Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published  on June 21-22/2023
Iran top diplomat in Oman on second leg of Gulf tour
AFP/June 21, 2023
MUSCAT: Iran’s top diplomat arrived Wednesday in Oman where he is to meet senior officials, a day after discussing his country’s nuclear program with his Qatari counterpart in Doha. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is on a tour of the Gulf that will see the Iranian foreign minister also making stops later in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. On Wednesday, he met Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Numani, minister of Oman’s royal office, for talks on ties between their countries and “several areas of cooperation,” the official Oman News Agency said. Iran said last week it had been engaged in indirect negotiations with the United States through Oman, with nuclear issues, US sanctions and detainees on the agenda. The following day, Iran’s nuclear negotiator said he had met with diplomats from three European countries in Abu Dhabi to discuss a number of issues including the country’s nuclear program. A landmark deal reached in 2015 between Iran and world powers was designed to prevent Tehran from secretly developing a nuclear bomb, a goal the Islamic republic has always denied. The United States under then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018, before Iran began backing away from its own commitments, including by stepping up its enrichment of uranium. The administration of US President Joe Biden has sought to revive the deal, but the process has stalled in on-off talks since 2021. In recent weeks, the two sworn enemies have denied media reports that they were close to reaching an interim deal to replace the 2015 accord.

Iran has talks with EU's Mora amid efforts to save nuclear pact
DUBAI (Reuters)/Wed, June 21, 2023
Iran met in Qatar with European Union mediator Enrique Mora as part of efforts to revive its 2015 nuclear pact with world powers, as Tehran and Washington seek to cool tensions with a mutual "understanding" to help end the deadlock. Having failed to revive the deal in indirect talks that have stalled since September, Iranian and Western officials have met repeatedly in recent weeks to sketch out steps that could curb Iran's fast advancing nuclear work, free some U.S. and European detainees held in Iran and unfreeze some Iranian assets abroad. "(I) had a serious and constructive meeting with Mora in Doha. We exchanged views and discussed a range of issues including negotiations on sanctions lifting," Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said on Twitter, without elaborating. Mora tweeted that the Doha talks were "intense" and had touched on "a range of difficult bilateral, regional and international issues, including the way forward on the JCPOA" - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal is officially called. EU spokesperson Peter Stano said the bloc was "keeping diplomatic channels open, including through this meeting in Doha, to address all issues of concern with Iran". Bagheri Kani said last week that he had met his British, German and French counterparts in the United Arab Emirates to discuss "a range of issues and mutual concerns". The 2015 agreement limited Iran’s disputed uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop the means to produce nuclear weapons, in return for a lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. But then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the pact in 2018, calling it too lenient on Iran, and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. Tehran responded by gradually moving well beyond the pact's restrictions on enrichment, rekindling U.S., European and Israeli fears that it might be seeking an atomic bomb. The Islamic Republic has long denied seeking to weaponise the enrichment process, saying it seeks nuclear energy only for civilian uses. The meeting between Bagheri and Mora in Qatar's capital Doha came days after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters such as the nuclear dossier, said a new nuclear deal with the West was possible.

Belgian PM, foreign minister quizzed in parliament in Iran visa scandal
BRUSSELS (Reuters)/Wed, June 21, 2023
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib were quizzed by lawmakers on Wednesday after delegations from Iranian and Russian cities were granted visas to attend a mayors' convention in Brussels last week. Lahbib especially is under scrutiny for having approved visas requests for citizens from two countries under international sanctions and only three weeks after Belgian NGO worker Olivier Vandecasteele was released from an Iranian jail. De Croo and Lahbib said they didn't want to risk a diplomatic row with Iran close to the release of Vandecasteele and three other Europeans, but lawmakers from opposition as well as coalition parties contest that reasoning. When in Brussels, the Iranian delegation filmed Belgo-Iranian lawmaker Darya Safai and Iranian opposition members, Belgian national broadcaster RTBF reported.
Safai, who was a prominent activist in Iran before fleeing to Belgium in 2000, said she no longer felt safe in Belgium. Tehran' mayor, Alireza Zakani, is known as a hardline Iranian politician. The opposition has called for Lahbib's resignation, while extreme-right opposition party Vlaams Belang also asked for De Croo's resignation. State secretary for external relations of the Brussels government Pascal Smet resigned on Sunday over the all-expenses paid trip.

UK probes report of universities working with Iran on drones
AFP/June 21, 2023
LONDON: Britain’s government said Wednesday it was investigating allegations that UK universities have collaborated with Iran on drones and other sensitive technology despite a legal ban. With Russia accused of unleashing Iranian-made attack drones in Ukraine, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was grilled in parliament about the report by the Jewish Chronicle newspaper earlier this month. “We take all allegations of breaches of export controls seriously and my understanding is that officials in the Department for Business and Trade are currently now investigating the allegations made in the recent press article cited,” Sunak said. “We will not accept collaborations which compromise our national security,” he said, pointing to stepped-up controls on academic collaborations in technology. At least 11 British universities, including Cambridge, Cranfield, Glasgow and Imperial College London, were named by the Jewish Chronicle as taking part in studies with potential Iranian military applications. Citing analysis of thousands of papers published in scientific journals since 2017, the newspaper said that in one Iranian-funded project, UK researchers worked to improve the altitude, speed and range of drones. Another university worked with Iranian scientists to test new control systems for jets, aimed at increasing their manoeuvrability and response times in “military applications,” it said. Britain bans the export of military and “dual-use” technology to Iran, and has imposed sanctions against Iranian individuals and organizations accused of supplying drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. The United States says that Russia has received hundreds of Iranian drones to attack Kyiv and “terrorize” Ukrainians, a charge denied by Tehran. The White House said it would release a new government advisory to assist businesses and governments “to ensure they are not inadvertently contributing to Iran’s (drone) program.” British universities cited in the Jewish Chronicle report insisted they complied with legal and academic obligations in their international collaborations.

Israeli settlers torch Palestinian homes, cars to avenge deadly shooting
JERUSALEM (AP)/Wed, June 21, 2023
— Hundreds of Israeli settlers on Wednesday stormed into a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to dozens of cars and homes to avenge the deaths of four Israelis killed by Palestinian gunmen the previous day, residents said.
The settler attack came as the Israeli military deployed additional forces across the occupied West Bank, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build 1,000 new settler homes in response to the deadly shooting. The moves threatened to further raise tensions after two days of deadly fighting in the West Bank that included a daylong Israeli military raid in a Palestinian militant stronghold and Tuesday's mass shooting. Palestinian residents and human rights groups have long complained about Israel's inability or refusal to halt settler violence. In Wednesday's violence, residents in Turmus Ayya said some 400 settlers marched down the town's main road, setting fire to cars, homes and trees. Mayor Lafi Adeeb said some 30 houses and 60 cars were partly or totally burned. “The attacks intensified in the past hour even after the army came,” he said. At least eight Palestinians were hurt during the ensuing clashes, which the army tried to disperse by firing rubber bullets and tear gas. By the midafternoon, he said the situation was calming down, though Palestinian hospital officials said three people were hurt by live Israeli fire. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
The settler attack brought back memories of a settler rampage last February in which dozens of cars and homes were torched in the town of Hawara following the killing of a pair of Israeli brothers by a Palestinian gunman. Tuesday's shooting in the settlement of Eli came a day after seven Palestinians were killed in a daylong battle against Israeli troops in the militant stronghold of Jenin. The worsening violence has created a test for Israel’s government and prompted calls for a widespread military operation in the West Bank. As Israel deployed more forces to the area, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had approved plans to build 1,000 new homes in Eli. “Our answer to terror is to strike it hard and to build our country,” Netanyahu said. The international community opposes settlements on occupied lands sought by the Palestinians for a future independent state. Netanyahu's far-right government is dominated by settler leaders and supporters. Israeli media identified the four killed in the shooting as Harel Masood, 21, Ofer Fayerman, 64, and Elisha Anteman, 18, Nahman-Shmuel Mordoff, 17. An Israeli civilian killed one assailant at the scene, while Israeli troops chased and killed the second shooter after he fled.
The army said it was beefing up its troop presence in the West Bank. On Wednesday morning, it said troops arrested three suspects in the Palestinian village of Urif in connection to the attack and mapped out the homes of the two gunmen ahead of their likely demolition. Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers as part of a policy it says aims to deter others, but critics say the tactic amounts to collective punishment. Hamas did not officially claim responsibility for the attack, although it identified the two gunmen — Mohannad Faleh, 26, who was killed by a civilian at the scene and Khaled Sabah, 24, who was killed by the army as he fled — as its members. In the aftermath of Tuesday's attack, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian property in adjacent villages, causing extensive property damage. At least five Palestinians were wounded in attacks by Israeli settlers, Israel’s army radio reported.
Tuesday’s shooting followed a massive gunbattle between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops in the northern Jenin refugee camp a day earlier. On Wednesday, the Palestinian death toll from the raid rose to seven when 15-year-old Sadeel Naghniyeh succumbed to wounds sustained in the gunbattle, Palestinian health officials said. Some 90 Palestinians, and eight Israeli soldiers were also wounded in the shootout. Tuesday's deadly shooting was the latest in a long string of violence in the region over the past year and half that shows no sign of relenting. At least 130 Palestinians and 24 people on the Israeli side have been killed so far this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a string of deadly Palestinian attacks targeting Israeli civilians early in 2022. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed. Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state.

Palestinian villagers say Israeli settlers have torched dozens of homes and cars in revenge attack
AP/June 21, 2023
JERUSALEM: Palestinian residents of a West Bank village say hundreds of Israeli settlers have entered the community and set fire to dozens of homes and cars.The attack on Wednesday comes a day after a pair of Palestinian gunmen killed four Israelis outside a West Bank settlement.
Residents in Turmus Ayya said the settlers rampaged through the main road of the town. Witnesses said the Israeli army entered the town and settlers were withdrawing. The Israeli military on Wednesday deployed additional forces across the occupied West Bank, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build 1,000 new settler homes in an initial response to a Palestinian shooting attack that killed four Israelis a day earlier. The Israeli settlement announcement threatened to further raise tensions after two days of deadly fighting in the territory. The Palestinians and the international community oppose settlement construction on occupied lands sought by the Palestinians for a future state. Netanyahu said the homes would be built in Eli — the site of Wednesday’s deadly attack in which a pair of Palestinian gunmen opened fire outside a gas station. His far-right government is dominated by settler leaders and supporters. “Our answer to terror is to strike it hard and to build our country,” Netanyahu said. The shooting came a day after seven Palestinians were killed in a daylong battle against Israeli troops in the militant stronghold of Jenin. The worsening violence has created a test for Israel’s government and prompted calls for a widespread military operation in the West Bank. Israeli media identified the four killed as Harel Masood, 21, Ofer Fayerman, 64, and Elisha Anteman, 18, Nahman-Shmuel Mordoff, 17. An Israeli civilian killed one assailant at the scene, while Israeli troops chased and killed the second shooter after he fled. The army said it was beefing up its troop presence in the West Bank. On Wednesday morning, it said troops arrested three suspects in the Palestinian village of Urif in connection to the attack and mapped out the homes of the two gunmen ahead of their likely demolition. Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers as part of a policy it says aims to deter others, but critics say the tactic amounts to collective punishment.
Hamas did not officially claim responsibility for the attack, although it identified the two gunmen — Mohannad Faleh, 26, who was killed by a civilian at the scene and Khaled Sabah, 24, who was killed by the army as he fled — as its members. In the aftermath of Tuesday’s attack, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian property in adjacent villages, causing extensive property damage. At least five Palestinians were wounded in attacks by Israeli settlers, Israel’s army radio reported. Tuesday’s shooting followed a massive gunbattle between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops in the northern Jenin refugee camp a day earlier. Seven Palestinians were killed and more than 90 others were wounded in that clash. On Wednesday, the death toll from the raid rose to seven when 15-year-old Sadeel Naghniyeh succumbed to wounds sustained in the gunbattle, Palestinian health officials said.Eight Israeli soldiers were also wounded in the shootout. Tuesday’s deadly shooting was the latest in a long string of violence in the region over the past year and half that shows no sign of relenting. At least 130 Palestinians and 24 people on the Israeli side have been killed so far this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a string of deadly Palestinian attacks targeting Israeli civilians early in 2022. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed. Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state.

Syrian citizens in occupied Syrian Golan stage a strike in rejection of Israeli occupation practices
SANA/June 21, 2023
Syrian citizens in occupied Syrian Golan staged a strike on Wednesday, in rejection of the Israeli occupation arbitrary and criminal practices against them and their land. SANA reporter noted that hundreds of the Syrian citizens in the occupied Golan began to gather at the shrine of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari in the al-Marj area, in preparation for heading towards al-Hafayer area, east of Masada village, in rejection of the occupation scheme to establish wind turbines on their agricultural lands. The reporter said that the occupation brought large reinforcements from its forces and closed all roads leading to al-Hafayer area, where wind turbines are to be built.

Druze opposing Golan wind farm clash with Israeli police
Reuters/June 21, 2023
BUQATA, Golan Heights: Hundreds of men from Druze Arab villages on the occupied Golan Heights protested on Wednesday against Israeli plans to set up a wind farm, some facing off with riot police in an unusually violent confrontation that injured several people. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in a 1967 war and later annexed it, a move not recognized by most world powers. Ties between the Israeli state and the plateau’s Druze community, whose members profess loyalty to Damascus, are generally placid. Yet the Druze have complained of bureaucratic neglect by Israel. The erection of several wind turbines is viewed by the Golan villagers as an encroachment. Saying he was monitoring events “with gravity and concern,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif for talks, according to the premier’s office. Earlier, as protesters burned tires on a road in Buqata village and, in a nearby orchard, threw rocks at police from behind makeshift shields, Tarif had told Ynet news agency: “The writing was on the wall.” Video distributed by police showed them firing tear gas and using a high-pressure water hose against the Druze protesters. Police said protests shut down roads in northern Israel as well as the Golan. That suggested some of Israel’s Druze citizens — who make up 1.5 percent of the population and have representation in its military and public office — were among the demonstrators. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the government was moving ahead on a “major plan” to redress Druze complaints. But, he added in a statement, there was no justifying violence against a wind farm being lawfully built. Medics said two people were evacuated for treatment in the confrontations. Police said several officers were injured.

Jordan condemns Israeli aggression and plan to build more settler homes
Arab News/June 21, 2023
AMMAN: Jordan has condemned Israel’s announcement it will build 1,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, calling it the latest affront to Palestinians amid a spiral of violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the plan a day after two Palestinian gunmen killed four people near the illegal settlement of Eli, in what Hamas said was a reprisal for raids by Israeli forces and settler attacks on Palestinians. Amman denounced the settler attacks and called on Israel’s government to halt the violence “immediately,” reported the Jordan News Agency. Jordan’s foreign ministry spokesman, Sinan Majali, said the new settlement plan was a further provocation that “undermines prospects for realizing the two-state solution.” “Continuous violations and attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories herald further escalation,” he said. “The international community should work to avoid further violence.”Israel meanwhile deployed additional forces across the occupied West Bank in response to rising threats following the violence in Jenin and Eli.

Turmoil and Turkish strikes overshadow the 20th Astana meeting in Syria
LBCI/June 21/2023
The 20th round of the Astana talks, aimed at normalizing relations between Turkey and the Syrian regime under Russian mediation and securing Iran a position within this reconciliation process, began amidst Turkish airstrikes targeting northern Syria. The meeting concluded with a final statement denouncing attempts to create a new reality on the ground, including illegitimate endeavors to solidify autonomous rule. Thus, how will the efforts made in the Astana meetings to achieve a comprehensive settlement in Syria be affected? Especially after Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan confirmed that any tangible results in the Astana process should be based on Turkey's acknowledgment of withdrawing its forces from Syrian territory according to a clear timeline. However, the final statement affirmed that the guarantor states, namely Russia, Turkey, and Iran, are committed to Syria's sovereignty, independence, and unity, and reject any illegal operations to seize Syrian oil. In the meeting, in addition to the guarantor states and representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition, observers from the United Nations, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq participated. Furthermore, the necessity of facilitating the safe return of refugees and displaced persons was emphasized, and the importance of international support for this step. The guarantor countries agreed to hold the 21st international meeting on Syria in the second half of 2023, following the announcement by the Kazakhstani Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the 20th meeting would be the last. Meanwhile, the Russian side asserted that the Astana formula is not tied to a specific location, and a new venue will be determined to continue the meetings on Syria. But where will this new venue be? Could it be hosted by an Arab state, thus continuing the Arab-led path to resolving the Syrian crisis? The search for answers continues as regional tensions persist and diplomatic efforts forge ahead.

Kazakhstan abruptly announces it will no longer host Syria talks, amid Russian surprise
MOSCOW (AP)/Wed, June 21, 2023
Kazakhstan abruptly said on Wednesday it will stop hosting talks aimed at resolving the Syrian conflict that erupted 12 years ago.The decision was a surprise to Russia and other participants at the wrapping up of the 20th round of talks held in the capital, Astana Since 2017, the former Soviet nation has provided a venue for talks to representatives of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran on ways to resolve the Syrian conflict. Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said that the talks have fulfilled their mission and “the initial goals, including the creation of de-escalation zones, ending the bloodshed and reducing the number of casualties have been fully implemented.”The foreign ministry spokesman, Aibek Smadiyarov, cited Syria's recent return to the Arab League and the efforts to restore ties with Turkey as proof that the Astana talks have achieved their purpose. But Alexander Lavrentyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy to Syria, who led Moscow's delegation at the talks, said that Kazakhstan's decision came as a complete surprise. “The Kazakh foreign ministry's move was unexpected,” he told reporters after the talks wrapped up. Lavrentyev said that no decision has been made regarding the venue for future talks, but added that they could be held in Moscow, Ankara, Tehran, or even Damascus in the second half of the year. This week's round of talks followed an ongoing improvement in ties between Syria and some Arab countries that once backed opposition groups fighting inside the country and called for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Lavrentyev hailed Syria’s reinstatement to the Arab League in May during its summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as an “important step” towards ending the conflict. Representatives from the UN and Syria’s neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq attended the Astana talks as observers. They expressed hope to see a swift end to the conflict and the return of millions of refugees living in their countries. A statement by Turkey, Russia, and Iran noted that the latest round of talks in Astana was “constructive” and discussed "progress in preparing the roadmap for the restoration of relations between Turkey and Syria.” Moscow has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to help Assad's government reclaim control over most of the country. While the bulk of Russia’s armed forces has been busy fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military foothold in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkey and other countries in the region. Turkey has had troops in northwestern Syria backing opposition fighters in an opposition-held enclave there. Syrian Assistant Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan said on Tuesday that Turkey should produce a “clear timeline” for the withdrawal of its forces from Syria. In May, Turkey and Syria’s foreign ministers agreed to set up a “roadmap” to improve strained ties following talks in Moscow, days after the war-torn country was readmitted to the Arab League. It marked the highest-level contact between the two countries since the start of the uprising turned-civil war over a decade ago. The Syrian conflict killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country’s prewar population of 23 million.

Sudan conflict shows how peace could unravel in South Sudan if world doesn’t watch, UN envoy says
AP/Wed, June 21, 2023
The U.N. envoy for South Sudan warned the Security Council Tuesday not to take its eyes off the world’s newest nation, saying the conflict in neighboring Sudan shows “how quickly hard-won peace gains can unravel.”Nicholas Haysom said the impact of the conflict is “unfurling along multiple fronts,” with over 117,000 women, children and men fleeing into South Sudan, where violent clashes also persist, and the government is struggling to implement the most challenging provisions of a fragile 2018 power-sharing agreement and move toward the country’s first elections as an independent nation.
He said the capacity of the government and humanitarian organizations to absorb the newcomers – 93% of them South Sudanese returning to the country – “is under strain,” with limited local resources and bottlenecks in border towns, especially Renk. The conflict, which broke out in mid-April capping months of increasing tensions between the leaders of Sudan’s military and powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, has also had an economic impact in already fragile South Sudan, Haysom said. The sudden interruption of imports from Sudan has put essential commodities “out of reach” for ordinary people in South Sudan, he said, and if oil exports from South Sudan through Sudan’s main seaport, Port Sudan, are interrupted as recently threatened, the effect on the country’s oil-dependent economy could be “devastating.” -- AP

Fighting resumes after Sudan cease-fire as number of people displaced passes 2.5 million
CAIRO (AP)/Wed, June 21, 2023
Clashes resumed between Sudan's military and a powerful paramilitary force after a three-day cease-fire expired Wednesday morning, a protest group and residents reported. Sudan descended into conflict in mid-April after months of worsening tensions exploded into open fighting between rival generals seeking to control the African nation. The war pits the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, against the Rapid Support Forces, a militia-turned-paramilitary force commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The cease-fire, brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, expired Wednesday at 6 a.m. local time. The truce had brought relative calm to Sudan's capital, Khartoum, since it took effect, but fierce fighting was reported starting Tuesday night in parts of the city. Residents said the clashes centered around an intelligence headquarters near Khartoum International Airport. There were sporadic clashes elsewhere in the capital, according to three people who live in the capital. “The battles have been intensified,” said Khalid Abdel-Rahman who lives in Khartoum’s city center. “Sounds of gunfire echoed across the area.”Fierce clashes were also reported around a military facility in the neighboring city of Omdurman, according to area resistance committees that are part of a wider group that spearheaded pro-democracy demonstrations over the past years. The resumption of fighting signals that U.S. and Saudi efforts to extend the truce have failed. Both Washington and Riyadh have been mediating between the warring factions to stop the clashes. The conflict has been centered largely in the capital and western Sudan's Darfur region, which have seen ethnicity-motivated attacks on non-Arab communities by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias, according to U.N. officials. The fighting has killed thousands of people and forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes to safer areas in Sudan and neighboring countries, according the U.N. migration agency.

European Union countries agree on a new package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine
AP/Wed, June 21, 2023
European Union countries on Wednesday agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine. Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said that the package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings. Details of the measures will be unveiled later this week when the sanctions are officially adopted by written procedure. The EU had previously imposed 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Banks, companies and markets have been hit — even parts of the sensitive energy sector. More than 1,000 officials are subject to asset freezes and travel bans. Much work has involved closing loopholes so that goods vital to Putin’s war effort don't get through. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU's executive arm, said the new package will “deal a further blow to Putin’s war machine with tightened export restrictions, targeting entities supporting the Kremlin.” “Our anti-circumvention tool will prevent Russia from getting its hands on sanctioned goods,” she added. It is the first time that plans have been announced to target trade via other countries, apart from sanctions against Iranians alleged to be supplying drones to Russia. Past sanctions have been agreed on in just months — extremely quickly for the EU. But new measures are becoming increasingly hard to endorse as they inflict damage on the economic and political interests of some member countries even as they aim for the Kremlin. Hungary, for instance, had said earlier this week it wouldn't allow EU measures targeting Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom, insisting on the importance of nuclear energy for Europe’s security and environmental goals. Hungary signed new agreements in April to ensure its continued access to Russian energy, a sign of the country’s continuing diplomatic and trade ties with Moscow that have confounded some European leaders amid the war in Ukraine.

US Announces $1.3 Bn In Fresh Economic Aid To Ukraine
AFP/June 21/2023
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday announced $1.3 billion in fresh US economic assistance for Ukraine, and vowed that Russia would eventually pay financially for its invasion. "As Russia continues to destroy, we are here to help Ukraine rebuild -- rebuild lives, rebuild its country, rebuild its future," Blinken told a reconstruction conference in London. "Let's be clear -- Russia is causing Ukraine's destruction, and Russia will eventually bear the cost of Ukraine's reconstruction," he said to applause, echoing remarks by leaders from Britain and the European Union. The new funding -- which comes from money already approved by the US Congress -- is in addition to $63 billion provided by the United States to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. Some $40 billion of the assistance has come in weapons and other security support. Of the new aid, some $657 million will go to upgrading Ukraine's rail lines, ports, border crossings and other infrastructure to help the country expand trade with Europe, Blinken said. Another $520 million of the aid will help Ukraine overhaul its energy grid, much of which has been destroyed by Russian attacks, including through market reforms, Blinken said. Among the rest of the aid, $100 million will support upgrades to Ukraine's customs services, including by transitioning to digital technology to improve transparency in trade.-

Kremlin: Biden calling Xi a ‘dictator’ shows unpredictability of US foreign policy
Reuters/Wed, June 21, 2023
Russia said on Wednesday that US President Joe Biden’s reference to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a dictator showed US foreign policy was inconsistent and erratic. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was a contradiction between Biden’s comment and the efforts of his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to lower tensions with Beijing at a meeting with Xi earlier this week. “These are very contradictory manifestations of US foreign policy, which speak of a large element of unpredictability,” Peskov told reporters.

China lashes back as Biden labels Xi a 'dictator'
Reuters/Wed, June 21, 2023
China hit back on Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden referred to President Xi Jinping as a "dictator", saying the remarks were absurd and a provocation, in an unexpected spat immediately following efforts by both sides to lower tensions. Biden's comments came just a day after top U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing to stabilize bilateral relations that China says are at their lowest point since formal ties were established. Attending a fundraiser in California, Biden said Xi was very embarrassed when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was blown off course over U.S. airspace early this year, making a personal comment on the Chinese leader when Blinken said on Monday the "chapter" should be closed. "The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it was he didn't know it was there," Biden said. "That's a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn't know what happened. That wasn't supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course," Biden added. Xi became China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong after securing a precedent-breaking third term as president in March and head of the Communist Party in October.--

Raids, executions as Saudi Arabia wages war on drugs
Agence France Presse/Wed, June 21, 2023
After a spate of arrests and executions for drug offences, Ibrahim, a dealer in Saudi Arabia, is not taking any chances. "I don't deal with new clients or go to the clients myself," said the 37-year-old, using a pseudonym to protect his identity. "They have to take on the risk," he told AFP from the Red Sea city of Jeddah, weeks after several of his customers were arrested. Ibrahim is on the front lines of a war on drugs in Saudi Arabia, which has seen an influx of the addictive amphetamine captagon flooding in from war-torn Syria and Lebanon. After becoming a major market, Saudi Arabia is hitting back, ending a moratorium on the death penalty for drug cases and launching a zealous crackdown. The result is at least 20 executions for drug offences since last year, according to an AFP tally, and a sharp rise in arrests. At least two Saudi security officers have been killed in drug raids, including one last week, according to state media. "Several of my customers were recently arrested in a private compound," said Ibrahim, who mainly sells captagon and hashish. "This never used to happen before." Acts of violence committed by drug users prompted the crackdown, a security official told AFP. They include a recent case in which a drug addict killed his parents by dousing them with fuel and setting them on fire, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the press.
Party pill
Across Jeddah, roadside billboards urge citizens to report any illicit drug activities to the authorities. While alcohol is illegal in the conservative country, it is also believed to be the world's biggest market for captagon, which is used by wealthy Saudis as a party pill and by workers to stay awake during long shifts. While previous anti-drug campaigns targeted smuggled shipments, mainly from Syria and Lebanon, the latest initiative is zeroing in on dealers and users within the country. Apparently to provide a deterrent, a nearly three-year moratorium on executions for drug crimes was scrapped last year. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's biggest users of capital punishment, executing 147 people in 2022. "In the last year to two years, we have seen an uptick in internal arrests and the use of the death penalty (in drug cases)," said Caroline Rose of the New Lines Institute think tank. The shift from border seizures to arrests of dealers is partly due to "a focus on security issues surrounding captagon and a recognition of just how deep some of these networks go", Rose told AFP. The campaign is also aimed at keeping drugs out of the hands of Saudi youth, the drivers of an ambitious reform agenda to diversify the oil-dependent economy. Fifty-one percent of the 32.2 million population is under 30. "Saudi Arabia is carrying out a huge economic project...and the youth are the main pillar of this project," said Sulaiman al-Oqaily, a Saudi political analyst.
Addiction on the rise
Rampant drug use is taking its toll, with more than 200,000 addicts in Saudi Arabia, according to health ministry figures cited by domestic media. Growing numbers are seeking addiction treatment, mainly because they fear arrest, said Hamad al-Sheehan of the Rushd Specialized Center in Riyadh. "After the recent campaign, the numbers have increased at the centre," the director of treatment said from his office, where at least 10 young men were waiting to be seen. "We currently receive 1,000 people per month instead of only 100 previously." He said that captagon and other methamphetamine-type drugs are among the most abused in the kingdom. Most of his patients are between 17 and 21 years old and half are women, he said. If Sheehan's patients fear arrest, the crackdown is working, Oqaily said. "The message is if you don't fear for yourself, you should fear the government," he said. Last month, Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef warned drug dealers and smugglers that they will not escape.
"We are still at the beginning of the campaign," he said.

Kyiv's allies vow to make Russia pay for Ukraine invasion
Agence France Presse/Wed, June 21, 2023
Western allies on Wednesday promised to make Russia pay for its invasion of Ukraine, as governments and private investors met to fund the country's reconstruction from the ravages of war. The World Bank has put an estimate of $14 billion on Ukraine's immediate needs for repairing the damage caused by the bitter fighting. But a recent study by the World Bank, the UN, the European Union and the Ukrainian government said the wider recovery of the economy would cost $441 billion. "Let's be clear: Russia is causing Ukraine's destruction," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told delegates at the London conference. "And Russia will eventually bear the cost of Ukraine's reconstruction," he added. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak voiced a similar message, promising to keep tough sanctions in place "until Russia pays up", and use seized assets to get Ukraine back on its feet. In the conflict overnight, Russia said it had downed three Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region, while Ukraine said its air defense systems had shot down six Iranian-designed attack drones in the west. The conference comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky oversees a military fight-back by his troops using Western-supplied heavy weaponry to regain territory lost to Russian forces since last year. "Every day of Russian aggression brings new ruins, thousands and thousands of destroyed houses, devastated industries, burnt lives," Zelensky told the London delegates by videolink. But he set out his stall for future investment in Ukraine, saying that despite the devastation, the country was ripe for development in sectors from technology and green agriculture to clean energy. International help for Ukraine would send a strong message to the world for generations to come, he said. "Also, the world is watching to see if we will restore normal life in such a way that our transformation will land an ideological defeat on the aggressor. "We protect Ukraine, and thus we protect freedom. And when we build Ukraine, we'll build freedom."
Seized assets
Leaders and representatives from more than 60 countries are attending the International Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 -- the second to be held since the Russian invasion in February last year. The first, in Lugano, Switzerland, in July last year saw Kyiv's allies commit to supporting Ukraine through what is expected to be an eye-wateringly expensive and decades-long recovery. African countries, though, have voiced concern that by pumping aid to Ukraine, the West is backing off from its pledges to help the continent with development and fight climate change. Sunak told delegates that Kyiv's allies would support Ukraine "on the battlefield and beyond" for as long as it takes. He has announced UK backing for Ukraine to the tune of $3 billion so it can unlock vital World Bank loans to help bolster its public services, including schools and hospitals.
The guarantee will run over the next three years, he said. He also announced an extra £240 million ($306 million) in development aid funding for humanitarian projects. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen recapped the EU executive's support package for Ukraine of 50 billion euros ($55 billion) over the next four years. The European Union would soon outline how it intends to use proceeds from seized Russian assets, she added, "because the perpetrator has to be held accountable". Germany will provide 381 million euros in humanitarian assistance this year, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. Blinken announced more than $1.3 billion in additional US aid. "As Russia continues to destroy, we are here to help Ukraine rebuild -- rebuild lives, rebuild its country, rebuild its future," he said.
Private sector
As well as government support from around the world, it is hoped more private-sector firms will help in the reconstruction effort. Delegates include captains of industry from major multinationals and corporations, many of whom have signed up to a new Ukraine Business Compact. It encourages trade, investment and expertise-sharing to Ukraine on the back of promises from Zelensky to tackle corruption, improve financial and legal transparency, as well as market liberalization and competition. Sunak said more than 400 companies from 38 countries, with a combined market capitalization of $4.9 trillion, have already promised to back Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. A new London-based insurance scheme would help to underwrite risky investments in Ukraine, he said, "removing one of the biggest barriers and giving investors the confidence they need to act".

Turmoil and Turkish strikes overshadow the 20th Astana meeting in Syria
LBCI/Wed, June 21, 2023
The 20th round of the Astana talks, aimed at normalizing relations between Turkey and the Syrian regime under Russian mediation and securing Iran a position within this reconciliation process, began amidst Turkish airstrikes targeting northern Syria. The meeting concluded with a final statement denouncing attempts to create a new reality on the ground, including illegitimate endeavors to solidify autonomous rule. Thus, how will the efforts made in the Astana meetings to achieve a comprehensive settlement in Syria be affected? Especially after Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan confirmed that any tangible results in the Astana process should be based on Turkey's acknowledgment of withdrawing its forces from Syrian territory according to a clear timeline. However, the final statement affirmed that the guarantor states, namely Russia, Turkey, and Iran, are committed to Syria's sovereignty, independence, and unity, and reject any illegal operations to seize Syrian oil. In the meeting, in addition to the guarantor states and representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition, observers from the United Nations, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq participated. Furthermore, the necessity of facilitating the safe return of refugees and displaced persons was emphasized, and the importance of international support for this step. The guarantor countries agreed to hold the 21st international meeting on Syria in the second half of 2023, following the announcement by the Kazakhstani Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the 20th meeting would be the last. Meanwhile, the Russian side asserted that the Astana formula is not tied to a specific location, and a new venue will be determined to continue the meetings on Syria. But where will this new venue be? Could it be hosted by an Arab state, thus continuing the Arab-led path to resolving the Syrian crisis? The search for answers continues as regional tensions persist and diplomatic efforts forge ahead.

Explosion Hits Building in Paris, Injuring 24
AFP/Wed, June 21, 2023
A strong explosion hit a building in Paris' Left Bank on Wednesday, leaving 24 injured and igniting a fire that sent smoke soaring over city monuments and prompted the evacuation of surrounding buildings, police said. The cause of the blast was not immediately known. The facade of a building in the 5th arrondissement, or district, collapsed, and emergency services were working to determine if anyone was still inside, a Paris police official said. The explosion happened near the historic Val de Grace military hospital. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the building where the explosion occurred was a private school, the Paris American Academy, which was founded in 1965 and offers teaching in fashion design, interior design, fine arts and creative writing. The fire was contained but not yet extinguished. Some 270 firefighters were involved in putting out the flames and 70 emergency vehicles were on the scene.
A Paris police official told The Associated Press that 24 people were injured, including four in critical condition and 20 with less severe injuries. The official says the injuries were sustained mainly when people were blown off their feet by the blast. Officials from the 5th arrondissement attributed the blast and blaze to a gas leak. District Mayor Florence Berthout said, “The explosion was extremely violent,” describing pieces of glass still falling from buildings. The Paris prosecutor said an investigation was opened into aggravated involuntary injury and the probe would examine whether the explosion stemmed from a suspected violation of safety rules. Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said investigators would seek to “determine whether or not there was failure to respect a rule or individual imprudence that led to the explosion.” Nunez, the Paris police chief, said firefighters prevented the fire from igniting two neighboring buildings that were “seriously destabilized” by the explosion and evacuated. The explosion blew out several windows in the area, witnesses and the police chief said. Smoke was no longer visibly rising from the building by Wednesday evening. Sirens still wailed as ambulances passed through the neighborhood, but residents were starting to move freely again on the street, rue Saint-Jacques, which was cordoned off earlier.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 21-22/2023
Con Coughlin/The Telegraph: Is the world really ready to rehabilitate Bashar al-Assad?
كون كوغلين/التلغراف: هل العالم جاهز حقًا لإعادة تأهيل بشار الأسد؟
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/119356/119356/
June 21/2023
Con Coughlin: ‘The only way that both Assad and Asma have been able to survive the horrors of the civil war is by living in a parallel universe’
Since Bashar al-Assad took power, Syria has seen over a decade of civil war and the tyrannical suppression and murder of its people. Yet recent overtures suggest a sudden shift in international attitudes to the dictator.
When I first began writing about the Middle East for The Daily Telegraph in the early 1980s, I experienced not so much a baptism of fire, but a coming under fire in every sense.
Back then there were none of the hazardous-environment courses that foreign correspondents these days undergo before travelling abroad. The only requirements for covering war zones were basic reporting skills and an appetite for adventure.
Prior to arriving in war-torn Beirut in 1983 at the height of the country’s brutal civil war, my only previous experience of unrest was covering the Brixton riots in 1981 which, while violent, hardly counted as warfare.
Immediately before flying into Beirut’s battered airport, I had spent a bewildering few weeks writing about America’s military invasion of the delightful Caribbean island of Grenada.
During my three-week sojourn in St George’s, the capital, the only hazards to my well-being were the large clouds of cannabis smoke that accompanied Hunter S Thompson, the high priest of gonzo journalism, who was covering events for Playboy magazine.
Beirut was a different proposition altogether. I was 28, and had a burning desire to prove myself by undertaking front-line assignments in some of the world’s most demanding war zones. Lebanon’s civil war, which dated back to 1975, fitted the bill perfectly.
The US Marine Corps detachment that had invaded Grenada had been sent to relieve the American Marine detachment in Beirut, which had just suffered 241 dead and hundreds more injured after their barracks were blown up by a new Lebanese militia called Hizbollah.
As I had already become acquainted with the Marines in Grenada, my Telegraph bosses thought it made sense for me to accompany them to Lebanon. And so began my long involvement with the region, where during the next decade I came under fire on numerous occasions and narrowly escaped being kidnapped by Islamic militants.
To say I was unprepared to deal with such dangers is an understatement. On one of my first nights in Beirut I ventured into the southern suburbs to investigate reports of a tank battle between rival militias only to find myself being caught up in the fighting and having to run for cover. In those days foreign correspondents did not enjoy the luxury of flak jackets and protective helmets: you were literally expected to survive on your wits.
Gradually, I became more street smart. When the shelling around my hotel was particularly intense, I took to sleeping in the bath as protection against shrapnel fragments. And when the militiamen began kidnapping British journalists, such as my colleague John McCarthy, I made a hasty escape by hiding under a blanket on the back seat of a taxi to Beirut airport, where I managed to catch one of the last flights out to Cyprus and safety.
It was during this tumultuous period in my four decades-long Telegraph career that I developed an abiding interest in the Middle East, and especially the menacing shadow the Assad regime in Syria has cast over the region since the late president Hafez al-Assad seized power in a coup in 1970.
As a close ally of Iran, Assad was deeply involved in the Lebanese civil war: Syrian intelligence had been implicated in the bombing of the US Embassy and Marine compounds in 1983. My coverage was highly critical both of the Assad regime and Hizbollah – its main ally in Lebanon.
As a consequence, I soon discovered that not only had I been banned from travelling to Syria; my name had been added to Hizbollah’s hit list of Western targets.
After Syria became the latest repressive Arab state to fall victim to a brutal civil war in 2011, my focus turned to the role of Bashar al-Assad in the conflict. Having inherited the residency from his father, the shy and retiring Bashar had managed to turn himself into one of the most reviled dictators of the modern age.
Throughout the course of the Syrian conflict, Bashar was to be found at the heart of his regime’s murderous assault against the Syrian people, whether it be supervising massacres in rebel strongholds or launching chemical-weapon attacks against his own people.
Bashar’s ability, despite his glaring personal flaws, to survive this most brutal of conflicts is what persuaded me to write a book where I have sought to examine the complex and contradictory nature of the Syrian leader, and the key factors that have kept him in power.
For a man who was not born to be a dictator, Bashar al-Assad has done a pretty good job of brutalising his people. On his watch, an estimated 500,000 Syrians have lost their lives, while millions more have been forced to flee their homes. In March this year, 12 years after the start of the conflict, the UN estimated that 15.3 million Syrians were in need of humanitarian assistance.
It was not supposed to be like this. Bashar al-Assad was never intended to be the leader of Syria. The role of heir apparent had resided with his older brother, Bassel. He was a playboy, portrayed by the ruling Baath Party as the ‘Golden Knight’, who lived up to his image by becoming the darling of Beirut’s lively nightclub scene.
Hopes that Bassel would succeed his father, however, ended in January 1994, when he was involved in a fatal car crash while driving to Damascus airport shortly before his 32nd birthday.
At the time of his brother’s death, Bashar, then aged 28, was living a quiet and relatively obscure existence in London as a medical student. Diffident, speaking with a slight lisp, he lived in an apartment in a townhouse in Belgravia, with two Syrian security guards in constant attendance. He rarely socialised, and to relax listened to Phil Collins and Whitney Houston.
When he had first indicated his preference to complete his studies in London, having acquired a degree in medicine in Damascus, the British government was not overjoyed at the prospect of hosting a prominent member of the Assad clan in the capital.
Britain has a strained relationship with Damascus, dating back to a failed attempt by Syrian intelligence to blow up an Israeli passenger jet at Heathrow in 1986. Nevertheless, a family acquaintance who was on good terms with Downing Street offered to intervene on Bashar’s behalf, and he was offered a place to study ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital.
The young Assad took a keen interest in technology, especially computers. When he did venture out, he often used a pseudonym, especially when socialising among London’s vibrant Arab community. Despite his hard work, his supervisors did not think he was a particularly impressive student.
‘He was diligent – pleasant enough to work with – but pretty ordinary,’ recalled a former tutor who supervised his studies during the 18 months Bashar was in London. As the tutor recalls, ‘One day, a big black limousine appeared and whisked him away, never to be seen again.’
A private jet touched down in London, ready to return the second son to his homeland, where he succeeded Bassel as the president’s heir apparent. On his father’s orders, Bashar was given a crash course in the political and diplomatic skills necessary to control a fractious state like Syria – a position to which he was temperamentally unsuited. As his father remarked to a close acquaintance at the time, ‘Syria is a jungle, and Bashar is not yet a wolf.’
When he first assumed the presidency in the summer of 2000, Bashar was greeted as a refreshing change. Syria had endured decades of oppressive rule during the 30 years of his father’s dictatorship.
The image Bashar presented to the outside world during the early years was that of a well-educated and dynamic leader whose objective was to modernise the country by implementing radical political and economic reforms.
In his first address as President, he spoke passionately about making the economy and education the focus of his ambitious reform programme. ‘I find it very important to invite every citizen to participate in the journey of development and modernisation if we’re really sincere and serious about attaining desired results in the shortest possible time.’
During Hafez’s repressive rule, any hint of political opposition was instantly crushed, and the economy was controlled by a corrupt clique of Baathist loyalists. Bashar was keen to portray himself as the antithesis of his father.
Not only was he Western-educated, but he had also acquired a glamorous wife, 25-year-old Asma al-Akhras, the daughter of a London-based Syrian cardiologist, whom he had met during his studies
Asma – known to her British friends as Emma – had graduated from King’s College London with a degree in computer science. ‘She was very polite,’ recalls a childhood acquaintance who lived in the same street as the al-Akhras, in the unremarkable west London suburb of Acton.
Marriage to Asma certainly helped to make Assad more appealing to the outside world. When Tony Blair arranged for the couple to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace in December 2002 as part of a diplomatic charm offensive to get Damascus to back the invasion of Iraq, glittering profiles of the Middle Eastern power couple appeared in the British press, with Asma dubbed an ‘icon’.
Yet behind the scenes, Assad was riven with self-doubt, and – perhaps because of this – already making his authoritarian nature known. ‘There was always this feeling with Bashar that he was trying to be two people at the same time,’ a close family friend told me. ‘One half of him was trying to be his father, the other half was trying to be Bassel.’
‘Bashar was always in his father’s shadow, and in his big brother’s shadow,’ recalled another contemporary. ‘He hated it when people underestimated him.’
And so, he cracked down on the nascent reform groups that had emerged after his father’s death, sidelined those deemed not sufficiently enthusiastic about his accession and promoted key allies to key positions in the Baathist regime. His younger brother, Maher, was given command of the Syrian military’s elite 4th Armoured Division.
Yet the world turned a blind eye. Even as the storm clouds of popular unrest began to gather in the first days of the Arab Spring in early 2011, US Vogue published a profile of Asma, entitled ‘A rose in the desert’.
In it the Assads were described as a ‘wildly democratic’, family-focused couple who took their vacations in Europe, fostered Christianity, were at ease with American celebrities and whose only ambition was to make their beloved country ‘the safest in the Middle East’.
The veneer of respectability the Assads had acquired through their carefully curated PR campaign evaporated the moment the regime found itself under threat as a result of the anti-government protests that erupted during the Arab Spring.
Political unrest had been simmering beneath the surface in Damascus ever since Assad had taken power and his promised political and economic reforms never happened.
Within days of the first Syrian protests in Deraa, in the south of the country, in March 2011, Bashar revealed a pathological ruthlessness. Under his command, a new security apparatus, the sinisterly named Central Crisis Management Cell (CCMC), was set up. Its main task was to identify the primary centres of the revolt, and target them with massacres of civilian protesters on an industrial scale.
In one notorious incident in the Tadamon suburb of Damascus in April 2013, Syrian forces dug a large trench in one of the main streets before executing more than 280 people, whose bodies were then dumped in the mass grave.
The CCMC also established a nationwide network of detention centres where suspected opponents of the regime were subjected, under direct orders from the President, to terrible abuse: held for prolonged periods during which they were subjected to intimidation, physical violence and torture. Sexual violence, including rape, was a regular occurrence, involving women, men and even children.
Over the course of the next two years, thousands of detainees died in custody in Damascus, and when a defector from the Syrian military smuggled pictures of the dead out of the country, their injuries were consistent with torture, starvation and suffocation. They were, he said later, ‘torturing to kill’.
So how did this mild-mannered ophthalmologist and his suburban British wife end up as some of the world’s most prolific killers?
Assad himself was not a natural war leader: racked by indecision, close aides complained that he could change his mind 20 times in a single day, making it impossible for commanders to issue clear instructions.
On the one hand he was promising reform while at the same time personally supervising brutal reprisals. This made it immensely difficult for officials to ascertain the President’s main objectives, which only added to the sense of confusion at the heart of the regime’s response.
Robert Ford, who served as US Ambassador to Damascus at the start of the conflict, was never in any doubt as to who was ultimately responsible for the Syrian’s regime’s brutality. ‘I never saw one iota of evidence that Bashar was trying to rein them [the hardliners] in,’ he recalled.
‘He was not in control of the day-to-day tactics: he just told his senior security officials to get on with it. He would say to his advisors: “You know what you have to do.” We never got any idea that he was urging restraint.’
Even so, Assad, and to a lesser degree Asma, seemed to be in a constant state of denial about their role in the violence. Later on in the conflict, when confronted with an Amnesty International report detailing the regime’s appalling abuses, Assad blithely dismissed the findings.
‘You can forge anything these days,’ he remarked in a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal. ‘We are living in a fake news era.’ He went on to claim that photographs of the corpses of prisoners piled up in a Damascus hospital had been put together by ‘photo-shop’.
In public, Assad tried to maintain a tough guy image, constantly railing against the enemies who were trying to overthrow his regime. But his lack of effective leadership qualities was laid bare after Iran became more involved in the conflict.
After Tehran agreed to respond to Assad’s plea for help following the influx of thousands of Islamist fighters to the rebel side from neighbouring Iraq, Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Quds Force, effectively took personal control. ‘It had got to the point where Soleimani would go to see Assad to tell him what was going on as a matter of courtesy,’ explained a former senior US intelligence official.
Assad’s involvement in his own war was reduced further after Soleimani persuaded Vladimir Putin to join the fight. ‘From the moment they arrived, the Russians dictated their terms… Russian commanders had no interest in informing Assad what was going on,’ recalls a former Syrian officer.
Meanwhile, Asma’s efforts to distance herself from the regime’s atrocities were undermined somewhat after the Metropolitan Police announced in 2021 that it was conducting an investigation into her involvement in war crimes, a move that could ultimately result in her standing trial and losing her British citizenship.
But somehow, the Assads remain leaders of Syria and despite everything, the President and his wife are quietly enjoying a period of rehabilitation, at least in the Arab world.
With attention fixed on more pressing issues, such as the war in Ukraine, a number of Arab countries have begun re-establishing diplomatic ties with Damascus – so much so that Syria was last month invited to rejoin the Arab League, and more recently, the UAE issued an invitation to Assad to attend the Cop28 global summit later this year.
The many interviews with the survivors of the Syrian conflict that I conducted for my book led me to conclude that the only way that both Assad and Asma have been able to survive the horrors of the civil war was by living in a parallel universe – one where the narrative they had constructed for themselves set them as the innocent victims of a violent uprising that had forced them to defend their country and their people.
It remains to be seen whether the Assads will ultimately be able to escape justice for their participation in the violent suppression of the Syrian people. Lawyers and activists across the globe have already accumulated compelling evidence relating to numerous war crimes; now that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, many Syrians believe it is simply a question of time before the Assads suffer a similar fate.
Certainly, until the Assads are held fully accountable for their crimes, for the Syrian people it will simply be a case that justice delayed is justice denied.
Read an exclusive extract from Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny
On 10 June 2000 Bashar al-Assad made his usual early morning call at the Presidential Palace to check on his father’s health. He knew that the ailing dictator was nearing the end of his life, but nonetheless it came as a shock when he entered the bedroom and found his father’s lifeless body lying peacefully in his bed. Hafez was just a few months short of his seventieth birthday. The rest of the house was still asleep and Bashar, who had anticipated this moment for several weeks, knew that he had to move quickly to secure the succession. He may have been his father’s choice to become the next president of the Syrian Arab Republic, but his appointment was by no means a foregone conclusion.
Bashar’s first instinct was to make sure that no one else in the family knew that Hafez had died during the night. Having respectfully tended to his dead father’s body, he left the room and quietly locked the door, putting the key in his pocket. He then went to a neighbouring room, where his mother Anisa was staying, and informed her that her husband was resting after a difficult night and was not to be disturbed. Reassuring her that he would come back later that morning to check on his father’s health, he hurried to his office in the presidential complex to begin implementing the carefully laid plan that would guarantee his succession.
One of his first calls was to Mustafa Tlass, the long-serving head of Syria’s armed forces and a veteran Baathist associate of his father. Tlass was one of a select group of trusted Baathists who had been given responsibility for implementing Hafez’s dying wish for Bashar to take control; he had no hesitation in implementing the well-rehearsed plan to ensure a peaceful transition of power. Within hours of hearing the news that Hafez was dead, Tlass had arranged for three army divisions to station tanks and armoured units at key points around Damascus. For good measure, Bashar’s younger brother Maher, a senior commander in the Republican Guard, deployed his elite forces too. It was only after these vital measures had been taken to safeguard the regime that Bashar returned to his father’s quarters to break the news to his mother and the rest of the family that Hafez had died in his sleep.
Having taken precautions to prevent any serious challenge to the status quo, Bashar spent the next few days attending to the other key issues that needed addressing before he could assume the presidency. The first obstacle was to make changes to the Syrian constitution, which stipulated that the minimum age for a president-elect was forty. Bashar was still only thirty-four. A meeting of the People’s Assembly, the regime’s rubber-stamp parliament, was hastily arranged and – perhaps unsurprisingly – voted unanimously to amend Article 83 of the constitution. Henceforward, the minimum age for Syria’s president-elect would be thirty-four.
Over the course of the next few days, Bashar’s nomination as secretary general of the Baath Party was approved, as was his promotion to the country’s highest military rank of fariq, or commander of the armed forces. Within days of his father’s demise, Bashar had successfully ensured that he would be Syria’s next dictator. The unbending confidence and efficiency that Bashar displayed as he moved to secure his dynastic inheritance so soon after losing his father took many by surprise, not least those who had questioned whether he had the charisma and strength of character required to lead a fractious and challenging country like Syria.
The self-assured demeanour that Bashar demonstrated in the days immediately following his father’s death was certainly unexpected by those who did not know him well. Gone was the diffident medical student; instead, foreign dignitaries paying their respects to the Assad family were surprised at Bashar’s composure. One of the first visitors to the Presidential Palace, a close family friend, recalled how relaxed the heir apparent had seemed. Far from being overwhelmed by the loss of the man who had dominated Syria for nearly three decades, Bashar was at pains to reassure his guest that he had everything under control. When the friend asked the young president in-waiting to ‘assure me that you have done everything that needs to be done to make sure the regime transition takes place’, he was taken aback at the boldness of the response. ‘You see these hands,’ Bashar replied, raising both his palms. ‘When people look at my hands, they think they are soft, as though I am wearing velvet gloves. But they are very mistaken. For, if I take them off, you will see an iron fist.’
https://ca.yahoo.com/news/world-really-ready-rehabilitate-bashar-070000567.html

Turkey eyes Balkan influence amid Serbia-Kosovo tensions
Nikola Mikovic/The Arab Weekly/June 21/2023
It is no secret Turkey aims to become one of the most influential foreign actors in the Balkans.
With Recep Tayyip Erdogan securing another five years in power, the Turkish president is seeking to increase Turkey’s influence in the Balkans, a region that was part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries.
Spiking tensions in northern Kosovo present such an opportunity. Although southeastern Europe remains firmly in the United States’ geopolitical orbit, Ankara likely aims to start playing the role of mediator in disputes between Belgrade and Pristina.
The situation in Kosovo near the Serbian border, where ethnic Serbs make up the majority of the population, escalated on May 26 when the Albanian-dominated Kosovo police special forces (ROSU) seized four municipality buildings in the area, aiming to help newly-elected ethnic Albanian mayors take office. The Serb population overwhelmingly boycotted elections on April 23, so while the votes were free and fair, the results did not reflect the wishes of the majority in the region.
ROSU’s actions infuriated the United States and despite being Kosovo’s major backer, Washington expelled Pristina from American-led military exercises in Europe. Instead, US troops held joint military drills with the Serbian army near the town of Bujanovac, not far from Kosovo.
Quite aware that he cannot count on full Western support, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti may start looking for alternative partners, hoping to improve Pristina’s position in the international arena. Could Turkey be one of them?
Ankara has deployed around 500 Turkish commandos to northern Kosovo in response to a NATO request for troops to help quell the unrest. They have already started patrolling the Serb-dominated municipalities in the north. More importantly, Turkey is expected to soon take over the command of the US-dominated NATO mission in Kosovo.
But even though Ankara is traditionally seen as an ally of Balkan Muslims, including Albanians, that does not necessarily mean Erdogan will side with Kurti against the ethnic Serb majority in northern Kosovo. However, the Kosovar prime minister’s recent meeting with the Turkish ambassador to Pristina undoubtedly represents his attempt to gain Ankara’s support amid his confrontation with the US.
It is no secret Turkey aims to become one of the most influential foreign actors in the Balkans. It already plays an important “peacemaking” role in various conflicts, from Syria, through Libya, to Ukraine, where Ankara’s mediation led to the grain deal signed between Moscow and Kyiv. Since the European Union-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina did not lead to an easing of tensions in northern Kosovo, Erdogan sees a window of opportunity for Ankara to mediate the conflict.
Even though Turkey unreservedly supports Kosovo’s 2008 unilaterally-declared independence from Serbia, Erdogan seems to be opting for a constructive, balanced approach, which also implies respect for Serbian interests in the region. Belgrade, as well as EU members Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus, sees Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia, which is why Turkey is attempting to balance its strong economic ties with the southeastern European nation, with its historic and cultural ties with Kosovo Albanians.
In 2013, when Erdogan was prime minister, his statement that “Kosovo is Turkey, and Turkey is Kosovo” drew strong criticism in Belgrade. Ten years later, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sees Erdogan as an actor who can “help preserve stability in northern Kosovo,” and also as a “true friend” of Serbia. Indeed, despite different views on the status of Kosovo, relations between Belgrade and Ankara have significantly improved over the past decade.
Serbian citizens can travel to Turkey without passports, while Ankara continues strengthening its economic presence in the Balkan nation. Around 3,300 Turkish companies are operating in Serbia, 21 of which are factories. Further, the total trade exchange between Serbia and Turkey reached almost €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) in 2022, while the trade volume between Turkey and Kosovo was much lower, accounting for $696 million.
Belgrade and Ankara, despite Turkey being a NATO member, and Serbia remaining militarily neutral, are also expected to increase military cooperation, especially after Erdogan reportedly promised to provide the landlocked Balkan nation with Bayraktar drones. However, the Kosovo Security Force has already received five Turkish-made drones, which means that Turkey likely aims to benefit by selling weapons to both sides.
An increased Turkish military presence in Kosovo will undoubtedly help Ankara strengthen its positions in the region, especially now that the West is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine. At the same time, it will help Erdogan portray himself as an ascendant, impartial partner for both Belgrade and Pristina.
But given that United States, with its Kosovo-based Camp Bondsteel, the largest and the most expensive foreign military base built by the US in Europe since the Vietnam War, remains the major foreign power operating in the Balkans, Turkey is unlikely to be in a position to pursue a completely independent foreign policy in the region. Instead, Ankara will almost certainly have to carefully coordinate most of its moves with Washington.
*Nikola Mikovic is a political analyst in Serbia. His work focuses mostly on the foreign policies of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, with special attention on energy and “pipeline politics.”

The Arabs Face a Collision Scenario Between Iran and the US
Ahmad Mahmoud Ajaj/Asharq Al Awsat/June 21/2023
The anticipated clash between Iran and the West has become a joke. The US and Israel have failed to follow through on their threats, and Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program unconcerned... Why is it a joke? Because it stands in the face of reality, from President Bush’s threats to Iran, to Obama, Trump, and finally Biden, who admitted last November that the nuclear program is now dead.
Thus, it would be fair to say that Iran has been more honest and that the US and its allies were more mendacious: they did not strike, and they did nothing when Trump left the agreement and Iran ramped up enrichment and installed thousands of centrifuges, producing large quantities of enriched uranium that suffice to make a nuclear bomb. Indeed, it has avoided confrontation despite its constant harassment...
Now Iran has the technical know-how and a stockpile of enriched uranium large enough to build one bomb. As for why they haven’t made it, that can be explained by two things. First, its late Supreme Leader Khomeini considered the bomb prohibited by religious law. Second, it does not want to jeopardize its progress, which is why it decided to respond with openness and to deprive its enemies of justifications to attack it, fortifying its position in a shifting international and regional scene.
Let us admit that Iranian policy is complex and intelligent. The Iranians are always mindful of regional and global developments. By complexity, we mean that Iran creates the appropriate conditions rather than waiting for them. By intelligence, we mean that it makes precise calculations at every turn and knows when to back down so as not to squander all that it has achieved. This is evident from its ongoing talks with the US, which are being mediated by Oman and comes after the US had recognized that Iran had violated the 2015 nuclear deal and that a new agreement (more favorable to Iran) is now needed.
In fact, the US leadership is convinced that regional and international circumstances demand that it retreats and that the choice now is between bad and worse. It would be bad if Iran acquired the knowledge and materials needed to make a bomb, but it would be worse if Iran made one. In the latter event, a war that the US does not favor under the current circumstances would break out. Washington’s insistence on ignoring Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and his warning of military action, might indicate that the US is now keen on avoiding the worst. But the pressing question remains: Why did the US lose its bet with Iran? How will it deal with a nuclear-armed Iran, and what is the Arab position regarding all of these developments?
First: the US lost when it was a unipolar power, by invading Iraq instead of Iran. Even worse, it cooperated with Iran in both Iraq and Afghanistan, ignoring the network of militias Iran was building in the Arab world to surround Israel and the countries allied with the United States. This led many in the Arab world to conclude that the US made Iran. However, the reality is that the US believed liberalism would be enough to overthrow the Iranian regime after the states of the region turned into Western-style democracies.
When the liberal project collapsed, Obama concluded that Iran controls its Shiite militias, and that this made it worth talking to, while the Arab countries do not exert control over the Sunni militias. This stupid American theory assumes that the moderate Arab regimes made ISIS and other similar groups, while the reality is that terrorism is the result of Washington’s stupid policies and its disregard for the sectarian violence backed by Iran that was giving rise to the violence of Sunni militias.
Second: The regional and international geopolitical situation changed. The Ukraine war gave Iran the chance to guarantee Russian support in exchange for Iranian military support. This meant that no action could be taken against Iran through the UN Security Council and enjoy international legitimacy. Moreover, the competition between the US and China has allowed Iran to expand its ties with China, as well as to lure the Chinese into playing major roles in the region by conceding to Chinese mediation, as seen with the recent Iranian-Saudi rapprochement. Iran believes that making concessions at one stage will stave off graver threats in the future. It uses this tactic within the framework of the broader strategy of reinforcing its gains so long as it has concessions that could further its interests at its disposal.
Third: The US administration has finally exhausted every option in its effort to curb Iran’s program except military action, but to no avail. For its part, Iran rattled the US through its calculated openness to Arab states. This came after the Arabs realized that the US and its allies were hopeless. They do not care about their allies, so let them pull out their thorns with themselves...
This is a major blow to the West in itself. Their Chinese competitors have enhanced their standing in a pivotal region for global trade and energy supply; their ally Israel now faces the threat of a nuclear attack from Iran, and the Arabs will also insist on building their own peaceful nuclear programs and acquiring the knowledge and technology for themselves, as will Türkiye. This would mean the end of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, with all the damaging repercussions that implies.
Faced with this state of affairs, the Biden administration has no choice but to engage in dialogue aimed at preventing Iran from further enrichment. However, it does not want to turn its attention to the region, which it does not see as a priority now. Instead, its ultimate priorities are defeating Russia and surrounding China in the Pacific. Since Iran knows this, it sees the negotiations as an opportunity to maximize its gains and ensure that the US does not see war as the only option.
Here, the Arab position seems aligned with the shifts underway in the region due. Indeed, the Arabs are convinced that war is not in their interests, especially since Arab polities collapsed following the Arab Spring. Nothing brings them together anymore, and the priority now is to close ranks and, if possible, to face challenges more difficult than those of the past. In order for these countries to avoid war, they must be ready for it. The negotiations with Iran could give them some breathing room, allowing them to recoup and develop an Arab vision for developing their military capacity and building alliances and commercial interests that tip the balance of power.
And since America is trying to add to the signatories of the Abraham Accords to create a counterweight to Iran, these Arab countries must insist on the Arab Peace Plan. Indeed, Israel accepting the deal would confuse Iran and make its expansion in the region a thing of the past. The Arabs, despite seeming weak, do have some strength left. Their ongoing changes will not stand in their way if they understand them well, cooperate, and unite. Tragedy awaits if they don’t.

The Secretary of State In China
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/June 21/2023
Apart from all the details of the visit of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to China, and the outcomes resulting from the meetings and statements, what truly stands out is the fact that Blinken is indeed the first US Secretary of State to visit China in the past five years.
This is not only surprising, but also a testament to how can a US administration can overlook the importance of engaging directly with a competitor, or one might even say, a potential threat to its economy and geopolitical standing, without direct communication?
In politics, it is often said, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." The political reality indicates that China is the one approaching American interests in various fields, ranging from economy to politics, encompassing conflicts like the "microchip war" and the situation in Ukraine, reaching also Russia and Iran.
The scale of China’s economy makes imposing economic sanctions, a habit the US indulges in too often, impossible. Beijing is also too dangerous to be ignored politically and militarily, which is the approach Washington takes with the other global actors when this aligns with narrow domestic priorities.
Today, the Biden administration was forced to put its feet back on the ground and engage with politics as it should, as countries do not negotiate with their friends but with their enemies. And here Blinken is visiting Beijing to spend seven and a half hours negotiating and dining with his Chinese counterpart.
A senior official at the US State Department was quoted stating that Blinken and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, have agreed to work together to increase the number of flights between the United States and China. Additionally, Blinken had a 35-minute meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The US State Department said that the two sides held “frank and constructive talks.” Blinken emphasized the importance of keeping communication channels open to reduce the risk of misunderstandings and misjudgments,” adding that his country would “manage that competition responsibly” to prevent it from turning into a “conflict.”
The State Department also affirmed that Blinken raised concerns about China’s “unfair economic practices” and stressed the significance of “the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” He also affirmed that there had been no change in the US position on the “One China” policy.
The "One China" policy has been a contentious issue, and the Biden administration has escalated tensions in the Taiwan situation to a point where the world believed we were approaching a costly and frightening military confrontation. However, here we see the US administration backtracking, and it is not the first time they have reversed their stance on significant matters recently. Therefore, the focus now shifts from the visit itself to the perilous nature of this administration that has defied all logic and political rationality in its foreign policy, whether it be towards Middle Eastern countries, Russia, or even China. The story lies in the recklessness of this approach and the implications it carries for US-China relations. As the presidential election season approaches, the current administration has begun to adopt a more balanced foreign policy. This shift is also influenced by international developments, ranging from the war in Ukraine to China's geopolitical positioning. The essence of the story, as mentioned earlier, lies in the overarching question: How can a country of the political, economic, and military magnitude of the United States adopt a policy of disengagement, disregard for escalation and sanctions, and fuel crises without engaging in dialogue? Its approach is perplexing and concerning to any rational observer.