Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 19-20/2023
UN Secretary-General and Lebanese Prime Minister Discuss Ongoing Support and Refugee Crisis
LBCI/September 19, 2023 
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, reiterated during his meeting with Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the UN headquarters in New York "the United Nations' ongoing commitment to supporting the Lebanese people" and expressed his appreciation for Lebanon's generosity in hosting Syrian refugees. He affirmed that he "will work with donor countries to increase support for the poorest families in Lebanon and to find a solution to the refugee crisis." In turn, the Prime Minister thanked the United Nations "for its support to Lebanon on all fronts." Guterres also thanked "Lebanon for its support of the UNIFIL mandate renewal process" and reiterated "Lebanon's commitment to international resolutions" while calling on the United Nations "to support Lebanon in stopping Israeli violations of its sovereignty." He expressed "Lebanon's concern about the increasing number of Syrian refugees and its inability to handle more, especially in light of the severe economic and financial crisis it is facing."

LBCI sources confirm high-level meeting of Quintet Committee on Lebanese Presidential file at France's UN Mission
LBCI/September 19, 2023 
LBCI sources confirmed that the Quintet Committee overseeing the Lebanese presidential file has been holding a meeting at the level of foreign ministers since 8:00 AM New York time at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations.

IMF, World Bank say meetings will be held in Morocco despite earthquake
LBCI/September 19, 2023
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have confirmed their intention to hold their annual meetings in Morocco as planned next month, despite the devastating earthquake that struck near the event's location.

Qatari envoy postpones his visit to Lebanon
Naharnet/September 19, 2023
A Qatari envoy that had been scheduled to arrive in Beirut this week to discuss the presidential file has postponed his visit to early October, media reports said. The reports added that the visit’s new date would follow the meeting that will be held in New York this week for the members of the five-nation group on Lebanon -- the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Al-Binaa newspaper meanwhile identified the Qatari envoy as Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, saying he will arrive in Lebanon on October 5.

Al-Rahi from Sydney: Dialogue is voting in parliament
Naharnet/September 19, 2023 
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has reiterated his call for parliament to “hold successive sessions, according to the constitution and without blocking quorum, in order to elect a president.”“They are talking behind the scenes about the need to look for a third candidate and we say no. For the sake of the dignity of the candidates (Suleiman) Franjieh and (Jihad) Azour and out of respect for those who nominated them, the elections should be continued in successive rounds and let any of them win,” al-Rahi said during his visit to Australia’s Sydney. “Should no one win due to the scattering of votes, then go to the dialogue that you are talking about now and hold consultations over a new figure,” the patriarch added. Al-Rahi also clarified the controversy over his recent remarks on dialogue. “There is an uproar over what we have said. I have always said, and prior to Speaker (Nabih) Berri’s call, that dialogue is through voting in parliament. Dialogue is election and consensus is election,” al-Rahi said. “I did not say that I support dialogue. I said ‘should dialogue take place after everyone agrees to it.’ Parliament today is in an electoral state and in elections dialogue takes place,” the patriarch explained.

US says it supports any inter-Lebanese dialogue on presidency
Naharnet/September 19, 2023 
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has kicked off his official meetings on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where he met with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland in the presence of caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. The meeting focused on Lebanese-American relations and the multiple issues currently facing Lebanon. For his part, Mikati called on the international community to “support Lebanon in addressing the growing Syrian displacement crisis,” warning that it “poses a great threat to Lebanon and its social fabric.”"The government has completed the reform projects required by the International Monetary Fund, and the file is now in the hands of parliament to decide what it deems appropriate,” Mikati added. The U.S. official meanwhile called on the Lebanese political parties to expedite the election of a new president, stressing that Washington supports any inter-Lebanese dialogue in this regard. Nuland also called on Lebanon to activate cooperation with international organizations, especially the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in a bid to address the new Syrian displacement file and all aspects of the displacement file. The US official also stressed that Washington supports the Lebanese Army, reiterating the pressing need to complete economic and financial reforms.

Qatari envoy meets army chief day after key announcement
Naharnet/September 19, 2023 
Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani met Tuesday in Yarze with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. The ambassador stressed “the continuation of the Qatari support for Lebanon and the army amid the current extraordinary circumstances,” an army statement said. Aoun for his part asked the ambassador to relay a message of gratitude to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani over his "continuous support for the army." The visit comes a day after Aoun made an unexpected announcement about the presidential file. “I don't care about it, it doesn't concern me, no one has discussed it with me and I haven't discussed it with anyone,” Aoun said about the presidential file. According to media reports, Qatar has been promoting Aoun’s presidential nomination for several months now. Ad-Diyar newspaper meanwhile reported Tuesday that “a Qatari envoy is carrying out efforts, which he wants to remain undeclared and away from the spotlight, in a bid to convince the Shiite Duo to endorse Army chief General Joseph Aoun’s nomination.”

Qatari Ambassador confirms solidarity with Lebanon in meeting with Army Commander
LBCI/September 19, 2023 
Qatar's Ambassador to Lebanon, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, reaffirmed Qatari's continued support for Lebanon and its Army amid the current exceptional circumstances. The Qatari ambassador's statement came during his meeting with the Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, at his office in Yarze. General Aoun conveyed his gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar, for his ongoing support to the Lebanese Army.

Syrian displacement regulation dilemma in Lebanon
LBCI/September 19, 2023 
In one of the government measures to regulate the Syrian displacement in Lebanon, there is an item related to judicial procedures that requests the judicial authorities to expedite trials and take measures to deport Syrian convicts while considering international agreements and relevant laws. This is regarding the decision. But what about the implementation? The judicial administration represented by the Supreme Judicial Council was asked a question. In an interview with LBCI, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Souheil Abboud, explained that the council received a letter on this matter from the government on Tuesday, September 19, through the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, Abboud stated that based on this, two principles will be followed: the independence of the judicial authority, which they adhere to firmly, without implying a lack of cooperation between authorities. Accordingly, he added that the matter would be studied, and the necessary measures would be taken, considering the powers of the Judicial Council in this regard. But will the study of the matter and the necessary judicial actions be taken quickly? Will the judicial inspection move to pursue judges who fall short or are lenient, especially with smuggling gangs of Syrians and their leaders, who often go free? These questions arise in the context of the judiciary's return to "minimal operation" after a long hiatus in very unfavorable working conditions. However, Lebanon's Law of Foreigners, issued in 1960, allows Lebanon to deport any foreigner who has entered illegally or committed a crime on its territory. In addition, Lebanon has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention. Therefore, it does not have the obligation to provide protection and asylum. Nevertheless, the deportation of lawbreakers, infiltrators, and criminals remains timid, and the Lebanese authorities face external pressures to prevent it. However, democratic partner countries of the Refugee Convention, such as the United Kingdom, do not hesitate to deport any refugee with their family if they commit a crime under domestic laws and based on the state's sovereignty, which supersedes any international agreements.

Geagea tells Berri to skip dialogue, immediately call for presidential vote
Naharnet/September 19, 2023
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday reiterated his rejection of dialogue over the presidential file, calling on Speaker Nabih Berri to immediately call for “an open session with multiple rounds to elect a president.”In an interview with the Akhbar al-Yawm news agency, Geagea described Berri’s proposed dialogue as a “waste of time” and “tragedy.”“Why doesn’t Speaker Nabih Berri call from now -- as long as he has the intention -- for an open session with multiple rounds to elect a president, instead of holding dialogue for seven days before heading to that session?” Geagea wondered. He added that “hundreds of meetings” have been held between the parliamentary blocs over the presidential file. “Those meetings did not lead to a result, so how can a dialogue comprising more than 50 figures lead to a result?” he asked. “The Axis of Defiance has a single candidate from whom it is not deviating … and how can the defiance camp call for dialogue after it rejected the third choice once it was proposed and before discussing any names,” Geagea explained.

Bou Saab tells army chief's backers his election would be 'unconstitutional'
Naharnet/September 19, 2023 
Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab has advised “those promoting presidential candidates abroad” not to support “a candidate whose election would violate the constitution, such as Army chief Joseph Aoun.”MP Tony Franjieh meanwhile said that his father, Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh, “has never been an obstacle in the way of a solution.” “But his withdrawal (from the presidential race) is not currently on the table, and when solutions are discussed around a table we will discuss the matter,” Franjieh added. The MP also said that MP Mohammed Raad’s latest visit to Bnashii “was not related to his (Raad’s) meeting with General (Joseph) Aoun,” while stressing that Marada “supports dialogue without preconditions, seeing as the economic situation cannot bear further waiting.”

FPM inclined to take part in Berri's dialogue
Naharnet/September 19, 2023
The Free Patriotic Movement seems to be inclined to take part in the presidential dialogue that Speaker Nabih Berri has called for and is expected to be held in early October, despite FPM chief Jebran Bassil’s latest criticism of the Speaker’s “ambiguous format.” “The FPM is yet to take a final decision, but it has expressed positive readiness to take part in a dialogue that would be limited in time and would end with electoral sessions,” MP Alain Aoun of the FPM told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Tuesday. “The FPM is convinced that it is impossible to reach the election of a president without the coming together of blocs from the two camps -- most if not all of them. Therefore the idea of dialogue is acceptable, but participation hinges on its shape and mechanism and whether they are appropriate,” Aoun added.

Hearings in $1B lawsuit filed by Carlos Ghosn against Nissan start in Beirut
Associated Press/September 19, 2023
Hearings in the $1 billion lawsuit filed by auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn against Nissan and other defendants have started in Beirut with lawyers of both sides meeting the judge in charge of the case, judicial officials said. The former Nissan CEO filed the case against Nissan in May in Beirut, alleging he was detained in Japan in 2018 on false charges because of what he calls the automaker's disinformation against him. The 69-year-old Ghosn is seeking half of the $1 billion in damages and half for compensation including salary, retirement funds and stock options. Ghosn is also seeking monetary compensation from a Nissan affiliate based in Lebanon, as well as from entities that took part in the investigation leading up to his arrest. He was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on charges of breach of trust, misusing company assets for personal gains and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation. In December 2019, he jumped bail in Japan in a daring escape by hiding in a box spirited aboard a private jet out of the country. He now lives in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan and does not extradite its citizens. Renault and Nissan have both been distancing themselves from the Ghosn scandal. Ghosn has citizenship in Lebanon, France and Brazil. In a session that lasted about four hours at the Palace of Justice in Beirut, lawyers representing Ghosn and Nissan met with Judge Sabbouh Suleiman at the Beirut prosecutor's office, the officials said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. None of the lawyers or the judge spoke to reporters. A date was expected to be set for the next session. Ghosn led Japanese automaker Nissan for two decades, rescuing it from near-bankruptcy before his 2018 arrest. He is now wanted in Japan and France. Since he fled to Lebanon, Beirut has received three notices from Interpol based on arrest warrants for him from those countries. In France, he is facing a number of legal challenges, including tax evasion and alleged money laundering, fraud and misuse of company assets while at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance. The office of Ghosn's lawyer declined to comment on the case when contacted by The Associated Press. Ghosn claims to be the victim of a character assassination campaign led by Nissan with the complicity of the Japanese government, aided by accomplices in France.

Kataeb Party expresses concerns over stagnation in Lebanon, advocates for reforms
LBCI/September 19, 2023
The Kataeb Party's Political Bureau held its meeting under the leadership of the party's head, MP Samy Gemayel, during which it expressed its view that local and international initiatives to resolve Lebanon's current deadlock appear to be stuck in a repetitive cycle. Most of these initiatives are presented merely for promotional purposes, lacking a clear and comprehensive agenda to address the critical crisis threatening the country, which is now under the control of an armed militia. This militia not only seized control of the nation but also established its own facilities and private airports. The Political Bureau emphasized that Lebanon seems to be heading towards further confusion and that there can be no real solutions in sight unless there is a genuine willingness to address the core issues presented by the Kataeb Party. These include restoring state institutions, reaffirming constitutional and democratic processes, adhering to the authority of the Lebanese state, and ensuring that only legitimate authorities possess weapons. Otherwise, Lebanon will remain a mere bargaining chip for Iran's use in its regional negotiations involving multiple issues. The Bureau stressed that escaping the cycle of stagnation requires a unified stance transcending a broad and united opposition front among the Lebanese people, regardless of their regions or sects.  These are the individuals who reject Lebanon's remaining hostage to Hezbollah and its regional axis. Furthermore, with the end of the summer season and the departure of tourists, the economic crisis has once again cast a dark shadow, impacting various sectors. Particularly alarming is the exorbitant increase in tuition fees in private schools and universities, causing delays in the start of the academic year in both public schools and the Lebanese University. This situation threatens an entire generation's future.
The Political Bureau noted that the artificially stabilized exchange rate will not endure without genuine reforms. This is especially evident as the government returns to imposing direct and indirect taxes targeting productive sectors, and Lebanese citizens are already committed to fulfilling their financial obligations to the state. Meanwhile, tax evaders and smugglers continue to evade their responsibilities. The Bureau reiterated that this reality can only be altered through comprehensive reforms, inevitable changes, and serious negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rather than disregarding negotiations due to complacency and improvisation.

Teery Ya Teyara': 600 kites paint the sky in Lebanon's south beyond troubles and technology
LBCI/September 19, 2023
Sticks, thread, and paper are among the basic elements for making a kite.This game is simple, but it leads to flying towards the sky, taking you from the world of reality and its crises to the world of dreams, nature, and freedom. This enjoyable scene to watch is in one of the squares in the southern town of Zrarieh. More than 600 kites ready gathered dozens of families, young and old, as part of an annual kite festival. The song "Teery Ya Teyara" (Fly, O airplane, fly) accompanied children on the journey of playing with kites. More than 800 people participated in this activity, returning temporarily to the "time of childhood." Technology and modernity disappeared, along with phones, and only kites took over the sky. It was closer to the dream of a forgotten childhood in a wide square in the southern town of Zrarieh. Adults and children gathered; everyone longed for the "old" childhood, and parents wanted to distract their children from phones, which prevented them from playing outdoors naturally. The Saiid Asaad Fakhri Center for Cultural Development succeeded in its activity, which it has been organizing for the sixth year in a row, bringing together the largest gathering of kites flying. Everyone was racing to reach, receive their kites, and assemble it, with adults going before children. Each person chose their destination towards the sky, and the smile was the greatest unifier. No one thought about the deteriorating security situation in Ain al-Hilweh or even the difficulties of returning to school. Even the financial circumstances did not cross anyone's mind. The focus was on this small piece that carried everyone into an atmosphere of happiness. In the large square close to simple dreams, a father picked up the thread of the kite, and a child ran in an attempt to lift it toward the sun. In another corner, a mother competed with her daughters to see who could raise the kite first. The most noticeable absence here was the phone, which disappeared from the children's hands in a miraculous record.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 19-20/2023
UN chief calls for Security Council reform
Arab News/September 19, 2023
NEW YORK: The UN Security Council must be reformed to meet the demands of the modern world amid an “unhinging” of the global system, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. He began his speech by highlighting the tragedy in Libya, where thousands have died as a result of flooding. Those living in the coastal city of Derna and surrounding areas were “victims many times over,” Guterres said. They were “victims of years of conflict, victims of climate chaos and victims of leaders near and far.”Derna is a “sad snapshot of the state of our world — the flood of inequity, of injustice, of inability to confront the challenges in our midst,” Guterres said. And amid a world that is “becoming unhinged,” where “geopolitical tensions are rising” and “global challenges are mounting,” it is “high time to renew multilateral institutions based on 21st-century political and economic realities.”He noted the transition of the global system toward multipolarity — where different power centers maintain influence — but warned that the new reality requires “strong and effective multilateral institutions” to operate peacefully and effectively. Guterres described the UN as reflecting the world of 1945, “when many countries in this Assembly Hall were still under colonial domination.”He added: “The world has changed. Our institutions have not. We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don’t reflect the world as it is.”As a result of the outdated system, “divides are deepening,” Guterres warned, highlighting “divides among economic and military powers,” and “divides between north and south, east and west.”The world is “inching ever closer to a great fracture in economic and financial systems and trade relations, one that threatens a single, open internet, with diverging strategies on technology and artificial intelligence, and potentially clashing security frameworks.”Guterres called for the UNSC and global financial system to be reformed in line with the demands of the modern world. But reforms are “a question of power,” he said. “I have no illusions.”Statesmanship should serve as the target instead of gamesmanship and gridlock, he said, adding: “It is time for a global compromise. Politics is compromise. Diplomacy is compromise. Effective leadership is compromise.”Guterres also noted crises affecting the Arab world and Africa, including in the Sahel, where a “series of coups is further destabilizing the region as terrorism is gaining ground.” He added: “Sudan is descending into full-scale civil war; millions have fled and the country risks splitting apart.”And the “escalating violence and bloodshed” in Palestine is “taking a terrible toll on civilians,” he said, adding that the two-state solution is “the only pathway to lasting peace and security.” Syria, meanwhile, “remains in ruins while peace remains remote,” said Guterres, who concluded by calling for climate action, noting that COP28, hosted by the UAE, is “around the corner.”He added: “To all those working, marching and championing real climate action, I want you to know you are on the right side of history. I’m with you. I won’t give up this fight of our lives.”

Biden urges world to ‘stand up’ to ‘naked aggression’
Arab News/September 19, 2023
NEW YORK: The world needs to “stand up” to “naked aggression today, and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” the US president told the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. In a wide-ranging speech touching upon issues including climate change, health programs, injustice and development, Joe Biden led on the need for proper global engagement on security and diplomacy, and the need for dialogue and peaceful resolutions, saying “adversaries can become partners.”He told the UNGA: “We know our future is bound to yours, and no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.” On Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he said: “For the second year in a row, this gathering, dedicated to the peaceful resolution of conflicts, is darkened by the shadow of war.” Biden hinted strongly that Russia’s actions would incentivize other states if allowed to continue unchecked.
“We strongly support Ukraine in its efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution that delivers just and lasting once, but Russia alone bears responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately, and it is Russia alone that stands in the way of peace,” he said. “Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, but I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I respectfully suggest that the answer is no.”But, Biden said, there is plenty of cause for hope that through dialogue, peace and progress is possible. “About a week ago, I stood on the other side of the world, in Vietnam, on soil once bloody with war,” he said.
“For decades, it would’ve been unthinkable for an American president to stand in Hanoi alongside the Vietnamese leader and announce a mutual commitment to the highest level of country partnership. But it’s a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future.” Biden also touched upon US relations with China and Iran, and its role in the Middle East and North Africa, saying how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted by people of “different regions, faiths, philosophies,” had remained “ever steady and ever true.” He added: “We cannot turn away from abuses, whether in Xinjiang, Tehran, Darfur, or anywhere else.” On the issue of human rights, Biden also touched upon the “enormous potential and enormous peril” posed by new technology, including artificial intelligence, adding that the US is working with its partners to strengthen global rules and systems to “make sure” AI is not used as a tool of “oppression.”He said cooperation is having a meaningful impact worldwide, singling out the Middle East in particular, noting how diplomacy had helped forge a new economic partnership to connect “India to Europe through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel.”
He said: “This will spur opportunities for investment across two continents. This is part of our efforts to build a more sustainable, integrated Middle East. “It demonstrates how Israel’s greater normalization and economic connection with its neighbors is delivering positive and practical impacts even as we continue to work tirelessly to support a just and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.” Biden insisted that Washington would stand opposed to Tehran’s “destabilizing” attempts to develop a nuclear weapons program, saying: “Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon.” On China, he offered a firm but conciliatory message. “When it comes to China, I want to be clear and consistent: We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it doesn’t tip into conflict,” he said. “We stand ready to work together with China on issues where progress hinges on our common efforts. Nowhere is that more critical than the accelerating climate crisis.”Climate change was high on Biden’s list of issues to address, and he highlighted the devastating flooding in Libya this month as a warning to the world of what faces humanity. “Tragic, tragic flooding in Libya — my heart goes out to the people of Libya — that’s killed thousands, thousands of people,” he said. “These snapshots tell an urgent story of what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.” But Biden’s overall outlook on the world’s ability to make change remained upbeat. “We lifted more than a billion people out of extreme poverty. We, together, expanded access to education for millions of children. We saved tens of millions of lives that would otherwise have been lost to preventable and treatable diseases,” he said. “Working together, the world made some remarkable and undeniable progress,” he added, backing several reforms to global institutions including the World Trade Organization, the UN Security Council and the International Monetary Fund, and highlighting efforts to “reform and scale up the World Bank” in a bid to address inequality and climate change.

World must not abandon Palestinian, Syrian refugees: Jordan’s king
Arab News/September 19, 2023
LONDON: The world must not abandon Palestinian refugees to the forces of despair, Jordan’s King Abdullah II told the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Sustainable funding is urgently needed by UNRWA, the UN agency that provides vital relief, education and health services to millions of Palestinian refugees, he added. The funding is essential to protect Palestinian families, keep communities stable, and prepare young people for productive lives, he said. “We must protect young Palestinians from extremists who prey on their frustrations and hopelessness by making sure they continue to learn at the schools under the blue flag of the United Nations, as the alternative will be the black flags of terror, hate and extremism,” the king warned. As the custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, Jordan remains committed to safeguarding the city’s identity by preserving it as the city of faith and peace for Islam, Christianity and Judaism, he said. The king drew attention to the plight of 5 million Palestinians living under occupation with no civil rights, no freedom of mobility, and no say in their lives despite “every UN resolution since the beginning of this conflict recognizing the equal rights of the Palestinian people to a future of peace, dignity and hope.”He said the only path to a comprehensive and lasting peace to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a two-state solution. “We can see the Israeli people actively defending and engaging in the expression of their national identity, yet the Palestinian people are deprived of that same right to express and fulfil their own national identity. He said the basic requirement for that Palestinian right is the “establishment of their own independent and viable state on the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, living alongside Israel in peace, security and prosperity.”The king added that delaying justice and peace has bought endless cycles of violence, and 2023 has been the deadliest for the Palestinian people in the past 15 years. “How can people trust in global justice while settlement building, land confiscations and home demolitions continued? Where is the global solidarity to make UN resolutions believable by people in need of our help?” he asked. King Abdullah also highlighted the effects that a severe shortfall in international funds has had on multiple UN agencies providing vital services to refugees in need. “In Jordan, where refugees make up over a third of our 11 million population, cuts have already thrown the lives of hundreds of thousands of refugees into uncertainty. The impact of such humanitarian shortfalls is never limited to a country or region,” he said. The king added that fear and want often bring on sharp increases in the number of refugees in the Middle East fleeing to Europe and beyond, on journeys that often end in tragedy. “Jordanians are serious about our duty to those in need. We’ve done everything we can to secure a dignified life for refugees,” he said. “Nearly half of the almost 1.4 million Syrians we host are under 18 years of age. For many of them, Jordan is the only place they’ve ever known. Over 230,000 Syrian children have been born in Jordan since 2011.” He said Jordan is sharing precious resources to help Syrian refugees meet basic needs such as food, energy and water, despite being among the most water-poor countries in the world and facing climate change that is causing destructive heat waves, drought and flooding. “To meet the refugee burden, we’ve been carefully managing to combine our limited resources with essential support from the international community because the responsibility to act falls on everybody’s shoulders, because the world can’t afford to walk away and leave a lost generation behind,” the king said. He added that Jordan will not have the ability or the resources to host and care for more Syrian refugees, whose “future is in their country, not in host countries. But until they’re able to return, we must all do right by them. “And the fact is, refugees are far from returning. On the country, more Syrians are likely to leave their country as the crisis persists.”

No Mideast peace unless Palestinian-Israeli conflict resolved: Erdogan
Arab News/September 19, 2023
LONDON: Unless the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is resolved, peace will not prevail in the Middle East, Turkiye’s president told the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “continue to support the Palestinian people” in “the struggle for their legitimate right under international law.”He added that “without the realization of an independent and geographically integrated Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, it’s difficult for Israel to find the peace and security it seeks in that part of the world.” He said Kurdish “terrorist organizations” and sectarian radical groups have “overwhelmed” the Syrian people. “The biggest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity is the support given to terrorist organizations guided by the powers that have designs on this country,” he added. Syria’s humanitarian tragedy, in its 13th year, worsens “the living conditions of everyone in the region, regardless of their origin and their faith,” Erdogan said, calling for “a comprehensive, lasting and sustainable solution that meets the legitimate expectations of the people.” Turkiye is “the only country to take a principled, constructive and fair stance against developments that threaten Syria’s political unity, social integrity and economic well-being,” he said. Erdogan also called for a rapid restructuring of the institutions charged with ensuring global security, peace and prosperity, emphasizing that this must be achieved under UN auspices. “We must build a global governance architecture that’s capable of representing all origins, beliefs and cultures in the world,” he said.

Qatar’s emir brands Israeli treatment of Palestinians ‘21st-century apartheid in broad daylight’
Arab News/September 19, 2023
LONDON: Qatar’s emir on Tuesday branded Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as tantamount to a “21st-century apartheid system in broad daylight.”Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said it was “unacceptable” that the Palestinian people continued “to languish under the yoke and intransigence of Israeli occupation.”During a general debate on the issue, he noted that concern was growing even among traditional supporters of Israel over its policies. And he pointed out that the failure of the international community to act against the Israeli occupation had provided, and continued to provide, an opportunity for Israel to undermine the foundations of a two-state solution. However, Sheikh Tamim welcomed improvements in relations between several countries in the Middle East and highlighted the restoration of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as the rapprochement between Egypt and Turkiye. But he added that more needed to be done to resolve the crises in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Libya. He said it was “not permissible to accept the grave injustice befalling the brotherly Syrian people as if it were fate,” adding that Qatar supported efforts to bring about a peaceful solution in Libya and that the Yemeni conflict should be resolved through relevant regional and international resolutions, including from the Security Council. “In brotherly Lebanon, where state institutions are in danger, we stress the necessity of finding a sustainable solution to the political vacuum and finding mechanisms to prevent it from recurring and forming a government capable of meeting the aspirations of the Lebanese people,” Sheikh Tamim said. He also condemned the “crimes committed against civilians in Khartoum and in the Darfur region,” and called for the perpetrators of the violence in Sudan to be held accountable. In addition, the Qatari leader called out “racism and campaigns of incitement,” and warned that the Muslim world should not be distracted by “an imbecile or biased person provoking us by burning the Holy Qur’an,” in reference to recent such incidents in Denmark and Sweden. In his address, Sheikh Tamim noted the powerful role sport could play in uniting different peoples and cultures around the world, citing Qatar’s hosting last year of the FIFA World Cup. “During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there was an opportunity for interaction between peoples, and it was an opportunity for the world to see our people as they are and to learn about our culture and values,” he said. He described Qatar as a “global destination and nexus between East and West.” And he added: “We emphasized the role that sports could play in building bridges of communication and rapprochement between peoples and cultures. “I hope we had contributed through this tournament to breaking the stereotypes and presenting a new, exciting, and safe tournament to the world.”

Syria's Assad to travel to China for summit with Xi - presidency
DAMASCUS (Reuters)/September 19, 2023
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will travel to China this week for a bilateral summit with his Chinese counterpart, the presidency in Damascus said in a statement on Tuesday. Assad, Syrian first lady Asmaa al-Assad and a senior delegation will travel to China on Thursday for a string of meetings in Beijing and Changzhou. Presidents Assad and Xi would hold a Syrian-Chinese summit, the statement said. Assad last visited China in 2004 to meet then-President Hu Jintao. It was the first visit by a Syrian head of state to China since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1956. China - like Syria's main allies Russia and Iran - maintained those ties even as other countries isolated Assad over his brutal crackdown of anti-government demonstrations that erupted in 2011. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has repeatedly vetoed resolutions on Syria, including several to extend cross-border aid operations into areas outside the Syrian government's control. Assad has come in from the diplomatic cold this year, with the Arab League reinstating Syria as a fully-fledged member after more than a decade of suspension.

Analysis-US sees big gains if Mideast mega-deal sealed - but at what price?
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/ September 19, 2023
The Biden administration is pressing ahead with a concerted effort to strike a “grand bargain” in the Middle East that includes normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, calculating that the U.S. could reap big rewards if it can overcome steep obstacles. President Joe Biden’s aides have made this diplomatic push a foreign policy priority despite varying degrees of skepticism by experts on whether the timing, conditions and current regional leadership are right for a mega-deal that could reshape the geopolitics of the Middle East. This marks a dramatic reversal for a president who had spent much of his term shying away from deeper diplomatic involvement in the region’s troubles, raising questions about why he has committed to such a challenging goal, what he stands to gain and whether he might end up paying too high a price. A bid to broker relations between longtime foes Israel and Saudi Arabia is the centerpiece of complex negotiations that involve discussions of U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear help sought by Riyadh as well as Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, according to people familiar with matter. While U.S. officials insist any breakthrough is far away, they privately tout the potential benefits, including removing a possible flashpoint in the Arab-Israeli conflict, strengthening the regional bulwark against Iran and countering China’s inroads in the Gulf. Biden would also score a foreign policy win as he seeks re-election in November 2024. “There’s a lot that could go wrong, but if it happens it could be a crowning foreign policy achievement,” said Jonathan Panikoff, the U.S. government’s former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, now at the Atlantic Council.
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY?
Though the timetable remains uncertain, Biden’s aides believe there may be a critical window to craft a deal before the presidential campaign consumes his agenda, sources say. But U.S. officials acknowledge there are so many stumbling blocks that they have no guarantee of success. Israel-Saudi negotiations have been conducted with Biden’s emissaries as go-betweens.“We are actively talking,” one U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. "But there's not even a set of principles on what an agreement would look like right now.”Even so, Biden’s aides have begun briefing key lawmakers, say people familiar with the discussions. The focus is on Biden’s fellow Democrats who have condemned Saudi Arabia over human rights but whose support would be needed if any agreement requires congressional approval. The confluence of elements driving the administration includes a sense of urgency over China’s effort to gain a strategic foothold in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and a U.S. desire to heal ties with Riyadh, which Biden once vowed to make a “pariah.” Bringing together military powerhouses Israel and Saudi Arabia could help formalize cooperation against Iran, a mutual foe Washington wants to contain.
The administration is also looking to reassert regional leadership to keep Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil states from drifting further away from efforts to isolate energy-producing Russia over the war in Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. In addition, normalization would appeal to pro-Israel voters in the election and make it harder for Republicans to attack him over fraught relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Though foreign policy rarely sways U.S. elections, Biden, facing a re-election fight against Republican former president Donald Trump, may be thinking of his legacy. “It would be a big deal but the question is how much Biden is willing to pay for it,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
SAUDI DEMANDS
Among the challenges would be satisfying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de-facto ruler known as MbS. He is reported to be seeking a NATO-style treaty requiring the U.S. to defend the kingdom if attacked, and also wants advanced weapons and assistance for a civilian nuclear program. From the Israelis, the Saudis demand significant concessions to the Palestinians to keep alive prospects for statehood, something Biden is also pushing for but which Netanyahu’s far-right government has shown little willingness to grant. An upgraded U.S.-Saudi relationship would face resistance in Congress, where many are critical of MbS over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Riyadh's intervention in Yemen. “I am certainly very wary of a defense treaty that binds the United States to come to the defense of a Saudi government that has proved to act incredibly irresponsibly in the region,” Senator Chris Murphy told Reuters. Murphy, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he favors Israeli-Saudi normalization and is open to reviewing any broader agreement but would not be easily convinced. However, Jared Kushner, who under Trump spearheaded three Arab-Israeli deals known as the Abraham Accords, has urged his father-in-law to consider supporting Biden’s effort as vindication for Trump’s Middle East record, according to a person familiar with the discussions. For Netanyahu, diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islam’s two holiest shrines, would be a long-sought prize that could encourage other Muslim states to follow suit and also pave the way for expanding Israel's economic integration in the broader Middle East. But Netanyahu's coalition would likely resist anything more than modest gestures to Palestinians, which could trip up any normalization deal. Biden’s talks with Netanyahu at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday could provide an indication of how far he is prepared to go. Like MbS, Netanyahu has done little to dispel the impression he might prefer to deal with a second Trump presidency, raising the possibility they could wait for the election outcome. If the clock runs out, the administration may have to settle for a more limited deal or else try to agree on the outlines of a future accord, experts say. The idea would then be to iron out details later if Biden wins a second term.

Fears of a Second War in Europe as Azerbaijan Launches Military Attack
Allison Quinn/Reuters/September 19, 2023
Azerbaijan carried out strikes on the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday as it announced the launch of an “anti-terror” operation, a move that threatens to trigger another war in the region. The country’s Defense Ministry said it was using “high-precision weapons” to “incapacitate” Armenian-backed forces and target Armenian military positions in a push to force out “formations of Armenia’s armed forces.”Footage purportedly filmed in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh, which is called Khankendi by Azerbaijan, captured the sounds of loud shelling and artillery fire.
The Gravedigger Who Fears Digging His Own Son’s Grave in Nagorno-Karabakh
“At this moment, the capital Stepanakert and other cities and villages are under intensive fire,” an Armenia-based separatist group warned on social media, calling it a “large-scale military offensive.” Officials in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, said civilians were free to leave the area via humanitarian corridors and insisted that “the civilian population and civilian infrastructure are not targets.”Azerbaijan and Armenia have feuded for decades over Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has a predominantly ethnic Armenian population. Attack Drones Dominating Tanks as Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict Showcases the Future of War. A bloody 2020 war between the two former Soviet rivals ended with Azerbaijan recapturing land of historical significance to Armenians. A Russian-brokered ceasefire deal to end that war did little to ease tensions in the region, with the two sides continuing to hurl allegations and periodic reports of shelling. Armenia has said it does not have any armed forces in Karabakh, and on Tuesday said the “situation on the borders of the Republic of #Armenia is relatively stable.”

Turkey considers Azerbaijani operation in Karabakh 'necessary'
LBCI/September 19, 2023
Turkey has considered the military operation initiated by its ally, Azerbaijan, in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia as "necessary" and has called on both parties to return to negotiations. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release that "Azerbaijan was compelled to take the actions it deems necessary on its sovereign territory," emphasizing the importance of "resuming the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia."

Russian peacekeeping forces call for ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh
LBCI/September 19, 2023
The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh have begun evacuating civilians on Tuesday following the military operation initiated by Azerbaijan in the disputed region with Armenia. They have also called for an immediate ceasefire.

Azerbaijan announces an 'anti-terrorist operation' targeting Armenian positions in Nagorno-Karabakh
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP)/September 19, 2023
Azerbaijan on Tuesday began what it called an “anti-terrorist operation” targeting Armenian military positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and officials in the area reported heavy artillery firing around its capital. The Azerbaijani defense ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war over the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought heavily for six weeks in 2020. The ministry did not immediately give details, but said “positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenia’s armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.” The Azerbaijani statement said, “Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.”
But ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement that the region's capital Stepanakert and other villages were “under intense shelling.”Earlier Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people were killed in two separate explosions in the region that is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.
A statement from Azerbaijan's interior ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two employees of the highway department died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four.
Nagorno-Karabakh and sizable surrounding territories were under ethnic Armenian control since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a six-week war in 2020. That war ended with an armistice that placed a Russian peacekeeper contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. However, Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then. The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing severe food and medicine shortages in the region.
Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, but local officials said road connections to the region were not fully open. The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia. Armenia has repeatedly complained that the 3,000-strong Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war. Armenia also angered Russia, which maintains a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday denied claims that Russia was informed in advance of Azerbaijan's intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only “a few minutes” before it began.

Most Americans view Israel as a partner, but fewer see it as sharing US values, AP-NORC poll shows
NEW YORK (AP)/Tue, September 19, 2023
As President Joe Biden prepares to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week in New York, a new poll finds that while Americans generally view Israel as a partner or ally, many question whether his far-right government shares American values. The poll results from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the meeting come during a new period of tension between the Biden administration and Israel. Those tensions are caused by Netanyahu's proposed judicial overhaul that has sparked mass protests in major Israeli cities, ongoing disagreements over how to deal with Iran and how to approach the Palestinians, and comments from Netanyahu political allies that have irked U.S. officials. Despite the friction, Biden, who spoke out in barely disguised opposition to the judicial plan, and Netanyahu are expected to project a solid partnership in which the U.S. continues to support Israel's security. Biden will also emphasize that the U.S. is continuing to work on expanding the Trump-era Abraham Accords, which normalized Israeli relations with several Arab countries, to include Saudi Arabia. However, there is little sign of an imminent breakthrough on that front.
Although the poll showed that Americans overwhelmingly view Israel as more of a friend than a foe, it also found that they are divided on whether Israel is a country with which the U.S. shares common interests and values. About 4 in 10 Americans described Israel as a partner with which the U.S. should cooperate, but they also said the country does not share U.S. interests and values, the poll found. Only about 3 in 10 said Israel is an ally that shares U.S. interests. Republicans (44%) are more likely than Democrats (25%) to call Israel an ally with shared values. About 2 in 10 Americans described Israel as either a U.S. rival or an adversary. The U.S. provides Israel with more than $3 billion a year in military and other assistance and the close relationship has endured over the decades despite not infrequent spats over policy, most notably over Iran and treatment of the Palestinians.
Overall, 61% of Americans disapprove of how Biden is handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with only 35% approving. That number was slightly lower than Biden's overall approval rating. Many Americans don't see a need for the U.S. to change its position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. About 4 in 10 Americans, or 44%, said the U.S. gives about the right amount of support to Israel in the conflict, while 27% said it's too supportive of Israel and 23% not supportive enough. About the same percentage, 42%, say the correct amount of support is given to the Palestinians, with 30% saying they want more support and 21% wanting less. Among Republicans, 34% said they would like the U.S. to give more support to Israel, but slightly more (40%) say the current level is sufficient. Only 11% of Democrats said the U.S. needs to be giving more assistance to Israel. About half of Democrats said the current amount is “about right” while only about a third said the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, the poll found.
In their meeting Wednesday, Biden is expected to reaffirm steadfast American commitment to Israel's security in the turbulent Middle East. At the same time, his administration is hoping to give Netanyahu one of his major asks — entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which would allow Israelis to visit the United States on a temporary basis without a visa. U.S. law requires that Americans, including Palestinian-Americans, be treated the same in order to qualify for the program. Israel has taken several steps to ensure equal treatment for all Americans entering Israel but it has only until the end of September to prove that the criteria have been met. Otherwise, Israel must requalify for the program during the next budget year, which begins Oct. 1. In terms of the Palestinian conflict, about two-thirds of Americans profess neutrality, according to the AP-NORC poll — 37% said they sympathize with neither Israel nor the Palestinians, while 29% said they sympathized with both equally. A similar percentage, 58%, said they neither favor nor oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, while 22% favor it and 15% oppose it. The poll of 1,165 adults was conducted Aug. 10-14 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky to address U.N. General Assembly in push for more Ukraine aid
A.L. Lee/United Press International/September 19, 2023
President Joe Biden will call for more international support for Ukraine in his address to world leaders at the opening of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Biden plans to use the annual speech to tout recent U.S. foreign policy successes and to promote actions his administration has taken to tackle world challenges like climate change, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating tensions in the Far East. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also scheduled to speak Tuesday in his first appearance at U.N. headquarters, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be among the 40 world leaders in attendance. Zelensky was widely expected to use the speech and other face-to-face meetings to try to persuade more fence-sitting countries to back Kyiv in its continuing struggle against Russia. Separately, Biden will outline a plan for countries to reform and modernize their efforts to end conflicts, defend human rights and develop their economies, the White House said. Biden views the global conference as an opportunity to advance U.S. interests on a range of issues, including sustainable infrastructure and development, cooperation on the climate crisis and increased global support for Ukraine, according to senior administration officials. The president will seek to reaffirm America's commitment to the broader humanitarian mission of the U.N. He will sit down with the presidents of five Central Asian nations -- Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- as part of the so-called C5+1 presidential summit, with talks focused on climate, trade, regional security, digital connectivity and political reforms. Biden was also scheduled to meet with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to discuss strengthening the U.S. partnership with the global body, which was created after World War II to promote unity among nations. Later Tuesday, Biden will host the traditional reception, where he'll rub elbows with government leaders from around the world before returning to the White House for the night. On Wednesday, Biden will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva before joining a rally hosted by U.S. and Brazilian labor leaders to highlight rights for workers. He will also sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss regional security issues and compare notes on ways to counter an increasingly aggressive Iran. The U.N. conference takes place as 32 countries across four continents adopted the Declaration on Atlantic Cooperation pact, in which Atlantic coastal nations across Africa, Europe, North America, South America and the Caribbean agreed to work together on economic development, environmental protection and science and technology.

Ukraine's capture of two villages shows 'severe degradation' of Russia's defending troops, experts say
Thibault Spirlet/Business Insider/September 19, 2023
A Ukrainian soldier walking among several burned remains of armored vehicles. Ukrainian soldiers retook two villages south of Bakhmut inside eastern Ukraine, a think tank said. The attacks inflicted 'severe' damage to Russian troops, The Institute for the Study of War said. It followed Ukraine's breaches along several fronts in southern and eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian troops' recapture of two villages near the front lines has "severely degraded" defensive Russian forces on the frontlines, according to a report by a think tank. According to the respected Institute for the Study of War, citing Ukrainian military officials, Ukrainian troops breached a strategic defensive line that Russian forces tried to hold onto in the area south of Bakhmut. In doing so it defeated three Russian brigades, the report said. The Ukrainian recapture of the villages — Klishchiivka and Andriivka — likely left Russian forces battle-worn and less able to fight.The forces "will likely struggle to replenish their combat strength and defend against any further Ukrainian offensive activity", the ISW said. In the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, the ISW said Russian forces also likely suffered heavy losses and retreated to a second line of defense, where they could use artillery to fire on advancing Ukrainian troops. The ISW said it was unable to independently verify the strength and extent of Russian defensive lines or observe the degree of deterioration among the mentioned Russian units. Ukraine's advances into new villages was the latest example of its steady but costly progress in the months-long counteroffensive. Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive got off to a slow start on June 4, prompting concerns over its strategy and pace. But since late August, Ukrainian forces appear to have made steady and slow gains, with breakthroughs along Russia's first line of defense on the southern frontline, the ISW said, despite complex Russian defenses, including dense minefields and fortifications. However, cold and wet weather later this year will hold up the counteroffensive, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, told Reuters.
US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the same point, telling BBC News that Ukraine's counteroffensive has less than 30 days before the weather disrupts military operations. "There's still a reasonable amount of time, probably about 30 to 45 days' worth of fighting weather left, so the Ukrainians aren't done," Gen. Milley told the outlet. Ukrainian forces are now working on breaching the second line, Michael Kofman, a defense analyst and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told The Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to visit Canada this week: sources
United Press International/September 19, 2023
Zelenskyy will visit Ottawa and Toronto during his Canadian trip, sources said. Zelenskyy is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to rally support for continued help to repel Russia's invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden will be hosting Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Zelenskyy is expected to visit Ottawa on Friday, then Toronto. The Ukrainian president's trip to Canada has not officially been announced. It would be his first since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Russian Defense Minister visits Iran
LBCI/September 19, 2023
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu arrived in Iran on Tuesday on an official visit that constitutes a "significant milestone" in military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, which faces allegations of supplying Russia with drones used in its operations in Ukraine.
The minister also stated, as reported by Russian news agencies, that this visit "will contribute to strengthening Russian-Iranian military relations and will be a crucial step in developing cooperation between the two countries."

Russia opened fire on its own surrendering soldiers with artillery, Ukraine says
Sinéad Baker/Business Insider/September 19, 2023
Russian troops trying to surrender were targeted by their own artillery, a Ukrainian unit said. Ukraine shared footage of three soldiers appearing to surrender before a big explosion. It said two of the soldiers survived. A different report said "several" Russian soldiers died. Surrendering Russian troops were shot at and killed by their own artillery, Ukraine has claimed. The 2nd Mechanized Battalion of Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said on Saturday that it was taking Russian prisoners in the frontline village of Andriivka in the eastern Donetsk region. But it said that Russian forces, realizing the fight for the village was lost and many of its soldiers were surrendering, gave the order to open fire on its own troops. According to the Ukrainian account, Ukraine still took two Russian soldiers captive after the explosion. It is not clear how many Russian soldiers were killed, but three soldiers were visible before the explosion in the drone footage shared by the battalion. The video shows soldiers moving through the remnants of destroyed buildings, with explosions going off around them. The video then appears to show Ukrainian soldiers interacting with three Russian soldiers, one of whom is seen lying down and two others holding up their arms and lying down. A huge explosion then goes off, engulfing the group. When the smoke clears, the footage shows multiple Ukrainian soldiers, a Russian soldier being led away, and another Russian moving on the ground before walking away with Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian news outlet Euromaidan Press reported that "several" Russian soldiers died, some others survived, and Ukraine's troops were not harmed. It did not give figures. It is not clear from the video who was responsible for the explosion. Andriivka has become the scene of some of the most intense fighting in Ukraine's counteroffensive. The 2nd battalion said it retook the village, which has been largely destroyed, and shared photos of its troops raising Ukraine's flag there on Monday. It said that capturing and holding Andriivka is key for Ukraine's future counteroffensive efforts, including around the city of Bakhmut, which has been the longest and bloodiest battle in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine and Western intelligence have previously pointed to Russia shooting at its own surrendering soldiers. The UK Ministry of Defence said in November that Russia was likely deploying units that had the sole purpose of threatening to shoot soldiers caught retreating, which is something Russia has done in previous wars. A Ukrainian official also told Insider in May that a Russian soldier who was caught on video surrendering to a Ukrainian drone was targeted by his own comrades as he fled.

Russia sent troops into battle armed with little more than shovels against Ukraine's cluster munitions, report says
Mia Jankowicz/Business Insider/September 19, 2023
A soldier holds the Ukrainian flag in front of a destroyed building in the village of Andriivka. A soldier holds the Ukrainian flag in front of a destroyed building in the village of Andriivka.Telegram/Ukraine's 2nd Mechanized Battalion. A Russian soldier claimed that his regiment was being sent into hopeless fights, per independent media. His account suggests a desperate fight in the village of Andriivka, which Ukraine recently retook.Russian soldiers there had "practically no weapons," one soldier's wife reportedly said. A Russian soldier fighting near Bakhmut said his regiment is being sent to face Ukrainian cluster munitions with little more than "shovels," according to independent Russian media. The soldier, identified by the pseudonym Denis Ivanov, spoke by telephone on Sunday from near Andriivka, a village to the south of Bakhmut, where Russia's 94th regiment was fighting, Svoboda reported. Ivanov's wife — identified pseudonymously as Vera — said he had earlier told her that they had "practically no weapons," adding that they were attacking with shovels and barely any artillery support, the outlet reported. Insider has not independently verified their identities or claims.
Last Thursday, video appeared to show Ukrainian troops retaking Andriivka, which Russia quickly denied. As of Wednesday, however, the US think tank the Institute for the Study of War assessed that Ukraine had retaken Andriivka as well as Klischiivka, a town about a mile closer to Bakhmut. In the context of the broader counteroffensive, it's a tiny but notable breakthrough in what appears to be a Ukrainian tactic of straining thinly spread Russian forces across many spots on the front line, the Associated Press reported. According to Svoboda's report, the fight at Andriivka has been a desperate one for Russian soldiers. The soldier identified as Ivanov told the outlet that his regiment had lost about 600 out of 1,000 fighters, a number far higher than official reports. When troops are sent in, there is barely any supporting fire from artillery because they have hardly any rounds, Ivanov told Svoboda. Vera, the wife, suggested that Russian troops had been ordered to fire on their compatriots if they retreated. Ukrainian forces echoed this claim on Saturday. Ivanov complained that his commander would not admit that the village was in Ukrainian hands, sending them to fight when it was plainly futile, the outlet reported. Vera told the outlet that she was speaking out in order to get the word out to Russian high command about his refusal to accept the loss of the village, so that the doomed attacks could come to a halt.

Russian drone attack on Lviv sparks inferno at warehouse and kills 1
Associated Press./September 19, 2023
Russia launched a massive drone attack on the western city of Lviv early Tuesday, damaging a warehouse facility in a fiery blaze and killing one man, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine intercepted most of the 30 Shahed drones overnight, the Air Force said. But drones that got through air defense systems sparked an inferno at the industrial storage facility that was not used for military purposes, Gov. Maksym Kozytsky said. An artillery strike in Kherson in the south struck a bus, killing a police sergeant and wounding two men, said Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine's minister of internal affairs. That strike also set a warehouse on fire. The developments in the war front came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in New York to address the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council before going to Washington on Thursday to meet with lawmakers and President Joe Biden. Zelenskyy has continued to drum up funding and support for new weapons as the counteroffensive Ukraine launched in June approaches what could be its final weeks before wet weather slows progress. Ukraine has made small advances but no major breakthroughs. Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, while in Germany attending the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, that the 31 M1 Abrams tanks it promised will soon begin arriving in Ukraine, as was expected. Norway said it will donate approximately 50 tracked cargo carriers to Ukraine. In a statement Tuesday, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said it would help get supplies to areas without roads.

Iraq PM invited to meet with U.S. President Biden at White House
BAGHDAD (Reuters)/September 19, 2023
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York on Monday and received an invitation from U.S. President Joe Biden to visit the White House, a State Department spokesperson said. Sudani, who is in New York to participate in the U.N. General Assembly, said a date for the official visit to Washington would be set at a later time, Iraqi state media reported. Biden and Sudani have yet to meet since Sudani took office last year after being appointed by a coalition of parties, predominantly Shi'ite Muslim groups close to Tehran.
He has since walked a diplomatic tightrope between the U.S. and Iran, two countries that in the past have fought out their rivalry on Iraqi soil. Sudani and Blinken "renewed their commitment to continue strengthening the partnership between the two countries," the State Department spokesperson said.
Iraq has been a close partner of the U.S. since Washington's 2003 invasion and both sides say they are trying to broaden their relationship from a near-singular focus on defence and counter-terrorism towards economic cooperation. Blinken during the meeting "underscored U.S. support" for the re-opening of a pipeline between Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and Turkey that has been shut since March. Turkey said last week the pipeline, which contributes about 0.5% of world oil supply, would be ready to resume operations soon, though it is unclear whether Baghdad and Ankara have agreed to the terms of a resumption of crude flows. Blinken also "commended the Prime Minister’s commitment to judicial independence in Iraq’s recent conviction and sentencing of multiple individuals on terrorism charges in connection with the killing of U.S. citizen Stephen Troell." Iraq last month sentenced an Iranian man and four Iraqis to life in prison over Troell's November 2022 killing in a middle class neighbourhood in central Baghdad. Court officials did not name the defendants but said the four Iraqis were members of a Shi’ite Muslim militia.

Turkey's Erdogan says he trusts Russia as much as he trusts the West
ISTANBUL (AP)/September 19, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he trusts Russia as much he trusts the West.Explaining his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan said he had failed to get him to resume the Black Sea grain deal the Kremlin withdrew from in July but had elicited a pledge for Russia to supply 1 million tons of grain to Africa. “I have no reason not to trust them,” Erdogan said during an interview late Monday with U.S. broadcaster PBS in New York, where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly. “To the extent the West is reliable, Russia is equally reliable. For the last 50 years, we have been waiting at the doorstep of the EU and, at this moment in time, I trust Russia just as much as I trust the West.”Ankara has maintained close ties with both Russia and Ukraine during the 19-month war. In July last year, Turkey and the U.N. engineered a deal to allow Ukrainian grain to be safely shipped from its Black Sea ports, helping alleviate a global food crisis. Moscow pulled out of the agreement two months ago, claiming a parallel deal to allow its exports of foodstuffs and fertilizer had not been honored. Erdogan is visiting New York four months after winning elections that extended his 20-year rule for another five years. His fresh mandate has seen signs of an improvement in Ankara’s often fractious relationship with the West. Speaking at an event on Monday, the Turkish leader appeared to roll back comments he made immediately prior to his departure for New York, in which he suggested Turkey could end its 24-year bid for European Union membership. “We see that a window of opportunity has opened for the revitalization of Turkey-European Union relations in a critical period,” Erdogan said, according to a text of the meeting published by his office. “We continue to emphasize the importance of revitalizing Turkey’s EU accession process.” Erdogan also indicated improving ties with Washington, which have recently focused on Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s NATO membership application and a possible deal to supply Turkey with F-16 fighter jets. “We are pleased with the development of our cooperation with the U.S.,” Erdogan said. “We have resolved most of the deadlocks during the talks with Mr. Biden and we have decided to hold more talks in line with the positive agenda.” Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members not to have approved Sweden’s bid to join the defense alliance, which Stockholm made following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The issue is due to be debated by the Turkish parliament when it returns from recess next month. Some members of the U.S. Congress have indicated the provision of F-16s to update Turkey’s fighter fleet is dependent on Ankara agreeing to Sweden’s NATO membership. But Erdogan reiterated that “these two topics shouldn’t be related” although he said the decision on Sweden lies with the Turkish parliament, where his party and its allies hold a majority. “If the parliament doesn’t make a positive decision about this bid, then there’s nothing to do,” he told PBS.
Erdogan also drew a line between Sweden’s NATO bid and Turkey’s EU accession. In July, however, he called on EU member states to “open the way for Turkey” in return for Sweden’s path to NATO to be cleared. He told PBS on Monday that “Sweden’s position and our current position within the EU accession negotiations are two separate things.” Turning to the war in Ukraine and his contacts with Putin, Erdogan said it was “quite obvious that this war is going to last a long time” but that the Russian leader was “on the side of ending this war as soon as possible. “That’s what he said. And I believe his remarks," Erdogan said.

Airstrike on military airport in Iraq's Kurdish region kills 3 people
Associated Press/September 19, 2023
An airstrike on a military airport in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region killed three people Monday, local officials said. The region's counter-terrorism service said in a statement that the attack on the Arbat Airport, 28 kilometers southeast of the city of Suleimaniyah killed three of its personnel and injured three members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The airport had recently undergone rehabilitation to facilitate the training of anti-terror units affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two often-competing main parties in the region, whose seat of power is in Sulaymaniyah.
The counter-terrorism service did not blame the attack on any party, but the Sulaymaniyah governorate in a statement urged "countries in the region to respect the sovereignty of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq," implying that the strike was carried out by Turkey. Also on Monday, the Kurdistan National Congress, an umbrella organization of Kurdish groups and parties, said in a statement that one of its members was "assassinated" inside the group's office in Erbil without giving further details. Turkey often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s. In April, Turkey closed its airspace to flights to and from the Sulaymaniyah International Airport, citing an alleged increase in Kurdish militant activity threatening flight safety. Days later, the Syrian Democratic Forces — Kurdish-led forces operating in northeast Syria that are allied to the United States in its fight against the Islamic State but considered by Turkey to be an offshoot of the PKK — accused Turkey of launching a strike on the airport when SDF commander Mazloum Abdi was at the site. Abdi was unharmed.

Netanyahu, Musk discuss antisemitism on X, artificial intelligence
Associated Press./September 19, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off a U.S. trip in California to talk to billionaire businessman Elon Musk about antisemitism on his social media platform X — while Musk asked him to address his judicial overhaul in Israel. The two also discussed artificial intelligence in a sparsely attended livestream event. Netanyahu's high-profile visit to the San Francisco Bay Area comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform, while Netanyahu is confronting political opposition at home and abroad. Protesters gathered early Monday outside the Fremont, California, factory where Tesla makes its cars. The official agenda was to consider artificial intelligence, with Netanyahu and the Tesla CEO mostly in agreement on the need to weigh the technology's benefits against its societal risks. Netanyahu said controlling more-advanced AI must start by getting like-minded states to agree to a code of ethics and conduct to foster the technology and "curb the curses." But he said there will still be a need to "police the planet" against rogue actors. The freestyle conversation, which included jokes from both men, soon turned to free speech and antisemitism, with Netanyahu telling Musk he hopes that within the confines of the First Amendment he can find a way to roll back antisemitism and other forms of hatred on his social media platform. "I encourage you and urge you to find the balance. It's a tough one," Netanyahu said. Musk said that with 100 million to 200 million posts on X in a day, "some of those are gonna be bad." He reiterated the platform's policy to not promote or amplify hate speech. Under Musk, the former Twitter changed its rules so that objectionable posts are not usually removed, but instead their visibility is limited so people have to seek them out if they want to see them. Musk calls this "freedom of speech, not freedom of reach." Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on X. The Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil-rights organization, has accused Musk of allowing antisemitism and hate speech to spread on the platform. Its director, Jonathan Greenblatt, said Musk had "amplified" the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who want to ban the league by engaging with them recently on X. In a Sept. 4 post, Musk claimed that the league was "trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic." In other posts, he said the league was responsible for a 60% drop in revenue at X. The ADL was among a coalition or groups that urged companies last year to pause their advertising on Twitter after Musk bought the platform. But analysts who track Twitter have argued that Musk's chaotic changes to the platform — including jettisoning its well-known brand name — have led to a decline in interest from advertisers. The group met this month with X's chief executive, Linda Yaccarino. Both Musk and Yaccarino have recently posted messages saying they oppose antisemitism. On Sunday, however, Musk posted that George Soros' organization "appears to want nothing less than the destruction of western civilization." Soros, 93, has donated billionsofdollars of his personal wealth to liberal and anti-authoritarian causes around the world, making him a favored target among many on the right. The Hungarian-American, who is Jewish, has also been the subject of anti-Semitic attacks and conspiracy theories for decades. Netanyahu's visit was unusually Musk-centric for a world leader and was scheduled to include a demonstration of self-driving technology. Silicon Valley itineraries for visiting political dignitaries typically also include major tech companies such as Apple, Google or Meta. From California, Netanyahu heads to New York, where he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly and meet with President Joe Biden and other world leaders, his office said. They include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken part in nine months of demonstrations against Netanyahu's plan to overhaul Israel's judicial system. Those protests have spread overseas, with groups of Israeli expatriates staging demonstrations during visits by Netanyahu and other members of his Cabinet.
Some gathered Monday outside the Tesla factory in Fremont for a demonstration organized by UnXeptable, founded by Israeli expats to support democracy in Israel. Protest organizer Offir Gutelzon said that by visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, Netanyahu is "trying to show business as usual. Back home he's tearing apart the country." "We have to come and show our support and solidarity for our brothers and sisters in Israel, who are protesting every week for the last seven months," Gutelzon said. Noting the protests and citing pushback he'd received for hosting the prime minister, Musk on Monday asked Netanyahu to speak about the overhaul. Netanyahu has said the judicial overhaul plan is needed to curb the powers of unelected judges, whom he and his allies say are liberal and overly interventionist. Critics say his plan is a power grab that will destroy the country's system of checks and balances and push it toward autocratic rule. Leading figures in Israel's influential high-tech community have played a prominent role in the protests. They say weakening the judiciary will hurt the country's business climate and drive away foreign investment. Israel's currency, the shekel, has plunged in value this year in a sign of weakening foreign investment.

German ambassador's attendance at Israeli court hearing ignites diplomatic spat
Associated Press/September 19, 2023
The Israeli government has complained to Germany after the German ambassador attended a high-profile Supreme Court hearing last week looking at the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul, an Israeli diplomatic official said Monday. The complaint, sent at the order of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, sparked a rare diplomatic spat between the two allies, with German leaders defending their ambassador against the criticism. The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy, said that Israel had relayed its "dismay" through diplomatic channels, including the Israeli Embassy in Berlin. "This was a decision taken by the highest figure in the ministry," he added. Cohen is a close ally of Netanyahu. Last Tuesday's hearing was the first challenge to Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul, which has bitterly divided the Israeli public and put the country on the brink of a constitutional crisis. Ahead of the hearing, German Ambassador Steffen Seibert posted a video of himself on X, formerly known as Twitter, inside the courtroom under the heading: "The place to be this morning." It included the Hebrew hashtag for Israel's Supreme Court.
"I think something important is happening here for Israeli democracy," he said, speaking in Hebrew. "We, as friends of Israel, are watching the Supreme Court with great interest and I wanted to see for myself." Seibert did not express an opinion on the case in the video. In New York, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his government's envoy against the Israeli criticism. "The German ambassador is a very committed man with very clear principles. And I believe that everyone knows that -- including in Israel," Scholz told journalists. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock added that it is the "everyday business of diplomats" to monitor developments in foreign countries. "It's also normal to go to public hearings or public court cases -- it's part of his job," she said. Scholz and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

India expels Canadian diplomat after Trudeau says India involved in Sikh's killing
Associated Press/September 19, 2023
India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat Tuesday and accused Canada of interfering in its internal affairs, escalating a breach with Ottawa over its allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada. It came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible allegations that India was connected to the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh independence advocate who was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, and Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat. India rejected the allegations as "absurd."India has fought against a movement to establish an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan since the 1980s, when a raid on separatists in a major temple led to the assassination of a prime minister and a wave of anti-Sikh violence. Nijjar was wanted by Indian authorities, who accused the activist of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India and had offered a cash reward for information leading to his arrest. Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum on Sikh independence from India at the time of this death. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer and spokesperson for the Sikhs For Justice organization, has said Nijjar had been warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by "mercenaries" before he was gunned down. Trudeau told Parliament Monday that Canadian security agencies were investigating "credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen.""Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he said.
India's foreign ministry dismissed the allegation as "absurd and motivated," and accused Canada of harboring "terrorists and extremists."
"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it wrote in a statement issued earlier Tuesday.
India has long demanded that Canada take action against the Sikh independence movement, which is banned in India but has support in countries like Canada and the U.K. with sizable Sikh diaspora populations. Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, about 2% of its total population.
In March, the Modi government summoned the Canadian high commissioner in New Delhi, the top diplomat in the country, to complain about Sikh independence protests in Canada. In 2020, India's foreign ministry also summoned the top diplomat over comments made by Trudeau about an agricultural protest movement associated with the state of Punjab, where many Sikhs live.Critics accuse Modi's Hindu nationalist government of seeking to suppress dissenters and activists using sedition laws and other legal weapons. Some critics of his administration, including intellectuals, activists, filmmakers, students and journalists have been arrested, creating what Modi's opponents say is a culture of intimidation.
The dueling expulsions come amid tense relations between Canada and India. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall. Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up Nijjar's slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 meeting in New Delhi last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation. At the G20 meeting, Modi expressed "strong concerns" over Canada's handling of the Sikh independence movement during a meeting with Trudeau at the G20, India's statement said. The statement called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said is a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora, and described the Sikh movement as "promoting secessionism and inciting violence" against Indian diplomats. Earlier this year, supporters of the Khalistan movement vandalized Indian consulates in London and San Francisco. While in New Delhi for the G20, Trudeau skipped a dinner hosted by the Indian president and local media reports said he was snubbed by Modi when he got a quick "pull aside" meeting instead of a bilateral meeting. To make things worse, Trudeau was stuck in India for 36 hours after the summit ended because his flight was grounded due to a mechanical snag. "Trudeau's turbulent India trip refuses to end," read the headline on the India Today website last week. It's unclear when exactly Trudeau brought up Nijjar's case with Modi during the G20. Some analysts in India questioned whether Canada had proof of Indian links to the killing, and whether Trudeau was trying to drum up support among the Sikh diaspora. "Such a charge against India by a G7 nation is unprecedented. The Canadian government has deliberately made a spectacle of it to please its domestic constituency amongst the Sikh diaspora," said K.C. Singh, a former diplomat and strategic affairs expert. He added that Canada didn't present hard evidence and that Trudeau's statement "unnecessarily upped the ante."
"India should've seen it coming. Trudeau needed to be engaged, not snubbed during his India visit. Now it has reached a point of difficult return," Singh, the former diplomat, also remarked on X, formerly known as Twitter. On Monday Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said the expelled Indian diplomat was the head of Indian intelligence in Canada. Joly said Trudeau also raised the matter with U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
"We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. "We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice."
Canadian opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who is himself Sikh, called it outrageous and shocking. Singh said he grew up hearing stories that challenging India's record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there.
"But to hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined," Singh said. The World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who "often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.""Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies," the statement said. India's main opposition party issued a statement backing Modi's position. The Congress Party wrote that "the country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times" and that the fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when it threatens the nation's sovereignty. In 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple in the state's Amritsar city to flush out Sikh separatists, who had taken refuge there. The controversial operation killed around 400, according to official figures, although Sikh groups estimate the toll to be higher. The prime minister who ordered the raid, Indira Gandhi, was killed afterwards by two of her bodyguards, who were Sikh. Her death triggered a series of anti-Sikh riots, in which Hindu mobs went from house to house across northern India, pulling Sikhs from their homes, hacking many to death and burning others alive.

Pentagon expands counter-drone exercise with Saudi Arabia, eyeing Iran threat
Jared Szuba/Al-Monitor/September 19, 2023
The Pentagon has ramped up the scope and complexity of its nascent counter-drone experimentation exercise with Saudi Arabia, employing integrated ground-based interceptors for the first time ever in a joint format with a Middle Eastern military. Some 600 personnel from the US and Saudi militaries gathered at the Shamal-2 range at the sprawling King Khalid Military City in the desert north of Riyadh last week for the latest iteration of US Central Command’s counter-drone war games, dubbed Red Sands. It was the second such training event held by the United States and Saudi Arabia since they first kicked off the Red Sands exercise series back in March, signaling the Biden administration’s intent to bolster the kingdom’s defensive capabilities even as fresh allegations of human rights abuses by Saudi security forces have buffeted bilateral ties.
The latest Red Sands marked a number of firsts, Col. Robert A. McVey, CENTCOM’s director of the Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center, told Al-Monitor. “Over the last 16 months, we worked very closely with our Saudi counterparts to develop their counter-UAS [-drone] tactics, techniques and procedures,” McVey explained. “Our objective for this exercise was to shoot down [drones], dawn till dusk.”US soldiers and Marines brought everything from 5.56 rifle rounds to shoulder-fired and precision-guided missiles to bear, employing Stinger and Hellfire missiles, 30-millimeter guns, Coyote interceptors, BLADE counter-drone systems, MS-LIDS, AKPWS, as well as the FS-LIDS' and LMADIS' electronic warfare systems to knock down simulated drone attacks. US and Saudi Apache helicopters teamed up with Saudi F-15s to do the same as US Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force JTACs worked side-by-side, and both civilian and military officials on the ground beamed in data about incoming drones gathered by a smartphone camera app dubbed “Carpe Dronum” as part of the live-fire exercise.
The US Army’s Task Force 39 demonstrated the use of an autonomous ground vehicle to resupply ground-based interceptors with munitions amid simulated incoming drone attacks, McVey explained. “We're looking to operationally employ the autonomous transport vehicle system throughout the entire CENTCOM region,” he added. Joint US and Saudi forces also employed artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled command-and-control to integrate ground-based interceptors to successfully disable simulated multiple-drone swarms for the first time together, McVey said.  Why it matters: CENTCOM introduced Red Sands as a way to field-test new and existing weapons systems that the Pentagon aims to harness in its race to catch up to adversaries’ advances in drone warfare, all the while demonstrating to Gulf states that the United States is serious about defending them against rival Iran’s vast missile and drone arsenal.
Al-Monitor first reported in April that CENTCOM was planning to employ artificial intelligence-enabled command and control nodes to integrate ground-based counter-drone interceptors in order to take on multiple-drone swarms. McVey was circumspect about details of that initiative when speaking about the latest Red Sands event, but noted that it is being done in partnership with US Army Development Command’s armaments office.
“What was really different here was that it was … multiple ground-based counter-small-UAS systems working through the command and control,” McVey explained. “That’s part of the leaning forward into that AI realm — being able to integrate multiple ground-based counter-[drone] systems to defeat drones [in a way] that doesn't require individual operators to execute.”The Pentagon’s counter-small-drone office has been gearing up for a demonstration of methods to neutralize drone swarms in 2024, but this is the first time it has been experimented with in the Middle East.
The bigger picture: The Biden administration’s combination of diplomacy and economic sanctions toward Iran has failed to roll back its strides in uranium enrichment, as well as its production of ballistic missiles and lethal drones — believed to be the region’s largest such arsenal outside of Israel. “Iran today is exponentially more militarily capable than it was even five years ago,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla warned House lawmakers in March. Moreover, US officials say they remain concerned that Iran’s military may be gleaning new tactics in drone warfare by observing Russia’s use of Tehran’s one-way attack drones in Ukraine. Iran’s government has long denied providing lethal drones to Moscow despite overwhelming evidence suggesting the contrary.
Russia’s forces have been increasing the number of individual Shahed drones employed in attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, a senior analyst at the US Defense Intelligence Agency told Al-Monitor last week, suggesting Iranian observers could take note of the results.
The official declined to say whether Russian military officials have yet worked with Iranian counterparts to advance their drone technology and tactics but cited intelligence declassified by the White House earlier this year purporting to show that Iran has been providing Russia with the means to construct a factory outside Moscow to mass-produce Iranian-designed drones. “If Russia came back asking Iran for more types of UAVs, we’re concerned Iran would say yes,” the official told Al-Monitor. Biden administration officials have been warning for months that the Russia-Iran military cooperation is likely to advance Tehran’s capabilities to threaten its neighbors as it seeks to expel US forces from the Middle East. The latest Red Sands exercise incorporated drone tactics observed in conflicts outside the Middle East, Al-Monitor has learned. Col. Armando Hernandez, spokesperson for the US Army Central Command that oversees Red Sands, declined to confirm whether that included drone tactics used in Ukraine, saying only that the exercise’s live fire scenarios “are based on current enemy UAS TTPs [drone tactics].” Despite Iran’s gains, the Biden administration has followed through on its withdrawals of tens of thousands of forces from the Middle East in recent years as the Pentagon gears up to keep pace with a rising China. The drawdown to some 30,000 US troops in the Middle East has contributed to a narrative in Gulf capitals that Washington is abandoning its commitments to their security.
Pentagon officials have warned that any outbreak of major conflict in the Middle East — whether involving Iran or extremist groups such as the Islamic State — could throw off Washington’s plans to ready the joint force for the coming era.
Know more: The Biden administration is tempering its expectations for a broad multilateral coalition to contain Iran, instead opting for a piecemeal diplomatic approach. The White House last week announced a new agreement with Bahrain, a close US ally long under threat by Iran, which entails deterrent support from Washington if the Gulf kingdom should come under “external attack," but does not guarantee an Article 5-style response. US officials hope the deal will be the first of several similar arrangements with Gulf states, but the biggest prize — Saudi Arabia’s potential normalization of ties with Israel — remains a long way off. It has been widely reported that Riyadh has asked for security guarantees from Washington as a prerequisite for reaching an agreement with Israel, which it has never had formal diplomatic ties with since the country was established in 1948. Among those guarantees requested by Saudi Arabia is the establishment of a civilian nuclear program, according to reports.

US issues more sanctions over Iran drone program after nation’s president denies supplying Russia
AP/September 19, 2023
WASHINGTON: The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven people and four companies in China, Russia and Turkiye who officials allege are connected with the development of Iran’s drone program. The US accuses Iran of supplying Russia with drones used to bomb Ukrainian civilians as the Kremlin continues its invasion of Ukraine. The latest development comes after Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. “We are against the war in Ukraine,” President Raisi said Monday as he met with media executives on the sidelines of the world’s premier global conference, the high-level leaders’ meeting at the UN General Assembly. The parties sanctioned Tuesday by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control include: An Iranian drone company previously sanctioned in 2008, now doing business as Shahin Co., its managing executives, a group of Russian parts manufacturers and two Turkish money exchangers, Mehmet Tokdemir and Alaaddin Aykut. Treasury said the action builds on a set of sanctions it issued last March, when Treasury sanctioned 39 firms linked to an alleged shadow banking system that helped to obfuscate financial activity between sanctioned Iranian firms and their foreign buyers, namely for petrochemicals produced in Iran. Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Iran’s “continued, deliberate proliferation” of its drone program enables Russia “and other destabilizing actors to undermine global stability.” “The United States will continue to take action” against Iran’s drone program, he said. Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, said the US “will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt these efforts and will work with Allies and partners to hold Iran accountable for its actions.”
Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the US and prevent US companies and citizens from doing business with them. Tensions between the US and Iran remain high, despite the release of five American detainees from Iran this week in exchange for the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 19-20/2023
China's Communist Party Infiltrates American K-12 Schools
Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute./September 19, 2023
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has, or has had, ties to 143 school districts in the United States, including 20 near military bases, through its "Confucius Classrooms," according to a recent report, "Little Red Classrooms: China's Infiltration of American K-12 Schools" by Parents Defending Education (PDE), a grassroots organization. Attention to Confucius Institutes has mainly been centered around colleges and universities, but less so on K-12 education. This means that Chinese state propaganda is probably now pretty much all over American K-12 classrooms.
PDE observed that more than $17 million had been spent by the CCP on Confucius classrooms in the US between the years 2009-2023. "Three of the nation's top science and technology high schools have ties to Chinese government affiliated programs including Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology has had ties to Tsinghua University High School—the high school affiliated with one of China's top military schools, Tsinghua University..." — Peter Wood, President, National Association of Scholars, Daily Signal, August 15, 2023.
"[W]hat's happening in these schools is that they learn that China is a benevolent institution, the heir of an ancient civilization that means nothing but goodwill to the rest of the world... And the notion that you can take children who have some aptitude for the hard sciences and math and get them to view China as a potential partner and friend... all through their educational careers. We're creating an assembly line for talented young men and women who will be unable to distinguish the American national interest from the Chinese national interest. They're getting blurred together at a young age and that's very difficult to undo once it's done." [Emphasis added.] — Peter Wood, Daily Signal, August 15, 2023.
Wood noted that CCP infiltration of American K-12 schools is "almost everywhere."
"[I]t's concentrated in the feeder schools to elite education, which means mostly West Coast and East Coast, but not exclusively those.... China's... looking for places where buying influence will yield results in the long term." — Peter Wood, Daily Signal, August 15, 2023.
"Programs vetted and managed by China's government have infiltrated 34 states and Washington, D.C., which impacts approximately 170,000 students across 143 school districts. Unfortunately, this investigation discovered 12 school systems in our own state have received money from the CCP. This includes the New York City Department of Education, which received $375,575.00 in CCP-connected funding. Considering China's adversarial relationship with the United States, this is deeply problematic and presents a national security concern for our constituents and state." [Emphasis added.] — Letter from Republican Members of Congress to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, August 21, 2023.
Hochul reportedly has close relations with CCP representatives in New York. She has repeatedly met with Huang Ping, China's New York Consul General, who once described Hochul as "an old friend," an honorific bestowed on those who have "rendered great services to China," as Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg write in their book, Hidden Hand: How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World.
The Chinese Communist Party has, or has had, ties to 143 school districts in the United States, including 20 near military bases, through its "Confucius Classrooms." This means that Chinese state propaganda is probably now pretty much all over American K-12 classrooms. (Image source: iStock)
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has, or has had, ties to 143 school districts in the United States, including 20 near military bases, through its "Confucius Classrooms," according to a recent report, "Little Red Classrooms: China's Infiltration of American K-12 Schools" by Parents Defending Education (PDE), a grassroots organization.
Confucius Classrooms, are, purportedly, "centers that teach Chinese language and culture."
According to the book Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World, by Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg:
"Initiated in 2004 as an innocuous way to spread the Party narrative... ostensibly devoted to teaching Chinese language and promoting Chinese culture they are, as former propaganda chief Li Changchun put it, 'an important part of China's overseas propaganda set-up.'"
In 2020, the US Department of State and the US Department of Education warned about the Confucius programs at American colleges and universities, and designated them as foreign agents:
"There is increasing evidence that they are also tools of malign PRC influence and dissemination of CCP propaganda... with the Beijing-based funding that comes with it, [they] can provide an institution with financial and other incentives to abstain from criticizing PRC policies, and may pressure the institution's faculty to censor themselves."
Attention to Confucius Institutes has mainly been centered around colleges and universities, but less so on K-12 education. This means that Chinese state propaganda is probably now pretty much all over American K-12 classrooms.
Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, said recently:
"The alarming evidence uncovered by our investigation should concern parents, educators, and policymakers alike. Families deserve to know who is influencing the American education system so that they can make informed choices about what their children are learning behind closed doors.
"The Trump administration took steps to rein in Confucius Institutes at colleges and universities. It is frightening, however, that no such transparency mandate exists at the K-12 level. Accordingly, it is imperative that elected officials at both the federal and state levels take immediate action to gauge the extent of these programs in order to ensure that American schoolchildren receive a high-quality education free from undue foreign interference."
PDE observed that more than $17 million had been spent by the CCP on Confucius classrooms in the US between the years 2009-2023. According to PDE:
"Three of the nation's top science and technology high schools have ties to Chinese government affiliated programs including Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology has had ties to Tsinghua University High School—the high school affiliated with one of China's top military schools, Tsinghua University...The CCP has had ties to school districts near 20 U.S. military bases. While the United States is not officially part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese state media has touted the work done by Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms to further the Chinese Communist Party's global influence."
According to Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, China's propaganda in American K-12 schools works through omissions and praise of the Communist country that influences how children will see China as they grow up. Wood told the Daily Signal in a recent interview:
"Part of this is simply propagandizing the students so that they learn about China, but they don't learn about the South China Sea, which is being heavily militarized by China. They don't learn about the plight of the Uyghurs, the efforts to gauge in organ harvesting, the efforts to suppress Tibet.
"There are in China so many policies that violate human rights and which signal the aggressiveness of the regime there, which has its designs on becoming a worldwide hegemon, that need to be presented to Americans in a softer light.
"So what's happening in these schools is that they learn that China is a benevolent institution, the heir of an ancient civilization that means nothing but goodwill to the rest of the world...
"And the notion that you can take children who have some aptitude for the hard sciences and math and get them to view China as a potential partner and friend, I think, is very disturbing as well.
"So we have, on one hand, the broad misleading imaging of China, but also the notion that China can be a partner to these students all through their educational careers. We're creating an assembly line for talented young men and women who will be unable to distinguish the American national interest from the Chinese national interest. They're getting blurred together at a young age and that's very difficult to undo once it's done." [Emphasis added.]
Wood noted that CCP infiltration of American K-12 schools is "almost everywhere."
"That is, in every state that we've looked at, we have found instances of it, but I would say it's concentrated in the feeder schools to elite education, which means mostly West Coast and East Coast, but not exclusively those.
"The effort here is, China's not just spreading around its resources promiscuously across the land. It's looking for places where buying influence will yield results in the long term. So, it's widespread, but much more prevalent here on the East Coast and California."
China's influence in New York schools, for example, is so prevalent that several Republican Members of Congress from New York sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, asking her to take action:
"An alarming new report has exposed how millions of dollars of funding from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have flowed into America's K-12 classrooms. Programs vetted and managed by China's government have infiltrated 34 states and Washington, D.C., which impacts approximately 170,000 students across 143 school districts. Unfortunately, this investigation discovered 12 school systems in our own state have received money from the CCP. This includes the New York City Department of Education, which received $375,575.00 in CCP-connected funding. Considering China's adversarial relationship with the United States, this is deeply problematic and presents a national security concern for our constituents and state...
"We are writing to not only share this dangerous situation, but to request that you address this concerning report and the underlying issue of CCP influence in New York K-12 education." [Emphasis added.]
Hochul reportedly has close relations with CCP representatives in New York. She has repeatedly met with Huang Ping, China's New York Consul General, who once described Hochul as "an old friend," an honorific bestowed on those who have "rendered great services to China," as Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg write in their book, Hidden Hand.
Huang has denied any Chinese wrongdoing on human rights, Taiwan or the Uyghur concentration camps, which he has said are mere "campuses" for reeducation. Most recently, Hochul sent Elaine Fan, a senior aide who is Director of Asian Affairs at the New York State Governor's Executive Chamber, to participate in an annual Chinese propaganda event, known as "An Evening of Chinese Culture" jointly hosted by the New York Mets and the Sino-American Friendship Association, a CCP-linked outfit.
Perhaps it is time for a deep-dive investigation by the US House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher?
*Robert Williams is a researcher based in the United States.
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Militia state or transport hub: Iraq can’t be both
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/September 19, 2023
Revolutionary developments are afoot for strategic control of major trans-Middle East transport routes. Kuwait and Iraq are tussling over control of Gulf waterways, amid plans for a route from Faw port through to Turkiye, and progress on an Iraq-Iran rail link.
The G20’s unveiling of plans for a major new trade corridor linking Saudi Arabia, India and Europe is a further game-changer. Meanwhile there has been fierce fighting between Arab and Kurdish factions in eastern Syria, as major powers seek to exploit these dynamics to gain control of routes through Syria and Iraq. Iraq’s Supreme Court has declared that a law regulating maritime navigation along a crucial waterway with Kuwait was unconstitutional, triggering a furious response from Kuwaiti lawmakers. Many Iraqi parties welcomed the court’s decision, voicing concerns that the previous arrangement undermined Iraqi sovereignty, while questioning the motivations of those who had brokered that 2013 agreement under Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. The Khor Abdullah waterway is critical to Iraq’s economic wellbeing, enabling the passage of 80 percent of the country’s imports and exports.
Leaderships on both sides have sought to keep negotiations cordial and pragmatic. However, with Iraqi provincial elections due December, the usual suspects have sought to inflame this issue for political gain, staging protests in Basra.
Sectarian Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi militias have threatened Kuwait and other Gulf states and fired missiles across the border to Kuwait, claiming it is a historical part of Iraq. When tensions flared over fishing rights last year, Hashd MP Ala Al-Haidari called for Hashd forces to be deployed in Khor Abdullah, while Hashd media outlets peddled anti-GCC incitement. Kuwaiti observers have meanwhile expressed disquiet at the doubling of the Hashd budget and force sizes.
Iraq’s ongoing Faw Grand Port project — if ever actually implemented — is envisioned as the largest port in the Middle East, with the potential to revolutionize Iraq’s economic landscape. Iraq last week also launched plans for a major naval base at the site to provide security in Gulf headwaters.
Iraq is meanwhile set to finalize agreements for a $17 billion high-speed Development Route railway from Faw through Turkiye toward Europe. GCC states are taking a keen interest, given the immense opportunities for trade and travel. Improved diplomatic relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia have furthermore fueled hopes for reinvigoration of long-mothballed road-building plans, including linking up the holy cities of Makkah and Najaf as a major pilgrimage route. However, given Iraq’s record of endlessly stalled projects and funds siphoned off into corrupt hands, it will be a miracle if any of these plans ever come to fruition.
There are further glaring obstacles to Iraq becoming a core international conduit. Iraq’s borders and major road routes are festooned with illegal Hashd checkpoints for extorting revenue from commercial and private transport. Despite laughably feeble efforts to crack down on Hashd economic activities, a previous finance minister estimated that around 90 percent of Iraq’s customs revenues were being stolen by Hashd highwaymen.
A shadow war has been rumbling for control of transport routes from Iran to the Mediterranean, with the aim of profit from smuggling narcotics, munitions and other contraband
Thus, the Hashd-dominated political echelons’ sudden enthusiasm for creating major transnational routes comes as little surprise. If these bandits can monopolize major trade corridors between Europe and the GCC, revenue-generating opportunities are infinite. The Sudani government, appointed by Hashd factions, has already given away immense territories to industrial conglomerates controlled by these paramilitaries for economic exploitation, including large areas adjoining the Kuwait and Saudi borders. Hezbollah has likewise been given vast fiefdoms in Syria, which it exploits for profit and to strengthen its regional strategic position.
A shadow war has been rumbling for control of transport routes from Iran to the Mediterranean, with the aim of profit from smuggling narcotics, munitions and other contraband. Despite massive Hashd fortifications established on the Iraq-Syria border at Albu-Kamal, the militants’ ambitions have been constrained by the presence of US forces near by.
Bashar Assad has sought to exploit the recent explosion of violence between Arabs and Kurds in eastern Syria to reestablish regime control through this volatile region, particularly through deployment of a motley assemblage of Shiite militias, including Hezbollah, and reinvigorated attempts to co-opt local tribes. Before this fighting, rumors were rife that the US was planning a major operation to definitively curtail the Hashd’s presence at Albu-Kamal. As part of Assad’s longstanding ambitions to reestablish his control of the east, a so-called “Railway of Resistance” from Iran to the Mediterranean is underway. Last week, Iraq’s prime minister and Iran’s vice president held a foundation stone ceremony at the Shalamcheh border crossing near Basra, beginning the Iraq stretch of the project. Further routes from Albu-Kamal to Latakia and Damascus are expected, with China taking a strong interest as a crucial plank of its Belt-and-Road initiative.
These planned routes offer a spectrum of economic opportunities in a region experiencing sky-high levels of youth unemployment. But who actually benefits?
Given Hashd political supremacy, and dominance of territories through which these routes are planned, of course these militias will seek to monopolize these corridors for profit, with Hashd and Hezbollah enterprises well placed to be awarded lucrative construction projects. With Syria and Iraq becoming fully-fledged narco-states, are plans afoot to ensure that ports and rail junctions don’t become major distribution hubs for Captagon, heroin and crystal meth?
This is where major powers such as Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, China, the US and EU must come in. Under current conditions, billions of dollars of investment will be corruptly frittered away. The Hashd stranglehold has raised costs of doing business many times over. The absence of major Iraq-straddling trade routes today is less the consequence of poor quality tarmac, and more because of routine extortion, security threats, and the ability of unaccountable militias to block major roads on a whim.
In short, Iraq cannot be both a major transport hub and a den of paramilitaries, pirates and highwaymen. Shiny new roads and railway infrastructure are not enough: Iraq must also have the political will and international backing to secure these routes as transnational corridors of free trade. Iraq’s neighbors, Kuwait included, meanwhile shouldn’t be exploiting Baghdad’s weakness, corruption and dysfunction to their own advantage.
For decades under various regimes, an isolated and shunned Iraq has failed to fulfill its global potential. The unveiling of this bounty of megaprojects should be Baghdad’s moment of decision: Does it want to perpetuate its isolation as a militia state and a marginalized rung in a bankrupt “Axis of Resistance,” or does it genuinely want to throw open its doors to the world?
Millions of young Iraqi protesters calling for economic opportunities, renewed Arab ties, and an end to militia governance have made it very clear which vision they favor.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

How Derna tragedy epitomizes Libya’s misfortune
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/September 19, 2023
Last week’s deadly deluge that hit the eastern Libyan port city of Derna, killing thousands and leaving many more homeless, was brought about by a natural disaster that caught Libyans unawares. But while the uncommon Mediterranean hurricane that hit eastern Libya did the initial damage, it also detonated a silent bomb — the collapse of two crumbling dams south of Derna, which ultimately destroyed half the city and did most of the killing.
Derna has become a symbol of what post-Qaddafi Libya has become: a broken country and a failed state. It has gone through more than a decade of turmoil and bloodshed since the collapse of the regime. It became a base for paramilitary militias embroiled in tribal and religious wars against their fellow countrymen. Later, it became a stronghold for various extremist groups, including Daesh in 2014. It was a base for the group until it was driven out by a coalition of Libyan forces in 2015.
Today, Derna is under the control of the transitional government of eastern Libya based in Sirte, which owes its allegiance to the self-styled Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. Now 79, he was once Qaddafi’s most trusted soldier before they parted ways following the Chad war disaster. Later, Haftar conspired against his mentor, only to fail and be whisked away by the CIA to America, where he became a citizen. Following the 2011 uprising, Haftar returned to Libya, where he would expel the extremists from the east and take control of Benghazi. His ambition to rule as the country’s strongman was derailed when his army, aptly called the Libyan National Army, was repulsed on the outskirts of Tripoli in the west after Turkiye’s intervention.
He took control of Derna after a long and bitter siege. But Haftar was never able to put together a working government in the east, despite the backing of a number of Arab countries and the Russians. There were many warnings over the sad state of the two Derna dams, even in the days before Storm Daniel arrived. These warnings were not heeded.
Bitter rivalries and personal agendas have derailed attempts to unify the country and hold elections
Now, Haftar and his aides want to take credit for the rescue and recovery operations in Derna while skirting responsibility. But most people in this city that was once home to 120,000 point the finger at the ruler of Benghazi.
Haftar has resisted pressure to hold presidential and legislative elections under a law that would have favored others, especially the former ruler’s son Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi. Haftar has control over the parliament in Tobruk, which withdrew confidence from the Tripoli-based administration of interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in September 2021, thus creating an impasse.
Under UN auspices, presidential and parliamentary elections were set to occur in Libya on Dec. 24, 2021. However, three days before the vote, the High National Elections Commission dissolved Libya’s electoral committees and announced the indefinite postponement of these elections. The postponement resulted from disagreements about holding elections and a failure to reach a consensus regarding the electoral framework.
One thing that Haftar has been saying is that he is fighting religious extremists, including those supporting the government in Tripoli. This is one reason why he is getting support from outside the country.
The Derna catastrophe could have been averted if a strong national unity government was in charge
That is not to say that the UN-recognized government, based in Tripoli, is doing much better. Bitter rivalries and personal agendas have derailed attempts to unify the country and hold presidential and legislative elections. Successive governments have failed to establish control over the entire country and faced opposition from rival factions based in other parts of Libya. More than once, fighting between armed militias with opposing loyalties has broken out in Tripoli, bringing life in the capital to a halt.
In addition, while being recognized as the legitimate government, it has failed to build strong state institutions in Tripoli, including the police and judiciary. Weakening it further is the fact that control over the oil fields, the oil crescent and ports in the northeastern part of the country along the coast of the Gulf of Sidra has been contested many times. The region has been under the control of various factions and entities, making it difficult for the Tripoli government to gain access to oil sales.
And with turmoil, chaos and foreign meddling comes corruption. A number of neutral sources have accused the Tripoli government of corruption, with politicians and officials accused of embezzlement and misuse of public funds. Foreign powers, such as Turkiye, Russia, Egypt and others, have played a significant role in the conflict in Libya, providing support to rival factions and prolonging the crisis.
What it all boils down to is the fact that this oil-rich country of no more than 7 million inhabitants, strategically located in North Africa and close to European shores, which is rich in oil and gas, has not been able to recover from the 2011 uprising — and the ensuing civil war — and the ominous decision by NATO to step in.
The Derna debacle, which is apocalyptic in proportion, is a stark reminder of the deep political and social divisions that have torn the country apart. The sad fact is that the absence of a central government that can take responsibility for the entire country and embark on a comprehensive plan to rebuild afflicted cities and towns and maintain a dilapidated infrastructure, while nursing social scars, means that Libya’s road to rehabilitation will not materialize anytime soon.
Partition is not the answer, nor is maintaining the current status quo. Libyan leaders must come to their senses and find the middle ground to overcome their differences and save their country from the next natural or human-made disaster. The Derna catastrophe could have been averted if a strong national unity government was in charge. This is the message that both Tripoli and Benghazi must accept.
The current political impasse must end and foreign players must stop meddling. That may be wishful thinking at this stage. But Libyan patriots must be reminded: Type “failed states” into Google today and Libya, along with Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen, will be the top hits. Libya should not be on the list for many reasons and the Libyan people do not deserve for their country to be there.
Until divisions are bridged and a stable, inclusive government is established, Libya will continue to be at risk of further violence and instability.
**Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010

30 Years Later: Be Weary Of the West Bank Becoming Another Oslo
Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 19/2023
It has been exactly thirty years and three weeks since the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were signed, and the situation in Palestine, and the conditions of the Palestinians, are worse than ever. Indeed, parts of the West Bank are on the brink of turning into armed resistance strongholds. The Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in Southern Lebanon - broadly considered the capital of the displaced Palestinians - is witnessing the fiercest and longest rounds of infighting in over twenty years.
While no faction speaks fondly of or mourns the Oslo Accords, which are favored by neither the people nor the leadership in Palestine and which Israel violates as though they had never been signed, the reality is that the Oslo Accords exist. It exists regardless of the reasons for its floundering and how things have played out since it was signed in 1993, a year when the PLO was at the weakest point in its history: in dire straits financially, and isolated regionally and internationally, following its heedless and misguided decision to support Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.
On the other hand, the agreement has not been viable since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat took an ambivalent stance towards suicide attacks. It was also greatly undermined by violent attacks launched by the factions opposed to peace in both the Palestinian and Israeli camps, as exemplified by the Baruch Goldstein massacre in Hebron. Its repudiation by Arab actors affiliated with the Axis of Resistance, who did everything they could to ensure its failure, did not help either.
Nonetheless, the Oslo Accords laid the foundations for two pillars of a future agreement that remain with us to this day: the Palestinian Authority and the principle of a two-state solution. Despite the poor performance of this authority over the past 30 years, and its entanglement in minor and marginal internal issues, it has established an institutional framework for a future Palestinian state. Moreover, the concept of the two-state solution would not have emerged if the Oslo Accords had opened the door to mutual recognition. The actualization of the two-state solution remains far off, but there is now a global diplomatic consensus around the need for "two states for two peoples," which has become the framework through which the international community addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As a result of this mostly negative state of affairs, and in light of the unprecedented changes the region and the globe are undergoing and their significant impact on diplomacy, the Palestinian question has become increasingly marginal to moderate Arab and international powers. Meanwhile, the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance has been waging a fierce onslaught on the Palestinian question, rejecting any peaceful settlement in principle. This assault is motivated by compassion and genuine support for the Palestinians and Palestine. Rather, it is this Axis’ only means for meddling in the affairs of the countries of the Levant and retrieving the regional popularity they have lost. Moreover, the truce that has been seen in the region since the Saudi-Iranian agreement has turned Palestine into a pressure valve for this Axis.
On the other side, the extreme right has come to power in Israel. The current coalition government has been brutal, providing the Axis of Resistance with the fodder it needs within Palestine's interior and in countries where the Palestinians have been displaced to. Moreover, many of the necessary prerequisites for the peace process are lacking. There are no brave political leaders with a vision that can break the diplomatic impasse, and the leadership of both parties lacks the legitimacy needed to take consequential steps to undercut the voices opposed to peace. Unfortunately, these requisites, pillars of peace, are not found in either the Palestinian or Israeli side.
On the Palestinian side, this is due to the failures that began as early as the first two years after the Oslo Accords were signed. The Palestinians missed the window of opportunity that had been there before Rabin was assassinated and Arafat shifted his position and began endorsing violence, which peaked with the Second Intifada that began in 2000 and continued until 2003. Things were then exacerbated by the schism between the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the growing influence of Hamas, which silenced Fatah and the Palestinian Authority. On the Israeli side, the country has been witnessing unprecedented protests for months. Its political tug-of-war has left reserve officers and soldiers reluctant to serve because of their opposition to the government's plans to undercut the judiciary and to turn Israel into a populist and fanatical ethno-religious state, as the opposition sees it.
To sum up, both Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas have failed to lay sound foundations for a Palestinian state and left the door to violence open, though we should not overlook the role played in this by the weight that the occupation placed on their shoulders. For its part, Israel has not stopped building settlements and refused to grant the Palestinian Authority the powers that had been agreed to in Oslo. Once Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister, Israel adopted a policy of "managing" the conflict instead of seeking to end it. In this climate, opposition voices have grown in prominence and extremist views have played an increasingly influential role in framing decision-making.
The intention, here, is not to defend Oslo or promote its revival. The current conditions in Israel, Palestine, the region, and the world as a whole are no longer suited for such a formula. However, this does not imply that the conditions of the Palestinians can be left to rot and neglected. The Palestinian questions should not be left to be maliciously exploited for non-Palestinian objectives. To avert this, Palestinian, Arab, and international efforts are needed to ensure a smooth transfer of power once Abbas exits the scene.
Until then, it is in Israel's strategic interest to empower the Palestinian Authority. Otherwise, the vacuum of the post-Abbas era would enable violent extremist forces to take center stage, and there are plenty of indications that they have begun pursuing their end. The collapse of the Palestinian Authority would shrink what remains of the potential for a two-state solution and end aspirations for one sort of Palestinian state or another. And the only alternative is Hamas and its allies, who stand for terrorism and fanaticism and lack international legitimacy.
The proposal for a solution should come more from within Palestine rather than the displaced. The Palestinians in Palestine are suffering, and they are better aware of what is and is not possible than the displaced. Furthermore, the latter are more vulnerable to regional intervention, as manifested in the events witnessed in the Nahr al-Bared camp in Northern Lebanon in 2007 and those being witnessed in Ain al-Hilweh, where the Fatah and the Authority are on the verge of losing control, which could eventually extend to other camps in Lebanon.
A future settlement cannot be tailored to Oslo, nor can it bypass the remaining interests and rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories, especially not in the most difficult knot to untie Jerusalem. A settlement would emerge through an American-Israeli-Arab-Palestinian understanding along the lines of those concluded by Arab states and Israel. This scenario would be possible if the Israeli protest movement gives rise to a national unity or center-left government, or any other framework that does away with the current coalition government. Unless this happens, great risks loom over the West Bank and the future of the Palestinians there, particularly if it turns into a second Gaza, whether in fact or in Israeli propaganda.
As for the bet that some Palestinians are making on a one-state solution, it would inevitably end with the Israelis trying to impose their will on the Palestinians or the Palestinians trying to impose their will on the Israelis, making this solution effective, a recipe for an endless conflict between Jews and Arabs.

Libya… After the Shock
Dr. Jebril El-Abidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 19/2023
Millions of our Arab and Muslim brothers voiced their immense despair after the flood that hit Libya, and they rushed to help the victims and support the country. The one exception was the cacophonous voice of Moqtada al-Sadr, who did nothing but revel in the suffering of the victims and obnoxiously gloat at those who had drowned.
Given the indecency of his dishonorable reaction as millions of Muslims, Arabs, and Christians shared their condolences and strove to come to the aid of the victims in Libya, we will not pay any attention to the schadenfreude of Moqtada al-Sadr, who justified it with a crime that they had not committed. Indeed Moussa al-Sadr disappeared 40 years ago, in mysterious circumstances, and the charge against the presumed perpetrator, Moammar al-Gaddafi, has not been proven, and his grave has also disappeared.
Regardless of the abhorrent schadenfreude of Moqtada al-Sadr and his attempt to exploit this humanitarian crisis for political ends, the floods in Libya brought many deep to the surface. These major shortcomings quickly became apparent once everyone had recovered from their shock and horror at the massive flood that struck East Libya, Cyrenaica to be more precise.
This flood ravaged its agriculture, buildings, and people. The scale of the destruction was such that the beautiful and prosperous city of Derna has been turned to ruins and become a ghost town where the threat of an epidemic looms. Its groundwater has shown signs of contamination due to the decomposition of bodies, most of which have yet to be buried because they are difficult to reach.
This is a humanitarian tragedy in every sense of the word. Hearing about it is not the same as talking about it in the midst of the suffering, or seeing piles of bodies in the streets. A calamity has befallen Libya... Entire families, including parents, children, grandchildren, and even grandparents, have all died. Some have no one to console them or to accept condolences from all their kin and even neighbors have perished.
Solidarity and the support of the Libyan masses have been more consequential than state intervention, as both the people of the West and the South rushed to rise above any political differences they may have with the East and rushed to provide relief and equipment. The scenes were met with tears of joy despite the melancholy felt across Libya after the horror of this humanitarian disaster.
This was a disaster that required risk management protocols, whose implementation demands the strategization, skills, policies, and practical capabilities of specialists in the field. Implementing these protocols is necessary for mitigating the ramifications.
However, although Libya does have a law on the protocols of a state of emergency and its powers to allow, the management of this crisis was done through “donations” and an unorganized volunteer system during the first few days. This exhausted those on the ground and made their work inefficient - immense effort was put in only to yield poor results. However, once experienced Arab and foreign teams arrived, things changed and the management of the crisis began improving.
These numerous and recurring problems have become patently obvious because of the scale of this disaster, which is bigger than the two Libyan governments disputing over legitimacy. The country now needs stable management, cooperation, and international expertise to confront a disaster of this magnitude.
Indeed, the Libyan institutions on the ground lack the capacity to address it properly, especially since Libya is not prone to disasters due to its geographical location and the stability of the climate. Libya’s good fortune in this regard led the previous regime to take a lax approach to equipping and training ambulance, emergency, and rescue and evacuation teams to properly deal with such circumstances.
Fortunately, no epidemics have spread yet, despite the accumulation of corpses over the first few days that followed the flood. This claim is backed by WHO reports, which say that the threat of an epidemic is mitigated by the fact these are the corpses of victims who had been in good health, not ill. Another mitigating factor is that the victims were buried swiftly and in a manner appropriate for averting an epidemic.
Nonetheless, the problems are endless.
The fate of the children of Derna who have lost their families is one other issue. They require treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, which is even more urgent for them than it is for adults. This requires teams of qualified psychologists. They must begin treating these children now in order to mitigate the psychological repercussions and these children’s suffering. They should not be left to deal with night terrors and other responses to trauma without psychological support.
While psychological wounds are often neglected and seen as a luxury in the relief process, the advanced world and medical practitioners see it as the urgent priority that it is. It is just as pressing as providing water and food to the survivors of the disaster.
The lesson everyone should learn from this disaster is that they must implement plans to mitigate the risks of disasters after hurricanes, floods, and even earthquakes. Indeed, disasters have become a frequent and unwelcome guest of the Arab world.