWTP)
across the country while promoting public awareness on wastewater impact on the
environment and health. Improving the functioning of WWTPs is also in synergy
with the aims of reducing the vulnerability of children to water-borne diseases
and therefore the impact on their health and nutritional status.
"The World Environment Day, that we celebrate today, sheds light on a painful
reality that our country suffers from due to years of accumulated environmental
crises and the absence of a radical action,” Prime Minister Najib Miqati said.
“During the recent cholera outbreak, we saw how UNICEF intervened to reach
everyone with clean water, especially in the remote villages. Today, through the
signing of this agreement with UNICEF in partnership with the European Union -
which has never failed to assist Lebanon in fundamental and essential matters -
we hope it will be an opportunity for the Lebanese Government to take
responsibility in managing and improving these facilities instead of relying on
others to do so.”
Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, Dr. Walid Fayyad said: “After more than
one and a half years of preparations and coordination with the European Union,
UNICEF, the Council for Development and Reconstruction and the Water
Establishments, we are happy that our hard work with all stakeholders is bearing
fruit today with the kick off of a very important phase of the wastewater
sector. the EU’s and UNICEF’s support will allow the Water Establishments to
smoothly transition into becoming the caretakers of the sector as mandated by
the Water law. The Ministry of Energy and Water highly appreciates all efforts
put towards that end, and particularly the EU’s extended support to the Lebanese
during the time of crises. With the support of the international, we are working
for the recovery of the water sector by 2026”
Minister of Environment, Dr. Nasser Yassin, said: "The project, which we are
celebrating today on the occasion of World Environment Day, is essential to
protecting the environment and ensuring public health. However, we should, in
parallel to this support, put greater effort to ensure the continuity of this
project through a cost recovery system while reducing the operational cost
wastewater plants, such as relying on solar energy”.
Ambassador of European Union to Lebanon, Mr. Ralph Tarraf said: “The benefits of
today’s project extend far beyond the realm of wastewater management.
Functioning sanitation facilities and proper wastewater treatment are
fundamental pillars for public health and socioeconomic development. By ensuring
that wastewater is treated, we mitigate the risks of waterborne diseases and
protect the wellbeing of citizens. Yet as much as it is an investment in the
health and quality of life of people, it is also an investment in the country’s
economic recovery.”
“Inadequate operation and maintenance of WWTPs and discharge of inadequately
treated wastewater to the environment poses a major environmental and public
health risk. The recent cholera outbreak reminds us of the dangers posed by
pollution of the environment by unreated wastewater” said Ettie Higgins, UNICEF
Deputy Representative in Lebanon. “With the European Union, we remain committed
to strengthening the water establishments capacity to ensure equitable and
sustainable provision of wastewater services to reduce the spread of infections
and save lives”.
This project aims to bring back into operation 11 major wastewater treatment
plants in various locations across Lebanon. However much more needs to be done
in more than 70 WWTPs that exist in the country in order to ensure that the
environment is kept free from pollution at all times and in all places.
USAID and LMTA celebrate LMTA’s 15th anniversary and
its contribution to the Lebanese tourism sector
NNA/June 05, 2023
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Lebanon
Mountain Trail Association (LMTA), in the presence of U.S. Embassy Chargé
d’Affaires Richard Michaels and representative of the Ministry of Tourism Maxime
Chaaya, celebrated LMTA’s 15th anniversary and the Association’s contribution to
Lebanon’s tourism sector. In 2007, USAID partnered with the Lebanese people to
establish the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA), which became one of
Lebanon's largest non-governmental organizations and has since expanded to
support guest houses and restaurants along the trails. The event, organized by
the LMTA and the USAID-funded Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) activity,
brought together more than 300 experts and stakeholders from Lebanese rural
communities and featured the “World Trails Film Festival” for the first time in
Lebanon and the Arab World.Ministry of Tourism’s representative, Maxime
Chaaya,highlighted the importance of the LMTA and the projects implemented
during the last 15 years to enhance the rural tourism sector in Lebanon. He
voiced the support of the Ministry of Tourism to the LMTA in its efforts to
develop environmental tourism to sustain the local economy. In his remarks, U.S.
Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Richard Michaels stated, “I am pleased to join you
this evening to celebrate the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association’s
15thanniversary. We are proud that the U.S. Government’s longstanding
partnership with the Lebanese people is promoting environmentally sustainable
economic opportunity through a vibrant tourism sector.”LMTA’s board president,
Alfred Farwagi, noted, “We are delighted to celebrate the LMTA’s 15th
anniversary. It is a key milestone that cements the LMTA’s strategic
relationship with USAID. It is through hard work, dedication, and perseverance
that the Lebanon Mountain Trail has been recognized as a world class hiking
destination, as the backbone of rural tourism in Lebanon, and as a platform for
sustainable community development.”
Since its founding 15 years ago, the LMTA worked to develop, maintain, and
protect the Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT); to establish side trails off of the
LMT; to protect natural, cultural, and architectural heritage; and to enhance
economic opportunities through responsible tourism. The LMT is the first
long-distance hiking trail in Lebanon and crosses 75 towns and villages. It
showcases the natural beauty and cultural wealth of the country's mountains and
brings communities closer together. USAID support also included the renovation
of guesthouses, strengthening other service providers along the trail, and the
training of local guides to sustain and create income opportunities in rural
areas.
Ambassador Dr. Abir T. Audi honors Lebanese artist Kahlil Gibran at New York
Exhibition
LBCI/June 05, 2023
The art of Lebanese-born writer, poet, and artist Kahlil Gibran was celebrated
at a new exhibition in the Drawing Center in Manhattan. The exhibition, titled
"A Greater Beauty: The Drawings of Kahlil Gibran," opened on June 1st, with the
Consul General of Lebanon in New York, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Abir T. Audi, and her
husband Mr. Dori Audi, serving as the guests of honor. This display, set to run
from June 2nd through September 3rd, 2023, has been organized by the Gibran
Museum in partnership with the Gibran National Committee. The exhibition
presents approximately 80 of Gibran's drawings, supplemented by 30 manuscripts
and notebooks and first editions of his writings in Arabic and English. Art
enthusiasts of various nationalities, including Americans and Lebanese,
constituted the large crowd that attended the exhibit's opening. In her remarks,
Ambassador Dr. Audi expressed gratitude to the organizers and the Gibran Museum
for their efforts to honor the esteemed Lebanese artist and poet. During the
opening, Ambassador Dr. Audi, in an extensive interview with LBCI, addressed the
significance of Gibran's work and the exhibition. “We are here today at the
Drawing Center in Manhattan, where an important cultural event is being held:
The Drawings of Gibran Kahlil Gibran," she said. "We would like to thank the
Gibran Museum without which such an event would not have taken place. Gibran is
back in New York after 100 years, and this exhibition shows that Gibran was not
only a writer, a thinker, and a poet, he was also a talented artist who created
beautiful and great paintings and drawings, which reflect his intellect and
genius." In a call to the public, Dr. Audi said, "We invite the Lebanese
community in New York and all art lovers to come to this exhibition. Gibran
awakens the universal human in us, he represents that which is higher in us, the
elevated man, the elevated soul. And these drawings represent his thoughts in
motion."Dr. Audi also pointed out the larger cultural implications of the
exhibition and the enduring power of Gibran's work. "This important event also
encourages young talents; Gibran is an inspiration and an invitation for us to
reveal our talents," she said. "We have a lot of talented people, a lot of
hidden Gibrans among our Diaspora and back home, and it is our duty to discover
these talents and showcase their works and share them with the whole world. We
may have crises, problems, but this is what remains, that which is eternal, and
that is: thought, art, culture. Our cultural heritage is our wealth."She
concluded by expressing her vision of Lebanon as a country of beauty, art, and
culture. "This is the real, civilized Lebanon that we love, the Lebanon of
beauty, art, and culture; this is the image of Lebanon that we want to show to
the world. Lebanon exports talents to the whole world, and while we Lebanese
take great pride in Gibran, this great genius belongs to the whole world, his
works belong and contribute to world cultural heritage.”For more information
about the exhibition, visit the Drawing Center's website. https://drawingcenter.org/exhibitions/a-greater-beauty-kahlil-gibran
Labor Minister in Geneva to partake in 111th International Labor Conference
NNA/June 05, 2023
Caretaker Labor Minister, Moustafa Bayram, on Monday arrived in Geneva at the
head of an accompanying delegation to take part in the 111th session of the
International Labor Conference organized by the International Labor Organization
(ILO). Bayram was received by Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations, Salim
Baddoura. Minister Bayram traveled directly from the airport to the United
Nations headquarters to participate in the opening ceremony of the conference,
whose sessions will continue until June 16. He will deliver Lebanon’s speech on
the second day of the conference.
New circular by Mikati: Subjecting importing,
exporting goods to prior authorization system
NNA/June 05, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday issued a circular to all
ministries and public administrations regarding subjecting the import and export
of goods by the competent ministries to the prior authorization system.
France seeks removal of Lebanese ambassador’s immunity after rape accusation
AFP/June 05, 2023
PARIS: French authorities will on Monday ask Lebanon to lift the immunity of
Beirut’s ambassador to Paris after an investigation was opened into alleged rape
and intentional violence by the envoy, a source said. “Steps in this direction
will be taken during the day,” a French diplomatic source, who asked not to be
named, told AFP. The ambassador, Rami Adwan, is being investigated in France
following complaints by two former embassy employees. He has diplomatic immunity
but could face trial if Lebanon agrees to France’s request. Lebanon’s foreign
ministry said Saturday that it would send an investigation team to the embassy
in Paris to question the ambassador and hear statements from embassy staff. The
first former employee, aged 31, filed her complaint in June 2022 for a rape she
says was committed in May 2020 in the ambassador’s private apartment, according
to sources close to the investigation, confirming a report by the Mediapart news
site. According to the complaint, she had a relationship with the ambassador,
who carried out “psychological and physical violence with daily humiliations.”
The second woman, aged 28, made a complaint last February after what she said
was a series of physical attacks after she turned down sexual relations. She
says Adwan tried to hit her with his car after an argument on the sidelines of
last year’s Normandy World Peace Forum. “In view of the seriousness of the facts
mentioned, we consider it necessary for the Lebanese authorities to lift the
immunity of the Lebanese ambassador in Paris in order to facilitate the work of
the French judicial authorities,” the French foreign ministry told AFP late
Friday. Adwan’s lawyer Karim Beylouni has said his client “contests all
accusations of aggression in any shape or form: verbal, moral, sexual.” He said
Adwan had had “romantic relationships” with the two women between 2018 and 2022
that were “punctuated by arguments and breakups.”
The appointment of a non-presiding president
in Lebanon
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 05, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/118796/118796/
In the past 48 hours, the Lebanese people have eagerly awaited the disclosure of
the “appointment” file of a president who does not preside … of a republic that
is no longer existent … on the land of a defunct “Lebanese state.”
In the last two weeks, the chances of financial expert and previous minister Dr.
Jihad Azour have substantially risen within the pool of presidential candidates.
Azour was one of the names circulated by supposedly influential political
parties in the wake of the absolute refusal of Hezbollah and its affiliates of
the candidacy of Michel Moawad, whom they considered a “challenge candidate.”
It is worth mentioning that Hezbollah deliberately — and for quite some time —
delayed announcing its expected candidate, former minister and MP Suleiman
Frangieh, allegedly for two reasons.
The first is that the “party” continues to blackmail the Aounist Free Patriotic
Movement to remain silent on its projects.
The second reason is that the “party” avoided the early provocation of the
leader of the movement, former minister Gebran Bassil, so as not to move away
from it before the full development of the required conditions, noting that
relations were never good between Bassil and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri,
leader of the Amal Movement.
However, in contrast to Hezbollah’s measured silence, its rivals and opposition
groups, including parties and individuals, were floundering between
confrontation and attempts at appeasement, and optimism about international
changes in between that might resolve the impasse in the midst of the worsening
economic and living conditions. Here, the Lebanese people, of different
backgrounds, continued to deceive themselves and deny the facts.
They continued to convince themselves that Hezbollah and its public relations
front — namely the Amal Movement — are mere “partisan cases” that have the right
to maneuver, compete, ally with one and stand against another, in an open field
with a leveled land governed by the democratic competition standards.
They have forgotten or feigned to have forgotten what the essence of a party is.
They have forgotten or feigned to have forgotten that Hezbollah has its own
project that no one participates in, and through which it has — exclusively —
its own political and security calculations, as well as its network of financial
and military relations, without any acknowledgment of the role of the “state” or
the existence of such a thing as national “sovereignty.”
This naively dangerous forgetfulness or pretense to forget has given way to a
number of mistakes that have been repeated over the past two decades in dealing
with Hezbollah. The point repeatedly ignored is that those opponents were not
dealing with Hezbollah as a “base” and a “tool” in a regional “project” with a
demographic sectarian depth. The “project” is integrated with eliminating the
concept of national borders and furthering demographic change throughout Iraq
and the Levant … between the Zagros mountain range (to the east) and the
Mediterranean Sea (to the west).
The consequences of misreading the regional “scenario” will be — I believe —
disastrous, especially since the messages launched by the “mouthpieces” of the
regional project within all Arab states under its yoke have become very clear.
Hezbollah has its own project that no one participates in, and through which it
has its own political and security calculations.
The messages we hear today reek of domination, arrogance, and a tendency toward
tyranny based on threatening others and showing them contempt. This is exactly
what the Iraqis became accustomed to a few years ago, followed by the Lebanese
presently living with this situation and surrendering to it.
Going back to the subject of the appointment of the future Lebanese “president,”
the use of the word “appointment” accurately describes the reality of the
situation. This is because Hezbollah, with Iran’s regional backing, does not
negotiate or bargain; rather, it imposes and commands. There is no other
candidate than Hassan Nasrallah’s, and there is no “patriotism” except by
accepting his choice, and there is no understanding unless everyone understands
that the word of the “Sayyed” is the end game. And why not?
To answer the above question, we have to keep in mind the two outstanding and
intersecting developments that occurred within the past few days.
The first was the disclosure of renewed US-Iranian contact through William
Burns, director of the CIA and one of the “engineers” of the Iranian nuclear
agreement.
The second is the words of Gadi Eisenkot, the former Israeli Defense Forces
chief of staff and current member of the Knesset, who is considered one of the
most prominent symbols of the politically influential “military establishment.”
The reports about renewed communication between Washington and Tehran raise
serious questions about how true the “declared” American positions are on a
number of regional issues. While many media outlets reported President Joe
Biden’s administration’s “reservations” about some diplomatic openings in the
region, specifically with both Tehran and the Assad regime in Syria, Eisenkot
said during the past week that Tehran and Washington “never stopped discussing a
renewed agreement.” He added: “All the recent leaks about Iran being close to
manufacturing seven nuclear bombs were only to spread fear in Europe and Israel,
and speed up the procedure of reaching an agreement.”
For those who are still under the illusion that the Israeli “military
establishment” really stands against “coexistence” with the Iranian regime,
Eisenkot said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pressure on Donald
Trump’s administration to exit the nuclear agreement “was a grave mistake …
which has brought Iran very close to the manufacturing of a nuclear bomb,”
before adding: “Iran has never crossed the red line and has no intention of
doing so.”
These words are heavy in implications, especially when applied to the Lebanese
reality.
They confirm that Nasrallah’s speeches and Hezbollah’s pledges about liberating
Jerusalem and other areas are just a “virtual” background.
The truth, however, is evident in the maritime border demarcation deal that
Lebanon recently concluded with Israel. This deal would not have been concluded
without “Hezbollah’s” approval — and behind it Iran’s blessing — on the
“Israeli” status of the Karish gas field off the shores of southern Lebanon.
• Eyad Abu Shakra is managing editor of Asharq Al-Awsat. This column first
appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat. Twitter: @eyad1949
Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports
And News published
on June 05-06/2023
US focused ‘on the future,’ Saudi
Arabia remains key partner: White House
Al Arabiya English/Published: 05 June ,2023
“Saudi Arabia is still a strategic partner, has been for eight decades, and will
be for the next eight decades,” Kirby said. The Biden administration on Monday
delivered a much more muted response to OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia’s decisions to
further cut oil output in a sign of easing tensions between Washington and
Riyadh. “I know of no advance notice [from Saudi Arabia], nor would there need
to be,” White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby told
reporters. “That was a unilateral decision by a sovereign state. So, I’ll let
them speak to that,” Kirby said when asked if the US was informed beforehand.
Last fall, when OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to cut oil output, the Biden
administration accused them of “siding with Russia” as the US and much of Europe
were trying to curtail Russian oil revenues from reaching Vladimir Putin’s
coffers. And before that OPEC+ decision, US President Joe Biden dispatched
senior officials from his administration to try to get them to reverse course on
oil production cuts. The Saudis rebuffed the calls and pushed ahead with its
move. The stark difference in the tone of US officials this week appears to be a
further sign that ties have significantly improved in recent months. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken is heading to Saudi Arabia this week, making him at
least the third senior US official to visit the kingdom in the last three
months. Asked about the US-Saudi relationship on Monday, the NSC’s Kirby struck
an upbeat down as has been the case in the last several months. East.The US has
also publicly lauded Saudi Arabia’s decision to condemn the Russian invasion of
Ukraine at the UN as well as Riyadh’s pledge of over $400 million to Kyiv.
“There’s going to be issues where we don’t agree with Saudi Arabia, and we have
the kind of relationship that we can express those concerns directly, and we do
all the time,” Kirby said. He added: “But we’re focused on the future. Saudi
Arabia is still a strategic partner, has been for eight decades, and will be for
the next eight decades. And we’re managing that relationship going forward;
that’s what our focus is on.”
Saudi Arabia welcomes Venezuelan leader Maduro,
reaching out to yet another US foe
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/Mon, June 5, 2023
Saudi Arabia has welcomed Venzuelan President Nicolas Maduro on an official
visit, reaching out to yet another U.S. foe as the oil-rich kingdom engages in a
flurry of diplomacy. Maduro arrived late Sunday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah,
where he was greeted by Saudi officials, according to the state-run Saudi Press
Agency. It did not give a reason for the visit or elaborate on his schedule, but
Saudi Arabia is hosting an international conference on combating extremism later
this week in the capital, Riyadh. The gathering will be co-chaired by U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Saudi Arabia has been a close U.S. ally for
decades, but relations have been strained in recent years. Over the last few
months, the kingdom has restored relations with Iran's theocracy and Syria's
President Bashar Assad — both seen as pariahs in the West. Last month, the
Saudis welcomed Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a close Western ally,
to an Arab League summit. But days later, they hosted a senior Russian official
who is under Western sanctions. The Saudis say they are pursuing their own
national interests in a world increasingly defined by great power competition.
Experts say the diplomatic surge is aimed at shoring up regional stability and
improving the kingdom's image as it seeks international investment for massive
development projects. Maduro was re-elected in 2018 after judges banned his main
opponents from competing, plunging the country into a severe political and
economic crisis. Most opposition parties refused to recognize the election
results and challenged Maduro’s rule by creating an interim government, a push
for change that fizzled out over the past two years. Washington backed the
opposition and imposed heavy sanctions on Maduro’s autocratic government, hoping
that would spark change. But Maduro’s government dug in and resisted the
sanctions with support from Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Israel returns body of Egyptian policeman who
killed Israeli soldiers
David Gritten - BBC News/Mon, June 5, 2023
Israel has returned to Egypt the body of an Egyptian policeman who shot dead
three Israeli soldiers near the border between the two countries on Saturday.
Media reports identified the policeman as Mohammed Salah, 22. Egypt said after
the incident that he crossed into Israel while chasing drug smugglers, leading
to an exchange of fire with the Israeli soldiers. But Israel's prime minister
said that it was a terrorist attack and demanded a thorough joint investigation.
A relative and a comrade of Salah told the BBC that he was not an extremist.
According to the Israeli military, two Israeli soldiers - Staff Sgt Uri Iluz,
20, and Sgt Lia Ben-Nun, 19 - posted in a remote spot along the border were shot
dead early on Saturday morning. Their bodies were discovered after a senior
officer was unable to contact them by radio. After a search operation, the
attacker was encircled and there was a shootout. The third soldier - Staff Sgt
Ohad Dahan, 20 - was killed along with the attacker, who the Israeli military
said was an Egyptian policeman. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet
meeting on Sunday: "Israel relayed a clear message to the Egyptian government.
We expect that the joint investigation will be exhaustive and thorough.""We will
refresh procedures and methods of operations and also the measures to reduce to
a minimum the smuggling and to ensure tragic terrorist attacks like this do not
happen again." Israeli media cited a preliminary investigation as saying the
policeman entered Israel by using a closed emergency gate in the border fence,
which was a few hundred metres away from Staff Sgt Iluz and Sgt Ben-Nun's guard
post. After the policeman was killed, Israeli soldiers found that he was
carrying six magazines for his rifle, as well as two combat knives and a Quran,
they added. The reports also said Egyptian officials had told their Israeli
counterparts in meetings that the attacker was a "rogue" officer who had acted
on his own after becoming radicalised. Egyptian authorities have not commented
on the reports or confirmed the policeman's identity, but a relative of Mohammed
Salah and a member of his unit told BBC News Arabic on Monday that members of
this family and friends were being detained for questioning by investigators.
The relative denied that Salah had been radicalised and suggested that he might
have wanted to avenge the death of a comrade. During a period of leave last
month, Salah had expressed his anger about "the silence over the killing of one
of his military friends by Israeli soldiers during his military service at the
border", they said. He had also complained about the military rejecting a
request for a medical exemption, they added. It is not known what alleged
incident the relative was referring to.
Palestinian toddler shot by Israeli troops in
West Bank dies of wounds
AP/June 05, 2023
A 3-year-old Palestinian boy who was shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West
Bank last week died of his wounds, Israeli hospital officials said Monday.
Mohammed Al-Tamimi was shot in the head last Thursday near his village of Nebi
Saleh while riding in a car with his father. He was airlifted to Israel’s Sheba
Hospital, which announced the boy’s death. The Israeli military has said it
opened fire after gunmen in the area shot at an Israeli guard post at a nearby
Jewish settlement. But the boy’s father, Haitham Al-Tamimi, told The Associated
Press that he had just buckled up his son in the car and they were driving to
visit an uncle when the bullet struck. The father was also shot and treated at a
Palestinian hospital. The Israeli military has opened an investigation into the
incident. Rights groups, however, say that such investigations rarely lead to
prosecution or disciplinary action against soldiers. The shooting was the latest
bloodshed in a more than yearlong surge of violence in the occupied West Bank
and east Jerusalem. That fighting has picked up since Israel’s new far-right
government took office in late December. Nearly 120 Palestinians have been
killed in the two areas this year, with nearly half of them members of armed
militant groups, according to an AP tally. The military says the number of
militants is much higher. But stone-throwing youths and people uninvolved in
violence have also been killed. Meanwhile, Palestinian attacks targeting
Israelis in those areas have killed at least 21 people. Israel captured the West
Bank and east Jerusalem, along with the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war.
Palestinians seek these territories for a future state. Some 700,000 Israelis
now live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Most of the
international community considers these settlements illegal or obstacles to
peace.
Netanyahu reportedly appoints new anti-Biden
media advisor
Associated Press/June 05, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a new media advisor who
has tweeted critically against President Joe Biden, the daily Haaretz reported.
The appointment comes at a time when U.S.-Israel relations are strained. Gilad
Zwick, a journalist with a conservative Israeli TV station, has in his tweets
called Biden "unfit" to rule and said that he was "slowly but surely destroying
America." He also posted tweets suggesting he supported President Donald Trump's
false claims that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged. The tweets were still
online Monday. Both Netanyahu's office and Zwick did not immediately respond to
a request for comment. Zwick previously worked for Israel Hayom, a pro-Netanyahu
daily. Zwick's appointment comes as ties between Israel and its closest ally,
the United States, are fraught over a contentious Israeli government plan to
overhaul the judiciary and over the government's ultranationalist character.
Biden has publicly expressed concern over the Netanyahu government's plan to
reshape the legal system, which has sparked mass protests that continue weekly
even after the plan was put on hold. The Biden administration has also voiced
unease about Netanyahu's government, made up of ultranationalists who were once
at the fringes of Israeli politics and now hold senior positions dealing with
the Palestinians and other sensitive issues. Amid the tensions, Biden has so far
denied Netanyahu a typically customary invitation to the White House after his
election win late last year. Critics accuse Netanyahu of gradually shifting
Israel from a bipartisan matter to a wedge issue in U.S. politics. They point to
him appearing to openly support Republican candidates as well as his 2015 speech
to Congress which was seen as a slight to the Obama administration over its
nuclear deal with Iran. Netanyahu says Israel's bond with the U.S. is
unbreakable and downplays any rifts as disagreements between friends. Last
month, Israel's parliament hosted U.S. House speaker Kevin McCarthy, who became
just the second House speaker to address the Knesset, after Republican Newt
Gingrich in 1998.
US Navy says Iran boats 'harassed' ship in
Strait of Hormuz
Associated Press/June 05, 2023
The U.S. Navy said Monday its sailors and the United Kingdom Royal Navy came to
the aid of a ship in the crucial Strait of Hormuz after Iran's Revolutionary
Guard "harassed" it. Three fast-attack Guard vessels with armed troops aboard
approached the merchant ship at a close distance Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Navy
said in a statement. It offered black-and-white images it said came from a U.S.
Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon overhead, which showed three small ships close to the
commercial ship. The U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and the
Royal Navy's frigate HMS Lancaster responded to the incident, with the Lancaster
launching a helicopter. "The situation deescalated approximately an hour later
when the merchant vessel confirmed the fast-attack craft departed the scene,"
the Navy said. "The merchant ship continued transiting the Strait of Hormuz
without further incident."The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian
Gulf, sees 20% of the world's oil pass through it. While the Navy did not
identify the vessel involved, ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed
by The Associated Press showed the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Venture
erratically changed course as it traveled through the strait at the time of the
incident. Its location also matched information about the incident given by the
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military operation
overseeing traffic in the region. The vessel also resembled the images released
by the Navy.
The ship's registered manager, Trust Bulkers of Athens, Greece, did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iranian state media and the Revolutionary Guard did not immediately acknowledge
the incident. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond
to a request for comment. This latest incident comes after a series of maritime
incidents involving Iran following the U.S. unilaterally withdrawing from
Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. The suspected American seizure
of the Suez Rajan, a tanker linked to a U.S. private equity firm believed to
have been carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil off Singapore, likely sparked
Tehran to recently take the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet.
That ship carried Kuwaiti crude oil for energy firm Chevron Corp. of San Ramon,
California. While authorities have not acknowledged the Suez Rajan's seizure,
the vessel is now off the coast of Galveston, Texas, according to ship-tracking
data analyzed by the AP. Meanwhile, Iran separately seized the Niovi, a
Panama-flagged tanker, as it left a dry dock in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
bound for Fujairah on the UAE's eastern coast. While not carrying any cargo,
data from S&P Global Market Intelligence seen by the AP showed the Niovi in July
2020 received oil from a ship known then as the Oman Pride.
The U.S. Treasury in August 2021 sanctioned the Oman Pride and others associated
with the vessel over it being "involved in an international oil smuggling
network" that supported the Quds Force, the expeditionary unit of the Guard that
operates across the Mideast. Purported emails published online by Wikiran, a
website that solicits leaked documents from the Islamic Republic, suggest that
cargo carried by the Niovi was sold on to firms in China without permission.
Satellite images analyzed by the AP show those two vessels anchored off Bandar
Abbas, Iran.
The recent seizures have put new pressure on the U.S., long the security
guarantor for Gulf Arab nations. The United Arab Emirates claimed last week it
earlier "withdrew its participation" from a joint naval command called the
Combined Maritime Forces though the U.S. Navy said it was still in the group.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military's Central Command said Saturday its chief visited
the region, met with Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and
"discussed shared regional security concerns as well as U.S. and UAE security
partnerships." The Mideast-based commanders of the U.S., British and French
navies last month also transited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday aboard an
American warship, a sign of their unified approach to keep the crucial waterway
open after Iran seized the two oil tankers.
Iranian embassy to reopen in Saudi Arabia on
Tuesday
Agence France Presse/June 05, 2023
Iran is set to reopen its embassy in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday following a seven
year closure, Tehran and a diplomatic source said, sealing a Chinese-brokered
rapprochement deal announced in March. Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran
in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of
Mashhad were attacked during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric
Nimr al-Nimr. Iran's diplomatic mission, which was expelled by Saudi
authorities, will return under the leadership of Alireza Enayati, who previously
served as Iran's ambassador to Kuwait. Tehran's foreign ministry spokesman
Nasser Kanani announced the reopening in a statement Monday, confirming earlier
comments by a diplomatic source in Riyadh. Iran's embassy in Riyadh, its
consulate in Jeddah and its representative office to the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) "will be officially reopened on Tuesday and Wednesday", Kanani
said. The diplomatic source had earlier told AFP that the opening "will take
place Tuesday at 6:00 pm local time (1500 GMT) with the presence of the newly
appointed Iranian ambassador" to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has yet to confirm
when it will reopen its embassy in Tehran or its pick for ambassador. Iranian
media had named Enayati as the Islamic republic's Saudi envoy last month. He had
previously served as assistant to the foreign minister and director general of
Gulf affairs at the foreign ministry, according to Iranian reports. After years
of discord, the two Middle East heavyweights signed a surprise reconciliation
agreement in China on March 10. Since then, Saudi Arabia has restored ties with
Tehran ally Syria and ramped up a push for peace in Yemen, where it has for
years led a military coalition against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels. Iran and
Saudi Arabia had backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the Middle East
for years before mending fences.
Iran launches militia patrol to crack down on abortions
Melanie Swan/The Telegraph/Mon, June 5, 2023
Iran has ordered a notorious paramilitary group to patrol towns and cities to
crack down on abortions, as the regime worries about the country’s declining
population. The “abortion patrol”, or “Nafs”, meaning “life” in Persian, was
announced by Saber Jabari Faruji, an official from the Ministry of Health, who
warned that those involved in illegal abortions will be dealt with “severely”,
with medical staff having their licences revoked. The patrols will be undertaken
by a group of paramilitary volunteers known as the Basij militia, who are
fiercely loyal to the Islamic Republic. When violent protests erupted in Iran
last year over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Tehran’s
morality police, the group had scaled back its patrols enforcing the country’s
strict rules on women’s clothing in the hope of quelling widespread anger.
Renewed crackdown
The regime in Tehran has since moved to tighten its control, launching a renewed
crackdown on violations of the mandatory hijab rules. Women can only access an
abortion legally in Iran if the foetus has been shown to have genetic disorders
or if pregnancy to full term risks the life of the mother or child. Some 10,000
legal abortions were carried out last year, according to official figures, but,
with Iran’s population falling rapidly, it is underground clinics terminating
potentially healthy babies that has alarmed Tehran. Iran’s parliament approved a
law last year banning public health services from offering family planning
including contraceptives, vasectomies and tubectomies as well as free
contraceptives, other than where pregnancy would threaten a woman’s health.
Taking that one step further, last month, President Ebrahim Raisi ordered
government clinics to ban access to abortion pills, making even legal access
more difficult.
Afsaneh, a social sciences lecturer in Tehran who asked that her full name not
be revealed, said the government was targeting abortions and family planning to
reverse the population decline. “Access to safe abortion is critical,” she said.
“As long as a couple, especially the mother, is not fully able to look after the
child and nurture them, they can’t be responsible, committed parents. A woman
who doesn’t want to give birth may resort to dangerous means to get an abortion
and this will risk her life.”Those who can afford to are going abroad to
terminate unwanted pregnancies - many to Turkey, which is still accessible by
road.
Options rapidly closing
But the options open to the less wealthy are rapidly closing.
Without access to birth control, illegal clinics have been a last resort for
those women who cannot afford to be caught pregnant, or are unable to raise a
child. Unmarried women in Iran face brutal lashings, social ostracisation and
fines if they fall pregnant out of wedlock. Now, however, the new abortion
patrols will be watching, with the intention of closing down this last resort.
Maryam, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was 30 when she had
a backstreet abortion in Tehran. Pregnant and unmarried, she risked a fine and
lashing for committing the “sin” of sex outside marriage.
“I didn’t want to have a child and I couldn’t tell anyone and no doctor would
help me,” she said. Doctors only granted permission from the Islamic court which
would certainly not sanction her procedure. Maryam was living with her boyfriend
with forged documents that showed them as married. Like other young women in
Iran, she usually had stocks of black market morning-after pills, but they were
not always available. When she became pregnant, she found a backstreet clinic
through friends, run by a doctor also working in private hospitals.
‘Dirty everywhere’
The clinic, she said, “looked like a butcher’s house … it was dirty everywhere”.
The experience cost one month’s rent and it also cost her her health. Maryam
said she bled for four months and ended up with a prolapsed uterus, and breast
and uterus cancer after complications. “I will never forget the fear and pain of
that day. We were like the victims of an experiment in a hall. After doing the
work on the patient on the bed in front of me, without any cleaning, the doctor
came to me with the same gloves,” she said. Khourosh Ziabari, an Iranian
journalist now living in exile, said that in spite of the government offering
financial incentives to couples with more than one child, the population 85
million, one third of which lives below the poverty line, is struggling to
survive and remains unconvinced by the regime’s procreation propaganda. “Iran’s
cultural war against abortion and reproductive rights is not a local
phenomenon,” he said, “but in the context of Iran, [it] falls within the rubric
of the broader government policies to restrict women’s choices and enforce
patriarchal norms.” Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism.
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Russia says repelled 'large-scale' Ukraine
offensive
Associated Press/Mon, June 5, 2023
Russian officials said their forces thwarted large Ukrainian attacks in two
provinces of Ukraine illegally annexed by Moscow. The Ukrainian military
suggested the Russian reports were part of a misinformation campaign as Kyiv
prepares for an anticipated counteroffensive.
Russia's Defense Ministry said in a rare early morning video released Monday
that its forces pushed back a "large scale" assault Sunday at five points in
eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province, one of four regions that President Vladimir
Putin claimed as Russian territory last fall but is only partially controlled by
Moscow. "The enemy's goal was to break through our defenses in the most
vulnerable, in its opinion, sector of the front," Defense Ministry spokesman
Igor Konashenkov said. "The enemy did not achieve its tasks. It had no success."
Konashenkov said 250 Ukrainian personnel were killed, and 16 Ukrainian tanks,
three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armored combat vehicles were destroyed.
Vladimir Rogov, a Moscow-installed official in southeast Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia
province. said Sunday that Kyiv's forces also attempted to breach Russian
defenses there but were repelled after advancing 400 meters (less than a
quarter-mile) into Russian-occupied territory.
Active hostilities resumed early Monday, Rogov said, adding that "the enemy
threw an even bigger force into the attack than yesterday." The new attempt to
break through the front line was "more large-scale and organized," he said,
adding: "A battle is underway."
Ukrainian officials did not confirm the attacks. The Center for Strategic
Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Telegram that Russian
forces were "stepping up their information and psychological operations.""In
order to demoralize Ukrainians and mislead the community (including their own
population), Russian propagandists will spread false information about the
counteroffensive, its directions and the losses of the Ukrainian army. Even if
there is no counteroffensive," a statement on Telegram read. Ukraine often waits
until the completion of its military operations to confirm its actions, imposing
news blackouts in the interim. The Russian Defense Ministry said the alleged
Donetsk attack started Sunday morning, and it was unclear why it waited until
Monday to announce it.
For months, Ukrainian officials have spoken of plans to launch a spring
counteroffensive to reclaim territory Russia has occupied since invading the
country on Feb. 24, 2022, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in
2014. But they've given confusing signals about whether preliminary, limited
attacks to weaken Russian forces and military facilities would mark the start of
the campaign, or only a full-fledged simultaneous assault across the entire
1,100-kilometer (684-mile) front line. At least two factors have been at play in
the timing: the improvement of ground conditions for troop and equipment
movement after the winter, and the deployment of more advanced Western weapons
and training of Ukrainian troops to use them. The Russian Defense Ministry
spokesman said Ukraine used six mechanized and two tank battalions in the
attack. The ministry released a video claiming to show destruction of some of
the equipment in a field. In a rare specific mention of the presence of Russia's
top military leaders in battlefield operations, Konashenkov said the chief of
the general staff of the Russian armed forces, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, "was at
one of the forward command posts."Announcing Gerasimov's direct involvement
could be a response to criticism by some Russian military bloggers and by
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russian mercenary group Wagner, that Russia's
military brass hasn't been visible enough at the front or taken sufficient
control or responsibility for their country's military operations in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy cheers ‘news we expect’
from troops at Bakhmut
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Updated: 06 June ,2023
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lauded on Monday the “news we expect”
from forces fighting in the battlefront at the eastern city of Bakhmut, without
adding any more details. “First of all, I am grateful to each of our warriors,
to all our defenders who gave us the news we expect. Bakhmut direction – well
done, warriors,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. He added that
Russia was reacting frantically to Ukrainian forces’ actions and advances: “We
see how hysterically Russia perceives every step we take there, every position
we take.” Zelenskyy also singled out two combat units, celebrated their
achievements and thanked them: “The 5th separate assault brigade and the 57th
separate motorized infantry brigade, which skillfully, decisively and
efficiently defend our positions, destroying the occupiers and, most
importantly, moving forward. Earlier on Monday, Moscow claimed to have held off
a “large-scale offensive” by Ukrainian forces in the Russian-occupied Donetsk
region. Meanwhile, Ukrainian deputy defense minister said forces have started
conducting “offensive actions” in several battlefronts and have achieved some
progress in the eastern city of Bakhmut. The latest developments on the
battleground come amid high anticipation of Ukraine’s long-awaited
counter-offensive to reclaim occupied territories armed with the latest
shipments of Western weapon systems.
EU executive extends Ukraine grain import restrictions
BRUSSELS (Reuters)/Mon, June 5, 2023
The European Commission said on Monday it had extended until September 15 an
arrangement whereby five of Ukraine's neighbours can ban domestic sales of
Ukrainian grains, while allowing the grains to transit their countries. The five
- Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - had complained that the
European Union's liberalisation of all trade with Ukraine meant cheaper
Ukrainian grain flooding in, making domestic production unprofitable. The
Commission, which oversees trade policy in the 27-nation European Union, had
allowed the neighbours to set restrictions on imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize,
rapeseed and sunflower seeds. This exception was to have lasted until Monday.
The grains can still be exported to other EU members or to outside the bloc. The
Commission said a month ago that it could extend the restrictions if exceptional
conditions persisted.
Nazi Symbols on Ukraine’s Front Lines Highlight Thorny
Issues of History
Thomas Gibbons-Neff/The New York Times/Mon, June 5, 2023 EDT
KYIV, Ukraine — Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the
Ukrainian government and NATO allies have posted, then quietly deleted, three
seemingly innocuous photographs from their social media feeds: a soldier
standing in a group, another resting in a trench and an emergency worker posing
in front of a truck. In each photograph, Ukrainians in uniform wore patches
featuring symbols that were made notorious by Nazi Germany and have since become
part of the iconography of far-right hate groups. The photographs, and their
deletions, highlight the Ukrainian military’s complicated relationship with Nazi
imagery, a relationship forged under both Soviet and German occupation during
World War II. That relationship has become especially delicate because Russian
President Vladimir Putin has falsely declared Ukraine to be a Nazi state, a
claim he has used to justify his illegal invasion.
Ukraine has worked for years through legislation and military restructuring to
contain a fringe far-right movement whose members proudly wear symbols steeped
in Nazi history and espouse views hostile to leftists, LGBTQ movements and
ethnic minorities. But some members of these groups have been fighting Russia
since the Kremlin illegally annexed part of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014
and are now part of the broader military structure. Some are regarded as
national heroes, even as the far-right remains marginalized politically. The
iconography of these groups, including a skull-and-crossbones patch worn by
concentration camp guards and a symbol known as the Black Sun, now appears with
some regularity on the uniforms of soldiers fighting on the front line,
including soldiers who say the imagery symbolizes Ukrainian sovereignty and
pride, not Nazism. In the short term, that threatens to reinforce Putin’s
propaganda and giving fuel to his false claims that Ukraine must be
“de-Nazified” — a position that ignores the fact that Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish. More broadly, Ukraine’s ambivalence about these
symbols, and sometimes even its acceptance of them, risks giving new, mainstream
life to icons that the West has spent more than a half-century trying to
eliminate. “What worries me, in the Ukrainian context, is that people in Ukraine
who are in leadership positions, either they don’t or they’re not willing to
acknowledge and understand how these symbols are viewed outside of Ukraine,”
said Michael Colborne, a researcher at the investigative group Bellingcat who
studies the international far right. “I think Ukrainians need to increasingly
realize that these images undermine support for the country.”
In a statement, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that, as a country that
suffered greatly under German occupation, “We emphasize that Ukraine
categorically condemns any manifestations of Nazism.”So far, the imagery has not
eroded international support for the war. It has, however, left diplomats,
Western journalists and advocacy groups in a difficult position: Calling
attention to the iconography risks playing into Russian propaganda. Saying
nothing allows it to spread. Even Jewish groups and anti-hate organizations that
have traditionally called out hateful symbols have stayed largely silent.
Privately, some leaders have worried about being seen as embracing Russian
propaganda talking points. Questions over how to interpret such symbols are as
divisive as they are persistent, and not just in Ukraine. In the American South,
some have insisted that today, the Confederate flag symbolizes pride, not its
history of racism and secession. The swastika was an important Hindu symbol
before it was co-opted by the Nazis.
In April, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry posted a photograph on its Twitter account
of a soldier wearing a patch featuring a skull and crossbones known as the
Totenkopf, or Death’s Head. The specific symbol in the picture was made
notorious by a Nazi unit that committed war crimes and guarded concentration
camps during World War II. The patch in the photograph sets the Totenkopf atop a
Ukrainian flag with a small No. 6 below. That patch is the official merchandise
of Death in June, a British neo-folk band that the Southern Poverty Law Center
has said produces “hate speech” that “exploits themes and images of fascism and
Nazism.” The Anti-Defamation League considers the Totenkopf “a common hate
symbol.” But Jake Hyman, a spokesperson for the group, said it was impossible to
“make an inference about the wearer or the Ukrainian army” based on the patch.
“The image, while offensive, is that of a musical band,” Hyman said. The band
now uses the photograph posted by the Ukrainian military to market the Totenkopf
patch. The New York Times asked the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on April 27 about
the tweet. Several hours later, the post was deleted. “After studying this case,
we came to the conclusion that this logo can be interpreted ambiguously,” the
ministry said in a statement. The soldier in the photograph was part of a
volunteer unit called the Da Vinci Wolves, which started as part of the
paramilitary wing of Ukraine’s “right sector,” a coalition of right-wing
organizations and political parties that militarized after Russia’s illegal
annexation of Crimea. At least five other photographs on the Wolves’ Instagram
and Facebook pages feature their soldiers wearing Nazi-style patches, including
the Totenkopf. NATO militaries, an alliance that Ukraine hopes to join, do not
tolerate such patches. When such symbols have appeared, groups such as the
Anti-Defamation League have spoken out, and military leaders have reacted
swiftly. Last month, Ukraine’s state emergency services agency posted on
Instagram a photograph of an emergency worker wearing a Black Sun symbol, also
known as a Sonnenrad, that appeared in the castle of Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi
general and SS director. The Black Sun is popular among neo-Nazis and white
supremacists.
In March 2022, NATO’s Twitter account posted a photograph of a Ukrainian soldier
wearing a similar patch.
Both photographs were quickly removed. In November, during a meeting with Times
reporters near the front line, a Ukrainian press officer wore a Totenkopf
variation made by a company called R3ICH (pronounced “Reich”). He said he did
not believe the patch was affiliated with the Nazis. A second press officer
present said other journalists had asked soldiers to remove the patch before
taking photographs. Ihor Kozlovskyi, a Ukrainian historian and religious
scholar, said the symbols had meanings that were unique to Ukraine and should be
interpreted by how Ukrainians viewed them, not by how they had been used
elsewhere. “The symbol can live in any community or any history independently of
how it is used in other parts of Earth,” Kozlovskyi said. Russian soldiers in
Ukraine have also been seen wearing Nazi-style patches, underscoring how
complicated interpreting these symbols can be in a region steeped in Soviet and
German history. The Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with Germany in
1939, so it was caught by surprise two years later when the Nazis invaded
Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine had suffered greatly
under a Soviet government that engineered a famine that killed millions. Many
Ukrainians initially viewed the Nazis as liberators. Factions from the
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its insurgent army fought alongside
the Nazis in what they viewed as a struggle for Ukrainian sovereignty. Members
of those groups also took part in atrocities against Jewish and Polish
civilians. Later in the war, though, some of the groups fought against the
Nazis. Some Ukrainians joined Nazi military units such as the Waffen-SS Galizien.
The emblem of the group, which was led by German officers, was a sky-blue patch
showing a lion and three crowns. The unit took part in a massacre of hundreds of
Polish civilians in 1944. In December, after a yearslong legal battle, Ukraine’s
highest court ruled that a government-funded research institute could continue
to list the unit’s insignia as excluded from the Nazi symbols banned under a
2015 law. on fights against Russian occupation, many Ukrainians see the war as a
continuation of the struggle for independence during and immediately after World
War II. Symbols such as the flag associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army
and the Galizien patch have become emblems of anti-Russian resistance and
national pride. That makes it difficult to easily separate, on the basis of
icons alone, the Ukrainians enraged by the Russian invasion from those who
support the country’s far-right groups. Units such as the Da Vinci Wolves, the
better-known Azov regiment and others that began with far-right members have
been folded into the Ukrainian military, and have been instrumental in defending
Ukraine from Russian troops. The Azov regiment was celebrated after holding out
during the siege of the southern city of Mariupol last year. After the commander
of the Da Vinci Wolves was killed in March, he received a hero’s funeral, which
Zelenskyy attended. “I think some of these far-right units mix a fair bit of
their own mythmaking into the public discourse on them,” Colborne said. “But I
think the least that can and should be done everywhere, not just Ukraine, is not
allowing the far right’s symbols, rhetoric and ideas to seep into public
discourse.”
Nato secretary general says Sweden has 'fulfilled
obligations' to members
The Telegraph/Sun, June 4, 2023
Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, called on Ankara to drop its
opposition to Sweden’s bid to join the defence alliance, hoping Stockholm’s
accession would be finalised “as soon as possible”. Pressure is building on
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to give Sweden’s Nato membership his blessing
ahead of a summit planned for July in Vilnius, Lithuania. “Membership will make
Sweden safer but also make Nato and Turkey stronger,” Mr Stoltenberg told
journalists in Istanbul on Sunday after meeting with Mr Erdogan and his newly
appointed foreign minister Hakan Fidan, who was previously head of the
intelligence agency. “I look forward to finalising Sweden’s accession as soon as
possible,” he said. On Saturday, Mr Stoltenberg attended the inauguration of Mr
Erdogan, who was re-elected to serve another five years in a lavish ceremony
joined by dozens of world leaders in the capital Ankara.
Nato member Turkey has dragged its feet over admitting Sweden to the military
alliance. Hungary and Turkey are the only two Nato countries yet to ratify
Sweden’s membership. Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military
non-alignment and applied to join the alliance in response to Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine. Finland formally joined Nato in April. Mr Erdogan has accused Sweden
of being a haven for terrorists, especially members of the Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK), a group blacklisted by Turkey and its Western allies. “Sweden has
taken significant concrete steps to meet Turkey’s concerns,” Mr Stoltenberg
said. “This includes amending the Swedish constitution, ending arms embargo,
stepping up counter-terrorism operations including against the PKK,” he said.
“Sweden has fulfilled its obligations.” Tobias Billstrom, Sweden’s foreign
minister, also said that Stockholm had fulfilled “all the commitments” to join
Nato and urged Turkey and Hungary to allow his country into the alliance. Ankara
is especially displeased with anti-Turkey and anti-Erdogan protests in
Stockholm. Swedish authorities allowed a “No to Nato, No Erdogan Laws in Sweden”
demonstration to go ahead in the city centre on Sunday. “Freedom of assembly and
expression are core values in democratic societies. But we should remember why
these are taking place,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “Organisers of these
demonstrations want to block Sweden’s accession to Nato and undermine its
collaboration with Turkey against terrorism and weaken Nato,” the head of Nato
added. “We should not allow them to succeed.” Broaden your horizons with
award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy
1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
Russian attempts to waste Ukraine's advanced air-defense
missiles with cheap drones are failing, UK intel says
Sinéad Baker/Business Insider/Mon, June 5, 2023
Russia fired over 300 Iranian-made drones at Ukraine in May, the UK said.
The goal was to get Ukraine to waste its valuable stock of air defense missiles,
the UK MOD said.
But the efforts failed, with 90% shot down without Ukraine needing to use
advanced missiles, it said.
Russia launched more than 300 Iranian-made drones at Ukraine throughout May, in
an attempt to get the country to use up its stockpile of advanced air defense
missiles, but the efforts didn't work, according to UK intelligence. In an
intelligence update on Monday, the UK Ministry of Defence labeled the campaign
Russia's "most intense use" of Iranian Shahed uncrewed aerial vehicles to date,
and said Russia was likely firing the drones in "an attempt to force Ukraine to
fire stocks of valuable, advanced air defence missiles." But it said that Russia
was "unlikely to have been notably successful: Ukraine has neutralized at least
90% of the incoming OWA-UAVs mostly using its older and cheaper air defence
weapons and with electronic jamming." Shahed drones are estimated to cost
upwards of $21,000 — relatively cheap compared to the cost of missiles, which
Russia has also been firing at Ukraine, and more advanced unmanned aircraft.
Russia's failure to get Ukraine to waste its advanced air defense missiles comes
alongside Russia's inability to destroy Ukrainian air defence systems, the UK
MOD added. The MOD said last month that Russia was prioritizing trying to knock
out Ukraine's advanced air defense systems after Ukraine shot down Kinzhal
missiles that Russia had previously bragged were unstoppable. Ukraine has a
variety of air defense systems, including the advanced Patriot missile systems
it received from the US and European allies. Last month, Russia claimed to have
destroyed one Patriot missile system, but the US said it was still functional
and had been quickly repaired. The UK MOD also said that Russia was likely
trying to "locate and strike Ukrainian forces well behind the front line," but
without much success. "Russia remains very ineffective at hitting such dynamic
targets at range because of its poor targeting processes," it said.
Analysis-Saudi Arabia's 'icing on the cake' oil cut could
feed US producers
Dmitry Zhdannikov/Reuters/June 5, 2023
LONDON () - Saudi Arabia has crafted a complex OPEC+ deal with a view to
punishing investors that have bet on falling oil prices but could inadvertently
lend long-term support to the rival U.S. energy industry, OPEC+ insiders and
market watchers said. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia pledged to cut its oil output by 1
million barrels per day (bpd), or 10%, in July on top of existing output cuts
from OPEC and its allies. With the new Saudi reduction, the group has agreed to
take some 4.6 million bpd off the market in July, equivalent to 4.6% of global
demand of 100 million bpd. OPEC+ also agreed on Sunday to extend the group's
existing supply cuts of 3.66 million bpd into 2024. In response, oil prices rose
nearly $2 a barrel early on Monday to $78 per barrel [O/R]. Analysts said the
gains are only the beginning and the cuts will steadily deepen a global supply
shortfall that could push prices towards $100 a barrel. "This market needs
stabilisation," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on
Sunday, calling his surprise decision to deepen Saudi production cuts "the icing
on the cake" for the deal. Prince Abdulaziz has repeatedly expressed anger and
pledged to punish short-sellers of oil that bet on price falls. Prices had
fallen in recent weeks to close to $70 per barrel from over $130 a year ago when
Russia invaded Ukraine. "The Saudi move was driven by the desire to deter
short-sellers from pushing the price any lower," a source familiar with OPEC+
strategy said on condition of anonymity. "The size of (the Saudi) reduction is
credible and should at minimum limit the downside pressure on prices for the
rest of the year," Natasha Kaneva at JP Morgan said. Unexpected price rises
force short-sellers to close positions at a loss. OPEC says it does not have any
oil price target and its policy decisions are to prevent volatility by balancing
supply and and demand. "(The cut) clearly reflects the angst and frustration
amongst producers, particularly of Saudi Arabia, of sliding prices," Tamas Varga
from PVM brokerage said, adding that Riyadh needs prices of $80 per barrel to
balance its budget, according to the IMF estimates. Previous cuts by the group
have triggered heavy criticism from the United States and other consuming
nations that have accused it undermining the global economy by driving energy
costs higher. OPEC+ ministers have responded by saying they are defending their
own interests and that they need to provide conditions for long-term investment
in the oil and gas sector. They also say piecemeal policies to shift to low
carbon energy have discouraged investment and could lead to shortages in future
supply before the world is ready to live without oil.
U.S. OIL BOOM
The United States was sanguine about the latest OPEC cuts. A White House
official said on Sunday that the administration's focus was "not barrels" but
prices for U.S. customers and that they had fallen significantly since last
year. So far this year, a weakening global economy, concern about the U.S.
banking crisis, and a slow Chinese recovery from COVID-19 restrictions have
capped oil prices. But OPEC, as well as the West's energy watchdog the
International Energy Agency and many observers expect rising demand to outstrip
supply in the second half of the year. The Saudi cuts will deepen the market
deficit to more than 3 million bpd from July, adding upside pressure in the
coming weeks, Jorge Leon from Rystad Energy said. If the latest OPEC+ curbs push
prices higher, rival producers outside the group will also benefit and the
biggest rival is the United States. The U.S. has more than doubled its oil and
gas production over the past 15 years, mostly as a result of the development of
shale fields. Shale production plunged during the pandemic and lenders
restricted funding, but it has since recovered and US crude exports and output
have hit record highs. OPEC+'s decision to extend existing cuts by another year
will likely give U.S. producers much needed longer-term price confidence and
boost their capacity to borrow. Some of Sunday's promised cuts include
adjustments to reflect actual production from some members of the group who have
been unable to meet existing supply quotas. While Russia agreed to extend its
existing 0.5 million bpd curbs into 2024, Angola and Nigeria agreed to give up
their unused quotas. The United Arab Emirates was allowed to boost its
production quota by 0.2 million bpd to 3.2 million from 2024. Kaneva from JPM
said the net result would be the OPEC+ decision will reduce supply in 2024 by
1.1 million bpd from previous expectations and cuts could be extended into 2025.
She expects the United States to be able to accommodate that. "Importantly, with
oil prices substantially lower from year-ago levels and U.S. oil liquids
production at an all-time high, OPEC’s decision is not expected to become a
political issue for the U.S. administration," Kaneva said.
US Navy shows Chinese warship's 'unsafe interaction' near
Taiwan
TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters)/Sun, June 4, 2023
-The U.S. Navy has released a video of what it called an "unsafe interaction" in
the Taiwan Strait, in which a Chinese warship crossed in front of a U.S.
destroyer in the sensitive waterway, a risky incident amid deteriorating Sino-U.S.
ties. The encounter comes as both countries trade blame for not holding military
talks - with disagreements between the two over everything from trade and Taiwan
to Russia's invasion of Ukraine - and raises the spectre of future face-offs
that could spiral out of control. The U.S. military said the USS Chung-Hoon, a
destroyer, and Canada's HSMC Montreal, a frigate, were conducting a "routine"
transit of the strait on Saturday when the Chinese ship cut in front of the U.S.
vessel, coming within 150 yards (137 metres). In the video, released by the U.S.
Navy late on Sunday, a Chinese warship can clearly be seen sailing across the
path of the Chung-Hoon in calm waters. The Chung-Hoon does not change course.A
voice can be heard in English, apparently sending a radio message to the Chinese
ship, warning against "attempts to limit freedom of navigation", though the
exact wording is unclear because of wind noise.
'TROUBLE AND PROVOCATION'
"The measures taken by the Chinese military are completely reasonable,
legitimate, and professional and safe," said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson at the
Chinese foreign ministry. "The U.S. had caused trouble and provocation first,
while China dealt with it in accordance with the law and regulations
afterwards," Wang told a regular press conference on Monday when asked about the
video released by the U.S. Navy. The Chinese defence ministry did not
immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Monday. On Saturday
night, China's military rebuked the United States and Canada for "deliberately
provoking risk" with the rare joint sailing. Chinese military commentator Song
Zhongping told Reuters that this "point blank interception" was a demonstration
of both the capabilities and "courage" of China's navy. "The more intensified
the provocation from the United States, the stronger the countermeasures from
China," Song said. It was the second such encounter in recent days. On May 26, a
Chinese fighter jet carried out an "unnecessarily aggressive" manoeuvre near a
U.S. military plane over the South China Sea in international airspace,
according to the United States. "It seems to me that Beijing has instructed its
forces to respond more assertively against what it believes are encroaching U.S.
and allied forces," said Derek Grossman, senior defence analyst at the RAND
Corporation, a U.S. think tank. "By doing so, China is only increasing the
chances for miscalculation - namely ships or aircraft accidentally colliding -
that could then spiral into armed conflict," he added. In 2001, a U.S. spy plane
made an emergency landing on China's Hainan island after a collision with a
Chinese fighter jet, whose pilot died. Taiwan's defence ministry on Sunday
called China's actions with the U.S. and Canadian ships "provocation" and said
it was the common responsibility of free and democratic countries to maintain
peace and stability in the strait. "Any actions to increase tension and danger
will not contribute to regional security," it said in a statement. The ministry
called on China to respect the right to freedom of navigation. China views
Taiwan as its own territory, a claim the government in Taipei strongly rejects.
Beijing has been stepping up military and political pressure to try to force
Taiwan to accept its sovereignty, including staging regular manoeuvres near the
island.
Sudan battle rages as Saudi Arabia, US urge
new truce talks
Arab News/June 05, 2023
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia and the US on Sunday made a renewed push for truce talks
between Sudan’s warring generals as deadly fighting raged into its eighth week.
Envoys of Sudan’s regular army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF have
remained in Jeddah despite the earlier collapse of ceasefire talks, the
Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said. The foreign mediators called for “the parties
to agree to and effectively implement a new ceasefire, with the aim of building
to a permanent cessation of hostilities,” it said. Saudi Arabia and the US are
keen to resume formal talks between the delegations, the ministry said.
Saudi Arabia and the US remain steadfast in their commitment to the people of
Sudan, the statement added. The Sudanese delegations in Jeddah continue to
engage in daily negotiations, the ministry said. “Those discussions are focused
on facilitating humanitarian assistance and reaching agreement on near term
steps the party must take before the Jeddah talks resume,” according to the
statement. It added: “Facilitators stand ready to resume formal talks and remind
parties that they must implement their obligations under the May 11 Jeddah
Declaration of Commitment to protect the civilians of Sudan.”
A five-day extension of a truce formally expired on Saturday with no signs of
the conflict abating. Upwards of 1,800 people have been killed, according to the
Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, and the UN says 1.2 million have
been displaced with more than 425,000 fleeing abroad. The RSF on Sunday claimed
it had shot down a fighter jet after the army “launched an audacious airborne
assault upon our forces’ positions” in northern Khartoum. A military source told
AFP a Chinese-made jet crashed near Wadi Seidna base north of Khartoum because
of a “technical malfunction.”Witnesses said they saw an aircraft traveling from
the south to the north of the capital with flames erupting from it. Other
witnesses spoke of airstrikes on RSF positions in the east of the city, with
some civilian casualties reported. Fighting in the capital has led to widespread
damage and looting, a collapse in health services, power and water cuts, and
dwindling food supplies. Beyond the capital, deadly fighting has also broken out
in the remote western region of Darfur, already grappling with long-running
unrest and huge humanitarian challenges.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on June 05-06/2023
‘An Injustice Crying Out to Heaven’: The Jihad on Christians in
Mozambique
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/June
5, 2023
A savage jihad—replete with massacres, beheadings, and sexual enslavement—has
been raging in the Christian-majority nation of Mozambique since 2017. Few in
the West are aware of this, not least as the situation has been garbed in
Marxist language that seeks to depict radical terrorists as “victims” and those
resisting them, including the Mozambican government, as “oppressors.”
A December 2021 report offers background on how the Islamic State came to power
in this southeast African nation:
Mozambique is a majority Christian country, with Muslims comprising around a
fifth of its population. A religious movement, Ansar al-Sunna, first appeared in
2015 in the north of the country, formed by followers of radical Kenyan cleric
Aboud Rogo Mohammed who has been linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings.… It
started building mosques and religious schools, becoming more and more popular
with locals. But in 2017, the group starting launching attacks and became known
locally as al-Shabab [the Youth], although they do not have any known connection
to Somalia’s jihadist rebels of that name…. Islamic State then confirmed that
jihadis in Mozambique had joined its Central Africa Province division (ISCAP),
along with militants in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ISIS have since
claimed responsibility for many of the attacks carried out in Mozambique,
including brutal beheadings and massacres, often posting photos of the victims
online…. The militants still refer to themselves as al-Shabab but they are now
strongly considered to be an arm of ISIS, which was confirmed by US officials in
December.
The terrorists, who go by many names, but are perhaps best known as the “Islamic
State in Mozambique” (henceforth ISM), are especially active in and have gained
effective control of the resource-rich Cabo Delgado province in late 2017. It
has since been termed “the Land of Fear” due to the “brutal violence meted out
against both Christians and moderate Muslims.” On Apr. 22, 2020, the Guardian
reported that
Militants have stepped up attacks in recent weeks as part of a campaign to
establish an Islamist caliphate in the gas-rich region, seizing government
buildings, blocking roads and briefly hoisting a black-and-white flag carrying
religious symbols over towns and villages across Cabo Delgado province. The flag
is also used by Isis and other Islamic extremists…
By May 2020, the massacres had reached the point that a “Genocide Warning” was
issued. As of December 2021, the terrorists had slaughtered 3,340 people and
displaced nearly a million more. The numbers of those killed and displaced has
grown in the last year-and-a-half, though there appear to be no official
statistics.
As in other African nations, the Muslim terrorists of ISM are deliberately
targeting Christians. Discussing the situation, Todd Nettleton of The Voice of
the Martyrs USA, said:
They say their goal is to set up a caliphate similar to ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
And they are in some cases, literally going door to door. They ask, ‘Are you a
Christian? Or are you a Muslim?’ If you’re a Christian, you’re killed [including
by crucifixion]. If you’re a Muslim, then you get the opportunity to quote some
Quranic verses. And if you can quote them sufficiently, you save your life.
Otherwise, you also get killed [for being insufficiently Islamic].
Similarly, Amy Lamb of Open Doors said that “their [terrorists’] goal is really
to eradicate Christianity from this territory and, unfortunately, in some ways,
it’s working.”
The terrorists have themselves been vocal of their anti-Christian aims. In
November, 2022, ISM announced on social media that “We will escalate the war
against you [the “Mozambican crusader army”] until you submit to Islam… Our
desire is to kill you or be killed, for we are martyrs before Allah, so submit
or run from us.”
The statement also specifically named Christians and Jews, whom it offered
“three choices: submit to Islam, pay tax [jizya], or accept endless war.”
Other aspects of the Muslim persecution of Christians evident in
Africa—including rape and sexual slavery—are evident in Mozambique. According to
another report published in December 2021, since 2018, the Islamic terrorists
have kidnapped and enslaved over 600 women and girls in just Cabo Delgado:
The [ISM] group … forced younger, healthy-looking, and lighter-skinned women and
girls in their custody to ‘marry’ their fighters, who enslave and sexually abuse
them. Others have been sold to foreign fighters for between 40,000 and 120,000
Meticais (US$600 to US$1,800).
Earlier, in 2020, Paulo Rangel, a Portuguese Member of the European Parliament
said that:
At present we know that there are young girls who have been abducted and
enslaved, forced into sexual slavery by some of these guerrillas, these
insurgents, these terrorists…We know that the recruitment of boys and
adolescents, some of them very young, aged 14, 15, 16, is also happening. It is
obvious that these young boys are under coercion. If they refuse to join the
group, they could be killed.
Below are a few of the more notable incidents of terror to occur, organized by
month and year of incident:
May 2018: Islamic terrorists beheaded 10 people with machetes on May 29. “There
are 10 citizens who have been hideously killed,” said a police spokesman. “The
environment is scary.”
Apr. 2020: Muslim terrorists of ISM “cruelly and diabolically” slaughtered 52
villagers, most of them young men who refused to join the group. The terrorists
also torched five or six chapels. Underscoring the hate, Bishop Lisboa described
what happened to the historic Sacred Heart of Jesus mission:
They attacked the church and burnt the benches and a statue of Our Lady, made of
ebony. They also destroyed an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom the
parish is dedicated.
After noting that Islamic militants were responsible for “escalating extremist
violence” in Cabo Delgado—“where multiple churches have been burnt, people
beheaded, young girls kidnapped, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced
by the violence”—a July 20 report adds that:
During Holy Week this year insurgents perpetrated attacks on seven towns and
villages in Cabo Delgado province, burning down a church on Good Friday, and
killing 52 young people who refused to join the terrorist group.
In just one week in the previous month of June, 15 people were beheaded in the
Christian-majority nation.
May 2020: “It was fierce, cruel and lasted three days,” a nun said of a jihadist
raid on the town of Macomia between May 28-30. There was only devastation when
Sister Blanca Nubia Castaño returned:
As a result of this barbarism, the town center was completely destroyed, the
majority of the administrative infrastructure was damaged and the commercial and
shopping center was reduced to ashes…. We still don’t know the number of
civilian victims or those of the security forces. On June 3, people slowly began
to return to their homes, some of which had been burned, while others had been
looted….
Islamic terrorists also attacked a monastery in May, 2020. The four monks
residing in it managed to hide and emerge unscathed. However, the hospital they
were building for a nearby village was destroyed by the armed Muslims.
Nov. 2020: According to one report,
Islamic militants turned a village soccer field in northern Mozambique into an
execution ground when they beheaded more than 50 people during three days of
savage violence between Friday, November 6, and Sunday, November 8…. In one
attack, gunmen shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ stormed into Nanjaba village on November
6, firing weapons and setting homes on fire. Two villagers were beheaded and
several women abducted….. [A]nyone who refuses to support the jihadists and
embrace their beliefs is attacked, and their property set on fire. Thus
Christians who refuse to deny Christ are among the victims. The attacks are
among the worst seen in recent years in the brutal campaign by militant
Islamists to establish an Islamist caliphate in the oil and gas-rich Cabo
Delgado province.
Mar. 2021: On Mar. 24, scores of people were massacred or forced to flee during
an Islamic terror attack near a major gas plant in Cabo Delgado. The number of
casualties remains unknown; a local source said the area was covered with
bodies, “with heads and without.” Among the native corpses were 12 Western
people who were “tied up and beheaded” said an official. ISM later boasted of
“killing at least 55 people, including Christians, Mozambique soldiers, state
nationals and ‘crusaders.’” Hundreds fled into the bush on foot: “We have many
children here,” said a survivor who walked three days without food and water.
“Many children are dying in the bush … People have been captured and others have
died.” According to a separate report, published on Mar. 16, a few days before
this massacre, correspondents in Mozambique were “sickened to our core”
listening to mothers recount the fate of their children, some as young as 11, at
the hands of the Muslim terrorists: “That night, our village was attacked, and
houses were burned,” one mother recalled. “When it all started, I was at home
with my four children. We tried to escape to the woods, but they took my eldest
son and beheaded him.”
Dec. 2021: After decapitating a Christian pastor, ISM militants handed the
pastor’s severed head to his widow and ordered her to deliver it to police,
which she did.
Aug. 2022: Muslim terrorists beheaded two Christians during a raid on a minibus.
ISM later issued a statement claiming the murders: “By the grace of God
Almighty, the soldiers of the Caliphate … killed two Christians, beheading them,
and shooting them with weapons.”
Sep. 2022: Muslim terrorists stormed a Catholic mission compound in Chipene,
where they set fire to the church, schools, and hospitals. One of the nuns,
Maria De Coppi, was shot in the head and murdered as she ran towards a burning
dormitory to assist the few remaining students hiding there. She was 83-year-old
and had spent 59 years serving the people of Mozambique. Discussing this martyr,
Bishop Alberto Vera Aréjula of Nacala said,
I knew her, and she was the image of a mother, she was really helping everyone
with simple love and humility…. Sister Maria de Coppi was a nurse who would help
malnourished children in a little room where there was milk and flour, and they
destroyed that room as well. The Sister they murdered worked with malnourished
babies and children, [and] they are telling us very clearly that they don’t want
us there.
Three other Christians were killed during this jihad. ISM later claimed
responsibility for the attack and said they killed the nun because she had
“excessively engaged in spreading Christianity.”
On the following day, during another raid, the terrorists rounded all the
villagers up and, according to a source,
started asking who is Muslim and who is Christian. Those who identified as
Christian, they started tying their hands behind their back and they cut their
throats. One Christian managed to flee and he is the one who told the story.
This is what happened on the night of Sept. 6 and the following day—11 people
were murdered in total and they left a trail of destruction and a lot of fear.
Oct. 2022: The Muslim terrorists “announced the killing of 20 Christians and the
displacement of hundreds more in Cabo Delgado between October 3 and 20…. [The]
Jihadists [also] set fire to a church building and several houses in the Chiure
district of Cabo Delgado Province on October 26, killing one person.” Along with
the church they torched, the jihadists said in a communique that they had also
destroyed “other church property in Cabo Delgado,” though no details were given.
At least eight Christians were slaughtered in the same region in the previous
month.
Feb. 2023: In a statement, ISM said that “the soldiers of the Caliphate …
captured five Christians and slaughtered them, praise be to Allah.”
In July 2020, Bishop Lisboa, discussing the situation in Mozambique, said: “The
world has no idea yet what is happening because of indifference. We do not yet
have the solidarity that there should be.” What is happening is “an injustice
that is crying out to heaven.”
Around the same time, Paulo Rangel, a Portuguese Member of the European
Parliament, said: “The international community is nowhere to be seen in regard
to the problem.”
Three years and countless more slaughters later, the world still “has no idea
what is happening,” and the “international community is nowhere to be seen.”
Why? One of the reasons is the media. They are committed to presenting the
situation along purely economic terms, rarely if ever indicating that the
terrorists are fueled by an expansionist, jihadist agenda to create a caliphate
and subjugate if not slaughter Christians.
This, of course, is a duplicate of the situation in Nigeria: there, Muslims are
committing genocide against Christians for purely ideological (Islamic) reasons,
while here, in the West, the media and establishment are insisting “that
religion is not driving extremist violence [in Nigeria],” to quote Johnnie
Carson, Obama’s then- Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, speaking
after “Allahu akbar” screaming Muslim terrorists in Nigeria slaughtered another
batch of 50 Christian church worshippers on Easter Sunday, 2012.
In Mozambique, for example, one of the worst massacres occurred in Mar. 2021
(see above). Nearly 60 people were slaughtered, including 12 Western people who
were “tied up and beheaded here.” Even though it took place nearly four years
after it was clear that jihadists had infiltrated Mozambique, and even though
ISM had claimed the attack, including by using typical jihadist
language—referring to those it slaughtered as “crusaders,” etc.—Channel 4 News
resorted to the usual dissembling, claiming that “doubts have been cast over who
was behind the siege.” The rest of that report, titled, “How poverty and
corruption fuel terrorism across Africa,” argues that such attacks, which “are
on the rise across the African continent,” are “a consequence of poverty, [and]
domestic grievances new and old…”
Always happy to capitalize on Western gullibility and portray themselves as
oppressed forces merely seeking to redress injustice and champion the people,
the Islamic State in Mozambique—like Hamas, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda before
them—have tried to further this narrative. For example, during the raid where
83-year-old Sister Maria was shot and killed, the terrorists, in part to
scapegoat the government, appeared dressed in military uniform.
A genocidal jihad is being waged against Christians in virtually every corner of
sub-Saharan Africa—from Nigeria in the northwest, to Mozambique in the
southeast—but, for some reason, these black lives do not matter.
Two Christian Teenagers Charged with Blasphemy and Sent to Jail in Pakistan
CLAAS-UK/Gatestone Institute./June 5, 2023
[Police constable Zahid Sohail] alleged that the boys were making fun of each
other and were calling a puppy "Muhammad Ali."
The families of both boys said they have no puppy.
"'Muhammad Ali' is the brand name of the Naswar [tobacco] he takes. While both
boys were talking about the brand, at the same time Zahid Sohail, a policeman,
was passing by and heard them. Without knowing the facts, he started beating the
children, saying they were committing blasphemy." — Samina Nadeem, the mother of
Simon.
[B]oth boys have been sent to jail, and nobody knows their fate.
On May 19, a judicial magistrate in Lahore, Pakistan sent two Christian
teenagers, Simon Nadeem, 12, and Adil Baber, 18, to jail on judicial remand,
after they were charged under Penal Code section 295-C (the blasphemy law).
Pictured: Thousands of people at a rally in Karachi, Pakistan, demanding the
execution of Asia Bibi, on November 21, 2018. Bibi, a Christian woman, spent 8
years on death row in Pakistan because of a false accusation of blasphemy,
before being released and exiled.
On May 19, a judicial magistrate in Lahore, Pakistan sent two Christian
teenagers, Simon Nadeem, 12, and Adil Baber, 18, to jail on judicial remand,
after they were charged under Penal Code section 295-C (the blasphemy law).
Both boys were arrested by the police and charged on May 18 after a complaint
was made against them by police constable Zahid Sohail.
Sohail said in his complaint that he was going to the mosque for prayers, when
he saw the boys, Simon, son of Nadeem Nadu Masih, and Adil Baber, son of Baber
Masih. He alleged that the boys were making fun of each other and were calling a
puppy "Muhammad Ali."
He also stated he has two eyewitnesses, Shabir Iqbal and another one, who can
confirm his allegations. The families of both boys said they have no puppy.
According to Pak Christian News:
Samina Nadeem, the mother of Simon, told Pak Christian News (PCN): "On 18 May
around 4:30 pm my son Simon and his friend Adil Baber were playing outside our
house.
"Adil uses Naswar (a dipping smokeless tobacco product commonly used in
Pakistan), while my son Simon was making fun of Adil for his addiction to Naswar,
he was asking Baber to spit out Naswar from his mouth.
"'Muhammad Ali' is the brand name of the Naswar he takes. While both boys were
talking about the brand, at the same time Zahid Sohail, a policeman, was passing
by and heard them. Without knowing the facts, he started beating the children,
saying they were committing blasphemy.
"Sohail didn't bother to find out the facts but started shouting and accusing
the boys of committing blasphemy. He was purposely making a noise so in a few
minutes several people gathered around and Sohail was telling everyone that
these boys had committed blasphemy.
"People were continuing to gather to find out what was going on, but no one was
trying to know the facts.
"Instead it seems they were believing what Sohail was telling them.
"This infuriated some of them and they ran to beat both boys, but somehow they
managed to escape and save their lives."
Mrs Nadeem told us she has three sons and Simon is the youngest. While all this
was going on in the street, Nadeem arrived home from work, he saw this situation
and got scared when he was told that his son had committed blasphemy.
She added: "He and Baber both tried to calm down the mob but no one was willing
to listen, and instead they wanted Simon and Adil handed to them so they could
punish them."
Baber, father of Adil, who was sitting next to Mrs Nadeem said it was a very
scary situation.
He said: "We were praying in our hearts and trying our best to calm down the mob
as we knew what chaos could happen.
"I was reminded of all the past incidents like vigilante killings, ransacking
churches and setting fire to Joseph colony.
"I continued praying that none of the past incidents would be repeated here, and
God heard my prayers. A large number of police, including the deputy
superintendent of police (DSP) and several senior inspectors, immediately
started to calm down the mobs, assuring them that if someone had committed
blasphemy he would be arrested and punished according to the law. The crowd
somehow calmed down and demanded the arrest of both boys.
"Both boys were so scared and hiding inside their house. Simon is so young and
therefore his father doesn't want him to be arrested.
"So instead of his son, Simon, Nadeem asked the police to arrest him. Until that
time, I didn't know that my son's was also named in the First Information Report
(FIR).
"I decided to hand over my son to the police, but I also sat in the police van
and went to the police station with them to ensure the safety of my son and also
to assure my son that doesn't worry I would do everything I could. It was scary
when I was sitting in the police van as several people were running toward the
van to grab me and my son from the police with the intention to kill us, but the
police saved our lives.
"When we reached the police station, they put Adil and Nadeem in the cell and
later on asked me to leave the police station and go home.
"They told me that for his safety, they would release Nadeem once Simon was
arrested.
"It was the most difficult time of my life, I didn't want to come home without
Adil, but I had no option.
"I came home with a heavy heart and took my wife and other children, locked our
house and sought refuge with someone I know. since then we are hiding and are
not aware of our future."
He further said that as the situation continued to worsen, it was decided to
handover Simon to the police, otherwise his life could be in danger.
While Baber was talking to PCN, his phone rang and we could see the relief on
his face. When he finished, he told us "Thank God, the police have released
Nadeem", but that didn't mean he was a free man.
There were some rumours that after Friday prayers a mob could attack Christians'
houses therefore several people had left their homes and moved to unknown places
to save their lives.
He added: "I hope the police conduct their investigation impartially and court
does the justice to them. They need to be released soon, otherwise, they have no
future."
Nasir Saeed Director of CLAAS-UK said:
"Unfortunately people continue to use the blasphemy law over petty issues. They
hardly hesitate to take the law into their own hands.
"I don't think these two young boys had ever thought that any passer-by could
hear their conversation and accuse them of committing blasphemy and endanger
their lives. Sadly misuse of the blasphemy has become so common and people never
think twice about how dangerous its consequences could be.
"Recently we heard that Musarrat Bibi, who was arrested for committing blasphemy
earlier this month was released on 11th may, but just after a week two other
Christian boys have arrested for a crime they never committed. This has changed
their lives forever.
"Christians are living under constant threat of their lives while the
international community, including US Commission on international Religious
freedom (USCIRF), UN and EU has expressed their concerns with the Pakistani
government over the continuous misuse of the blasphemy law."
Recently human rights watchdog, Human Rights Without Frontiers Int'l (HWRF) had
a conference in Brussels under the title "The GSP+ and blasphemy laws in
Pakistan in the dock" and criticised the misuse of the blasphemy law in
Pakistan. According to them Pakistan is a country of high concern for its
systematic and serious religious freedom and other human rights' violations, and
they have submitted several recommendations particularly in regard to stopping
the misuse of the blasphemy law.
Mr Saeed further said that both boys have been sent to jail, and nobody knows
their fate. He added:
"I hope the police conduct their investigation impartially and court does the
justice to them. They need to be released soon, otherwise they have no future."
Reprinted by kind permission of CLAAS-UK.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Palestinians' Preferred Candidates: Terrorists Who Want To
Kill Jews
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./June 5, 2023
For the 87-year-old Abbas and his Fatah faction, the victory of the Hamas
supporters was not only humiliating, but also a reminder that when it comes to
dealing with Israel, many Palestinians prefer terrorism over diplomacy.
The Hamas-affiliated students also condemned the Fatah-dominated Palestinian
Authority for conducting security coordination with Israeli security forces in
the West Bank. Any form of cooperation with Israel, they argued, is tantamount
to treason.
The underlying message the Hamas-affiliated lists sent to the thousands of
students at the two campuses was: Vote for us because we explicitly and
unreservedly uphold the armed struggle against Israel and promise to continue
the Jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and replace Israel with a genocidal Islamist
state, free of non-Muslims.
It also would not be a particularly good idea to hold general elections in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip at a time when a majority of Palestinians are voicing
support for an "armed intifada" (uprising) against Israel.
Article 13 of the Hamas covenant urges Muslims to wage Jihad on Israel and
reject any peace initiatives: "There is no solution for the Palestinian issue
expect through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are
all a waste of time and vain endeavors."
The victory of the Hamas-affiliated lists at the two Palestinian universities in
the West Bank should serve as a warning not only to Mahmoud Abbas, but also to
the international community, especially the Biden administration, whose
representatives continue to promote the delusional and dangerous idea of a
"two-state solution" between the Palestinians and Israel.
The university students who voted for Hamas have endorsed Hamas's call for Jihad
and terrorism against Israel. They have endorsed Hamas's argument that Israel
has no right to exist. They have also endorsed the argument that no Palestinian
or Arab leader is entitled to make any concessions to Israel.
The officials in the Biden administration, European Union and United Nations who
continue to talk about the need for a "two-state solution" are actually
advocating the creation of another Hamas-led state, like ISIS, this time in the
West Bank and east Jerusalem. A similar state already exists in the Hamas-ruled
Gaza Strip, used a launching pad to fire rockets into Israel.
By voting for Hamas once again, Palestinians... are also sending a warning to
Abbas and other Palestinian leaders not to make peace with Israel or work with
it in any way, or else they will be treated as traitors -- further proof, as if
it were needed, that the Palestinians have yet again chosen violence, terrorism
and misery rather than a bright, promising future, a better economy, and
prosperity for their young.
Hamas-affiliated lists won most of the seats in student council elections held
last month at the two most important Palestinian universities in the West Bank:
An-Najah University in Nablus and Birzeit University near Ramallah. The students
affiliated with Hamas, whose charter openly calls for the elimination of Israel,
boasted that their group continues to carry out terrorist attacks in which Jews
have been killed or wounded. Pictured: Hamas supporters celebrate victory in the
2022 student council election at Birzeit University, on May 19, 2022. (Photo by
Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinians have once again shown that their real heroes, sadly, are those who
carry out terrorist attacks against Jews and seek the elimination of Israel.
In May, elections for student councils were held at the two most important
Palestinian universities in the West Bank: An-Najah University in Nablus and
Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians.
The two major student lists that ran in the elections are affiliated with Hamas,
the terrorist organization controlling the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, the ruling
faction headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.
The results of the elections at the two universities did not surprise those
familiar with the general sentiments among the Palestinians: the Hamas-affiliated
lists won most of the seats on the student councils. For the 87-year-old Abbas
and his Fatah faction, the victory of the Hamas supporters was not only
humiliating, but also a reminder that when it comes to dealing with Israel, many
Palestinians prefer terrorism over diplomacy.
The election campaigns and debates at the universities focused mostly on the
relationship between the Palestinians and Israel.
The students affiliated with Hamas, whose charter openly calls for the
elimination of Israel, boasted that their group continues to carry out terrorist
attacks in which Jews have been killed or wounded. These students ridiculed
their rivals in Fatah for allegedly being too soft on Israel and not carrying
out enough terrorist attacks against Jews.
The Hamas-affiliated students also condemned the Fatah-dominated Palestinian
Authority for conducting security coordination with Israeli security forces in
the West Bank. Any form of cooperation with Israel, they argued, is tantamount
to treason.
The underlying message the Hamas-affiliated lists sent to the thousands of
students at the two campuses was: Vote for us because we explicitly and
unreservedly uphold the armed struggle against Israel and promise to continue
the Jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and replace Israel with a genocidal Islamist
state, free of non-Muslims.
During election rallies at the two university campuses, Hamas supporters used
banners and photos glorifying Palestinian terrorists such as senior Hamas
members Mohammed Def and Mosab Shtayyeh, who are wanted by Israel for their
roles in a series of terrorist attacks, including shootings and suicide
bombings.
When the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc learned that it had won the elections at
Birzeit University on May 24, it announced that Mosab Shtayyeh, currently being
held in Palestinian Authority custody for unknown reasons, will serve as
"honorary president" of the student council.
Now that the two most important Palestinian university student councils are
controlled by Hamas, the question is whether it would be a good idea to hold
long overdue presidential and parliamentary elections for the PA in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip. The answer, unfortunately, is "no" -- and certainly not
under the current circumstances, where a majority of Palestinians are saying
that they would vote for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh if and when new PA
presidential elections were held. It also would not be a particularly good idea
to hold general elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip at a time when a
majority of Palestinians are voicing support for an "armed intifada" (uprising)
against Israel.
More than 70% of the Palestinians, according to a public opinion poll conducted
the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey, support the terrorist attack in
which two brothers, Hallel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, were cold-bloodedly
murdered in March as they drove through the Palestinian town of Huwara on their
way home. The poll also found that 68% of the Palestinians support the formation
of terror groups, such as the Lions' Den, to attack and murder Jews.
Hamas is correct when it says that the results of the elections at the two
universities are proof that most Palestinians support terrorism against Israel.
Hamas said in a statement:
"This [Hamas] victory sends a clear message about the rising popularity of the
resistance [against Israel]... The victory reaffirms our people's adherence to
the option of resistance."
To be clear, when Hamas talks about the "resistance," it is referring to various
forms of terrorism, including suicide bombings, shootings, stabbings, car-rammings
and firing rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Zakaria Abu Muammar, a senior Hamas official, said the victory of his group's
supporters at the universities "reflects the Palestinian youths' confidence in
Hamas and its plans."
In case it was not clear what Hamas's plans are, it is worth reading the group's
covenant, published in 1988 and which remains unchanged and as relevant as ever.
Article 11 of the covenant, for instance, underlines the strategies and methods
of Hamas:
"The Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] believes that the land of Palestine is
an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day.
It, or any part of it, should not be squandered; it, or any part of it, should
not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither
any king or president...neither any organization nor all of them, be they
Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that."
Article 13 of the Hamas covenant urges Muslims to wage Jihad on Israel and
reject any peace initiatives:
"There is no solution for the Palestinian issue expect through Jihad.
Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and
vain endeavors."
The victory of the Hamas-affiliated lists at the two Palestinian universities in
the West Bank should serve as a warning not only to Mahmoud Abbas, but also to
the international community, especially the Biden administration, whose
representatives continue to promote the delusional and dangerous idea of a
"two-state solution" between the Palestinians and Israel. It is a dangerous idea
because it will lead to the establishment of a Hamas-controlled state next to
Israel. Like the Gaza Strip, this state too would be used by Iran and its terror
proxies as a launching pad to attack Israel.
It is time for the Biden administration, the European Union and the United
Nations to wake up and see with their own eyes that the only solution sought by
a majority of Palestinians is one that would deliberately lead to the
elimination of Israel. The university students who voted for Hamas have endorsed
Hamas's call for Jihad and terrorism against Israel. They have endorsed Hamas's
argument that Israel has no right to exist.
They have also endorsed the argument that no Palestinian or Arab leader is
entitled to make any concessions to Israel.
The victory of Hamas supporters in the university elections is yet another
reminder how Palestinians have been raised to hate Israel and glorify those who
murder Jews. For generations, Palestinian leaders have been poisoning the hearts
and minds of their people against Israel and Jews. The high regard of
Palestinian university students for an Islamist group such as Hamas is a natural
consequence of this inter-generational hate-fest.
The officials in the Biden administration, European Union and United Nations who
continue to talk about the need for a "two-state solution" are actually
advocating the creation of another Hamas-led state, like ISIS, this time in the
West Bank and east Jerusalem. A similar state already exists in the Hamas-ruled
Gaza Strip, used a launching pad to fire rockets into Israel.
The results of the recent university elections are a clear indication -- and
warning -- that if all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem were ever handed over
to the exclusive control of the Palestinian Authority, they too would end up in
the hands of Hamas, whether through elections or a violent and bloody coup like
the one that took place in the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hamas staged a coup,
overthrew the Palestinian Authority and seized control of the entire Gaza Strip.
Just a year earlier, Hamas had won the PA parliamentary elections.
By voting for Hamas once again, Palestinians are sending a message to the world
that they are determined to pursue terrorism and violence against Israel.
They are also sending a warning to Abbas and other Palestinian leaders not to
make peace with Israel or work with it in any way, or else they will be treated
as traitors -- further proof, as if it were needed, that the Palestinians have
yet again chosen violence, terrorism and misery rather than a bright, promising
future, a better economy, and prosperity for their young.
**Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
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not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
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or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
The war for eastern Syria is just getting started
Baria Alamuddin /Arab News/June 05, 2023
Over the past couple of years it has seemed increasingly inevitable that renewed
regional conflict will ultimately erupt, with Iran and its allies pitched
against Israel and America. Following a period when southern Lebanon, or perhaps
Iraq, looked like potential flashpoints, attention is turning to the battle for
control over eastern Syria as a conduit for broader regional influence.
The recent Washington Post publication of leaked US intelligence documents
exposed how Iran is preparing militants in Syria for a new phase of lethal
attacks against US troops there, while also working with Russia on a broader
strategy to drive Americans out of the region altogether.
According to these documents, as part of Bashar Assad’s aspirations to reassert
control in the east, in November 2022 a high-level meeting of Russian, Iranian
and Syrian military and intelligence officials agreed to establish a
“coordination center” for waging a campaign against US assets.
This three-way meeting apparently included a strategy for mobilizing a
grassroots campaign of attacks against American forces. Iran has sought to
establish permanent hubs of grassroots support in eastern Syria through
recruitment into local forces, paying off particular tribes and elites, and
setting up religious schools and institutions to exert ideological leverage. The
new strategy seeks to mobilize these proxies as an active insurgency against the
US presence.
Nearly 1,000 US forces have been retained in eastern Syria, ostensibly to fight
Daesh, but more specifically to obstruct the ambitions of Iran-backed militants.
The major US-controlled base at Al-Tanf in the Iraq-Jordan-Syria border area has
been a key element in thwarting Damascus, Moscow and Tehran’s aspirations to
assert control in the east.
Damascus and Moscow have repeatedly accused the US of stealing Syrian oil –
although in practice revenues from these eastern fields largely go on funding
US-backed Kurdish forces. Syria isn’t one of the world’s largest oil producers;
before 2011 it pumped out about 400,000 barrels per day, around 25 percent of
the regime’s budget. Nevertheless, Assad and the various other players are
unsurprisingly anxious to get their hands on this.
There are ample indications that the Syrian conflict is entering a new phase, as
Assad and his allies — emboldened in the west — seek to reassert themselves and
wrong-foot the Americans in the east.
These documents furthermore indicate that the Quds Force of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps is training paramilitaries to use more powerful
armor-piercing roadside bombs, which are designed specifically to target US
military vehicles and proved highly deadly in Iraq after 2003. In trials of
these weapons by Hezbollah and Quds Force, conducted near Damascus in early
2023, these weapons penetrated 7.5cm-thick tank armor at a range of just under
25 meters. Militancy expert Michael Knights warns of a “sea change in
(militants’) risk-acceptance in killing Americans in Syria.”
A militant drone strike in March that caused US casualties and triggered a
succession of tit-for-tat strikes was just one of dozens of drone and rocket
attacks against US assets and allies in eastern Syria. Militants seek to
retaliate against Israeli airstrikes in the west by making the Americans suffer
in the east.
In the context of soaring geopolitical tensions around the Ukraine conflict,
Russia has actively sought to discomfit US forces in Syria by violating
deconfliction agreements, flying over American bases and harassing US aircraft,
even as Moscow has drawn down its Syrian capabilities in order to throw
everything into the Ukraine arena. Although Tehran — as the leading supplier of
arms to Russia — has moved more closely into Moscow’s orbit, the leaked US
intelligence documents show the ayatollahs venting frustration at a high-handed
Kremlin excluding them from Russian-led negotiations with Turkey, while allowing
Israel to continue hitting Iran-aligned targets.
Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi militants in Iraq have spent the past few years consolidating
control over the Syria-Iraq border region, including measures such as elaborate
fortifications centered upon Abu Kamal, comprising kilometers of deep
underground tunnels for storing missiles. They aspire to control the east-west
transit of munitions, drugs and contraband through Syria to the Mediterranean.
Although these forces are nominally sided with Assad, they are understandably
reluctant to see a resurgent Damascus cramping their style.
Meanwhile, Daesh continues to stage regular attacks against Kurdish forces and
other targets, and there are indications that this terrorist group is actively
masking the true extent of its Syrian capabilities, with many militants laying
low in the vast Badia desert region.
The killing of about 250 truffle hunters in a flurry of incidents in the Syrian
desert this spring had been widely blamed on Daesh. But experts believe that the
worst of these killings were probably due to Iran-backed militias seeking to
monopolize this vast region. Violent clashes even erupted in 2022 between
Russia-backed and Iran-backed militias, each seeking to establish exclusive
control over key routes and strategic locations.
The city of Deir Ezzor lies along the dividing line of control between Damascus
and eastern Kurdish forces. Assad has sought to curry favor with local tribes
through a complex reconciliation process, while pro-Tehran forces have exploited
the fragile situation to buy up large amounts of land and property in this wider
area. There are ample indications that the Syrian conflict is entering a new
phase, as Assad and his allies — emboldened in the west — seek to reassert
themselves and wrong-foot the Americans in the east.
What all these parties — Tehran, Washington, Russia, Daesh, Israel and Turkey
—have in common is that they are pursuing their own foreign agendas on Syrian
soil. None of the players in this globalized great game has any serious or
sincere aspiration to bring peace and stability to Syria. The only end point to
this quagmire is when Syrians can one day govern themselves under a leadership
that respects their rights, freedoms and sovereignty. We may be in for a long
wait.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
Afghanistan hands Iran a timely reality check
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/June 05, 2023
Over the past few months, Iran realized that the Taliban would be much more
assertive in their future bilateral dealings. For any observer, Kabul’s
tough-talking approach seems consistent considering its conduct with Islamabad.
Tehran’s loss of patience with the Taliban reflects the over-estimation of its
influence. Recent armed clashes along the Helmand-Baluchistan border have
inflicted several fatalities, with at least two confirmed losses of soldiers on
the Iranian side and one on the Afghan side. The fierce fighting involved
automatic machine guns, artillery and rocket fire, while Iran even resorted to
the use of gunship helicopters and drones. The Taliban took over at least one
Iranian border post before vacating it later, on the order of senior officials.
Iran’s media estimates that more than 50 Iranians, military, and civilian
personnel, have lost their lives to sporadic clashes along the Afghan border
since 2020. The fresh battle resulted in Iran dispatching its senior commanders
— Deputy Chief of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces Brig. Gen. Qasem Rezaei and
Chief of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces Brig. Gen. Kioumars Heydari — to
Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Afghanistan’s Nimruz province. Iran closed the
Milak-Zaranj border crossing post, not the site of the clashes, which is a key
channel for commerce between the two sides.
Though Iran claimed that its border guards fired at smugglers infiltrating from
the Afghan side, a source of tensions and clashes over the decades, the reality
lies in Tehran’s continuous quest for water resources. Afghanistan has
constructed dams on the Helmand River in recent years — the last of which, Kamal
Khan Dam, was inaugurated by President Ashraf Ghani ahead of the US troop
withdrawal in 2021. Tehran registered its formal concerns at the diplomatic
level as well as through its official spokespersons. These concerns were
heightened considering Kabul’s tough stance and fiery rhetoric. At the
inauguration of the dam in March 2021, Ghani said: “Afghanistan would no longer
give free water to anyone, so Iran should provide fuel to Afghans in exchange
for water.”
As per the 1973 Helmand Water Treaty, Afghanistan agreed to release the Helmand
River water at a rate of 22 cubic meters per second per annum with an additional
four cubic meters per second for “goodwill and brotherly relations.” When
entering Iran, the Helmand River flows through its harshest arid regions in the
south. On May 18, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said during his visit to
Sistan-Baluchistan that the rulers of Afghanistan should “not regard our demand
as being ordinary and must take it very seriously.” There are diplomatic
contacts between both neighbors, but Tehran has yet to formally recognize the
Taliban government. From Tehran’s perspective, the Taliban is not what it used
to be when its eight diplomats were murdered in Herat prior to 9/11. Thanks to
years of material and financial support, as well as the provision of refuge, the
Taliban’s leadership adopted a more pragmatic approach toward Iran, if not
deeply friendly. As one of the top water-stressed countries, Iran is already too
late in taking mitigation measures.
Two decades later, the Taliban allowed Ashura processions in Afghanistan,
delivered sermons there and eventually appointed a couple of Shiite ministers
and advisers. Afghan Shiite clerics opted for a wait-and-see approach. Only
recently, Afghan Shiites have started to grow impatient with the Taliban, in
sync with Iran’s soaring unease and changing tone toward Kabul.
As one of the top water-stressed countries, Iran is already too late in taking
mitigation measures. Climate change adaption has not been on its busy agenda in
comparison with its neighbors such as Turkiye and Pakistan.
Is Iran really accurate in claiming that Afghanistan has been denying its
rightful share of the Helmand River’s water? The treaty signed in 1973 between
the two states did not foresee the climate scenarios ahead as well as the needs
of Afghanistan.
Similarly, the Taliban disagree on everything with their US-backed predecessors
except the water-sharing deal with Iran. The 1973 treaty requires Afghanistan to
deliver water from the Helmand River to Iran at a rate of 22 cubic meters per
second per annum, which equals to an annual average of 820 million cubic meters.
The treaty’s Article V authorizes Kabul full rights to the remaining water
supply by stating that Afghanistan “shall retain all rights to the balance of
the water of the Helmand River and may make such use or disposition of the water
as it chooses.”
Though the last section of the article limits Iran’s entitlement of water to 820
mcm (as specified in the treaty), it did not foresee the situation of persisting
drought and increased use by the Afghan population. Iran has been receiving
water far in excess of the agreed amount most of the time due to the conflict in
the country from the late 1970s until the Kamal Khan Dam became operational in
2021, which is permitted under the Helmand River Treaty. International law is
also on Afghanistan’s side. Kabul was too bogged down in internal strife to
exercise its right over the past four decades.
Afghanistan’s construction of the dam may be a source of Tehran’s fury, but in
reality there are not enough hydrometric stations to measure the water flow from
Afghanistan to Iran. Both neighbors need to jointly determine the sites for the
construction of joint hydrometric stations as per the treaty.
Interestingly, Tehran opposes joint hydrometric stations while still vehemently
complaining of reduced water supplies. If an amicable solution is not reached,
Tehran may make its veiled threat of destroying the dam a reality. Afghans will
consider it a declaration of war. Tehran’s relations may have thawed with its
Gulf neighbors, but it can’t afford a fresh front while it also wrestles to
manage the situation on the Azeri border in the northwest.
• Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is president of the International Institute for Iranian
Studies (Rasanah).
Twitter: @mohalsulami
How much did you pay to stop the smuggling of
Captagon?
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya English/Published: 05 June ,2023
Stories of Syria using Captagon as a bargaining chip to secure funds for
reconstruction and regain its seat in the Arab League have been making the
rounds ever since the country’s return to the Arab fold was announced. Normally,
such false stories dissipate just as quickly as they emerged.
How much did you pay to stop the smuggling of Captagon? Nobody paid, nor will
anybody pay a single dollar in exchange for a state’s return to the Arab League.
No payment will be made to buy off any state that opposes such a return, either.
Returning to the Arab fold was a Syrian demand in the first place. Damascus
believes it holds a rightful seat in the Arab League, much like the seats it
still holds in international organizations, including the United Nations. Had
the opposition seized power, it would have been sitting in that same seat.
Moreover, Syria’s stances and alignments have remained the same, which suggests
its return will not impact the power balance in the region.
Instead, the thawing of relations with Damascus will lead to reconciliations,
which in turn will lead to pacification in the region.
When Erdogan’s government reconciled with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and
Egypt, the positive impact was immediately clear in the resumption of tourism
and trade and the halt in media wars. Yet no major change took place in the
region, nor did the other wars stop.
As for Bashar al-Assad’s return to the Arab fold, all Arab states but three
already have relations with Damascus, and the three that don’t will restore them
soon. It is hoped that this regional reconciliation will support the return of
most Syrians to their cities and villages.
However, it is unlikely that Damascus will get any payment in return for the
“gains” of its return to the Arab League and restoring of relations, including
the halt of Captagon smuggling to Saudi Arabia. In fact, such a reward would
only incentivize other states to deal with smugglers with complacency in order
to jeopardize those efforts.
The rewards that Syria gets from its cooperation to end drug trafficking are the
resumption of legitimate trade, the lifting of sanctions, and the renewal of
economic cooperation, which will serve both parties.
Complacent states that serve as source or transit countries for illicit goods
such as narcotics or weapons eventually pay a hefty price, as their
agricultural, industrial, and service exports are often restricted or even
banned. The opposite holds true, as well: the absence of relations and economic
trade fuels the complacency of these states, as they have no interests to
protect.
As such, the most effective tool available for prosperous governments in the
region remains economic sanctions, which allow them to close their borders to
source or transit countries. With the help of armed forces, border patrols, and
drug authorities, they can curb trafficking attempts by weak or failed states.
Smuggling might seem like a profitable industry, but there’s another edge to
that sword. Iran has long been a transit country for narcotics like opium,
heroin, cocaine, and hashish as they make their way from Afghanistan to the rest
of the world.
This business afforded Iran some financial profit in a time of economic crisis,
but it also destroyed two of the country’s assets.
Not only did drug use become rampant among Iranians, bordering a serious
epidemic; but also, most states with whom Tehran had traditional relations
banned its goods from crossing their borders.
For all its magnitude, the money made from the cross-border drug trade rarely
benefits the national economy or society. In Afghanistan, Syria, and Lebanon,
only the few groups involved in the trafficking made profits, while the state’s
legitimate trade took a fierce blow when most Gulf states instituted bans on
their exports. Aside from the destructive impact the illicit drug trade has on
the youth in those states, state security is also deeply affected.
Drug trafficking often engenders the emergence of organized gangs and terrorist
organizations. Smugglers are also often involved in data collection activities;
they also tend to smuggle and pick up arms and threaten local authorities.
To believe the smuggling of Captagon will immediately stop would be foolish.
Drug trade and smuggling maestros will spare no effort to keep their business
going. This is an ongoing war.
Will We See a New Regional Order?
Dr. Nassif Hitti/Asharq Al Awsat/June 05/2023
In a previous article, we asked whether a new regional order awaited us in the
Middle East after paths of normalization had begun to be paved in the region.
These paths are being taken at divergent speeds, with the factors governing each
normalization process and their mediation mechanisms determining the pace at
which it moves forward.
Oman has been playing a pivotal role in this regard. Indeed, some major powers
(like Egypt and Iran, for example) have yet to overcome old tensions, and Oman
has been particularly invested in rebuilding bridges of dialogue and trust
between these parties. It has had success in making progress on this front, as
will soon be apparent.
The Arab League Summit in Jeddah fortified these shifts. Syria was reinstated in
the Arab League, and the statement issued at the summit expressed support for
future cooperation in an array of fields and stressed the need to develop joint
strategies for facing shared challenges. In his speech before the summit, Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emphasized the importance of preventing our
region from turning into fields of conflict, sending a clear message regarding
the need for change.
The challenges are many. From politics to the economy, security, culture,
society, and climate issues, a new approach is needed to overcome hurdles. We
need approaches grounded in real, and therefore effective, engagement. The
effort thus needs to be cooperative if we are to resolve the problems facing
everyone in the region. Fortifying the role of states and their sovereignty is a
necessary condition for successfully addressing these various challenges. The
state remains the gateway to stability and the enhancement of cooperation that
serves the interests of all at the regional level.
The Jeddah Summit constitutes a turning point on the path toward building a new
regional order that replaces regional chaos, which has cost the region and its
people dearly. The chaotic order fueled and reinforced all sorts of conflicts
and interventions in the name of doctrines and ideology that go beyond the
nation-state and justified interference in the internal affairs of other
countries, which intensified conflicts and worsened instability.
The new order must be founded on rules and principles that respect state
sovereignty and prevent foreign meddling. It must enshrine rules and norms for
managing disputes, which are inherent to state relations, and it must also
develop frameworks for containing these disputes and settling them if possible,
as they must not be allowed to trigger clashes. Instead of clashing, the
regional order must encourage everyone to build on what they share and to
strengthen the regional system in a way that benefits all.
We remind our readers of the Conference for Cooperation and Partnership held in
Baghdad on August 28, 2021, which was a promising first step on the path toward
reformulating ties among states in the region. Nonetheless, the second held in
Oman in December 2022 did not meet expectations. However, this was before the
region took the course of normalization, which is why the Baghdad Conference
failed to achieve aspirations.
Circumstances have changed with the progress in normalizing relations in the
region. We must make way for a new regional order amid the shifts engendered by
the normalization efforts so that we can enhance and build on them and prevent
regional challenges from undermining them.
This task demands that the Arabs take the initiative and hold talks with Türkiye
and Iran (triangle dialogue) after positive developments reshaped the Arab
world’s ties to these two regional powers. Through dialogue, a “basket” of rules
and principles could be agreed upon by the parties concerned.
This would allow them to regulate diplomatic ties in the future, manage and
contain disputes when they emerge, and develop policies to address the
challenges facing the Middle East region effectively and successfully. Many
believe that this will not be easy. Nonetheless, it is a necessary requisite for
turning a new page in the region that serves all of our interests.
All of this essentially demands crystallizing an Arab practical understanding of
how the Arab world plays a proactive role in resolving the issues and challenges
inside the “Arab House.” After that, it can begin making arrangements for
enhanced cooperation with these two regional powers. Will the concerned parties
rise to this challenge? The near future undoubtedly holds the answer.