English LCCC Newsbulletin For Le

English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 16/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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15 آذار/2023

Bible Quotations For today
The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Matthew 15:29-39 /Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 15-16/2023
May The Curse Be Upon Political parties & Officials Who betrayed the Cedar Revolution and sold out the March 14 Coalition/Elias Bejjani/March 14/2023
A Bundle of A/E reports addressing Israel’s announcement of killing an infiltrator from Lebanon who carried out an explosion in the Megiddo area south of Haifa
Israeli Army says suspected Hezbollah-linked suicide bomber shot dead in Israel
Israel says roadside bomb suspect may have come from Lebanon
Judge Helena Iskandar sues Hoayek, Salameh brothers
Salameh's session postponed to Thursday as he fails to show up
New chaos in Lebanon as bank chief snubs probe
Presidential file: Gulf 'not in hurry', Franjieh won't 'back down'
Mikati arrives in Vatican for talks with Pope Francis
Berri pushes for successful presidential election, says dividing Beirut tantamount to dividing Lebanon
Jumblat begins Kuwait visit, urges 'consensual president'
Geagea urges 'real' president who has 'sovereign and reformist' plan
Berri says no one has luxury of time as to presidential election
Hezbollah’s vote for Franjieh as Lebanon’s president has made him a bargaining chip/Michael Young/The National/March 15/2023
What You Need to Know about Lebanon’s Presidential Election and Security Concerns/Rany Ballout/The National Interest/March 15/2023

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 15-16/2023
Pope urges 'respect' for Orthodox monastery facing eviction in Kyiv
Putin hosts Assad, expected to focus on rebuilding Syria
Bashar al-Assad makes awkward fumble during Moscow visit
Syrians mark 12th anniversary of uprising against regime
Israeli Army says suspected Hezbollah-linked suicide bomber shot dead in Israel
Netanyahu rejects judicial compromise, deepening crisis
Saudi Arabia places order for up to 121 planes from Boeing, White House welcomes deal
Blinken says China’s brokering of Saudi-Iranian accord ‘good thing’
Saudi finance minister: KSA could invest in Iran 'very quickly'
Iran says 110 arrested over suspected schoolgirl poisonings
Iran’s top security official to visit the UAE
China, Russia, Iran hold joint naval drills in Gulf of Oman
Ukraine can defend $3 billion Russian Eurobond case - UK top court
Ukraine can mount legal challenge against repayment of Russian loan
The 8-year-old daughter of a Vladimir Putin ally is listed as the owner of a multimillion-dollar apartment in one of London's most exclusive areas
A Russian trainspotter who became obsessed with taking photographs of Putin's 'ghost train' now lives in exile: report
German defense minister replaces chief of the armed forces
Turkey plans to ratify Finland's NATO bid ahead of May polls -sources
France accused of delaying EU’s €2bn plan to replenish Ukraine’s artillery shell stocks
UN says intense diplomacy under way to end 8-year Yemen war
Saudi crown prince is plotting to get US nuclear secrets by playing the White House, Russia, and China off against each other, report says
Michael Alan Ratney confirmed as US ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 15-16/2023
Massive Abuses of Government Power: Urgent Reform Needed of Data Privacy and Collection/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute/March 15, 2023
‘The Left’: Born of the Lowest Circles of Hell/Raymond Ibrahim/PJ Media/March 15, 2023
How Israel is affected by Saudi-Iranian rapprochement/Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/March 15, 2023
UK should end demonization of immigrants amid labor shortage/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/March 15, 2023
World must act now to end carbon offset scam/Ranvir S. Nayar/Arab News/March 15, 2023
What Beijing’s Iran-Saudi Deal Means—and What It Doesn’t/Henry Rome, Grant Rumley/The Washington Institute/Mar 15, 2023
China’s Track Record on Middle East Diplomacy/Carol Silber/The Washington Institute/March 15/2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 15-16/2023
May The Curse Be Upon Political parties & Officials Who betrayed the Cedar Revolution and sold out the March 14 Coalition
Elias Bejjani/March 14/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/116550/116550/
On the 18 anniversary of the March 14 uprising, we pray reverently for the souls of all the righteous, sovereign and patriotic heroic martyrs.
Definitely, it was a deadly sin committed by the all the mercenary Lebanese leaders, officials and politicians who betrayed the Cedar’s Revolution, and sold out the March 14 Coalition.
These mercenaries belittled the martyrs sacrifices by their low and despicable entry into the Trojan presidential deal with the occupier, the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah Armed Militia.
History will not remember those dwarfs who sold the Cedar’s Revolution, and the March 14 coalition, without humiliation, contempt, if it mentions them. They we be remembered with shame, they surely will rest for ever in history’s dustbin.
These foolish traitors fell into the traps and instinctive Satan’s temptations and drowned themselves in greed. They sold the March 14 Sovereign-patriotic Coalition with national myopia and blindness of insight.
They exchanged the people’s revolution, sovereignty, and the blood of martyrs, with authority and personal benefits. They ungratefully stepped over the sacrifices and blood of Lebanon’s righteous martyrs.
As a result of their greed, shortsightedness, narcissism, and worshipping of authority, the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah armed militia managed to entirely control and occupy Lebanon.
Because of this patriotic deviation and sin, Lebanon has lost its role and message, and fell under the Hezbollah hegemony and occupation.
Meanwhile, we affirm with peace of conscience that the sovereign and patriotic spirit of March 14 coalition is alive and active in the souls, hearts and consciences of our free sovereign Lebanese people, while it is completely dead in the hearts and minds of all political parties, politicians and puppet officials who betrayed it and traded sovereignty with personal benefits and authority.
Hence, in times of misery and unhappiness, the people of March 14 Coalition are a national necessity.
In times of servility and surrender, the popular spirit of March 14 Coalition is the answer.
And in a time of deceit, heresy, outrageous, and the lie of what was falsely and cowardly called “political realism,” the people of March 14 Coalition have knocked down the Trojans’ masks and exposed them.
At a time when personal interests prevail over public and national ones, people’s support to the culture and values of March 14 Coalition continues to prevail.
And at a time when belittling the blood of the martyrs and forgetting their sacrifices, the March 14th Coalition of consciences will not forget the sacrifices of its heroes, and will not trade in their blood.
And in a miserable and betrayal time where the Trojans, scribes and Pharisees dominate our Lebanon’s official Decision Making process, and dragging the country and its people into astray and alien paths, the people of March 14 Coalition is a must.
And at a time when politicians have lost the compass of freedom, dignity and self respect, the goals and struggles, of March 14 Coalition remain the solution, the foundation and the cornerstone.
In conclusion, the spirit of March 14, remains an urgent need for the continuation of struggle and strengthening the ranks of the liberals..

رزمة تقارير عربية وانكليزية تتناول اعلان إسرائيل قتل متسلل من لبنان نفذ تفجير في منطقة مجدّو جنوبي مدينة حيفا
A Bundle of A/E reports addressing Israel’s announcement of killing an infiltrator from Lebanon who carried out an explosion in the Megiddo area south of Haifa
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/116643/%d8%b1%d8%b2%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%83%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%b2%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d8%aa%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%88%d9%84-%d8%a7%d8%b9/
IDF suspects Hezbollah behind bombing attack on northern highway; terrorist killed
Emanuel Fabian/The Times Of Israel/March 15/2023
Israeli Army says suspected Hezbollah-linked suicide bomber shot dead in Israel
AFP/March 15, 2023
Israel says roadside bomb suspect may have come from Lebanon
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/March 15/2023

IDF suspects Hezbollah behind bombing attack on northern highway; terrorist killed
Emanuel Fabian/The Times Of Israel//March 15/2023
Military releases details of Monday morning blast; says suspect, armed with explosives belt, hitched ride back to Lebanon border before being shot dead by security forces
The Israeli military suspects the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group is behind a blast on a highway in northern Israel that seriously wounded a man earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency said Wednesday. The alleged terrorist was shot dead on the Lebanese border several hours after the attack on Monday. He was armed with an explosives belt at the time. On Monday morning, a bomb planted on the side of the Route 65 highway near the Megiddo Junction exploded, seriously wounding Shareef ad-Din, 21, from the Arab village of Salem. Many details surrounding the blast were kept under wraps due to the ongoing investigation, which was spearheaded by the Shin Bet. The bomb itself was considered unusual according to the IDF, and did not appear to be similar to explosive devices used by Palestinians in recent months. Ad-Din’s car that was hit by the shrapnel was around 30 meters (98 feet) away from the device. Following the blast, troops began to close roads and search for the suspected terrorist who planted the bomb.
On Monday afternoon, several hours after the explosion, soldiers spotted a vehicle with the suspected Lebanese terrorist near the northern Israeli town of Ya’ara, close to the border with Lebanon, the IDF said. Officers of the elite police Yamam counterterrorism unit and Shin Bet officers opened fire at the suspect, killing him. The IDF said the suspect was a “clear danger” to the security forces and had a primed explosives belt on him at the time.
Several more weapons were found in the vehicle, according to the IDF. “The assessment is that neutralizing the terrorist prevented another attack,” the IDF said. The military said the suspected terrorist crossed into Israel from Lebanon overnight between Saturday and Sunday and planted the bomb, possibly on behalf of the Iran-backed Hezbollah. The exact manner in which the suspect crossed into Israel was still being investigated, as were his potential links to Hezbollah. The IDF said it expects that ongoing construction work to build a wall along the northern frontier, to replace an aging fence, would be completed within two years. The IDF said there were no other known terrorists who had infiltrated into Israel with the suspect and is believed to have been alone during the attack. Following the Monday morning attack at the Megiddo Junction, the alleged terrorist hitched a ride to northern Israel.
The driver of the car was detained by officers at the scene, before being released after questioning on Wednesday. He was not believed to have been involved in the attack.
Security forces detain a man near the town of Ya’ara who gave a ride to an alleged Lebanese terrorist who carried out a bombing attack in northern Israel, March 13, 2023. (Social media)
The Megiddo Junction is around 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the Lebanon border. The military said it was continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident, including how he managed to reach the junction. There were no special security instructions for residents, and the IDF said it would remain on alert for potential Hezbollah attacks in northern Israel. The IDF said the details of the incident remained unpublished for more than two days because it wanted to wait to find out exactly who was behind the bombing attack.The censorship came under criticism by civilians and analysts, as unsubstantiated rumors regarding the incidents spread on social media, leaving many worried and confused. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security assessment with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday afternoon regarding the incident. On Tuesday, Gallant’s office also said the defense minister had held a number of security assessments over the previous day due to the attack.

Israeli Army says suspected Hezbollah-linked suicide bomber shot dead in Israel
AFP/March 15, 2023
JERUSALEM: Israel’s army on Wednesday announced it killed a suspect wearing an explosive belt in the country’s north earlier this week, suggesting the possible involvement of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. “We are examining a possibility of the Hezbollah terrorist organization of being involved” with the suspected attacker who was shot dead on Monday, the army said. The suspect was stopped in a car at one of the established border crossings in the north of Israel after an explosive device was detonated in the area, at the Meggido junction about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Haifa.
The army said the suspect was believed to have been responsible for that explosion, which severely injured an Israeli civilian. “He could have used the explosive belt in the first attack but chose not to,” the army said in a press briefing. “Our assumption is that he was aiming to conduct another terrorist attack,” perhaps before committing suicide, it added. The suspected attacker is believed to have asked a driver to pick him up to take him back toward the north of the country, according to the army. The driver, whose identity was not revealed, is currently under interrogation, it added.

Israel says roadside bomb suspect may have come from Lebanon
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/March 15/2023
The Israeli army said Wednesday that soldiers killed an armed man suspected of entering northern Israel from Lebanon and blowing up a car, raising the risk of renewed tensions with Hezbollah. "We are examining a possibility of the Hezbollah terrorist organization of being involved" with the suspected attacker who was shot dead on Monday, the army said. The security situation in Israel prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short his two-day visit to Germany, his office said. Netanyahu will return late Thursday from Germany, a day earlier than planned, his office said. The Israeli army said soldiers stopped a car carrying the bombing suspect at a checkpoint Monday shortly after a roadside explosion seriously injured a driver near Megiddo Junction in the country's north. The suspect was wearing a suicide vest and had a rifle and a gun when he was stopped. The army said it shot and killed the man and is questioning the driver. The army said the device that exploded was unusual for the area, exploding at a 90-degree angle. That led officials to suspect that the man infiltrated from Lebanon and may have been linked to Hezbollah. "He could have used the explosive belt in the first attack but chose not to," the army said in a press briefing. "Our assumption is that he was aiming to conduct another terrorist attack," perhaps before committing suicide, it added. The army said it did not release the details of the incident for two days because it was trying to determine the suspect's identity, which it did not release. Netanyahu received a briefing on the incident Wednesday, which his office said led him to shorten his trip to Germany. The trip also was delayed, Israeli media reported, by negotiations over a proposal to overhaul Israel's judicial system, which has prompted massive protests. A Hezbollah spokesman in Beirut did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Unnamed sources meanwhile told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that Israel suspects that the attacker might have used a tunnel dug by Hezbollah to infiltrate the border and that the attack was likely carried out by "two Palestinians who crossed from Lebanon." Israel and Hezbollah are bitter enemies that fought a monthlong war in the summer of 2006. Israel considers the Iran-backed group its most serious immediate threat, estimating that Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel. Israel's northern border with Lebanon has remained quiet but tense since the 2006 war. But Israel discovered four years ago what it said was a network of tunnels built by Hezbollah along the border. Israel also frequently attacks targets in Syria, saying they are Iranian weapons deliveries headed to Hezbollah.

Judge Helena Iskandar sues Hoayek, Salameh brothers
Naharnet/March 15/2023
Head of the lawsuit department at the Justice Ministry Judge Helena Iskandar filed Wednesday a complaint against Central Bank chief Riad Salameh, his brother Raja, and his assistant Marianne Hoayek. Iskandar had met earlier in the morning with a European legal team visiting Lebanon to probe Salameh's wealth. The judge is representing the Lebanese state at the questioning in the European probe. Salameh, his brother Raja and his assistant Hoayek were charged with corruption, embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion and they were ordered detained. Their assets and bank accounts were also frozen. The embattled central bank chief faces embezzlement accusations in separate investigations in Lebanon and abroad, looking into the fortune he has amassed in a country mired in financial crisis. He had been summoned for questioning on Wednesday in the domestic case, but that session has been postponed to make way for the European investigators from France, Luxembourg and Belgium. Salameh did not attend Wednesday's session during which Judge Charbel Abu Samra would have questioned him in the presence of the European investigators. The session was postponed to Thursday and Salameh's lawyer said the central bank chief will show up tomorrow.

Salameh's session postponed to Thursday as he fails to show up
Agence France Presse/March 15/2023
Central bank chief Riad Salameh's interrogation session was postponed to Thursday, after he failed to appear Wednesday before visiting European investigators, part of a multinational probe into his personal wealth. The European delegation — with representatives from France, Germany, and Luxembourg — spent about two hours at Beirut’s Justice Palace waiting for Salameh. Salameh's lawyer affirmed that Salameh will attend Thursday's session, after the public prosecution refused a petition he had submitted and scheduled a new session for Thursday. The petition considered the presence of foreign investigators at Salameh's hearing session "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the judiciary," media reports said. Also on Wednesday, Head of the lawsuit department at the Justice Ministry Judge Helena Iskandar sued Salameh, his brother Raja, and his assistant Marianne Hoayek, after having met earlier in the morning with the European legal team. The embattled central bank chief faces embezzlement accusations in separate investigations in Lebanon and abroad, looking into the fortune he has amassed in a country mired in financial crisis. He had been summoned for questioning on Wednesday in the domestic case, but that session has been postponed to make way for the European investigators. The interrogation session that Salameh did not attend was scheduled at 10:00 am on Wednesday. For procedural reasons, Judge Charbel Abu Samra would have questioned Salameh in the presence of the European investigators, acting as a go-between. Under Lebanese laws, they cannot directly question Salameh. Salameh denies all accusations against him and has rarely appeared before the judiciary, despite numerous complaints and summonses. France, Germany and Luxembourg in March last year seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a move linked to a French probe into Salameh's personal wealth. Lebanese authorities last month charged the three-decade central bank chief, who remains in his post, with embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion. In January, the European investigators interviewed banking officials in Beirut about the transfer of funds to countries where Salameh has significant assets. They also examined the central bank's ties to Forry Associates Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-registered company that listed Salameh's brother as its beneficiary. Forry is suspected of having brokered Lebanese treasury bonds and Eurobonds at a commission, which was then allegedly transferred to his bank accounts abroad. Swiss media reported last month that 12 banks in the European country had received a large part of the money Salameh is alleged to have embezzled -- estimated at up to $500 million.

New chaos in Lebanon as bank chief snubs probe
Najia Houssari/Arab News/March 15, 2023
BEIRUT: Chaos in Lebanon worsened on Wednesday when central bank governor Riad Salameh boycotted a hearing at which he was to be questioned by European investigators on accusations of embezzling public money. Instead he sent his lawyer, Hafez Zakhour, who said Salameh would not be appearing because the European interrogation session was “a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”Salameh, 72, who has run the central bank for six terms spanning 30 years, is being investigated in Lebanon and at least five European countries over accusations of stealing $330 million. He denies the accusations and says he is being made a scapegoat for Lebanon’s economic meltdown. Since October 2019, Lebanon has been facing the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history due to decades of corruption and mismanagement by the ruling political class. Critics accuse the central bank of providing cover for corrupt individuals and some banks through financial engineering operations, forcing over half the population into poverty. French and German investigators flew to Beirut this week, and submitted questions to be put to Salameh by presiding judge Charbel Bou Samra on Wednesday. After the European delegation waited for about two hours, the interrogation session was adjourned. Bou Samra set a new date for Salameh’s hearing on Thursday, after ruling that the European delegation’s investigation did not contradict Lebanese law. Zakhour confirmed that his client would attend the new hearing.Under Lebanese law, the European delegation cannot question Salameh directly, but only through a Lebanese judge and mediator. Separately, the Lebanese state, represented by Judge Helena Iskandar, filed new charges on Wednesday against Salameh, his brother Raja and his adviser Marianne Hoayek. All were accused of bribery, forgery, use of counterfeiters, money laundering, illicit enrichment and tax evasion. Iskandar demanded the arrest of the Salameh brothers and Hoayek, the seizure of their properties, and for their bank accounts, and those of their spouses and children in Lebanon and abroad, to be frozen. A judicial source said: “Judge Iskandar’s procedures aim to preserve the right of the Lebanese state in a local investigation.”

Presidential file: Gulf 'not in hurry', Franjieh won't 'back down'
Naharnet/March 15, 2023
The Gulf states are not in a hurry for finding solutions for Lebanon, Egyptian-Saudi sources told al-Akhbar newspaper, in remarks published Wednesday. Diplomatic sources told the daily that a unified stance between the Christians who are opposing the election of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh is a key factor that would support the Saudi Veto. The sources claimed that the position of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea concerning this matter would become clearer in the coming days. Al-Akhbar went on to say that Franjieh would officially announce that he is running for president within seven to ten days, adding that he had affirmed to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi during their meeting that he will not back down. Meanwhile, Amal MP Qabalan Qabalan, affirmed that securing the 65 votes to elect a president is possible and that Saudi Arabia has no veto against any candidate, while MP Marwan Hamadeh said that the Democratic Gathering bloc will refuse to return Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Tehran to Baadba.

Mikati arrives in Vatican for talks with Pope Francis
Naharnet/March 15, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday arrived in the Vatican on an official visit during which he will meet with Pope Francis, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.
Mikati will also hold talks with the Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Berri pushes for successful presidential election, says dividing Beirut tantamount to dividing Lebanon
NNA/March 15, 2023
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday expressed hope that the Lebanese parliament would be able to achieve a successful presidential election soon. "Everyone is required to realize that Lebanon doesn’t enjoy the luxury of wasting time in light of the rapidly deteriorating financial, economic, and living conditions, especially now that the US dollar’s black market exchange rate has exceeded LBP 100,000,” Berri said. “I do not hide my concern that prolonging the presidential vacancy and obstructing the work of institutions will bear catastrophic repercussions from which no one will be spared, even disrupters themselves,” warned Speaker Berri, adding that the election of a president “is the key to the solution that paves the way to the country’s rescue path.” "Lebanon possesses all the ingredients for advancement and recovery from the crises it is facing; all of this depends on investing in sincere intentions and benevolent wills, most importantly realizing that Lebanon is too small to be divided and that there is no option to resolve outstanding issues, no matter how big or small, except through dialogue and consensus,” Berri explained. As for dividing Beirut in municipal elections Speaker Berri said, “The Development and Liberation Bloc refuses any text that legislates the division of the capital in any municipal election law. Dividing the capital is dividing Lebanon. We are taking into account equality and Islamic-Christian partnership." Regarding the fresh deal between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Berri affirmed that "this agreement will cast positive shadows on the situation in the entire region." Regarding the Syrian refugee file, Speaker Berri stressed that "the international community must assume its full humanitarian, moral, and legal responsibilities resolving refugee-related issues,” noting that the key to approaching this matter is by “opening channels of communication with Syria." Berri’s words came before a delegation representing the "National Balance Gathering”, with whom he discussed the country’s latest political developments.

Jumblat begins Kuwait visit, urges 'consensual president'
Naharnet/March 15, 2023
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat met Wednesday in Kuwait with its Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, in the presence of Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Jumblat had earlier met with representatives of the Lebanese expat community in Kuwait, stressing that no one in Lebanon “can eliminate the other” and reiterating his call for “dialogue.” “I’m visiting Kuwait amid a major earthquake in the region, the work of a maestro if I can say, which has certainly been carried out by His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Gulf, in an attempt to pacify relations and open new horizons between the Arab people and the Iranian people as well as between sects,” Jumblat said. “He made way for calm instead of wars. Enough with wars in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. That’s why this step is very important,” the PSP leader added. As for when the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement can affect Lebanon, Jumblat said: “We have to be modest. There is an agenda -- reforms in certain sectors including electricity and banks -- there is a long agenda that is required from us, and a regional breakthrough might come.” “We begin from the need to elect a president, and no provocative president can be elected by any camp, but rather a consensual president -- not consensual for the sake of consensus but rather consensual for the sake of reform,” Jumblat added.

Geagea urges 'real' president who has 'sovereign and reformist' plan
Naharnet/March 15, 2023
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday stressed that the Lebanese are in “dire need of the election of a real and not pretended president for the country.”“The situation no longer allows for exhausting the experiences of which the Lebanese have grown tired, after they proved futile and led us into what we are in now,” Geagea said, in a meeting with a delegation from the American Task Force for Lebanon. “We are before a decisive and critical moment that requires us to elect a president who has a sovereign and reformist platform and who can shoulder the country’s burdens and put it on the track of salvation, not electing someone who merely has good characteristics and they are plenty,” Geagea added.

Berri says no one has luxury of time as to presidential election
Naharnet/March 15, 2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday hoped that parliament will be able to carry out the presidential election soon, urging all parties to realize that “no one has the luxury of wasting time amid the deterioration of the financial, economic and social situations.”“The dollar exchange rate has crossed the LBP 100,000 mark” on the black market, Berri added. “I cannot conceal my concern that prolonging the presidential vacuum and continuing to paralyze the work of institutions would have disastrous repercussions from which no one will remain safe, even the obstructors,” the Speaker said. Reiterating that the election of a president is “the solution key that paves the way for taking the course of salvation,” Berri stressed that “dialogue and consensus are the only choice to approach all big and small issues, topped by the presidency.”

مايكل يونغ/ذا ناشيونال: ترشيح حزب الله فرنجية لموقع الرئاسة جعل منه ورقة مساومة
Hezbollah’s vote for Franjieh as Lebanon’s president has made him a bargaining chip
Michael Young/The National/March 15/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/116612/116612/
Without official backing in parliament, his political viability was beginning to erode.
The decision last week of Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, to formally endorse Suleiman Franjieh as Lebanon’s president may not soon lead to an election. If anything, it marks a new phase in the standoff over the presidency.
For months, the party had made it implicitly clear that it backed Mr. Franjieh, but whenever elections sessions were held in parliament (it is parliament that elects the president in Lebanon), members did not put his name on the ballot. Partly, this was to avoid creating a target for Hezbollah’s and Mr. Franjieh’s adversaries.
This ambiguous position, however, left Mr. Franjieh hanging. Without official backing in parliament, his political viability was beginning to erode, which is perhaps why the two Shiite-majority parties, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, decided to change their tactic. Nasrallah’s announcement was preceded by that of the parliament speaker and Amal leader, Nabih Berri, who also supported Mr. Franjieh publicly.
There seemed to be another rationale as well. Hezbollah is fully aware that for now Mr. Franjieh does not have the votes to be elected. Under the constitution, a candidate needs a two-thirds majority to win in a first round of voting, after which he or she can be elected by an absolute majority of 65 votes. Under the most optimistic of estimates, Mr Franjieh appears to have 57 votes, well short of what is required.
The situation may actually be worse for him. The reason is that on the day after Nasrallah’s endorsement, the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, visited the Maronite patriarch, Bechara Al Rai, and by all accounts expressed Saudi opposition to Mr. Franjieh. The venue was not coincidental. Presidents in Lebanon come from the Maronite Christian community, so it made sense for the ambassador to inform the patriarch.
Yet even if Mr Bukhari did not make any statement to that effect, multiple diplomatic sources in recent weeks have confirmed the Saudi view, and for now it remains unclear whether the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement will alter this. If there were any doubts, on the day after Nasrallah’s decision, the Saudi newspaper Okaz published a cartoon showing Mr. Franjieh’s face juxtaposed over that of Nasrallah. For Riyadh, Mr. Franjieh is too close to Hezbollah to be someone the kingdom would embrace as president.
In February, five nations – France, the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar – held a meeting in Paris to lay out a road map for the presidency. The portrait of the president they favoured was the opposite of what Mr. Franjieh represents. Sensing that the five were imposing their preferences on Lebanon, Hezbollah struck back against whom they see as the preferred candidate of those meeting in Paris: army commander Joseph Aoun.
In several articles, the daily Al Akhbar, which often serves as an unofficial media outlet for Hezbollah, attacked Mr Aoun. It was a way of saying that if the five shot down Mr. Franjieh’s candidacy, Hezbollah would do the same to Mr Aoun’s candidacy.
We may be nearing a situation where the two broad alignments on the presidency – Hezbollah and its allies, with Iran in the background, on the one side; and the party’s domestic foes, supported to different extents by members of the Paris five, on the other – will move towards negotiations over a compromise candidate. Yet this process may take time, for several reasons.
The first is that Hezbollah wants to show Mr. Franjieh that it will fight for him, and is not simply using him to reach an agreement on someone else. He has long been a close ally of the party, and Hezbollah is still looking for ways to garner the 65 votes that he would need to win an election. Until that option is ruled out, the party is unlikely to give up on him.
Second, an agreement on a president appears to be only one of the issues in play. It seems the parties will also have to agree on a prime minister in conjunction with an agreement over a president. There has been speculation that Saudi Arabia is not enthusiastic about Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, so we could be heading towards a package deal where bargaining over the president affects bargaining over the prospective prime minister.
Third, the attitude of many of the participants in negotiations over a president will be tied to regional matters. If the different actors view the outcome in Lebanon as affecting their regional power and interests, it will add a new level of complication to the Lebanese imbroglio. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been divided over the situation in Lebanon, making an agreement between them difficult. However, it is possible that this will change in the coming weeks after their reconciliation. Many Lebanese are hoping so.
There are also major domestic deadlines that may accelerate matters. The most important is the end of Riad Salameh’s term as central bank governor at the end of July. Barring a consensus on extending his term, which is unlikely, it will be necessary to have a president before Mr. Salameh leaves, otherwise there will be a vacuum in the presidency and at the central bank, which would be disastrous at such a delicate time for the economy.
So, negotiations over a new president are complicated, but may not be open-ended. That said, Lebanon has never shied away from choosing the most precarious path possible, therefore nothing is guaranteed for as long as the present leadership is in power.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2023/03/15/hezbollahs-vote-for-franjieh-as-lebanons-president-has-made-him-a-bargaining-chip/

كل ما تحتاج معرفته حول الانتخابات الرئاسية اللبنانية والمخاوف الأمنية/راني بلوط/ذي ناشيونال انتراست/15 آذار/2023
What You Need to Know about Lebanon’s Presidential Election and Security Concerns
Rany Ballout/The National Interest/March 15/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/116635/116635/
Tensions between Hezbollah and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) are rising, amid the political stalemate in Lebanon over the presidential elections.
As the stalemate in electing a president for Lebanon drags on, tensions continue to simmer across the political spectrum, with clear indications of rising geopolitical concerns. These concerns have brought to the fore the rivalry and complex relationship between the Shiite militant Hezbollah and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). The LAF’s commander, Joseph Aoun, appears to be among the most prominent candidates now in the presidential race, if not the lead candidate.
Several days ago, Lebanese journalist Hassan Olleik, known to be very close to Hezbollah, released a podcast episode in which he directed a very strong rebuking message and harsh words towards Aoun. Olleik criticized the LAF’s participation in the ongoing International Maritime Exercise led by the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, in which Israel is also a participant. This is highly emblematic of the rising tensions between Hezbollah and Aoun and the preeminence of security issues in Lebanese politics.
The strong criticism by Olleik could be a direct message from Hezbollah to Aoun. Olleik claimed that he sent a request to the LAF for comment on the matter, and the army replied that it is only participating in the event as an observer. Olleik believes this was a dubious answer aimed at fooling the Lebanese people. Ultimately, Olleik framed the LAF’s participation in the maritime exercise as a “very dangerous matter,” and further characterized it as an exclusive appeal by Aoun to U.S. demands and pressure that aim to achieve the normalization of relations between most of the Arab world and Israel.
More seriously, on security tensions, almost two weeks prior to Olleik’s podcast comments, Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah threatened the United States in a televised speech on February 14 commemorating the group’s fallen leaders. Nasrallah warned that Hezbollah will respond with the use of its weapons if the Americans seek to create chaos that will push Lebanon into collapse, including going to war with Israel and creating chaos in the entire region. In a prior speech, Nasrallah called for the election of a president in Lebanon “who does not submit to American threats.”
The presidential election crisis in Lebanon has multiple underlying issues, including political divisions, sectarianism, and economic collapse. However, security concerns remain the most pressing, given Lebanon’s complex domestic politics, which are entangled with regional and geopolitical struggles in a volatile Middle East. Most notably, these struggles involve Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah, on one side, and Saudi Arabia backed by traditional Western allies, including the United States, on the other side. Geopolitics continues to be of paramount importance in the Middle East, especially in light of the evolving global order, which has direct implications for the region.
As Nabeel Khoury writes at the Arab Center Washington DC, the upcoming Lebanese presidential election is primarily being played out against the backdrop of bloc politics. The March 8 Alliance, which is aligned with Syria and Iran, and the pro-Western March 14 Alliance, backed by Saudi Arabia, have been in opposition since the assassination of former prime minister of Lebanon Rafik Hariri in 2005, and the subsequent withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon. While these alliances are not as cohesive as they once were, the March 8 Alliance consists of the two leading parties, Hezbollah, and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement, while the March 14 Alliance comprises Sunni Muslim and Maronite Christian parties. Although a dozen independent MPs won seats in Lebanon’s parliament in the May 2022 parliamentary elections, they largely alternate between the two alliances on major issues.
Since the withdrawal of Syrian military forces from Lebanon, the United States has become the primary partner of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). According to the U.S. Department of State, the United States has provided over $3 billion in security assistance to the LAF since 2006, with the vast majority of the aid coming in the form of critical training and equipment. A factsheet issued by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs states that the U.S. security assistance to the LAF is “a key component of US Lebanon policy to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty, secure its borders, counter internal threats, and disrupt terrorist facilitation.” The factsheet emphasizes the importance of LAF sovereignty and states that the LAF is “the sole legitimate defender of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” particularly in relation to the presence of Hezbollah as a military threat.
The situation regarding security arrangements in post-civil war Lebanon is paradoxical, as a result of military dualism involving the cohabitation of the LAF and Hezbollah. Although all Lebanese militias that participated in the civil war were disarmed under the Ta’if Agreement that put an end to the Lebanese civil war, Hezbollah was successfully legitimized in the name of “national resistance” against Israeli occupation and later against any future Israeli aggression with the regional backing of Iran and Syria.
The relationship between the LAF and Hezbollah is complex and multifaceted, encompassing military, security, and political aspects. Although both sides have coordinated on security matters since the end of the civil war in 1990, there has been competition between the two military institutions in developing their military power and autonomy.
While there have been a few military incidents between the LAF and Hezbollah that have exhibited friction since the end of the civil war, most recently, the LAF’s handling of the 2019 October 17 protests that erupted throughout Lebanon’s streets against the country’s political establishment including against Hezbollah and its allies, and the army’s role in preventing the advance of Hezbollah- and Amal party-affiliated armed men in Christian Tayoune area in central Beirut during protests that took place in October 2021 and were organized by Hezbollah and Amal to demand the removal of judge Tarek Bitar from the investigation into the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion—during which several armed men were killed—have, according to many commentators, heightened tensions between the two rivals.
The likelihood of this rivalry persisting and escalating to undermine the existing military status quo in the future will depend on several factors, most notably the geopolitical competition between regional rival states and the great powers in the Middle East region. However, this is unlikely in the short term, given that sectarianism infiltrates the Lebanese army ranks, and any serious confrontation between Hezbollah and the LAF could lead to divisions within the LAF. Additionally, Hezbollah is reported to maintain a weapons arsenal that outweighs that of the LAF.
In addition, the LAF is currently facing critical financial challenges as part of Lebanon’s severe economic crisis that began in 2019. The World Bank has described Lebanon’s current economic crisis as one of the worst since the 1850s, with three-quarters of the population living in poverty. This has led to the deterioration of Lebanon’s key institutions, including the impoverishment of the Lebanese army and police forces, who are not even able to fund basic operations and fulfill key security functions.
Most recently, in January 2023, the US allocated $72 million to Lebanon to supplement the wages of the LAF and the Lebanese Internal Security Forces for a period of six months, amid the worsening economic situation with the drastic devaluation of the Lebanese pound that has diminished the value of officers’ and soldiers’ wages. According to the U.S. State Department, the United States provided $236 million in military grant assistance to the LAF in the fiscal year 2021.
While there has been previous momentum building in Washington to end U.S. assistance to the LAF, with some conservative House Republicans arguing that U.S. material assistance to the LAF could be diverted to Hezbollah, several politicians and commentators have advocated for continued U.S. support of the LAF. They argue that funding and bolstering the LAF will help build a strong military in Lebanon as an institutional counterweight to Hezbollah. Some have noted that long-term aid has turned the LAF into a competent military force with recently proven battle victories.
For instance, commentators, including Nicholas Blanford at the Atlantic Council, cited the LAF’s recent successes in conducting counterterrorism operations and respective wins against jihadist groups thanks to military aid from the United States. These include the battle of Arsal in August 2014 against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat an-Nusrah (JN), and the Qalamoun campaign from July to August 2017 against ISIL and JN’s successor, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
So far, despite Hezbollah’s antagonistic stance against U.S. interests in Lebanon and the region, the group has not interfered with the United States’ support of the LAF, nor made any attempts to stall cooperation. Hezbollah is cognizant of the particular confessional structure of Lebanese society and the entrenched Shia constituency in the army. As a result, any serious confrontation with the LAF is seen as only a remote possibility. Lebanese realpolitik has dictated that no confrontation occurs on either side. The historical precedence of the Lebanese sectarian civil war, which lasted over fifteen years with its dreadful consequences of warring sectarian parties controlling their own areas, is a real lesson. Perhaps, Hezbollah is also aware of the very implausibility of establishing military rule in Lebanon, given its very sectarian nature, where sectarian parties and elites hold sway over society.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/lebanon-watch/what-you-need-know-about-lebanon%E2%80%99s-presidential-election-and-security-concerns

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 15-16/2023
Pope urges 'respect' for Orthodox monastery facing eviction in Kyiv
VATICAN CITY (Reuters)Wed, March 15, 2023
Pope Francis on Wednesday called for "respect" of religious sites in Ukraine, as he mentioned the monastery from which the Russian-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) is facing eviction. Ukrainian authorities have given the UOC a March 29 deadline to vacate its headquarters in the historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex, in the latest move against a denomination the government says is pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow. Referring specifically to the Lavra monastery, Francis asked "the warring parties [in Ukraine] to respect religious sites", and praised people who devote their lives to prayer, "be they of whatever denomination". The pope made the remarks during his weekly address to crowds in St Peter's Square. In an apparent slip up, he referred to the "nuns" of the monastery, which is actually home to male Orthodox priests. On March 11, Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a staunch supporter of Russia's invasion, had asked Francis and other religious leaders to persuade Ukraine to stop its crackdown against the UOC. The Security Service of Ukraine has since October carried out searches at UOC churches, imposed sanctions on its bishops and financial backers, and opened criminal cases against dozens of clergymen. Church officials say it and its millions of worshippers are victims of a witch-hunt. Orthodoxy is the primary faith in Ukraine and the Moscow-linked UOC has been in competition for worshippers with an independent Orthodox Church, founded after the Soviet collapse in 1991 but only recognised by church hierarchy in 2018. The independent church has been gaining in size and following since the invasion.

Putin hosts Assad, expected to focus on rebuilding Syria
Associated Press/Wed, March 15, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hosted Syrian leader Bashar Assad in the Kremlin for talks expected to focus on rebuilding Syria after a devastating civil war and mending Damascus' ties with Turkey. Welcoming Assad at the start of the meeting that comes on the anniversary of Syria's 12-year uprising-turned-civil war, Putin emphasized the Russian military's "decisive contribution" to stabilizing the country. Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad's government to fight back armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country. While Russia has concentrated the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military foothold in Syria and kept warplanes and troops at its bases there. Assad thanked Putin for backing Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that the Kremlin's support has remained strong despite the fighting in Ukraine. "Even though Russia now is also conducting the special operation, its position has remained unchanged," Assad said, using the Kremlin's "special military operation" term for the Russian action in Ukraine and voicing support for Moscow's effort.
After the talks involving senior officials from both countries, Putin also invited Assad for a separate one-on-one encounter. Russian and Syrian defense ministers also met separately to discuss military cooperation. Moscow has provided robust political support to Assad at the United Nations and actively mediated to help repair his government's ties with regional powers. Some Arab countries that had called in the past for the downfall of Assad have sent aid following the catastrophic Feb. 6 earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria killing more than 50,000 including over 6,000 in Syria. International sympathy following the quake appeared to have sped up the regional rapprochement, with some calling for dialogue with Syria and for bringing the country back to the 22-member Arab League more than a decade after its membership was suspended over the crackdown in the early months of the uprising that turned into war. As part of the ongoing rapprochement, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan recently made their first visit to Damascus since the conflict began in March 2011 and met with Assad.
On Wednesday, Assad also thanked Putin for sending rescue teams and engaging its military based in Syria to conduct salvage efforts and help deal with the quake's aftermath. Prior to the earthquake, Russia had been mediating talks between Turkey and Syria.
Turkey has backed armed opposition groups in Syria that have sought to overturn Assad's government during the civil war, which has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country's prewar population. Syria has demanded that Turkey withdraws from an enclave it controls in northwestern Syria in order for Damascus to normalize its relations with Ankara. In December, Moscow hosted surprise talks between the Syrian and Turkish defense ministers. Arab media reported that one of the main topics that Assad will discuss with Putin during their meeting on Wednesday is reconciliation between Syria and Turkey. Asked if Putin's talks with Assad could play a role in restoring Syria's ties with Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that "the issue of the Syrian-Turkish relations will undoubtedly be part of the talks' agenda."Even though Turkey has backed Syrian opposition fighters in the north, Ankara and Damascus share dismay over the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria's northeast. Turkey-backed opposition fighters have clashed with the SDF in the past, accusing them of being an arm of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The PKK has for decades waged an insurgency within Turkey against the government in Ankara. Assad's government has cast the SDF as a secessionist force that has been pilfering the country's wealth while controlling Syria's major oil fields. The Syrian, Turkish and Russian deputy foreign ministers as well as a senior adviser to their Iranian counterpart were expected to hold talks Wednesday and Thursday in Moscow to discuss "counterterrorism efforts" in Syria, although Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan was quoted by pro-government media as saying that the meeting "is still under discussion."

Bashar al-Assad makes awkward fumble during Moscow visit
Campbell MacDiarmid/The Telegraph/Wed, March 15, 2023
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad awkwardly fumbled with a wreath during a visit to Moscow’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Wednesday. As white-gloved Russian soldiers in full dress uniform laid a wreath in front of the memorial, the Syrian leader inexplicably stepped forward to try to take the garland. Video showed Mr Assad then shuffling backwards as the brass band stopped for a moment’s silence and a clock ticked loudly over The Alexander Garden. Mr Assad’s visit to the tomb in the Kremlin wall ahead of his meeting with Vladimir Putin was a nod to the war that made him beholden to Moscow and the Ukraine invasion for which he professes support. But it was not clear why the protocol for the wreath-laying had not been communicated to the Syrian leader, as state visits are ordinarily highly scripted affairs. The visit is Mr Assad’s first to Moscow since September 2021 and coincides with a scheduled meeting between senior officials between the foreign ministries of Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syria. While the officials are working to restore ties between Syria and Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels fighting since 2011 to overthrow Mr Assad, Moscow is also using the talks to show that Putin is not isolated following his disastrous invasion of Ukraine and to demonstrate his utility to those states that are not currently treating him like a pariah. Neither Putin nor Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, were present to welcome Mr Assad at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, which some observers interpreted as a calculated snub. Instead he was greeted on arrival by deputy foreign minister Alexander Yefimov and a representative of Putin, something the Syrian presidency insisted on its Telegram was “in accordance with the Russian protocol in force for receiving presidents”. Wednesday’s meeting came on the 12-year anniversary of the start of the Syrian civil war, a conflict that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population. While violence has slowed, Turkey still supports rebels in northwestern Idlib, an area home to over four million Syrians. Russia has sought rapprochement between Syria and Turkey as a means to end the conflict, with Moscow hosting talks in December between the defence ministers of the two countries. While Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has indicated he would be willing to meet Mr Assad in person, a major sticking point remains the presence of Turkish troops in northern Syria. The Syrian, Turkish and Russian deputy foreign ministers as well as a senior adviser to their Iranian counterpart are also set to hold talks Wednesday and Thursday in Moscow to discuss “counterterrorism efforts” in Syria. The diplomatic initiative comes less than a week after China brokered an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties. Mr Assad offered Putin his support for his invasion of Ukraine during a televised meeting from the Kremlin on Wednesday, saying Russia was fighting neo-Nazis and “old Nazis”. He also said he envisaged tangible economic results from his first public visit to Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February. Mr Assad has previously supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling the “special military operation” announced by his patron Putin a “correction of history”.

Syrians mark 12th anniversary of uprising against regime
AFP/March 15, 2023
IDLIB: Thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the war-ravaged country’s rebel-held northwest on Wednesday, marking 12 years since the start of pro-democracy protests and rejecting any international “normalization” with Damascus. The brutal repression of the 2011 protests, which began during the Middle East’s Arab Spring uprisings, triggered a complex civil war that drew in foreign powers and jihadists. It has claimed more than 500,000 lives and left millions displaced internally and abroad. In Idlib city, demonstrators waved revolutionary flags and held banners reading: “The people demand the fall of the regime” and “Freedom and dignity for all Syrians.” “We have come to commemorate the anniversary of the revolution, this great memory in the heart of every free Syrian,” protester Abu Shahid, 27, said. “We are proud of the day we managed to break the barrier of fear and demonstrate against the criminal regime.”
The rebel-held areas of Syria’s north and northwest, controlled by Islamist groups and Turkish-backed fighters, are home to more than 4 million people, at least half of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country. Protests also took place on Wednesday in Tabqa, a Kurdish-held area of Raqqa province in central Syria. Both Damascus and Ankara see a common “enemy” in Kurdish groups in northern Syria, which Ankara calls “terrorists” but are backed by Washington. Experts say Damascus is also looking to break out of its international isolation following the devastating Feb. 6 earthquake.

Netanyahu rejects judicial compromise, deepening crisis
JOSEF FEDERMAN/JERUSALEM (AP)/Wed, March 15, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday swiftly rejected a compromise proposal aimed at resolving a standoff over his plans to overhaul the country's legal system, deepening the crisis over a program that has roiled the country and drawn international criticism. The country's figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, presented the compromise in a nationally televised addressl. Herzog, whose ceremonial role is meant to serve as a national unifier and moral compass, unveiled the proposal after more than two months of mass protests against Netanyahu’s plan. He said he had consulting with a broad cross section of the country and suggested that Israel's survival depends on reaching a compromise. “Anyone who thinks that a real civil war, of human life, is a line that we will not reach has no idea,” Herzog said. “The abyss,” he warned, “is within touching distance.”
But Netanyahu quickly turned it down.
“Unfortunately, the things the president presented were not agreed to by the coalition representatives,” Netanyahu said at Israel's main international airport before departing to Germany. “And central elements of the proposal he offered just perpetuate the current situation and don't bring the necessary balance between the branches. That is the unfortunate truth.”Netanyahu's plan would allow parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions and give his parliamentary coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. Netanyahu’s allies say the plan is needed to curb what they say are excessive powers of unelected judges. But their opponents say it would destroy the country’s system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahu and his ruling coalition. They also say Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest. Herzog's proposal offered incentives to both sides. Parliament would not be able to overturn Supreme Court rulings. But judges would not be allowed to overturn major legislation known as “Basic Laws,” which serve as a sort of constitution. Basic Laws, however, would require a parliamentary supermajority, instead of a simple majority, to pass. Judicial appointments would be made by a committee comprised of coalition and opposition lawmakers, judges and public representatives. Appointments would require a broad consensus, and no single party would wield a veto.
“This is not the president’s draft. It is the draft of the nation,” Herzog said. “There is no side that wins, no side that loses.”
Merav Michaeli, leader of the opposition Labor party, welcomed the proposal and said Netanyahu's rejection show he “is not for legal reform but for judicial overthrow.” Netanyahu’s proposal has sparked weeks of mass protests by tens of thousands of Israelis, drawn criticism from business leaders, economists and legal experts. Military reservists have threatened to stop reporting for duty if it passes. Even some of Israel’s closest allies, including the U.S., have urged caution. Earlier on Wednesday, a senior delegation of Jewish-American leaders paid a flash visit to Israel to urge leaders to find a compromise. The arrival of some 30 leaders from the Jewish Federations of North America marked a rare foray by the American Jewish community into domestic Israeli affairs and reflected concerns that the turmoil inside Israel could spill over to Jewish communities overseas. Eric Fingerhut, the president and chief executive of the Jewish Federations, said the 24-hour visit, coming at short notice, illustrated the “grave concern and worry” the Israeli debate has raised among American Jews. The Federations said the visit was the first time “in recent history” that it has sent such a delegation to discuss Israeli policy with Israeli leaders. Fingerhut said his group was unable to meet with Netanyahu, but held talks with senior members of Netanyahu’s coalition, opposition leaders and Herzog. He said his group’s message to all sides was to find a compromise and calm the deeply polarized atmosphere. American Jews tend to hold liberal political positions and identify with liberal streams of Judaism that have struggled for recognition in Israel. An array of Jewish groups have raised concerns that minority rights and religious pluralism could be weakened by the overhaul. The Jewish Federations of North America represent over 400 Jewish communities across the U.S. and Canada. It raises and distributes more than $2 billion a year to support Jewish communities and vulnerable populations domestically, in Israel and worldwide, making it the largest Jewish philanthropic organization in North America.

Saudi Arabia places order for up to 121 planes from Boeing, White House welcomes deal
*David Koening and Aamer Madhani/The Arab Weekly/March 15/2023
The Saudi deals will support about one million jobs in 44 states across the US supply chain.
Two Saudi Arabian airlines said Tuesday they will order 78 jetliners from Boeing and take options to buy 43 more in a major boost for the American aircraft manufacturer. The order for Boeing 787s will be divided between Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier, Saudia, and a planned new airline called Riyadh Air, which Saudi officials introduced over the weekend. At list prices, the combined deal would be worth about $37 billion if the options are exercised, but airlines routinely get deep discounts. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Relatively high oil prices have boosted Saudi Arabia’s economy and government, making it easier for the kingdom to close a multi-billion-dollar jet order. The creation of Riyadh Air by the Saudi sovereign-wealth fund and the growth of Saudia are part of a broader Saudi strategy to diversify its oil-based economy. Saudi Arabia hopes to become a global aviation hub and attract 100 million annual visitors by 2030. The kingdom's neighbouring states of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have built up state-owned airlines and used their geographic location to become key connecting points for international travel.
“The ambition here in the kingdom is huge, and this today ... is our first big order,” Tony Douglas, the CEO of Riyadh Air, told CNBC. “There will be more orders." The planes covered by the orders and options are long-range, two-aisle “widebody” jets, in the industry jargon. Boeing and Europe's Airbus dominate the market. “Serving the Middle East, in our view, is a very, very important and critical market for widebodies and we like that Boeing won this one,” said Boeing CEO David Calhoun, who travelled to Riyadh for the announcement.
The Saudi deal is also a boost for the Boeing 787, which the company calls the Dreamliner. Boeing has struggled with interruptions in delivering new 787s for more than two years because of production flaws. Shares of Boeing Co., based in Arlington, Virginia, rose more than four percent on Tuesday.
Boeing had been talking to the Saudis about an order for three years, according to two senior US administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been publicly announced. The officials said President Joe Biden did not directly lobby for the order when he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last summer, but top aides made a pitch to Saudi government officials on Boeing's behalf. “We are particularly pleased that Boeing was able to finally conclude these deals with Saudi Arabia after years of discussions and intensive negotiations over recent months,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. She called the announcement “another milestone in eight decades of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and American industry.” The Saudi deals will support about one million jobs in 44 states across the US supply chain, including 150,000 new manufacturing jobs, according to administration officials. The planes will be powered by engines from General Electric Co. The Saudi orders come as a recovery in air travel boosts demand for jets made by Boeing and Airbus. Last month, Air India announced it had agreed to buy 220 planes from Boeing and 50 from Airbus. Both the Air India and combined Saudi Arabian order rank among Boeing's five largest. Boeing's history with Saudi Arabia goes back to early 1945, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented Abdulaziz al Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, with a DC-3 made by Douglas Aircraft Co., one of the forerunners of current-day Boeing. The relationship has stood through Democratic and Republican administrations ever since. President Donald Trump signed defence and commercial deals for Boeing during a 2017 trip to the kingdom. The crown prince toured a Boeing plant in the Seattle area the following year and signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint venture maintaining military aircraft in the kingdom.
*David Koening and Aamer Madhani

Blinken says China’s brokering of Saudi-Iranian accord ‘good thing’
AFP/March 15, 2023
ADDIS ABABA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday offered guarded praise to China for brokering a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, saying it could benefit the region. “From our perspective, anything that can help reduce tensions, avoid conflict and deter in any way dangerous and destabilising actions by Iran is a good thing,” Blinken told reporters on a visit to Ethiopia. “I think it’s valuable that countries, where they can, take action, take responsibility for advancing security, for advancing peaceful relations,” he said. China, a major oil importer, last week concluded the deal to restore relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The United States frequently denounces China’s role in the world as destabilising, though it has also said that Beijing needs to take greater responsibility in international affairs if it wants to be a major power.

Saudi finance minister: KSA could invest in Iran 'very quickly'
Agence France Presse/March 15, 2023
Saudi Arabia could start making investments in Iran "very quickly" after they agreed to restore diplomatic ties, the Saudi finance minister said on Wednesday, despite sweeping US sanctions against the Islamic republic. Mohammed Al-Jadaan said there were "a lot of opportunities" in Iran and that he couldn't see any reason to prevent investments taking place between the two Gulf heavyweights. "I would say quickly," he told the Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh, when asked how soon Saudi Arabia could start making "significant" investments in Iran. "When people really stick to the principles of what was agreed, I think that that could happen very quickly."In a surprise, Chinese-brokered announcement on Friday, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to work towards restoring ties and reopening diplomatic missions within two months. The oil-rich rivals, who are on opposing sides in conflicts across the Middle East, severed relations in 2016 after Saudi's execution of a Shiite cleric triggered violent protests. Iran has been under renewed US sanctions since then president Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear agreement between Tehran and major powers in 2018. Saudi Arabia, a longtime US ally, has said it supports the sanctions, which target key areas, including oil. But Al-Jadaan said: "There is no reason for (investments) not to happen. I mean, Iran is our neighbor and has been and will continue to be for hundreds of years. "So I don't see any issue that would prevent the normalization of the relationship across investments... as long as we stick to the agreement, you know, respecting sovereign rights, not interfering in other affairs."He added: "I think that there are a lot of opportunities in Iran, and we provide a lot of opportunities for them."

Iran says 110 arrested over suspected schoolgirl poisonings
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/Wed, March 15, 2023
Iranian police said Wednesday that 110 suspects have been arrested in connection with the suspected poisoning of thousands of girls in schools across the country. Students say they have been sickened by noxious fumes in incidents dating back to November that have mainly occurred in girls' schools. Authorities say they are investigating, but there has been no word on who might be behind the incidents or what — if any — chemicals have been used. Unlike neighboring Afghanistan, Iran has no history of religious extremists targeting women's education, even during the height of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. There have been no fatalities, and some officials have suggested that mass hysteria might have played a role. Gen. Saeed Montazerolmehdi, the police spokesperson, announced the arrests in remarks carried by Iranian media. He also said police had confiscated thousands of stink bomb toys, indicating that some of the alleged attacks might have been copycat pranks. Others appear to be more serious, with hundreds of students hospitalized, according to local media reports and rights groups. Iran has heavily restricted independent media and arrested dozens of journalists since the outbreak of nationwide antigovernment protests last September. It has also targeted reporters covering the poisonings, even as officials have provided few details about what is happening. A lawmaker on a government panel investigating the incidents said earlier this month that as many as 5,000 students have complained of being sickened in 230 schools across 25 provinces. Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely monitored the recent protests, has put the number at over 7,000 students. The World Health Organization documented what might have been a similar phenomenon in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012, when hundreds of girls across the country complained of strange smells and poisoning. No evidence was found to support the suspicions, and WHO said it appeared to be a “mass psychogenic illness.”

Iran’s top security official to visit the UAE
Reuters/March 15, 2023
DUBAI: Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani will visit the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, Nour News, which is affiliated with the Iranian top security body, reported. His visit to Abu Dhabi comes at a time of growing rapprochement between Iran and Gulf countries. Last week, Shamkhani took part in talks brokered by China that resulted in Saudi Arabia and Iran resuming diplomatic ties after they were suspended in 2016. News of the visit came as Saudi Arabia’s finance minister, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, said that Saudi investment in Iran could happen “very quickly” following last week’s agreement. Shamkhani’s trip to the UAE highlights growing ties between Tehran and Abu Dhabi since the latter sent an ambassador back to Iran in September, more than six years after the Gulf Arab state downgraded ties with the Islamic Republic. The UAE has business and trade ties with Iran stretching back more than a century, with the Dubai emirate long being one of Iran’s main links to the outside world. “Shamkhani will travel to Abu Dhabi on Thursday in response to an official invitation by his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss bilateral, regional, and international issues,” Nour News said on Wednesday. “Top economic, banking and security officials will accompany the Supreme National Security Council secretary to the UAE,” it added. Al-Jadaan, speaking at the first private sector forum of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said Iran presented investment opportunities. “There are a lot of opportunities for Saudi investments in Iran. We don’t see impediments as long as the terms of any agreement would be respected,” Al-Jadaan said. Meanwhile China, which hosted the latest round of Saudi-Iranian discussions, on Wednesday announced the beginning of joint maritime drills in the Gulf of Oman with the Russian and Iranian navies. The exercises, which will go on until Sunday, are the fourth of their type since the three countries started such operations in 2019.

China, Russia, Iran hold joint naval drills in Gulf of Oman
BEIJING (AP)/Wed, March 15, 2023
Naval forces from China, Iran and Russia — countries at odds with the United States — are staging joint drills in the Gulf of Oman this week, China’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. Other countries are also taking part in the “Security Bond-2023” exercises, the ministry said without giving details. Iran, Pakistan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates all have coastline along the waterbody lying at the mouth of the strategic Persian Gulf. “This exercise will help deepen practical cooperation between the participating countries' navies ... and inject positive energy into regional peace and stability,” the ministry statement said.
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday that the White House was not concerned by the joint training exercise. Kirby said the U.S. and other nations conduct training exercises all the time and this won’t be the first time that the Russians and Chinese have trained together.
“We’re going to watch it, we’ll monitor it, obviously, to make sure that there’s no threat resulting from this training exercise to our national security interests or those of our allies and partners in the region,” Kirby said on CNN. “But nations train. We do it all the time. We’ll watch it as best we can.”The exercises scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China over a range of issues, including China's refusal to criticize Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and continuing support for the Russian economy. The U.S. and its allies have condemned the invasion, imposed punishing economic sanctions on Russia and supplied Ukraine with defensive arms. Iran and the U.S. have been adversaries since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and the taking of U.S. diplomats as hostages.
China has dispatched the guided missile destroyer Nanning to take part in the drills centered on search and rescue at sea and other non-combat missions. China maintains its only foreign military base, complete with a navy pier, in the Horn of Africa country of Djibouti, located just across the Gulf of Oman. The three countries held similar drills last year and in 2019, underscoring China's growing military and political links with nations that have been largely shunned by the U.S. and its partners. Last week, China hosted talks between Iran and its chief Middle Eastern rival Saudi Arabia that resulted in an agreement between them Friday to restore full diplomatic relations after seven years of tensions. While the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have long-standing military and political ties, relations have frayed over the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom’s leadership, and cuts in production by the OPEC+ oil cartel that the administration said was helping Russia. China's hosting of the Iran-Saudi talks placed it in the unusual role of mediator in regional conflicts, one that Beijing appears to be keen to capitalize on under the rubric of President Xi Jinping's “Global Security Initiative.”The country's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs Xue Bing on Tuesday “further affirmed China’s readiness to work with countries in the region to contribute to peaceful regional development and build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future by implementing the outlook,” the official Xinhua News Agency quoted him as saying on a visit to Ethiopia. China opposes "geopolitical competition by external forces (and) has no intention to and will not seek to fill the so-called vacuum or put up exclusive blocs,” Xue was quoted as saying.

Ukraine can defend $3 billion Russian Eurobond case - UK top court
LONDON (Reuters)/Wed, March 15, 2023
Ukraine can defend a $3 billion Eurobond lawsuit brought by Russia on the basis it was forced to assume the debt in 2013 because of threats of force by Moscow, the United Kingdom's top court ruled on Wednesday. The long-awaited ruling on the lawsuit, which was brought in 2016 and long predates Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, paves the way for a full trial of Ukraine’s case that it had to accept the money in the face of Russian aggression. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the ruling as a "decisive victory against the aggressor", writing on Twitter: "Justice will be ours." Alex Gerbi, Ukraine’s London-based lawyer, said in a statement: “Ukraine greatly welcomes this opportunity to present its case on duress to the English court on the merits and to have a full public and impartial judicial consideration of that case, with the requirement for full disclosure by Russia in respect of its conduct towards Ukraine.” Law Debenture Trust Corporation, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of Russia, said in a statement the ruling found that “none of Ukraine’s defences to the claim is arguable except a limited part of its defence of duress”. “We take our fiduciary obligations seriously and all action taken to date has been in the proper discharge of those duties,” the statement added. The case centres on billions of dollars borrowed from Moscow by pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, months before he was toppled in a popular uprising in February 2014 and shortly before Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Ukraine says the debt was procured by duress, including unlawful trade measures to deter the country from signing an association agreement with the European Union and threats to its territory. The UK Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Ukraine can defend the lawsuit at trial on the basis that Russia’s threats of military force amounted to illegitimate pressure on Ukraine to assume the $3 billion debt. Lawyers representing Russia had told the court in 2019 that the "geopolitical dispute" between Ukraine and Russia at the time of the contract had nothing to do with whether the debt was enforceable.
"The success of Ukraine’s defence turns on whether it can establish that Russia threatened the use of force and that those threats were a reason for Ukraine’s decision to enter into the agreement," Judge Robert Reed, the court's president, said when announcing its decision. "That question can only be determined after trial." Reed also said the appeal "was heard before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year and neither party has argued that the invasion is of any relevance to our decision".

Ukraine can mount legal challenge against repayment of Russian loan
Joe Barnes/The Telegraph/March 15, 2023
Volodymyr Zelensky hailed another “victory” over Russia after the Supreme Court ruled Kyiv could mount a legal challenge against the repayment of a £2.5 billion loan from Moscow. Britain’s top court concluded the Kremlin’s threats of military force amounted to illegitimate pressure on Ukraine to assume the debt. The decision by a panel of five Supreme Court justices means Kyiv’s High Court battle with Law Debenture Trust Corporation, the investment trust, will now go to a full public trial. “Today Ukraine secured another decisive victory against the aggressor,” Mr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, wrote on Twitter after the ruling on Wednesday. “The Court has ruled that Ukraine’s defence based on Russia’s threats of aggression will have a full public trial. Justice will be ours.”
'Debt issued under duress'
The initial case was brought in 2016 and long pre-dates Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the centre of the legal row is a £2.5 billion loan from Moscow sanctioned by Ukraine’s former pro-Russian president Viktor Yankukovych, months before he was ousted in an uprising in 2014. Ukraine has long argued the debt was issued under duress, including illegal trade measures to dissuade the country from signing an association agreement with the European Union and military threats to its territory. The Eurobonds, which carry five per cent interest per year, were issued by Ukraine solely to Russia in 2013, shortly before Moscow illegally annexed Crimea, with the debt becoming repayable in December 2015. Lawyers representing Moscow told the court in 2019 that the “geopolitical dispute” between Ukraine and Russia at the time had nothing to do with the debt. A lower court in the UK had initially backed Russia’s attempt to throw out the Ukrainian defence.
Judges back appeal
But that was overturned on appeal, with the Supreme Court’s five judges unanimously siding with Kyiv. They backed the appeals court in ruling Ukraine has “an arguable and justiciable defence of duress”. “The success of Ukraine’s defence turns on whether it can establish that Russia threatened the use of force and that those threats were a reason for Ukraine’s decision to enter into the agreement,” Judge Robert Reed, the court’s president, said when announcing its decision. “That question can only be determined after trial,” he added. Lord Reed said the appeal “was heard before Ukraine’s invasion of Ukraine last year and neither party argued that the invasion is of any relevance to our decision”. No date has been set for the Eurobond case to go to a full public trial.

The 8-year-old daughter of a Vladimir Putin ally is listed as the owner of a multimillion-dollar apartment in one of London's most exclusive areas
Pete Syme/Business Insider/Wed, March 15, 2023
Vladimir Gruzdev is a Vladimir Putin ally whose net worth was estimated to be $900 million in 2021.
His 8-year-old daughter owns a London apartment that could be worth $5 million to $10 million today.
Her ownership began just 20 days before Russia invaded Ukraine, records show.
The 8-year-old daughter of a Vladimir Putin ally is listed as the owner of a multimillion-dollar apartment in London, documents seen by Insider show. Vladimir Gruzdev made his name as a grocery-store tycoon before starting a career in politics, which won him special recognition by Putin in 2010. His net worth was most recently estimated to be $900 million in 2021, per Forbes. The Times of London first reported on the apartment in an investigation with Transparency International, an anti-corruption nonprofit that shared details of the property with Insider. The apartment was purchased for £2.3 million in 2000 through a company based in the Cayman Islands, where the tax rate is 0%. That's equivalent to £4 million now, or about $4.9 million at today's conversion rate, when adjusted for inflation. One property-valuation website suggests it could be worth over $10 million, but its actual value on the open market is unclear. Company records show that the 8-year-old girl, whom Insider isn't naming as she is a minor, was first declared to be the owner of the luxury property in February of last year, 20 days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine sanctioned Gruzdev after he shared a statement from the Association of Lawyers of Russia — whose board he chairs — supporting the war. He isn't sanctioned by any other countries. His daughter's residence is in Kensington, one of London's most exclusive boroughs, while The Times reports it includes a parking space and a maid's room. Several national embassies, the Royal Albert Hall, and Prince William and Kate Middleton's current residence are all within 600 yards of the property. Some of Russia's most powerful oligarchs including Roman Abramovich have also bought properties in a nearby area of the city, which has been nicknamed "Red Square" in some circles because of the large number of Russian owners. A 2021 report by Knight Frank found that London was home to more than 874,000 millionaires, the most high-net-worth individuals of any city in its review. The Association of Lawyers of Russia didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

A Russian trainspotter who became obsessed with taking photographs of Putin's 'ghost train' now lives in exile: report
Sophia Ankel/Business Insider/Wed, March 15, 2023
A trainspotter spent years tracking Putin's secret train, which he reportedly uses to get around. Mikhail Korotkov told The Washington Post that in 2021, he felt like he was being watched. Fearing for his safety, Korotkov fled the country in September and now lives in Sri Lanka.
A trainspotter who became obsessed with tracking Russian President Vladimir Putin's "ghost train" now lives in exile, The Washington Post reported. Mikhail Korotkov, 31, spent years tracking, photographing, and blogging about Putin's armored train, which he reportedly uses to travel inconspicuously around the country. The train travels between heavily-guarded stations that have been built in locations that Putin visits often, including Novo Ogaryovo, Sochi, and Valdai, the independent Russian media outlet Proekt reported last month. In an interview with The Post, Korotkov said he often posted photos of the train and wrote about its features on his blog "Railway Life," which he started in 2011. "I was so deep in my hobby. I tried to get really rare pictures," Korotkov, who is from a town outside of Moscow, told The Post. "And for me, the challenge was so huge that I was not thinking about consequences."
Korotkov said tracking the train was difficult because it had no timetable, its windows were blacked-out, and it had no identifying locomotive numbers. Other trainspotters who knew Korotkov had taken a special interest in Putin's private coach would often tip him off when they saw it, he said. Korotkov was also the first train enthusiast to post an image of the train in 2018. But the 31-year-old was also careful to not be too public about his hobby, telling the Post that he did not post all the pictures of Putin's train online. "I was trying not to attract attention to the fact that I was so very interested in the topic," he said. In May 2021, Korotkov said he started seeing "creepy" conversations underneath his YouTube page that included word-for-word transcripts of private phone conversations he had about trainspotting with his closest friend. "I thought about my personal safety, and from that moment I realized that everything I had published on the internet could be used against me," he told The Post, saying that he assumed he was being watched by Russia's Federal Security Service or FSB. "I told my parents that my life was in danger," he added. When Russia's invasion of Ukraine began less than a year later, Korotkov said he became even more uneasy, fearing that his trainspotting posts could be used to imprison him on sabotage or terrorism charges. He shut down the blog one month after the war started. In September last year, after Putin announced a military mobilization, Korotkov said decided to flee Russia. He traveled by car to Khazakstan and then flew to India. He now lives in Sri Lanka, but told The Post that he is "ready to move around the world."
"While the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is still going on, my life is up in the air," he said.

German defense minister replaces chief of the armed forces
BERLIN (AP)/Wed, March 15, 2023
Germany's defense minister has decided to replace the chief of the country's armed forces, putting in his place the military's current head of domestic operations, the government said Wednesday. The top military commander since April 2018, Gen. Eberhard Zorn, will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Carsten Breuer, who previously was tapped in late 2021 to head an expert group to advise officials on how to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.The Defense Ministry didn't specify a reason for the shake-up, which comes as Germany moves to modernize its military, the Bundeswehr, and improve its equipment. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has brought new energy to the ministry after he took over nearly two months ago following the resignation of his much-criticized predecessor. Zorn said during a visit to Estonia on Wednesday that his removal was “a clear political decision” and that he has “absolutely no problem with it,” German news agency dpa reported. “When there's a new beginning, it is sometimes very helpful to start with new faces.” The military chief of staff is responsible for the stratregic and operative planning and leadership of all the Bundeswehr’s missions and is the government’s top military adviser. Breuer will take up his new job on Friday. Pistorius also is replacing one of his deputy ministers — Margaretha Sudhof, who came into office along with the previous defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, in 2021 — with a longtime confidant, Nils Hilmer.

Turkey plans to ratify Finland's NATO bid ahead of May polls -sources
Orhan Coskun/ANKARA (Reuters)/Wed, March 15, 2023
Turkey's parliament will "highly likely" ratify Finland's NATO accession bid before mid-April, two Turkish officials told Reuters on Wednesday, a day before Finnish President Sauli Niinisto visits the country. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the trans-Atlantic defence pact after Russia invaded Ukraine, but faced unexpected objections from Turkey. Ankara says Stockholm harbours members of terrorist groups, which Sweden denies. The parliaments of all 30 members of NATO have to ratify any membership bids for the alliance. Apart from Hungary, Turkey is the only member not yet to have given Finland and Sweden its green light. A senior Turkish official told Reuters that Finland's bid would be approved independently from that of Sweden. Another official with knowledge of the matter said Finland's approach to terrorist organisations was in line with Turkey's sensitivities and that Helsinki had taken steps in that regard. "It is highly likely that the necessary step for Finland's NATO membership will be completed before (parliament) closes and the election is held," the official said. Both officials declined to be named because the discussions are not public yet. Niinisto, who will visit Turkey on March 16-17, said he believed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will announce his decision concerning Finland's NATO bid when the two meet. "We knew that when Turkish President Erdogan on his part has made the decision concerning the ratification of Finland's NATO membership, he wants to meet and fulfil his promise president to president," Niinisto said in an email to Reuters. "The Turks had hoped I would be there in person to receive the decision," he added. When asked for reaction on Turkey's plans to approve only Finland's NATO bid for now, the United States repeated its position that both Nordic countries were ready to join the alliance. "The time is right, now, to finalize their accession process and welcome them as full members of NATO...We are confident that NATO will formally welcome both Finland and Sweden as members soon," a State Department spokesperson said in emailed comments.
Turkey has repeatedly said that Sweden needed to take additional steps against supporters of Kurdish militants and members of the network Ankara holds responsible for a 2016 coup attempt. Turkey treats both groups as terrorist organisations. Talks between Sweden and Turkey have made little progress, especially following several disputes mainly over street protests by pro-Kurdish groups in Stockholm. Amid growing tensions with Sweden, Erdogan signalled for the first time in January that Ankara could give a green light to Helsinki ahead of Stockholm. Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday that the likelihood of Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden had increased, after talks between the three sides in Brussels this week.
ERDOGAN 'WILL KEEP PROMISE'
Parliament is due to close in mid-April ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for May 14. Erdogan indicated that he would send ratification of Finland's NATO membership to parliament soon, saying that he would "keep his promise". "Mr. President (Niinisto) will come to Turkey on Friday and we will meet. After that, we will fulfil our promise," Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday, when asked whether he would send ratification of Finland's NATO bid to the Turkish parliament next week. "Positive messages will be given to Finland's president during his visit," the second official said. The United States and other NATO countries are hoping that the two Nordic countries become members of the alliance at a NATO summit due to be held in July 11 in Lithuania's capital Vilnius. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Nevzat Devranoglu; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara and Essi Lehto in Helsinki; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Daren Butler, Raissa Kasolowsky and Mark Potter)

France accused of delaying EU’s €2bn plan to replenish Ukraine’s artillery shell stocks
Joe Barnes/The Telegraph/March 15, 2023
France was on Wednesday accused of slowing down the European Union’s plans to replenish Ukraine’s dwindling artillery shell stocks by demanding the munitions be manufactured inside the bloc. European sources told the Telegraph that Paris wanted guarantees that a €2 billion deal to jointly procure weapons would only benefit firms based in the EU. The demand came during talks over a new Brussels-led scheme to purchase one million 155mm artillery shells to bolster supplies to Kyiv and fill depleted national armouries. Under the scheme, member states would be given cash incentives to centralise and coordinate procurement among themselves in the hope of placing orders large enough to convince arms manufacturers to ramp up production. French officials argued only defence firms based in the EU should be allowed to access the lucrative new contracts. Critics of the French demand warned that this risked slowing down support for Ukraine because production capacity could be readily available outside the bloc. “Many member states presented different opinions to that of France,” an EU diplomat told The Telegraph. “If we want to act immediately, which is necessary, allowing non-EU companies into the scheme is very important.” “Paris clearly favours the EU spending on its own industries over supporting Ukraine,” a European source added. So far, EU countries have only provided Ukraine with 350,000 155mm artillery shells, which Kyiv says it desperately needs more of to maintain its defensive lines and launch its anticipated spring counter-offensive. Brussels has so far reimbursed its member states €450 million for the donations, at an estimated cost of €1,285 per shell. Kyiv’s forces are firing an estimated 6,000 artillery rounds every day, according to Western intelligence, whereas Russia fires 20,000 a day - the same amount manufactured by European defence producers each month. While Ukraine has backed the EU’s plans to jointly procure one million shells, Oleksiy Reznikoz, its defence minister, last week warned it wouldn’t be enough to fuel the fight against Russia’s invasion. At a meeting of EU defence ministers, Mr Reznikov said Ukraine needed at least 100,000 155mm rounds each month to ease battlefield shortages. EU nations were on Wednesday still wrangling over a final deal to purchase enough shells for Ukraine. The initial proposal saw €1 billion in EU funding set aside to reimburse member states that can immediately donate ammunition from their own stockpiles to Ukraine. A further €1 billion from the bloc’s financial coffers would be used to jointly purchase new munitions on the open market in the hope larger orders will mean a lower price per shell.
‘Centralised arms procurement may create bureaucratic barriers’
Britain and other non-EU Nato allies have privately raised concerns that centralised arms procurement by Brussels could create bureaucratic barriers within the alliance and be a threat to interoperability. Similar fears were outlined during the EU talks over joint procurement, but France was said to have refused to have backed down on the grounds it is seeking greater “strategic autonomy” for the bloc. Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, has long pushed for the EU to become completely independent from Nato and Washington on the military, energy, economic and technological fronts. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted Paris to re-think its strategy in the short term, focusing instead on strengthening defences as part of Nato. Greece and Cyprus, a source said, backed France’s bid to keep non-EU businesses out of the procurement scheme to prevent Turkish firms from bidding for contracts.
Norway could become the only non-EU nation allowed to produce ammunition for the scheme because it is a member of the European Defence Agency, which will coordinate the purchases. Any final deal will need to be signed off later this month when European leaders hold a summit in Brussels.

UN says intense diplomacy under way to end 8-year Yemen war
UNITED NATIONS (AP)/Wed, March 15, 2023
The U.N. special envoy for Yemen said Wednesday that intense diplomatic efforts are underway to end the eight-year war in Yemen. He cited new regional and international momentum, including the recent restoration of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who back rivals in the conflict.
Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council there has also been “a step change in the scope and depth of the discussions,” and he urged Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels “to seize the opportunities" created by the new momentum. He singled out continuing efforts by Saudi Arabia and Oman. Grundberg also indicated progress in talks on a prisoner exchange between the Saudi-backed government and Iran-backed Houthis that are co-chaired by the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross. He urged the parties “to finalize the details of the current phase they have agreed on, including the implementation plan.”U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya had some positive news as well: The number of people going hungry in Yemen has dropped by almost 2 million, and the number at the worst level, facing famine, has dropped to zero.
Nonetheless, she said, “Yemen remains a staggering emergency” with more that 17 million people in need of assistance this year, funding in short supply and economic problems “pushing even more people into destitution."At a pledging conference two weeks ago more than 30 donors promised $1.16 billion for humanitarian assistance this year for Yemen, which Msuya welcomed, but she stressed it was the lowest level since 2017 and far below the $4.3 billion the U.S. needs to help the 17 million people. Yemen’s devastating conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition including the United Arab Emirates intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.
A U.N.-backed truce initially took effect in April 2022 and raised hopes for a longer pause in fighting, but it ended on Oct. 2 after just six months. Nonetheless, special envoy Grundberg said the overall military situation in the country continues to be “relatively stable” and other elements of the truce continue to be implemented, though he expressed concern at the uptick in the number and intensity of clashes in several front-line areas, including Marib and Taiz.
He called these gains “fragile” and urged the government and Houthis “to exercise maximum restraint during this critical time, including refraining from escalatory public rhetoric, to avoid destabilizing the situation.”Grundberg said he recently visited Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Tehran and Riyadh in his search for moves toward peace, including renewed talks between the warring parties. He said the Saudi-Iran agreement, facilitated in part by China, and good neighborly relations “are important for the region and for Yemen.”“The parties must seize the opportunity presented by this regional and international momentum to take decisive steps towards a more peaceful future,” Grundberg said. “This requires patience and a long-term perspective. And this requires courage and leadership.”
China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Geng Shuang, called the re-establishment of Saudi-Iranian relations “uplifting news for today’s world that is fraught with uncertainties and instability.”
“It has injected a positive element into the peace, stability, solidarity and cooperation landscape of the region," he said, expressing hope that “it can also create conducive conditions for improving the situation in Yemen.”Shuang told the council that China, along with the international community, "stands ready to continue its unwavering efforts towards resolving the Yemeni issue and maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East.”U.S. deputy ambassador, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, said he hoped the Saudi-Iran agreement “will contribute to efforts to secure a durable solution to the conflict in Yemen, address the continued flow of Iranian lethal aid to the Houthis and ensure Iranian support for a Yemeni political process.”He said the United States welcomes support for U.N. peace efforts from Yemen’s government, Saudi Arabia, Oman and other regional countries and urges the Houthis “to engage in negotiations in good faith and to work with the U.N. to keep Yemen on the path to peace,” he said.

Saudi crown prince is plotting to get US nuclear secrets by playing the White House, Russia, and China off against each other, report says
Tom Porter/INSIDER/Wed, March 15, 2023
Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler is seeking to pit major powers against each other, a report said. Mohammed bin Salman reportedly believes it will help him secure US nuclear technology. Saudi Arabia has snubbed the US and drawn closer to rivals including China. Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, is trying to get better access to US nuclear technology by playing global powers against each other, Saudi officials told The Wall Street Journal. In recent months, Saudi Arabia has provoked the ire of the US, traditionally its closest international ally, while drawing closer to US adversaries including China and Russia. Analysts have told Insider that the move appears to be part of a power play by Crown Prince Mohammed, amid perceptions that US influence in the region is waning. According to The Wall Street Journal, Crown Prince Mohammed may be using its relations with China and Russia to establish a closer US security relationship. The New York Times last week reported that Saudi Arabia said it could potentially normalize ties with Israel if the US provides it security guarantees and assistance in its civilian nuclear program. The Saudis are "dealing with everyone — Israel and Iran, China and the US, Russia and the Europeans—and being quite ambiguous about what they want to do and what's their ultimate goal," Cinzia Bianco, Gulf research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tan told The Wall Street Journal. "Create a lot of confusion where everyone keeps wondering what they're really up to, that's exactly the point." Last October, Saudi Arabia was accused by the Biden administration of siding with Russia in cutting oil production, despite the US believing that it had secured a deal with Riyadh to increase production in order to stem domestic inflation. The disagreement provoked a diplomatic spat, and petty name calling by the nations. And in December, Crown Prince Mohammed welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia for a lavish summit, where the leaders agreed to cooperate across a swath of economic and foreign policy goals. The summit led to a rebuke from the White House, which said that China could not be trusted. China has sought to consolidate its bid to topple the US as the key international power in the region. Last week, it brokered talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which have long been involved in proxy conflicts. However, Saudi Arabia has also made moves to appease the US, announcing large aid packages to Ukraine, a US ally, in its war against Russia, and announcing a deal with Boeing last week to build a fleet of new airliners which the White House praised. The balancing act appears to be based on the calculation by Saudi Arabia that the US will be forced to offer concessions to the Saudis in order to maintain the alliance and offset the growing influence of China. A civilian nuclear program and better access to US weapons have long been core Saudi objectives, and Riyadh said last week that they would be the price for normalizing its relations with Israel.
US officials are wary of providing nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, The New York Times reported, as they believe the Saudis could seek to develop nuclear weapons, amid fears that Iran is again gearing up its nuclear program.

Michael Alan Ratney confirmed as US ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Arab News/March 15, 2023
Michael Alan Ratney previously served as US Consul General in Jerusalem
The US Senate confirmed Michael Alan Ratney as the ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a voice vote on Tuesday. Ratney, who was nominated by US President Joe Biden, currently serves in the United States Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. His career has seen him serving as the State Department’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Israel and Palestinian Affairs, and was the US Special Envoy for Syria. Before that Ratney was the US Consul General in Jerusalem. At the time of his nomination Ratney had said he was committed to a “strong and sustainable US-Saudi partnership that advances US interests and reflects US values.”Ratney said he wanted to help strengthen Saudi defenses through security cooperation and training, “demonstrating the durable American commitment to our partners and allies and to our values.”

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 15-16/2023
Massive Abuses of Government Power: Urgent Reform Needed of Data Privacy and Collection
Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute/March 15, 2023
[T]he NSA's surveillance network "has the capacity to reach roughly 75% of all U.S. Internet traffic"... the NSA, working with the FBI, engaged in the bulk collection of phone records of U.S. citizens' phone records. Other programs may allow for data collection from Google, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms. These are the alleged capabilities that have been leaked to the media and government watchdog groups. One can only imagine what the federal government's more secretive and advanced programs might be capable of collecting.
We also must consider data collected by the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and from our constellation of spy satellites.
Then there are the other federal security and surveillance agencies such as the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, to name but a few.
[I]t is time for Congress to fully update the laws surrounding data collection and privacy. This also would give us the ability to see what still works, determine best practices to protect American security and civil liberties, and to end the things that do not -- especially those that leave open a backdoor for abuse.
[W]e must examine whether the government has deferred to the rights of American citizens, or has utilized perceived openings to expand its reach and power.
Law enforcement has acted in a way that enhances its capabilities and erodes the rights of American citizens. Three examples include the FBI's use of Section 215, where the FBI can get secret court orders for business records.
A second example is the use given the FBI of National Security Letters (NSLs). These can be issued by the FBI without a court order. The use of NSLs has expanded massively. In 2000, about 8,500 NSLs were issued. From 2003-2006 that number increased to 192,000. "Sneak and peek" warrants are also now being used more extensively. Without any notification, these allow law enforcement to raid and search someone's home and computers, among other private property. The target may not be notified of the search for months.
In an investigation involving conservative attorney Victoria Toensing, the FBI used the sneak and peek authorization to gain access to personal records without notifying her, even though she was not a target of any investigation. After 18 months, the Justice Department notified her the case was being closed without ever identifying who was being investigated or even what the issue being investigated was.
With the advent of new technologies, and passage of legislation after 9/11 that possibly has not aged well, the legal framework protecting American citizens' rights has been shredded. It seems abundantly clear that our government at multiple levels likely abused its powers, and the Select Subcommittee on Weaponization has a tremendous opportunity to set things right.
With the advent of new technologies, and passage of legislation after 9/11 that possibly has not aged well, the legal framework protecting American citizens' rights has been shredded. It seems abundantly clear that our government at multiple levels likely abused its powers, and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has a tremendous opportunity to set things right.
Recently the U.S. House of Representatives created the new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Congressman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio. There are at least three areas where this Subcommittee needs to do extensive research. They include but are not limited to:
The scope and extent of the information that the various federal government agencies collect and store.
The restrictions and their effectiveness that are built into the process to protect the rights of American citizens.
Evidence that government policies may have been broken and individuals or organizations may have been targeted inappropriately by the federal government.
A comprehensive review should then result in proposed legislation that will better protect American citizens from governmental abuse while at the same time enable government agencies to effectively do their work. How do we fix a system that may be broken, keeps America safe, and protects American civil liberties? It has to be done similar to the work Congress did after the 9/11 attacks, but using the lessons learned in the time since then to prevent government abuse.
This new Subcommittee should start by evaluating the tools various government agencies use to collect information, what the rules are for collection, how much information they collect, and what safeguards are in place to ensure agencies work within their legal boundaries. Understanding the scope of what is going on provides an excellent starting point.
Our foreign intelligence agencies are masters at collecting data. The National Security Agency (NSA), it has been revealed, is able to collect a large amount of data from around the world through its surveillance techniques. According to a Wall Street Journal report from 2013, the NSA's surveillance network "has the capacity to reach roughly 75% of all U.S. Internet traffic". The Electronic Frontier Foundation reported in 2011 that the NSA, working with the FBI, engaged in the bulk collection of phone records of U.S. citizens' phone records.
Other programs may allow for data collection from Google, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms. These are the alleged capabilities that have been leaked to the media and government watchdog groups. One can only imagine what the federal government's more secretive and advanced programs might be capable of collecting.
In addition, the NSA, while maybe the largest collector of data in the intelligence community, is not the only collector. We also must consider data collected by the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and from our constellation of spy satellites.
Then there are the other federal security and surveillance agencies such as the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, to name but a few. Indeed, with all its capabilities, the stream of data collected by the federal government might be never-ending.
After 9/11, Congress authorized additional collection and sharing of data between various government and private sector actors. An extensive audit of how these authorities and tools are being utilized, especially as new technologies and tools have been developed, is probably long overdue.
If the government has this massive treasure trove of information, what are the protections built into the systems regarding the legal rights of the American citizen? With foreign intelligence collection, the rules are straightforward. Data collection on Americans by our intelligence community is strictly prohibited. Except under the most stringent exceptions, through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court), data collection on Americans cannot be done. Inadvertent foreign collection on Americans must be destroyed.
Within our borders, the intelligence community, again with the exception of FISA Court approval, is prohibited from collecting information on Americans. Domestic law enforcement has a broad legal framework for information collection approved by courts. But whether one is discussing foreign collection or domestic collection, there are probably major gaps in the legal framework for what information government agencies are permitted to collect and how they act on that collection. Wiretap laws were designed and written considering the technology of the day, mostly land lines. How do those protections and rules apply to the current ways data travels? Are they open to acquisition by today's new technologies or not, and if so, what are the rules governing what happens to that data?
Again, with the massive advances in the way we communicate, and the way governments can capture data, it is time for Congress to fully update the laws surrounding data collection and privacy. This also would give us the ability to see what still works, determine best practices to protect American security and civil liberties, and to end the things that do not -- especially those that leave open a backdoor for abuse.
Finally, with all the developments over the last 30 years, and the failure of government to update legal frameworks, we must examine whether the government has deferred to the rights of American citizens, or has utilized perceived openings to expand its reach and power.
The evidence seems overwhelming. Law enforcement has acted in a way that enhances its capabilities and erodes the rights of American citizens. Three examples include the FBI's use of Section 215, where the FBI can get secret court orders for business records. "The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court must issue the order if the FBI so certifies, even when there are no facts to back it up," according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
A second example is the use given the FBI of National Security Letters (NSLs). These can be issued by the FBI without a court order. The use of NSLs has expanded massively. In 2000, about 8,500 NSLs were issued. From 2003-2006 that number increased to 192,000. "Sneak and peek" warrants are also now being used more extensively. Without any notification, these allow law enforcement to raid and search someone's home and computers, among other private property. The target may not be notified of the search for months.
But at a tangible level, how does this play out? The Department of Justice's Inspector General report on the FBI's performance in the "Russiagate" investigation provides a prime example. Glenn Greenwald, then writing for The Intercept, characterized the report, noting in 2019:
"In sum, the IG Report documents multiple instances in which the FBI – in order to convince a FISA court to allow it spy on former Trump campaign operative Carter Page during the 2016 election – manipulated documents, concealed crucial exonerating evidence, and touted what it knew were unreliable if not outright false claims."
In an investigation involving conservative attorney Victoria Toensing, the FBI used the sneak and peek authorization to gain access to personal records without notifying her, even though she was not a target of any investigation. After 18 months, the Justice Department notified her the case was being closed without ever identifying who was being investigated or even what the issue being investigated was.
The work ahead for the Select Subcommittee on Weaponization is huge. It seems the collection of data by our law enforcement and intelligence communities is massive, much larger than any of us would have imagined even just a few short years ago. With the advent of new technologies, and passage of legislation after 9/11 that possibly has not aged well, the legal framework protecting American citizens' rights has been shredded. It seems abundantly clear that our government at multiple levels likely abused its powers, and the Select Subcommittee on Weaponization has a tremendous opportunity to set things right.
*Peter Hoekstra was US Ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump administration. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the second district of Michigan and served as Chairman and Ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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‘The Left’: Born of the Lowest Circles of Hell
Raymond Ibrahim/PJ Media/March 15, 2023
What’s worse, physical evil from an open enemy, or clandestine evil from a supposed friend?
One need look no further than to Islam and the so-called “Left” — in this case, in the guise of the K-through-college education system — to appreciate the distinction.
First, consider the Islamic institution of slave-soldiery. For many centuries in those southeastern European regions that were subjugated by Islam, especially in the Balkans, the Turks compelled Christian families to make an annual blood tribute of their own sons.
The Muslims would select the strongest, healthiest, and most talented young European boys, and then march them off to the Ottoman heartland. There, the youths would be forcibly converted to Islam, indoctrinated in the teachings of jihad, and trained to be — and rewarded for being — warriors par excellence. The Turks would then set loose these janissaries — meaning, “new soldiers” — on their former Christian kin, thereby perpetuating the cycle of conquest, enslavement, and conversion, always to Islam’s demographic gain and Christendom’s demographic loss.
As the author of Balkan Wars explains:
Despite their Christian upbringing, they [janissaries] became fanatical Muslims and earnestly maintained their faith as warriors of Islam. This cruel practice of what today can be defined as the “brain cleansing” of the Christian populations of the Ottoman Empire is perhaps the most inhuman Turkish legacy.
As bad as all this sounds, in his recent review of Defenders of the West, William Kilpatrick made some interesting connections between past and present:
Thus indoctrinated, the youngsters [Christians-turned-jihadists, or janissaries] often developed a slavish devotion to Islam and their Islamic masters, and a deep hostility toward Christians. Although the institution of the janissaries was novel at the time, we have seen several similar examples in the modern era. Both the Hitler Youth and the Soviet-era Young Pioneers aimed to inculcate youngsters with beliefs and values that were often in opposition to those of their parents. Moreover, children who betrayed their parents to the authorities were held up as models for other youth to emulate.
The most recent example of an organized attempt to separate children from their families and from the faith of their families can be found no further away than your neighborhood school. All across the country, children are being indoctrinated to believe that gay is okay, that boys have the right to use the girls’ locker room, and that children can choose their own gender.
Some teachers and counselors even encourage children to believe that they have been assigned the wrong gender and offer to assist them in transitioning to their “true” identity. In the meantime, they advise the children not to inform their parents.
And why should parents be informed? Like the Ottoman rulers of old, many education “professionals” have convinced themselves that the children belong to the state, not to their parents. Never mind what parents believe, teachers know best. And, indeed, it is now common knowledge that a K-through-college education often has the effect of turning children away from the values of their parents.
Not only is all of this true; it highlights the two primary forms of evil, as well described in Dante’s masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. The first part, Inferno, describes the nine circles, or levels, of hell. Broadly speaking, its denizens can be categorized as having committed one of two sins — sins of force or fraud. As author Ron Tobias summarizes:
In Dante’s Inferno there are only two basic sins in all the levels of hell. One is called forza, crimes of violence and force. The other basic sin is called forda, Italian for fraud. Force and fraud. The damned who have been sent to Hell for crimes of violence weren’t at the lowest circles of Hell; those were reserved for people who committed fraud… In Dante’s mind, anyway, crimes of the mind were far worse than crimes of violence [italics added].
Another author describes the divisions as follows:
Each successive circle [of hell] represents progressively more heinous sins…. The eighth circle of hell is reserved for those guilty of … various types of fraud: seducers, flatterers, simonists, sorcerers, unscrupulous politicians, hypocrites, thieves, deceivers, schismatics and falsifiers.
Although the Inferno is a product of 14th-century Italy, surely some of these categories — unscrupulous politicians, hypocrites, deceivers, seducers, and falsifiers — ring a bell.
In short, when it comes to indoctrinating children into hating their parents and heritage, the American school system is not unlike the Muslim institution of slave-soldiery. However, whereas the Muslims had forcibly (but at least openly) enslaved and indoctrinated Christian children into hating their parents and heritage, the kindergarten-through-college system is insidious — a fraud being committed by those who present themselves and are trusted as “friends.”

How Israel is affected by Saudi-Iranian rapprochement
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/March 15, 2023
Amid the barrage of Saudi-related news since last Friday, a peculiar US media “exclusive” about the Kingdom’s “price” for normalizing ties with Israel went unnoticed. Unsurprisingly, this “news” — I use the term loosely — was overshadowed by the groundbreaking Saudi-Iranian pact mediated by China.
The so-called “price” isn’t news because there’s nothing new about it. More precisely described as ideas, they have been discussed since the era of Donald Trump, whose senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner led efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A senior Saudi official confirmed to Arab News that the latest leak of these terms did not come from the Kingdom, which means the source was probably a senior US adviser with ties to Israel or a national security role. I myself heard some of these Saudi “conditions” at a high-level briefing last year, where it was made clear that they could be discussed only AFTER a solution was found for the rights of Palestinians — which has always been the first condition for Saudi Arabia. The context is for the Kingdom to be treated in the same way as some of the countries that have peace treaties with Israel when it comes to rights and privileges. Issues such as the right to peaceful use of uranium, joining NATO in some capacity, and being named as a US strategic ally, could all be discussed after a Palestinian solution is found. Had the two US newspapers that carried the “news” — done a little research, they would have found that their “scoop” had already appeared in i24 in Israel last December and the Jerusalem Post this January
Moreover, had editors at the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times — which carried the “news” — done a little research, they would have found that their “scoop” had already appeared in i24 in Israel last December and the Jerusalem Post this January.
Understandably, for Israeli media, these stories were timely. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just won re-election, having campaigned on making Saudi normalization a priority. Of course — as a senior Saudi official told me at the time — that element of Netanyahu’s rhetoric was for internal Israeli campaigning and consumption. Netanyahu also raised the issue in an interview with the Saudi media outlet Al Arabiya December last year. The appearance was paraded by some of Netanyahu’s enthusiasts as a first (wrongly, since he had also given an interview to Al Arabiya in August).
So if there’s nothing new here, why am I writing about it? Two reasons: first, because the pact with Iran (assuming the regime in Tehran sticks to it) has given the Saudi relationship with Israel new salience; and second, because the Saudi terms themselves need to be discussed. Those reasons are intertwined.
It has been suggested that the deal with Iran is harmful to possible Saudi normalization with Israel, with the Biden administration culpable of so alienating the Kingdom that it chose the Chinese as mediators. That is partly true, but not wholly. As I said in my last column, China was chosen purely because Beijing has leverage over Iran, and this has nothing to do with the relationship with America. Moreover, the White House has said it was aware of the discussions and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has welcomed the agreement.
Of course, it can be argued that if Tehran behaves itself going forward, then Israel loses the important card of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” But I would argue that this card was never going to be sustainable, it relies on too many variables.
What is sustainable, however, is what Saudi Arabia has long been advocating: a fair and just solution to the plight of Palestinians. This country has argued for decades that it views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a land dispute, not an ideological war. Unlike the Iranians and their proxies, we have no wish to throw Jews into the sea or abolish the state of Israel. Clearly, a just solution requires bold and capable Palestinian leadership, and an acknowledgment that they have a well-earned reputation for never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
What is sustainable is what Saudi Arabia has been advocating for decades: a fair and just solution to the plight of Palestinians
On the other hand, Netanyahu’s new far-right government has gone too far in oppressing and intimidating Palestinians. Condemnation has come from their closest allies in Washington, from members of the American Jewish community, and even from Israel’s own citizens who have taken to the streets in protest. Israel’s actions also embarrassed signatories to the Abraham Accords (the UAE condemned Israeli aggression at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jenin refugee camp), which makes it harder for other countries to even consider taking the same route.
As for the other Saudi conditions, the way I see them is a natural result of normalizing ties with Israel. After all, no one has anything to fear from Saudi exploitation of its uranium reserves. As for joining NATO in one capacity or another, I do believe the issue is bigger, and has to do with flip-flopping US policy. On one hand, American officials give repeated oral reassurances that they are committed to the security of the Kingdom, but refuse to put that in writing or in a formal framework.
The declassification of the Houthis as a terrorist group and withdrawal of Patriot missile batteries — while Saudi civilians were being attacked — still leave a bitter taste in the mouth of the Kingdom.
When the Biden White House denies Saudi Arabia the means to defend itself, refuses to guarantee Saudi security in writing (when it knows all too well that this is in its own interests), and negotiates with Iran about everything apart from the security of its own allies, then Riyadh cannot be blamed for seeking alternatives to defend its people, such as accepting the Chinese offer to mediate.
Israel, meanwhile, is a victim of collateral damage as a result of strained Saudi relations with the US, and self-inflicted wounds from its treatment of the Palestinians. The good news is that despite the deal with Iran, there is still hope for Israel to normalize ties with the Kingdom. However, Israel should first take a leaf out of the Old Testament: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
• Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News
Twitter: @FaisalJAbbas

UK should end demonization of immigrants amid labor shortage
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/March 15, 2023
It may be a simplistic observation, but it is often not mentioned: A politician whose parents were migrants is today working to bolster the UK’s broken asylum system to curb new arrivals’ entry to the UK.
Interior Minister Suella Braverman, whose Indian-origin parents migrated to the UK in the 1960s, is also using a simplistic formula to defend the new law she has tabled in Parliament. She says there has been “too much” immigration and the country is facing an “invasion” by migrants. Braverman is also attacking opposition parties and other people who have been vocal in saying that her new plan, just like her Conservative Party’s past policies, is unworkable, difficult to apply and simply an electioneering stance aimed at boosting the party’s chances in the next general election.
In other words, she is appealing to those British people who are sensitive to any foreigners’ presence in the UK, despite the shortages and broken services in many economic sectors as a result of the Conservatives’ Brexit deal, which did not factor in the exit of the country’s large European workforce. This has left many businesses and services starved of skilled and unskilled labor, frustrating the government’s attempts to get the economy growing again.
The Illegal Migration Bill, which is designed to “Stop the Boats,” had its second reading in Parliament early this week. It aims to reduce the number of people entering Britain irregularly on small boats, which last year exceeded 45,000, up 500 percent on two years ago. Many come from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Iraq. The new legislation will permit the arrest of asylum-seekers who arrive on small boats, as well as their detention without the right to bail for at least 28 days. They will then be “swiftly” deported to their native country if it is deemed safe or to a third country based on a unilateral agreement often paid for by British taxpayers.
Braverman’s efforts have been criticized by various “naive do-gooders,” as she described them, with TV celebrities and others becoming entangled in the saga. The national broadcaster, the BBC, was also dragged into the fray of the debate. It has often been accused by consecutive right-wing Conservative governments of lacking impartiality. The home secretary has also attacked those who have reminded her of her origins, saying that she has been subjected to “grotesque slurs” and that she refuses to be patronized on what views are appropriate for someone of her background.
Many businesses and services are starved of skilled and unskilled labor, frustrating the government’s attempts to get the economy growing again.
Contrary to Braverman’s allegations, the UK receives far fewer immigrants than many other European countries. But it has suffered from a chronic failure to tailor and implement a clear and workable migration system over the years due to a variety of moral failures and commercial interests. Britain’s asylum system is riddled with loopholes that unscrupulous businessmen and people smugglers alike have been milking for material benefit, such as by charging large fees to transport people illegally or the money earned from housing asylum-seekers.
Shipwrecks, the threat of drowning, wild animals, criminals gangs, getting lost in a jungle or even being met by hostile legislation, as is the case in Britain, has not deterred many people from taking their chance to seek better opportunities and a chance to be employed, or from fleeing civil strife, open wars or corrupt and dysfunctional states. Others have fallen prey to geostrategic efforts aimed at blackmailing Western countries through weaponizing immigration. For example, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto this week claimed that Russian Wagner Group mercenaries operating in some African countries have been fueling irregular migration toward Europe as a way of hitting back at the nations supporting Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
In this complex landscape, where the geopolitical is impacting the national and domestic, the UK is no different in its attempt to rethink its position to meet new adversities. But London ought to listen to the voices warning it against rushing into policies that will ultimately not work, as rejecting those that arrive on small boats outright and sending them back where they came from requires bilateral agreements or new conventions to organize those returns.
As a result of Brexit, the UK has lost its access to the Dublin Regulation that allows EU countries to return migrants to the first country they set foot in on arrival to the bloc. The resistance of migrants to comply with biometric registration might be the first obstacle that multilateral rules could help avoid in the journey toward getting a better grip of who to admit and who to reject.
The UK’s bilateral deal with France to increase law enforcement on the French side of the Channel is unlikely to alone deter small boats or offer a long-term solution. Neither is the Rwanda deal or similar agreements struck with a few countries, coupled with financial arrangements paid for by the British taxpayer. Studies and expert reports have all been warning about labor shortages and, if we are to trust this government and its interest in encouraging economic growth, streamlining immigration should be its first priority. That would allow it to serve society and the economy instead of continuously using anti-immigration rhetoric for short-term electioneering reasons, while spoiling social cohesion in a country where more than 16 percent of the population were born abroad, according to data from the 2021 census.
• Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist, media consultant and trainer with more than 25 years of experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.

World must act now to end carbon offset scam
Ranvir S. Nayar/Arab News/March 15, 2023
An investigation by European media houses — British newspaper The Guardian, German weekly Die Zeit and SourceMaterial — in January concluded that there are gaping holes in the program of carbon offsets used by Verra, the world’s leading carbon credit certifier. The report indicated that more than 90 percent of the company’s rainforest offset credits do not represent genuine carbon reductions.
Following the publication of the report, Verra, which dominates this rapidly growing market that is valued at $2 billion a year, last week said it would scrap the system by 2025 and introduce a significantly different mechanism to prevent misuse or abuse.
The serious loopholes found in Verra’s certification program is just the latest scandal to hit carbon offset schemes since they were launched more than three decades ago. The idea, proposed and propelled by the big industry lobby in the developed world — Big Oil, steelmakers, carmakers and food companies — was always viewed with huge suspicion by environmental activists. They have accused the big corporations, with increasing proof, of simply cheating and lying when it comes to carbon offsets or carbon trading.
The system is without any checks and balances and looks custom-made for fraudulent claims to pass through. Basically, it allows a big polluter, say Shell, to “offset” its carbon emissions from its oil wells in the North Sea by undertaking, financing or part-financing, or basically having any role in certain measures in faraway Burundi or Cambodia. All the companies have to do is to show that they have committed a certain amount of their budget to organizations that plant trees, protect trees, harvest water or literally any other thing that can even remotely be passed off as environmental protection.
Big industry, as it is prone to do, has turned this activity into yet another revenue stream, with an extensive “stock market” of carbon trading, allowing a company that has excess carbon credits — meaning it did not pollute “enough” or it purchased carbon credits in some remote area — to sell them to another firm that has polluted more than it was “allowed.”
That the whole carbon trading/carbon offset system is a scam has long been evident to everyone except the regulators and the businesses. Organizations such as Greenpeace have been criticizing carbon trading and offsets for years, saying they are nothing but a huge invitation for polluters to continue polluting.
Environmental organizations say that governments have taken a back seat on the issue, pretending that carbon offsets actually lead to something, meaning there are no checks whatsoever on the claims of billions of dollars being “invested” in carbon offset programs being run by all and sundry all over the world. The calling out of Verra’s hugely flawed certification program is just the tip of the iceberg of malaise afflicting the global carbon offsets system.
Activists have accused the big corporations, with increasing proof, of simply cheating and lying when it comes to carbon offsets or carbon trading.
As the world hurtles toward climate catastrophe, governments can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to this fraud, since it is bound to increase significantly in the years to come as countries and companies race to meet their commitments to cut their carbon footprint by the first deadline of 2030, as set by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The world’s carbon emissions are meant to go down by nearly half by that time. However, not a single country seems to be on track to meet that target.
This means that an increasing number of companies and countries will be tempted or forced to use the carbon offsets system to show that they have curtailed their emissions. Hence, the opportunity for fraud on a much larger scale will be increased, since for the most part it is still a voluntary system.
Since it involves billions of dollars changing hands every year, and with the amount set to rise much higher in the years to come, it is highly likely to attract all kinds of shady dealings and could even attract criminals or money launderers, since it is an area where the two parties’ word — the company that is trying to offset its emissions and the organization that is meant to ensure the money is used to protect the environment — is taken at face value. One can be sure that thousands of skeletons will tumble out of these closets whenever, or if ever, they are checked by regulators or independent auditors.
Governments owe it to themselves and their citizens to intervene rapidly and either scrap the system or create a framework of checks and balances, whereby the carbon offsets are determined in real terms and on the ground, not by an estimate or a mere piece of paper issued by a company whose interests lie in generating more and more such certifications.
An intervention is becoming ever more urgent as, over the past few years, a number of companies and organizations have started reaching out to consumers for a contribution to reduce their own carbon footprint. This is the kind of system that Verra has been overseeing. It is now commonplace for airlines to add a small voluntary contribution by travelers to “offset” the carbon emitted during their flight, or for a garment maker to offer supposedly carbon-neutral clothes.
In both of these cases — and almost any other similar case — the consumer has to place blind faith in the company that is asking for a contribution. They have little or no knowledge and certainly no control over how that money is utilized. This is a scheme that is primed for fraud due to these limitations and the widespread appeal to consumers of wanting to do their bit to fight climate change.
The sooner the world’s governments take their heads out of the sand and look at the market, the quicker they can save their citizens and the planet from being ripped off. What is desperately needed is a reduction in carbon emissions, not some fudged accounting, which is what carbon offsets are.
• Ranvir S. Nayar is managing editor of Media India Group.

What Beijing’s Iran-Saudi Deal Means—and What It Doesn’t
Henry Rome, Grant Rumley/The Washington Institute/Mar 15, 2023
China brokered the agreement, but this does not signal a new Beijing-led order in the Middle East—in fact, it could make regional tensions worse. Last week’s agreement to reestablish diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh was no “peace deal,” but the rivals did decide to cool tensions and reopen embassies after a seven-year lapse. China’s role in facilitating the deal raised the most consternation in Washington, leading some to declare that “a new era of geopolitics” had begun and assert that the agreement topped “anything the U.S. has been able to achieve in the region since Biden came to office.”
Yet there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the notion that the deal signals a newfound Chinese diplomatic prowess or a shifting regional order. For one, Beijing has been wading into Middle East diplomacy for years—most recently via President Xi Jinping’s December trip to chair regional summits in Saudi Arabia—but with little to show for its efforts. (For a detailed look at China’s past diplomatic activities in the region, see the companion article “China’s Track Record on Middle East Diplomacy.”)
Further, it remains unclear how crucial Beijing was to the Iran-Saudi negotiations. The two parties had been conducting backchannel talks for years in the hopes of de-escalating tensions, with previous rounds sponsored by Iraq and Oman. Those talks were sidelined with the change in government in Iraq and the spread of protests in Iran last year.
Reports on the new agreement suggest that both sides were readily able to reach consensus on important issues, at least on paper. Riyadh apparently agreed to soften coverage on Iran International, the London-based media outlet funded by Saudis, which Tehran has depicted as the leading anti-regime instigator throughout the recent protest movement. In return, Iran reportedly agreed to encourage its Houthi allies in Yemen to maintain the current year-long truce. Since that war began in 2015, Saudi Arabia has spent millions of dollars defending its territory against Houthi missile and drone attacks, which have often targeted major civilian sites. In short, Riyadh and Tehran already had strong incentives to take at least a few initial diplomatic steps to bolster their internal stability, so forging this deal is hardly a masterstroke for Beijing.
Another open question is whether the deal will be implemented in full, and whether Beijing intends to hold each side accountable. According to the trilateral statement issued on March 10, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to “resume diplomatic relations” and reopen their embassies within two months. They also affirmed their “respect for the sovereignty of states and...non-interference in internal affairs,” as well as their intention to implement their 2001 security cooperation agreement and their 1998 deal covering economic, cultural, and scientific cooperation (the latter two agreements will be discussed more fully in a forthcoming companion article).
Yet the 2001 security cooperation agreement is vague—although it includes generic language encouraging information sharing and joint training to counter organized crime, terrorism, and drug trafficking, it does not provide a specific path toward initiating such cooperation. Moreover, the trilateral statement makes painstakingly clear that China’s role was “hosting and sponsoring talks,” and it may host another regional summit later this year. It has given no signal that it intends to be the agreement’s guarantor or keep it on track.
Indeed, the risks of derailment are high given the lack of trust between Riyadh and Tehran. Renewed protests in Iran could trigger another surge of regime anger toward Saudi Arabia, whether or not Riyadh and its allies are involved in fomenting the unrest. And although the Houthis are closely aligned with Tehran and depend on its weapons, cash, and training, they might still launch further strikes on Saudi Arabia for their own reasons, thereby threatening the fragile ceasefire. Similarly, Iran’s network of proxies in Iraq and Syria could decide to attack Saudi partners or the kingdom itself, undermining Riyadh’s internal support for compromise.
The deal may even exacerbate the broader geopolitical tensions that Beijing is likely aiming to calm. Most notably, Iran may perceive the agreement as a tacit endorsement of its current nuclear policy, which has matched diplomatic intransigence with unprecedented technical advances. If Tehran decides to double down on its nuclear strategy as a result, it will further alarm Western, Arab, and Israeli officials. In other words, while the deal might de-escalate tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, it could simultaneously exacerbate Tehran’s tensions with other actors, potentially raising the possibility of military escalation.
Washington should therefore be clear-eyed about what Beijing’s mediation means—and what it doesn’t. China’s investment in the Middle East will likely continue growing; after all, it is the region’s dominant economic force and has long sought to match its diplomatic standing with its sizable economic footprint. Until now, its diplomatic reputation in the region has not been challenged by realities on the ground. Getting Iran and Saudi Arabia to publicly agree on a de-escalation accord is a win to be sure. But actually holding them to the agreement over the long term is an entirely different challenge—one that will reveal a great deal about China’s true influence.
*Henry Rome is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute. Grant Rumley is the Institute’s Goldberger Fellow and author of its 2022 study “China’s Security Presence in the Middle East: Redlines and Guidelines for the United States.”

China’s Track Record on Middle East Diplomacy
Carol Silber/The Washington Institute/March 15/2023
Beijing has responded to regional conflicts with a bevy of multilateral forums, peace plans, and envoys, but without the deeper commitments and follow-through required to resolve them.
In light of China’s announcement that it has brokered an unexpected agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, it is worth examining the country’s history of mitigating regional conflicts. Beijing has regularly hosted summits and dispatched envoys to address tensions in the Middle East, but these initiatives have rarely delivered tangible results.
Multilateral Forums
China has routinely engaged with regional countries through two mechanisms: the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which has met every three years since its establishment in 2000 and includes all the North African states, and the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF), which has met every two years since its establishment in 2004 and includes all the Arab League countries. CASCF has focused more on regional conflicts, particularly Arab-Israel peace, though discussions have also included conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Additionally, a meeting held in December was hailed as the first “China-Arab States Summit,” but observers concluded that it was more of a rebranded routine gathering than a novel occasion. The CASCF meeting scheduled for last year was not held, while the summit served largely the same purpose.
One of Beijing’s main goals with these forums has been to showcase its political norms to regional countries. At both FOCAC and CASCF, China has repeatedly emphasized the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence” and “South-South Cooperation.” It has also used these gatherings and the three summits held concurrently last December to shore up support for specific policies at home and abroad—namely, its treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, its position on Taiwan, and its Belt and Road Initiative.
Israeli-Palestinian Diplomacy
During the 1991 Madrid Conference, China released a five-point proposal on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but did not participate in the talks. Since then, it has released numerous versions of this proposal, particularly after rounds of heightened tension: a five-point proposal in May 2003, a four-point plan in May 2013, a five-point proposal in August 2014, a four-point plan in August 2017, and another four-point plan in May 2021. The gist of each proposal has been the same: reaching a two-state solution with 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital; ending Israeli settlement expansion; and pushing for international efforts that facilitate peace and cooperation between the two sides.
Since 2002, Beijing has dispatched a “special envoy on the Middle East issue” to focus on Arab-Israel affairs. The current envoy, Zhai Jun, is the fifth to serve in the role. China has also hosted the Palestine-Israel Peace Symposium four times between 2006 and 2021. At the most recent iteration, former foreign minister Wang Yi invited Israelis and Palestinians to hold direct talks in China. This followed a 2018 announcement at CASCF in which President Xi Jinping stated that China plans to hold an international conference on Palestine.
Despite these frequent expressions of support, however, Beijing has not taken concrete steps to advance the peace process. In 2013, for example, it expressed tacit approval when former secretary of state John Kerry attempted to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks, but it did not offer an alternative platform once these talks eventually collapsed. In 2017, when tensions flared following the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, China hosted a delegation of Israeli and Palestinian representatives. The result was a resolution that called for a two-state agreement, a Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem, a freeze on settlement construction and expansion, and an acknowledgment of China’s role in promoting international efforts that advance peace talks. Yet the resolution was nonbinding, and the two delegations were unwilling to even hold a joint press conference when the talks concluded.
Syria Diplomacy
China has taken a similar approach to the Syrian civil war. After backing the Arab League and UN’s six-point peace plan, Beijing released its own four-point proposal in 2012, a “five-principle” plan in 2014, and a four-point plan in 2021. Each document called for respecting Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity, speeding up reconstruction, fighting terrorism, and supporting an inclusive political transition or solution to the conflict. Beijing also appointed a “special envoy for Syria”—Xie Xiaoyan, who has served in that role since 2016.
China has little to show for these initiatives, though its emphasis on “non-interference” in the early years of the war exacerbated tensions among CASCF members. Many Arab governments objected to Beijing’s assertions that UN Security Council resolutions on Syria violated the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Gulf Diplomacy
When tensions escalated between Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia in 2017, China took several steps: it dispatched a diplomat for a three-day visit to the Gulf, its foreign minister called for dialogue, and it received two high-level delegations from the region. Despite this outreach, however, several regional states cut ties with Qatar anyway, and Beijing simply resumed its status quo relations with all of the parties.
Around this time, China also began expressing a broader interest in mitigating regional tensions, including with Iran. In 2016, a government policy paper stated that Beijing “supports Arab and regional countries in their efforts to build an inclusive and shared regional collective cooperation security mechanism,” but it did not mention a China-led process to facilitate those efforts. In 2018, former foreign minister Wang went a step further when he noted that Beijing was willing to join Arab states in becoming “the builder of peace, facilitator of stability, and participator of development in the Middle East.” This position was further clarified two years later when he proposed a “multilateral dialogue platform for the Gulf region.” The latter statement came during talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif—a meeting that was spurred by concerns about the unraveling nuclear agreement. Yet while the current Iran-Saudi agreement might be regarded as an eventual culmination of these efforts, it remains to be seen whether the deal will truly break China’s track record of largely fruitless regional diplomacy.
*Carol Silber is a research assistant in The Washington Institute’s Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East.