Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 26-27/2023
The Fate Of Those Who Lack Faith and Worship Earthly Perishable Riches/Elias Bejjani/September 27/2022
Lebanese man arrested over US embassy shooting
Lebanon risks being 'ostracised' if presidential vacuum lingers - France envoy
'You haven't done your utmost': Geagea asks Berri to move directly to voting
France warns Lebanon financial aid at risk over presidency deadlock
MP Hashem says Berri's dialogue initiative 'frozen'
'No breakthrough on the horizon': Berri mourns dialogue initiative
Bassil meets Mufti, says dialogue needs specific conditions to succeed
Security forces arrest US embassy shooting suspect
Reports: Toters driver shot at US embassy after guard 'insulted' him
Qatari ambassador meets with Hezbollah's Raad
EU ambassador inaugurates European Film Festival in Lebanon
Saudi Tourism Minister praises Lebanon's tourism potential and Arab cultural initiatives
Walid Jumblatt receives Qatari Ambassador to address the latest political developments
Public sector salary challenge: Lebanon's strategy to support salary disbursements
Assaults on minors: A deepening crisis in Lebanon
America's Got Talent welcomes Mayyas as special guest in grand finale
Lebanon Grand Mufti says there will be no change in government system
Lebanon protesters storm electricity company as Beirut plunges into darkness

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 26-27/2023
Armenia announces the arrival of more than 28 thousand refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh
Thousands flee Karabakh as fuel depot blast kills 20
Erdogan: corridor through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran must be completed
At least 20 dead in gas station explosion as Nagorno-Karabakh residents flee to Armenia
Ukraine killing Russia's Black Sea Fleet admiral would be a 'remarkable achievement' that
Saudi envoy links Israel normalisation talks to land-for-peace offer
In a first, Israeli minister arrives in Saudi Arabia as envoy visits West Bank
Saudi Arabia inches closer to nuclear power with wider IAEA access
Saudi delegation visits Palestinian territories as Israel and Saudi Arabia eye normalization
Saudi condemns attack that killed two Bahrain soldiers
Iran indicts Biden, Trump over support for exiled group
Sudan’s displaced millions struggle to survive as economy seizes up
Iraq wants to overcome dispute with Kuwait over maritime waterway, PM says
Syria slams US ‘terrorist war’ in UN address
25 dead as Syria govt loyalists clash with Kurdish-led forces
US captures Islamic State official in Syria as fighting renews among allies
Erdogan says Turkey will keep promise on Sweden's NATO bid if US approves F-16s
QatarEnergy, BP, others snap up Egyptian oil and gas concessions
South Korea Warns Kim His Regime Would End If It Uses Nukes
Historic Iraq-Iran railway link ready in 18 months -Iraq transport adviser

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 26-27/2023
Israel must not roll the dice when it comes to nuclear threats/Jacob Nagel/ Israel Hayom/September 26, 2023
Why is Hamas Sending Palestinians to Die at the Border with Israel?/Khaled Abu Toameh/ Gatestone Institute./September 26, 2023
US presidential election 2024: Is it time to acknowledge Trump as the Republican candidate?/Kerry Boyd Anderson/Arab News/September 26, 2023
Universities should provide an education, not just professional training/Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/September 26, 2023
Israel Normalization Negotiations and the U.S.-Saudi Defense Relationship/Grant Rumley/The Washington Institute/September 26/ 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 26-27/2023
The Fate Of Those Who Lack Faith and Worship Earthly Perishable Riches
Elias Bejjani/September 27/2022
Many people do not recognize consciously who they really are, and willingly with a vicious mind hide behind fake faces, or let us say they put on deceiving masks.
Why they do so? It is definitely because they hate themselves, and mostly burdened with devastating inferiority sickening complexes.
These chameleon like-people do not trust or respect themselves, have no sense of gratitude what so ever, lack faith in God and worship Earthly Perishable Riches
In general we know that the majority of them were initially poor, but suddenly became rich.
Instead of investing their riches that are graces from God in helping others and making them happy, especially those of their own family members, they alienate themselves from every thing that is related to human feelings, forget what is the actual love, and deny that love is Almighty God.
They fall into temptation, live in castles of hatred, ruminate on grudges and contemplate revenge.
Not only that, but they venomously and destructively envy any one who is happy, respected and descent. They go astray and misuse their riches and influence to inflict pain and misery on others.
They become mere sadists who satanically enjoy pain, misery and suffering of others, especially on their family members who refuse to succumb and become evil like them
When we look around where ever we are it is very easy to identify many people who are of this evil nature.
The Question is, how they end?
Definitely, they end paying for all their destructive and vicious acts, if not on this earth, definitely on the Day Of Judgment.
May Almighty God safeguard us from such evil people.

Lebanese man arrested over US embassy shooting
The National//September 26, 2023
Shots were fired in Beirut on the anniversary of 1984 bombing
Lebanese security forces have detained a man suspected of being behind a shooting outside the US embassy on Wednesday, police have said. Internal Security Forces detained a man in a suburb of Beirut, according to a statement posted to Facebook. The weapon thought to have been used in the attack was also seized. The Lebanese man, born in 1997, was only referred to by the initials MK. He admitted to the shooting, police said. Shots were fired near the US embassy in the northern suburb of Awkar on Wednesday, the anniversary of a 1984 bombing that killed 24 people at the diplomatic mission.No one was injured in the shooting. An investigation is now under way, the ISF added. “We are grateful for the speedy and thorough investigation by the local authorities," said embassy spokesman Jake Nelson. No one claimed responsibility for the shooting and the motives behind it were not known. American forces and diplomats have come under attack several times in Lebanon, prompting the US to close its embassy and withdraw all diplomatic staff between 1989 and 1991. The deadliest attack occurred in October 1983, when a suicide lorry bomber killed 241 American service members at Beirut airport's US Marine barracks. In April 1983, 63 people were killed in a bombing at the embassy, including top CIA officials. Washington blamed Hezbollah for the attack, which pushed the US to move its embassy to the Beirut suburbs. In 2008, an explosion targeted a US embassy vehicle in northern Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese who happened to be near the car and wounding its Lebanese driver. An American passer-by was also wounded.

Lebanon risks being 'ostracised' if presidential vacuum lingers - France envoy
MEM/September 26, 2023
this sharing button Lebanon risks being “ostracised” by the international community if its nearly year-long presidential vacuum drags on further, France’s special envoy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, told a local Lebanese newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of former head of state, Michel Aoun, ended last October. The current Parliament, one of the country’s most deeply divided, has failed 12 times to elect a successor, with the last session in June. Le Drian told Lebanese daily, L’Orient-Le Jour, that he was planning to host a series of “consultations” among political actors and that he hoped Speaker of Parliament, Nabih, would then begin convening Parliament “for consecutive and open sessions”. “I hope that the actors are aware that a way out must be found; otherwise, they will be ostracised by the international community. No one will want to see them anymore, and it will be unnecessary to seek support here or there,” Le Drian said. The failure to elect a president has deepened sectarian tensions in Lebanon, already mired in one of the world’s worst economic crises and facing unprecedented political paralysis, with its cabinet only partially empowered. Lebanon has failed to enact reforms required to gain access to $3 billion in funding from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has blamed “vested interests” for the lack of progress. Donor countries have stepped in to help fund various public services, but have grown increasingly frustrated with Lebanon’s requests for more funding. Le Drian, on Tuesday, said five key countries – the United States, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – which had been coordinating on policies to help Lebanon out of its political impasse were beginning to reconsider assistance. “The five are wondering how long they will continue to help Lebanon,” he said. The five had already discussed possible measures against politicians and groups who were obstructing the election of a president.

'You haven't done your utmost': Geagea asks Berri to move directly to voting
Naharnet/September 26/ 2023
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea urged Tuesday Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to skip dialogue and call for open sessions to elect a president. "A second electoral round would likely lead to a president," Geagea said, after Berri earlier called on those who rejected his call for dialogue to propose an alternative. "I have done everything I could," Berri said, adding that open-ended electoral sessions would have followed his dialogue regardless if parties reached an agreement or not. "You haven't done everything you could," Geagea responded, as he proposed to move directly to voting. "Let's pretend that we (have engaged in dialogue and) failed to reach an agreement, and move directly to open-ended sessions," he said.

France warns Lebanon financial aid at risk over presidency deadlock
Agence France Presse/September 26/ 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron's special envoy urged Lebanese factions to find a "third way" for electing a new president, warning that France and its allies were losing patience after almost a year of deadlock and now reviewing their financial aid.
"The life of the Lebanese state itself is at risk," Jean-Yves Le Drian, a former foreign minister, told AFP in an interview. Lebanon has been without a president for almost a year after ex-head of state Michel Aoun's mandate expired, with its feuding factions repeatedly failing in parliament to elect a new leader as an unprecedented economic crisis escalates in the multi-confessional former French colony. Both sides have put forward their own candidate -- the former minister Suleiman Franjieh for the pro-Hezbollah faction and the economist Jihad Azour for their opponents -- but Le Drian said neither man had any chance of breaking the deadlock. "Neither side can prevail. Neither solution can work," Le Drian said."It is important that political actors put an end to this unbearable crisis for the Lebanese and try to find a compromise solution through a third way," he added.
'Denial of reality'
Le Drian said he planned to go to Lebanon in the next weeks to urge the Lebanese parties to get together for an intense week of talks and then hold votes in parliament and find a new president. Lebanon's president is elected by parliament, where neither side has a majority, rather than by universal suffrage. The situation is further complicated by that in the wake of the accords that ended the civil war, Lebanon's president is always a Christian, the premier a Sunni Muslim and the speaker a Shiite Muslim. Parliament has now failed 12 times to elect a president over the last year. Faced with what he described as a "denial of reality" from Lebanese officials, France and its allies the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, are losing patience and could review their financial support for Beirut, he said. The five countries, whose representatives met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week in New York, "are totally united, deeply irritated and questioning the sustainability of their funding to Lebanon while political leaders take pleasure in irresponsibility," Le Drian fumed.
'Turnaround possible'
Despite the country's economic bankruptcy, inflation at more than 200 percent and rampant unemployment, "political leaders are in denial, which leads them to pursue tactical games at the expense of the country's interests," he said. Le Drian, who was named by Macron as his special envoy in early June, has made two visits to the country in his capacity, in June and July. But he has so far failed to make any inroads in breaking the deadlock. Macron won praise from observers for heading to the Lebanese capital in the immediate aftermath of the August 2020 Beirut port explosion to push Lebanon's leaders into radical reform. But he now faces pressure to follow up on these promises. Le Drian declined to put forward any name for a candidate who could break the deadlock, saying that he is only a "mediator" and that it is up to the Lebanese to identify a compromise, which he considers possible. "I carried out a consultation which shows that the priorities of the actors can easily be forged into a consensus," he said. Sanctions against those who block a compromise also remain a possible weapon. "It's obviously an idea," he said, while insisting "a turnaround is possible".

MP Hashem says Berri's dialogue initiative 'frozen'
Naharnet/September 26/ 2023
Speaker Nabih Berri has “frozen” his presidential dialogue initiative and the ball now is in the court of those who rejected it, MP Qassem Hashem of Berri’s bloc said on Tuesday.
Asked whether Berri is willing to discuss the nomination of General Security acting chief Elias Bayssari, Hashem said: “Speaker Berri is clear in his proposals and he has supported the nomination of a certain candidate (Suleiman Franjieh).”“The situation that we have reached requires a discussion without conditions and to put the names up for discussion according to an agreed-on specifications and vision,” Hashem added.

'No breakthrough on the horizon': Berri mourns dialogue initiative
Naharnet/September 26/ 2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called those who rejected his call for dialogue to propose an alternative, "if they have one." In remarks published Tuesday in al-Joumhouria newspaper, Berri announced the end of his initiative. "I no longer have anything to propose," he said. "Do they have an alternative?"
Berri had called last month on the heads of parliamentary blocs and political parties to participate in “dialogue in parliament for seven days at most in September” before going to “open-ended sessions to elect a president.” "Whether we reached an agreement or not through dialogue, in both cases open-ended election sessions would have followed," Berri said. "But I'm afraid some do not want for this crisis to end," he added. Most of the opposition MPs, including the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and the tajaddod bloc rejected Berri's initiative as they refused to engage in dialogue to agree on a president before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process. Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has been vague about whether the FPM will take part in dialogue or not. He said he supports dialogue but on certain conditions. “It is a pity that some are deliberately obstructing all paths to a domestic solution," Berri said. "If this doesn't change, I don't expect any breakthroughs on the horizon."Crisis-hit Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October last year, with neither of the two main blocs -- Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the majority required to elect one.

Bassil meets Mufti, says dialogue needs specific conditions to succeed
Naharnet/September 26/ 2023
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday held talks at Dar al-Fatwa with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan. “There is no solution for the presidency issue except through understanding and balanced partnership, and this naturally needs dialogue. We have never been against dialogue, but we know that dialogue must be effective, that’s why we stressed to His Eminence and agreed with him that dialogue requires certain circumstances, if we don’t want to say conditions, in order for it to succeed,” Bassil said after the meeting. “Traditional discussions and round tables will not produce consensus over a candidate. Bilateral, tripartite and multi-party consultations are rather needed to reach the election of a president according to broad lines agreed on by the Lebanese,” the FPM chief added. Asked whether his verbal attack on Army chief Joseph Aoun was related to the latter’s presidential chances, Bassil said: “Our stance is not related to individuals. It is impermissible after 12 years of (Syrian) displacement pain to witness the same mistakes, after we were called racists and sectarian back then.”

Security forces arrest US embassy shooting suspect
Associated Press/September 26/ 2023
Lebanese security forces have detained a man suspected of being behind last week's shooting outside the U.S.-embassy north of Beirut in which no one was hurt, police said Monday. The Internal Security Forces said in a statement that they have detained a Lebanese citizen born in 1997 in a suburb of Beirut. They identified the suspect only by the initials MK. Authorities said the suspect confessed to carrying out the shooting. The weapon used has been confiscated and the suspect is being questioned. U.S. embassy spokesperson Jake Nelson said: "We are grateful for the speedy and thorough investigation by the local authorities."Shots were fired Wednesday night near the entrance to the embassy compound in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut. No one claimed responsibility for the shooting and the motives behind it were not known. After the shooting, the Lebanese army launched an investigation, which included analyzing security camera footage from the area. Lebanon has a long history of attacks against Americans. The deadliest of the attacks occurred in October 1983, when a suicide truck bomber drove into a four-story building, killing 241 American service members at the U.S. Marine barracks at the Beirut airport. Earlier that year, on April 18, 1983, a bombing attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut killed 63 people, including at least 17 Americans. Top CIA officials were among those who died. U.S. officials blamed the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. After that attack, the embassy was moved from central Beirut to the Christian suburb of Aukar, north of the Lebanese capital. On Sept. 20, 1984, a suicide bomber struck the embassy compound in Aukar, killing himself and 14 others, prompting the embassy to close. The United States withdrew all diplomats from Beirut in September 1989 and did not reopen its embassy until 1991. In 2008, an explosion targeted a U.S. Embassy vehicle in northern Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese who happened to be near the car and wounding its Lebanese driver. An American passerby was also wounded. In 1976, U.S. Ambassador Francis E. Meloy Jr. and an aide, Robert O. Waring, were abducted and killed in Beirut. In 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was abducted and killed by the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad group.

Reports: Toters driver shot at US embassy after guard 'insulted' him
Naharnet/September 26/ 2023
The man arrested for firing around a dozen shots at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar has been identified by media reports as Mohammed Mahdi Hussein Khalil, a 26-year-old deliveryman who works for Lebanon’s leading food delivery company Toters.
The detainee hails from the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh and had opened fire at a General Security department in the past, the reports said. Al-Akhbar newspaper said the man told interrogators that he made sure not to hit any of the embassy guards with his gunshots although he was capable of doing so. He added that he fired at the embassy following a previous dispute with a security guard who "insulted" him as he was delivering an order to the embassy."He wasn’t able to ‘digest’ the insult, so he decided to take vengeance," the daily added. "If I wanted, I would have carried out a massacre, but the whole issue is that I wanted to prove myself after I was treated in an inferior manner as a delivery driver," other reports quoted the man as saying.

Qatari ambassador meets with Hezbollah's Raad
Naharnet/September 26/ 2023
Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met Monday with the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, the Qatari embassy said. The talks tackled “the bilateral relations between the two countries and the general situations in Lebanon and the region,” the embassy added in a post on the X platform. A Qatari envoy visiting Lebanon, Abou Fahad Jassem Al-Thani, has recently met with Hezbollah secretary-general’s political aide Hussein Khalil. The Hezbollah official reportedly reiterated to the Qatari envoy that Hezbollah is still clinging to Suleiman Franjieh’s nomination. Al-Thani meanwhile told Khalil that Doha is not clinging to the nomination of Army chief Joseph Aoun, proposing three other candidates -- General Security acting chief Elias Bayssari, MP Neemat Frem and ex-minister Ziad Baroud, the reports said.

EU ambassador inaugurates European Film Festival in Lebanon
Naharnet/September 26/ 2023
Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon Sandra De Waele on Monday opened the 28th edition of the European Film Festival in Lebanon at the Sursock Museum.
Below is the speech delivered by De Waele at the ceremony as received by Naharnet:
“I am delighted to be standing here today, to open my first European Film Festival as EU Ambassador to Lebanon. This may be a first for me, but it is most definitely not a first for the festival: tonight we are opening the 28th edition of a festival that over the years has become a landmark in Lebanon’s cultural agenda.
The first European Film Festival in Lebanon took place thirty years ago, in 1993... Three decades of European Film Festivals… That is quite something…. It is very telling of the strong cultural ties between us. I visited Lebanon for the first time some ten years ago, and like many Europeans, quickly felt a connection to your country. Maybe it is because of the mix of languages that we hear on the streets. Maybe it’s the cultural diversity that reminds us of Europe. Maybe it’s the variety of Lebanon’s landscapes, or the familiar scents and flavours that we come across in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. But without any doubt, it is also - maybe even most importantly - the fact that in Lebanon, you feel free. Free to speak your mind, free to simply be yourself. And that is what the European Film Festival is all about. Over the years, the Festival grew into a platform to promote creativity and defend freedom of expression. It has become a welcoming space for us to come together and exchange on issues that matter to both Lebanese and Europeans. Ceci est reflété chaque année dans la sélection variée de films proposés par nos Etats Membres. Le programme de cette édition comprend 27 long-métrages récents des différents pays de l’Union européenne, y-inclus le film qui a remporté le plus grand nombre de Césars en 2023. Il y en a pour tous les goûts: des classiques restaurés pour les nostalgiques parmi nous, des dessins animés pour les enfants (ou pour tous les jeunes d’esprit), un ciné-concert pour les amateurs de musique, et bien plus encore. Like Europe, Lebanon has a rich and diverse cultural heritage that takes many forms – and cinema is only one of them. In recent years, despite the challenges brought by the crisis, many Lebanese movies have made it to international festivals. And this is something to be proud of. To honour Lebanese cinema, the European Film Festival will close on October 4th, with the premiere of Riverbed, by Lebanese director Bassem Breish. We will also continue the tradition of screening short films produced by young, emerging Lebanese filmmakers and we will be awarding prizes to the best among them.I would like to thank all our partners for their contribution to this 28th edition: Metropolis Association for putting together a rich and diverse programme in Beirut, Hermel, Saida, Tripoli, Jounieh, Byblos and Zahlé; our Member States for their invaluable contribution through films, awards and workshops; and the Sursock Museum for hosting us in such a magical setting tonight. Le festival n’aurait pas connu un tel succès – et une telle expansion - au cours des années sans le soutien des milliers d’amateurs de cinéma qui ont assisté aux séances depuis 1993. Merci à vous, de nous avoir accompagné dans cette aventure. Without further ado, I leave the floor to my colleague, Ambassador Jesús Santos Aguado, who will tell us more about Ramona, the film presented by Spain that will be opening the 28th edition of the European Film Festival.
I hope you will enjoy the festival”

Saudi Tourism Minister praises Lebanon's tourism potential and Arab cultural initiatives
LBCI/September 26/ 2023
During a reception organized by the Lebanese embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khatib, expressed his view that Lebanon possesses all the elements for tourism, including its wonderful people. "We will stand behind the initiative 'Vision of Arab Roots and Paths' and support it. We will also continue to work together to promote Arab culture and tourism," he stated.

Walid Jumblatt receives Qatari Ambassador to address the latest political developments
LBCI/September 26/ 2023
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt received the Qatari Ambassador, Saud bin Abdulrahman bin Faisal Thani Al Thani, in Clemenceau. MP Hadi Abou El Hassan and former Minister Ghazi Al-Aridi attended the meeting. During the meeting, the latest political developments were discussed.

Public sector salary challenge: Lebanon's strategy to support salary disbursements
LBCI/September 26/ 2023
The Lebanese government faces a significant financial burden as it disburses the monthly salaries of public sector employees, including the military, totaling $80 million. The workforce comprises approximately 400,000 active and retired personnel, with the responsibility for payment resting on the shoulders of the Banque du Liban (BDL). Following a smooth payout in August, the BDL is now preparing to disburse salaries in dollars for September and potentially October, following discussions held during a Central Bank Council meeting on Monday. Previously, there was a debate surrounding the practicality of dollar payments as the exchange rate gap between the market rate, approximately LBP 89,500 per dollar, and the Sayrafa exchange rate, set at LBP 85,500 per dollar, narrowed to around LBP 4,000. This means the employee benefit was reduced to approximately five percent from the previous 20 percent.
The prevailing opinion was that these disbursed dollars would circulate in the market without impacting the exchange rate. However, if salaries were paid in Lebanese lira, which would amount to around LBP 7.5 trillion, it would cause market turmoil and pressure. Therefore, a consensus was reached to pay salaries in dollars, secured from tax revenues, with the BDL strategically purchasing some from the market. Sources within the BDL have reported a slight improvement in tax revenues. According to the government's priorities, they aim to secure funds for cancer medications, treatment of chronic diseases, and some military needs without affecting mandatory reserves or printing more Lebanese lira. Customs and Value Added Tax (VAT) revenues have shown positive growth trends, but efforts are required to increase collections, particularly in the real estate and utility sectors. Each tax payment made in Lebanese lira eases pressure on the exchange rate even further. The government's actions are still part of what is known as the "day-by-day" approach, emphasizing the urgent need for comprehensive financial and banking reforms that will stabilize the market and establish clear plans for the future, ultimately contributing to economic recovery.

Assaults on minors: A deepening crisis in Lebanon
LBCI/September 26/ 2023
Recently, we have often heard about incidents involving the assault of minors, both boys and girls, in Lebanon. The most recent incident involved the rape of a Syrian girl in the Sabra camp, committed by a Palestinian individual (H.K), after being lured by a Syrian girl (M.Z) to an abandoned apartment in the camp. There, she subjected her to brutal torture, and her Palestinian fiancé filmed the assault to further humiliate and blackmail her later. Investigations are still ongoing with the members of this network to determine if they are connected to other networks. However, this incident, and many similar ones, is not the first and sadly will not be the last. The "Sabra cell," whose entire members have been arrested, though relatively small compared to others, is just one of the many cells involved in the prostitution rings and human trafficking networks that operate relentlessly across Lebanese territory, day and night. However, they were apprehended due to a complaint filed by the victim's family, who is suffering from psychological and health issues. This cell's activities were exposed due to the complaint. However, what happens behind closed doors, in the alleys, impoverished neighborhoods, and even tents, has not been uncovered yet because of the lack of complaints filed with the security forces. Some victims are threatened and blackmailed to prevent them from reporting the crimes or having their images circulated on social media. It is true that these networks have been operating in Lebanon for years, but their numbers are growing day by day. Several factors have contributed to this, such as the difficult economic situation and the Syrian refugee crisis. However, the real danger lies not only in the extortion operations but also in the fact that the primary target of these networks is minors and children who are sexually exploited for profit. The most important thing remains to file a complaint in any incident, as it is the first and last step to end these criminals and protect our children.

America's Got Talent welcomes Mayyas as special guest in grand finale
LBCI/September 26/ 2023
The internationally acclaimed dance troupe "Mayyas" is back in the spotlight following its sensational victory on the American talent show "America's Got Talent." The group's remarkable journey has propelled it to global recognition, dominating social media, both Arab and international screens and participating in prestigious international showcases, proudly carrying Lebanon's name on the world's most significant artistic and cultural stages. "Mayyas" is set to make a guest appearance at the grand finale of this season's "America's Got Talent" show, scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, at 6:00 PM Los Angeles time when the competition's results will be announced. In their performance, the group will present an enchanting dance piece carrying a powerful message: Lebanese women are free, and Beirut remains resilient in the face of adversity. The artistic presentation will depict Beirut as the ever-rising Phoenix, continuously emerging from ashes, no matter how challenging the circumstances. Notably, "Mayyas" released their first individual video work titled "حرّة" (Free), under the supervision of the group's director and renowned international choreographer, Nadim Cherfan. The video received widespread acclaim, resonating with audiences and earning praise from prominent art and culture critics.

Lebanon Grand Mufti says there will be no change in government system
MEM/September 26, 2023
Lebanon’s Grand Mufti said, Tuesday, that there will be no change in the country’s system of government, Anadolu Agency reports. In a televised statement marking the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, Abdul Latif Derian said the Islamic-Christian partnership and coexistence will remain intact under the 1989 Taif Agreement. “There is no place for proposals that tear the nation apart and divide the Lebanese in their homeland, Lebanon, a country of unity and diversity,” Derian said. In October 1989, Lebanese officials signed the Taif Agreement in Saudi Arabia, ending 15 years of civil war. Under the Agreement, the post of parliament speaker is reserved for Shia Muslims, while the premiership is earmarked for Sunni Muslims and the presidency is allotted to Maronite Christians. The religious leader said internal efforts “are the basis for holding presidential elections, while external efforts are a helping factor.”He added that the presidential vote “will happen no matter how severe the rift is.”Since last October, Lebanon has been unable to elect a new president to replace former President Michel Aoun, amid differences among political rivals. Christian political groups have called for changing the current paramilitary system in Lebanon into a federal one. Lebanon has been without a fully functioning government since last May, with Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, and his Cabinet having limited powers in their current caretaker status.

Lebanon protesters storm electricity company as Beirut plunges into darkness
Beatrice Farhat/Al-Monitor/September 26, 2023
BEIRUT — A group of Lebanese stormed the building of Lebanon’s state electricity company in the capital Beirut Tuesday to protest high power bills amid a crippling economic crisis. Security forces and anti-riot police immediately deployed inside the Electricité du Liban (EDL) headquarters, according to local reports, after which the protesters left the premises. A delegation representing the protesters later met with EDL's director, Kamal al-Hayek, to discuss ways to reduce the monthly bills, according to the official National News Agency. Lebanon has suffered a power crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990. Intermittent blackouts have been persistent since then amid endemic corruption and mismanagement by the ruling political elite. The crisis worsened after the October 2019 financial collapse. The government was unable to pay for fuel imports due to the collapse of the local currency, leading to shortages nationwide. In October 2021, the country’s two key power plants stopped operating due fuel shortages, plunging the country into darkness. Power was restored later that month after the Energy Ministry received a $100 million credit line from the country’s central bank to import fuel. Still, EDL continued to ration electricity, providing citizens with a few hours of power a day. Many Lebanese have been forced to rely on private generators despite the high cost, while others have installed solar panels to generate electricity. Last November, EDL raised electricity tariffs in hopes of increasing the power supply. The price of the first 100 kilowatt-hours consumed was set at $0.10 each, and every one after that was set at $0.27. Citizens pay their bills in Lebanese pounds based on the so-called Sayrafa rate, an e-platform established by the central bank to set the exchange rate according to a daily pricing close to the black market exchange rate. Today, the Sayrafa rate is set at 85,500 pounds to the dollar. The Lebanese pound had been pegged to the US dollar at 1,500 since the 1990s. But it has lost more than 90% of its value since the 2019 crisis. As a result, prices of goods have skyrocketed while poverty rates soared. Meanwhile, depositors have been locked out of their savings in banks, which have been imposing informal capital controls and limiting cash withdrawals. Reforming the electricity sector in Lebanon is one of the key conditions put forth by international donors including the International Monetary Fund to unlock much needed aid.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 26-27/2023
Armenia announces the arrival of more than 28 thousand refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh
LBCI/September 26, 2023
Armenia announced on Tuesday that 28,120 refugees have arrived so far from Nagorno-Karabakh, the separatist enclave with an Armenian majority that was seized by Azerbaijan after a sudden attack last week. Azerbaijan opened the only road leading from the region to Armenia on Sunday, four days after the rebels agreed to disarm under the terms of a ceasefire agreement that places the disputed area under Baku's authority.

Thousands flee Karabakh as fuel depot blast kills 20
Agence France Presse/September 26, 2023
Thousands more refugees fled Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday as officials in the self-proclaimed republic said a fuel depot explosion the previous day had killed 20 people. The Armenian government has warned of possible "ethnic cleansing" by Azerbaijan following its lightning offensive against the breakaway region last week. Armenia said on Tuesday that more than 13,000 refugees had fled since a first group arrived in the country on Sunday. The influx overwhelmed the border town of Goris, where many refugees are staying. Many slept in their cars laden with luggage, emerging on Tuesday with red-rimmed eyes and forming long queues outside phone shops to buy sim cards. Azerbaijan has pledged equal treatment for residents of the majority ethnic Armenian enclave and has sent aid. Adding to humanitarian concerns, the separatist government on Tuesday said 13 bodies were found at the scene of a fuel depot blast on Monday and seven more people had died of their injuries. It said in a statement that 290 people had been hospitalized and "dozens of patients remain in critical condition".Armenia's health ministry said it had sent a team of doctors to the rebel stronghold of Stepanakert by helicopter. The Azerbaijani presidency said Baku had also sent medicine to help the wounded. Meanwhile in Brussels, envoys from Baku and Yerevan prepared to meet in the first such encounter since Azerbaijan's swift defeat of separatist forces last week. Simon Mordue, chief diplomatic adviser to European Council president Charles Michel, will chair the talks, Michel's spokeswoman said. Azerbaijan and Armenia, along with EU heavyweights France and Germany, will be represented by their national security advisers. The leaders of both countries are scheduled to meet next month. AFP reporters on Monday saw the refugees crowding into a humanitarian hub set up in a local theatre in the city of Goris to register for transport and housing. "We lived through terrible days," said Anabel Ghulasyan, 41, from the village of Rev, known as Shalva in Azeri. She arrived in Goris with her family by minibus, carrying her belongings in bags.
Years of conflict. Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian enclave within the internationally recognised border of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's operation on September 19 to seize control of the territory forced the separatists to lay down their arms under the terms of a ceasefire agreed the following day. It followed a nine-month blockade of the region by Baku that caused shortages of key supplies. The separatists have said 200 people were killed in last week's fighting. Azerbaijan's state media on Monday said officials held a second round of peace talks with Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnic Armenian community aimed at "reintegrating" them. But on the road heading to Armenia, more and more residents from the region appeared to be trying to get out as witnesses said cars were snarling up in traffic. At the refugee center in Goris, Valentina Asryan, a 54-year-old from the village of Vank who fled with her grandchildren, said her brother-in-law was killed and several other people were injured by Azerbaijani fire. "Who would have thought that the 'Turks' would come to this historic Armenian village? It's incredible," she said, referring to the Azerbaijani forces.
She was being housed temporarily in a hotel in Goris and said she had "nowhere to go".

Erdogan: corridor through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran must be completed
Reuters/AP/September 26, 2023
ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the so-called Zangezur trade corridor passing through Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran must be completed, broadcasters reported on Tuesday, a day after he met Azerbaijan’s leader. Speaking to reporters on his return flight from the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan, where he met President Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan said that if Armenia does not allow the trade corridor to pass through its territory then Iran was warm to the idea of allowing it passage through its territory. Following Azerbaijan’s rout of Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz in Nagorno-Karabakh last week, Baku has raised hopes of opening a land bridge between Nakhchivan and the rest of Azerbaijan, known as the Zangezur Corridor. Erdogan said Turkiye and Azerbaijan would “do our best to open this corridor as soon as possible.” The Zangezur corridor aims to give Baku unimpeded access to Nakhchivan through Armenia. Both Turkiye and Azerbaijan have been calling for its implementation since the Second Karabakh War in 2020. Erdogan also said all materials required by civilians in the Karabakh region were being provided by trucks after Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive to retake control of the region last week. Meanwhile, Erdogan said in remarks published on Tuesday that Turkiye’s chances of acquiring F-16 fighter jets from the US have been boosted by Sen. Bob Menendez stepping down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez, the senior Democratic senator for New Jersey, has been a vocal opponent of Turkiye receiving aircraft to update its fighter fleet. He stood down from the influential role last week following federal charges that he took cash and gold in illegal exchange for helping the Egyptian government and New Jersey business associates. “One of our most important problems regarding the F-16s were the activities of US Sen. Bob Menendez against our country,” Erdogan told journalists on a flight back from Azerbaijan on Monday. His comments were widely reported across Turkish media. “Menendez’s exit gives us an advantage but the F-16 issue is not an issue that depends only on Menendez,” Erdogan added. Ankara has been seeking to buy 40 new F-16s, as well as kits to upgrade its existing fleet.
The request was backed by the White House but ran into opposition in Congress, where Menendez raised concerns about Turkiye’s human rights records as well as blaming Ankara for fractious relations with neighboring Greece. Referring to talks between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in recent days, Erdogan said: “It would be beneficial to turn this situation into an opportunity and meet with (Blinken) again. “In this way, we may have the opportunity to accelerate the process regarding the F-16s. Not only on the F-16s, but on all other issues, Menendez and those with his mindset are carrying out obstructive activities against us.”Erdogan also openly linked Turkiye’s F-16 bid to Sweden’s application for NATO membership, which is expected to be debated by the Turkish parliament after it returns from summer recess on Oct. 1.He said Blinken and Fidan had discussed Sweden’s NATO bid, adding: “I hope that if they stay true to their promise, our parliament will also stay true to its promise.” Questioned on whether the bid was tied to Turkiye receiving the F-16s, Erdogan said: “They are already making Sweden dependent on the F-16 … Our parliament follows every development regarding this issue in minute detail.” Erdogan also raised the prospect of a visit to Turkiye by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in October or November. The Turkish president also addressed the issue of Cyprus, divided between ethnic Turkish and Greek communities for 49 years.He reiterated his support for a two-state solution, with international recognition for the Turkish administration in the island’s north. Turkiye is the only country to recognize the breakaway entity. The international community broadly supports the unification of the island under a federal system.

At least 20 dead in gas station explosion as Nagorno-Karabakh residents flee to Armenia
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP)/Tue, September 26, 2023
At least 20 people were killed and nearly 300 others injured by an explosion at a crowded gas station in Nagorno-Karabakh as thousands of people rushed to flee into Armenia, separatist authorities in the region said Tuesday. More than 13,500 people — about 12% of the region's population — have fled across the border since Azerbaijan’s swift military operation to fully reclaim the breakaway region after three decades of separatist rule, Armenia's government said Tuesday morning. The explosion took place as people lined up to fill their cars at a gas station outside the regional capital of Stepanakert late Monday. The separatist government's health department said that 13 bodies have been found and seven people have died of injuries from the blast, the cause of which remains unclear. It added that 290 people have been hospitalized and scores of them remain in grave condition. Armenia's health ministry said a helicopter brought some blast victims to Armenia on Tuesday morning, and more flights were expected. Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev said on X, formerly Twitter, that hospitals in Azerbaijan were ready to treat victims, but not if any had been taken to them. Azerbaijan has sent in burn-treatment medicine and other humanitarian aid, he said. Gasoline has been in short supply in Nagorno-Karabakh for months, and the explosion further adds to local residents' anxiety about whether they will be able to drive out. The Armenian border is about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Stepanakert.
Cars bearing large loads on their roofs crowded the streets of Stepanakert, and residents stood or lay along sidewalks next to heaps of luggage. The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan. While Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and decided to leave. Azerbaijan's blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia caused severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel in the region.Moscow said that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were assisting the evacuation. Some 700 people remained in the peacekeepers’ camp there by Monday night. Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous region within Azerbaijan under the Soviet Union, but separatist sentiment grew in the USSR's dying years and then flared into war. Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. During the war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict. Under the armistice that ended the 2020 fighting, Russia deployed a peacekeeping force of about 2,000 to the region. But Armenian officials and regional authorities complained that the peacekeepers were unwilling or unable to end the blockade.

Ukraine killing Russia's Black Sea Fleet admiral would be a 'remarkable achievement' that
Matthew Loh/Business Insider/September 26, 2023
Ukraine claimed it killed Russia's Black Sea Fleet commander, Viktor Solokov, in a Friday strike. His death, which is unconfirmed, would be a "remarkable achievement," an ex-NATO commander said.
The last time an admiral was killed in combat was in World War II, wrote James Stavridis. Ukraine killing a Russian admiral in Crimea would be a "remarkable achievement" by Kyiv, a retired four-star admiral said. Ret. US Navy Admiral James Stavridis praised Ukraine in a Monday post on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the country's special forces claimed that a Friday strike on a Russian headquarters in Sevastopol killed a top commander. Ukraine said that 34 officers died, including the commander, and that 105 other people were wounded in the attack. Insider was unable to immediately and independently confirm these claims. The reportedly deceased commander is believed to be Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the top officer of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. If confirmed, Sokolov's death would mean an admiral has been killed in combat for the first time since World War II, said Stavridis, who was also NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe."This is a remarkable achievement by Ukraine eliminating a very significant Russian military leader and many of his subordinates," Stavridis wrote. "I believe you have to go back to WWII to find other admiral killed in combat."
The last admiral recorded to have died in combat was Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, who was commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet during World War II. He was killed in April 1943 by the US Air Force, which shot down his plane in the South Pacific. As of Monday evening, Russia has not commented on Ukraine's claims about the strike in Sevastopol. Ukraine said it attacked the headquarters during a meeting between high-ranking officers. Ukrainian Special Forces leader Kyrylo Budanov told Voice of America that two other senior Russian officers, Colonel-General Alexander Romanchuk and Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov were wounded. According to Ukrainian media, the attack was enabled by Russian officers, who were upset that their salaries weren't being paid on time and fed information about the high-ranking commanders to pro-Ukrainian resistance fighters in Russian-occupied Crimea. On Friday, several Western-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles struck the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters, amid recent Ukraine's accelerated pace of attacks on Crimea. Russian state media outlet TASS published a photo of the smoking Sevastopol headquarters, acknowledging the missile attack. Moscow has been using Crimea as a launching pad for its attacks on Ukraine, and the peninsula serves as a base for aircraft and warships hitting from the south. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has agreed to supply Ukraine with army tactical missile systems (ATACMS), which have a range of up to 190 miles and are known for their precision and a warhead that produces a blast equivalent to 500 pounds of TNT.

Saudi envoy links Israel normalisation talks to land-for-peace offer
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters)/September 26, 2023
Saudi Arabia's first ambassador to the Palestinians described a decades-old Arab land-for-peace offer on Tuesday as a pillar of any normalisation of ties with Israel, an apparent attempt to signal that Riyadh has not abandoned the Palestinian cause. Expectations of a landmark U.S.-brokered Saudi-Israeli deal have grown over the last week, though the timing and terms remain murky. Among complicating factors are calls by Riyadh and Washington for the Palestinians to make diplomatic inroads as part of any deal - a prospect unpalatable to Israel's hardline coalition government. Saudi Arabia's non-resident ambassador to the Palestinians - a role it unveiled last month - made a first visit to their seat of government in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, presenting credentials also designating him "consul-general in Jerusalem".That title is touchy as Israel considers all of Jerusalem its own capital and rejects the Palestinians' claim on East Jerusalem as capital of their hoped-for future state. The ambassador, Nayef Al-Sudairi, told reporters in Ramallah his visit "reaffirms that the Palestinian cause and Palestine and the people of Palestine are of high and important status and that in the coming days there will be a chance for a bigger cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the state of Palestine".Referring to the prospect of normalisation with Israel, Al-Sudairi said: "It is the normal thing among nations to have peace and stability.""The Arab initiative, which Saudi Arabia presented in 2002, is a fundamental pillar of any upcoming agreement," he added. That referred to a proposal aired by Riyadh and later adopted by Arab states widely, under which Israel would get pan-Arab recognition only if it quit territories captured in a 1967 war, including lands where the Palestinians want their state. Israel has been keen to pursue more peace deals with Arab states without giving up land, having won normalisation from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and upgraded ties with Morocco and Sudan, in 2020 despite talks with the Palestinians having been frozen for years. Dismayed at being sidelined in the 2020 diplomacy, the Palestinians have taken a more active role in the Saudi talks. In a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, President Mahmoud Abbas said Al-Sudairi's visit "will contribute to reinforcing the strong ties between the two countries and the two fraternal peoples". Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Kan radio on Tuesday that any Saudi normalisation deal "will be one supported by the right wing" - a reference to religious-nationalist parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition that refuse to cede occupied West Bank land to the Palestinians. In a speech, Netanyahu restated his position that Israeli military and economic prowess, rather than territorial concessions, are the keys to regional statecraft - given, among other factors, shared Arab concerns about the rise of Iran. "Thanks to this strength, we are deterring our enemies. Thanks to this strength, we are achieving peace with our neighbours," he said.

In a first, Israeli minister arrives in Saudi Arabia as envoy visits West Bank
Rina Bassist/Al-Monitor/September 26, 2023
Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz left for Riyadh Tuesday as the first Israeli minister to head an official delegation to Saudi Arabia, where he will take part in a conference of the United Nations Tourism Organization. A statement issued by the Tourism Ministry said that during the two-day conference marking International Tourism Day, Katz will participate in several events and meetings with his international counterparts, particularly those from the Middle East. The statement quoted Katz as saying, "Tourism is a bridge between nations. Partnership in tourism issues has the potential to bring hearts together and foster economic prosperity. I will work to create collaborations to promote tourism and Israel’s foreign relations.”Israel was one of the founding members of the UN tourism body in 1975. Over the years, it has played an active role in the agency. Israel's Circassian village of Kfar Kama was included in the organization's "Best Tourism Villages 2022." It was one of 32 villages around the globe selected by the UN World Tourism Organization to promote tourism and safeguard rural communities and their landscapes.
Katz's trip follows UNESCO delegation
Katz's visit to Riyadh comes days after the arrival of a delegation from Israel’s Foreign Ministry for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's 45th session. It was the first time that Israeli diplomats have publicly traveled to Saudi Arabia.
Israel quit UNESCO in 2018 after the United States left the organization, but is still a member of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention. Israel’s ambassador to Multilateral Organizations in Paris, Haim Assraf, and the head of the Foreign Ministry's Middle East Bureau, Amir Weissbrod, both headed the delegation to Riyadh, along with representatives of Israel's Antiquities Authority. The Israeli diplomats' journey to Riyadh’s UNESCO meeting encountered some problems, as Riyadh was in no hurry to offer the Israelis the required visas. Under great pressure from UNESCO, they were granted at the last moment. During the UNESCO meeting, the members of the convention voted in favor of listing the Tell es-Sultan ruins near the ancient West Bank city of Jericho as a world heritage site in Palestine. Israel protested the decision and the Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling the move “another sign of Palestinians’ cynical use of UNESCO and politicization of the organization.”A UNESCO source told Al-Monitor, "The work we did to get the Israeli delegation to Riyadh opened the way for Minister Katz to travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday." The source said that the Israeli delegation got its visas and was warmly welcomed in Riyadh, explaining, "The delegation participated at all the meetings throughout the week’s session. It was a sort of a test and it went well. After that, the Saudis decided to allow Katz to travel to Riyadh for the UNTWO conference."
The Jericho issue aside, the visas were clear gestures of goodwill on behalf of the kingdom toward Israel. Last week, while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly summit, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with Fox News that “every day we get closer” to reaching a normalization deal with Israel. In another gesture, a Saudi envoy stayed in the plenum during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Sept. 22 address to the United Nations. In past years, the Saudi delegation and several other Arab delegations used to exit the hall when the Israeli premier would speak.
Saudi envoy in West Bank Katz's visit came as a Saudi envoy made a rare trip to the West Bank on Tuesday and reiterated that the Palestinian cause will be a "cornerstone" of any normalization deal the oil-rich kingdom may strike with Israel. "The Palestinian matter is a fundamental pillar," Ambassador Nayef al-Sudairi told journalists after meeting top Palestinian diplomat Riyad al-Maliki in Ramallah, AFP reported. Sudairi's visit, the first for Saudi Arabia in three decades to the West Bank, and Katz's visit to the kingdom come as Washington has urged its Middle East allies Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize diplomatic relations.

Saudi Arabia inches closer to nuclear power with wider IAEA access
Jack Dutton/Al-Monitor/September 26, 2023
Saudi Arabia moved to advance its nuclear power program on Monday, saying that it would update its policy and give the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wider access to its facilities to account for atomic materials. The news comes amid rising concerns that the kingdom has ambitions to eventually build its own nuclear weapons amid heightened rhetoric from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).  Speaking in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Monday at the IAEA’s annual conference, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said the kingdom would discard an outdated set of rules that has stymied progress on its nuclear program.  Saudi Arabia's program was monitored under the Small Quantities Protocol, an agreement with the IAEA that exempts countries with little to no nuclear material from many reporting obligations and inspections. “The kingdom has recently taken the decision to rescind its Small Quantities Protocol and to move to the implementation of a full-scope Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement,” the minister said at the conference. “The kingdom is committed through its policy on atomic energy to the highest standards of transparency and reliability." Prince Abdulaziz added that the kingdom is looking to activate a regional cooperation center in partnership with the IAEA to improve its preparedness for nuclear emergencies. The Gulf state will now be able to access fissile material and begin operating its first nuclear reactor — a small one in Riyadh that is nearly completed. Saudi Arabia wants to eventually be able to carry out activities including proliferation-sensitive uranium enrichment. Al-Monitor has contacted the Saudi Energy Ministry and the IAEA for comment. Speaking to Fox News last week, MBS said he wanted to avoid a nuclear confrontation, but if Iran developed its own nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would have no choice but to also do so. The crown prince made a similar warning five years ago in an interview with CBS television. Being able to develop a civilian nuclear program is understood to be a key Saudi condition of a wider normalization deal with Israel, which the Biden administration is brokering. However, critics say that such a program would make an arms race in the Middle East more likely, and Senate Democrats have warned Biden he would have substantial difficulty getting a normalization deal that involves nuclear cooperation with Riyadh over the finish line. Furthermore, the White House's efforts to revive talks with Iran that would involve the reimposition of limits on Tehran's nuclear program have not gained much traction. However, Iran has informally agreed to decrease uranium enrichment, and the United States has turned a blind eye to oil exports from the Persian country. Saudi Arabia in August was understood to be considering a Chinese bid to build a nuclear power plant in the kingdom in a move that is likely to irk Washington, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Saudi delegation visits Palestinian territories as Israel and Saudi Arabia eye normalization
RAMALLAH (AP)/September 26, 2023
Saudi Arabia's newly appointed envoy to the Palestinian Authority visited the Israeli-occupied West Bank for the first time to present his credentials and confer with Palestinian officials Tuesday, a trip linked to U.S. efforts to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.The visit by Nayef al-Sudairi, who also serves as the Saudi ambassador to Jordan, is widely seen as an attempt by the kingdom to address the key sticking point in the Saudi-Israeli normalization deal: the Palestinians. The Saudi government has said it will only normalize ties with Israel if there is major progress toward the creation of a Palestinian state. Some 16 years after Arab leaders convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to reaffirm the Arab Peace Initiative, pledging no peace or diplomatic recognition of Israel without a just settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinians still live under an open-ended military occupation in the West Bank and under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade in Gaza. If the Biden administration can forge an agreement between Israel's far-right, ultranationalist government and the Palestinian Authority, the Saudis stand to gain a defense pact with the U.S. and U.S. aid for a Saudi civilian nuclear program.
Al-Sudairi was appointed last month and is on his first visit to Ramallah, the seat of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. During his two-day trip, the Saudi diplomat planned to meet with Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials. Top of the agenda is Saudi Arabia's possible diplomatic ties with Israel and the relationship between the kingdom and the Palestinians, officials said. Al-Sudairi told senior Palestinian officials Tuesday that Saudi Arabia supported the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to a statement from Palestinian officials. He praised efforts to bring about peace in the region in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative. Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki called the meeting a “historical milestone to enhance and develop bilateral relations between the two sister countries and open up further prospects for cooperation in all fields."
But it remained unclear what kind of Israeli concessions would be discussed in the Saudi-Palestinian talks. The deal depends on the willingness of Israel's current government — whose Cabinet ministers have imposed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority and called openly for the annexation of the West Bank — to offer the concessions. The Palestinian Authority also has not specified what it is willing to accept from the Israeli government. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week that there can be no peace in the Middle East without his people enjoying their “full and legitimate national rights.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said his focus was on normalizing relations between Israel and other Arab states before seeking a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel opened diplomatic relations in 2020 with three Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. Those deals raised hopes that Saudi Arabia — the Sunni powerhouse that is home to Islam's most important religious sites — and other Arab states that have long refused to recognize Israel would make a similar move.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Mideast War. Palestinians seek these territories as part of their future state.

Saudi condemns attack that killed two Bahrain soldiers
Agence France Presse/September 26, 2023
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned an attack on its territory that killed two Bahraini military personnel near the border with war-torn Yemen. Bahrain's military said late Monday that one officer and one enlisted soldier had been killed in what it described as a drone attack perpetrated by Yemen's Huthi rebels. The Saudi foreign ministry voiced its "condemnation and denunciation" of a "treacherous attack on the defence force of the sister Kingdom of Bahrain stationed on the southern border of the kingdom, which resulted in the martyrdom of a number of its brave soldiers and the injury of others," the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Bahrain has participated in a Saudi-led coalition mobilised in 2015 to topple the Huthis and restore the internationally backed government of Yemen, which the Huthis drove out of the capital Sanaa in 2014. The ensuing war has left hundreds of thousands dead through direct and indirect causes and displaced millions in what the United Nations calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The Saudi statement did not explicitly blame the Iran-backed Huthis for the attack, but it renewed the kingdom's call for a halt to weapons exports to them. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, based in Jeddah, did blame a "Huthi drone attack" in a statement on Tuesday, and said: "Such provocative actions are not consistent with the positive efforts made to end the crisis in Yemen." The Huthis have not commented on the attack. On Monday, the Huthis' Al-Masirah TV channel reported separately that "four citizens" were wounded in Saudi attacks on Yemeni territory near the border on Monday. The attack that killed the Bahraini soldiers came as Saudi Arabia is pushing for a lasting ceasefire nearly a year and a half after agreeing to a truce with the Huthis that has largely held despite officially expiring last October. Hopes for peace were boosted in March when Saudi Arabia struck a surprise rapprochement deal with Iran, which has backed the Huthis. The following month, Mohammed al-Jaber, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, travelled to Sanaa to meet with Huthi officials in what he described as a bid to "stabilise" last year's truce. Last week, Huthi officials completed five days of talks in Riyadh, the first public visit by a Huthi delegation to Saudi Arabia since hostilities broke out.

Iran indicts Biden, Trump over support for exiled group
Al-Monitor/September 26, 2023
Iran's judiciary announced on Tuesday that its prosecutors had issued indictments against US President Joe Biden and over 50 other American officials over their supporting and hosting of a US-based exiled opposition group. At a press briefing in Tehran, judiciary spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi said the list also included former presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush as well as secretaries of state Mike Pompeo, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice. Setayeshi argued that the sitting and former officials had long supported the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, also known as Tondar, "a dissident group which promotes the restoration of the monarchy to Iran to replace the theocratic Islamic Republic."According to the Iranian judiciary, the indictments have been under review by a Tehran court, and the verdicts are forthcoming. Iran has listed Tondar as a terrorist organization, claiming that it was behind a deadly 2008 bombing at a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz and has plotted a chain of similar attacks over the past decade. Tehran says the campaign has been supported by consecutive American administrations. The dissident group's leader, Jamshid Sharmahd, is a German-Iranian national and US resident. Iran announced his arrest in July 2020, but questions linger as to how he ended up in the country. Iranian authorities insist he was already inside the country upon capture, while his family maintains he was abducted from Tajikistan. As part of an old practice commonly employed by Iran's intelligence community, the dissident leader was brought before cameras to confess to his crimes and describe how he was assisted by American and Israeli intelligence agencies.  His controversial trial that landed him the death penalty drew fury from his family and Amnesty International slammed the "torture and other ill-treatment including through prolonged solitary confinement and denial of adequate healthcare" in his case. The ruling has also seen German officials actively engage with the Iranians to see it revoked. The push has fallen flat so far. The indictment against the US leaders over their alleged backing of Sharmahd's organization was reminiscent of a similar move by Iranian officials in the case of Qasem Soleimani, Iran's highest-ranking officer who was killed in a January 2020 air strike on his convoy in Baghdad. Promising revenge, Iranian authorities have vowed to bring former US President Donald Trump, who ordered the strike, to justice. They have issued indictments and arrest warrants and shared them with multiple bodies overseas, including Interpol. On the third anniversary of Soleimani's death, they announced additions to the list, which now includes many more Americans to be pursued for their varying levels of involvement in the assassination.

Sudan’s displaced millions struggle to survive as economy seizes up
Reuters/September 26, 2023
PORT SUDAN: About two months after heavy clashes around his home in Sudan’s capital drove Sherif Abdelmoneim to flee, soaring rent and food costs forced the 36-year-old and his family of six to return to a city where fighting still rages. Most of those who fled Khartoum after war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out in mid-April have not returned. They face malnutrition, floods and scorpions as they depend for survival on handouts and meager aid relief, the generosity of host communities stretched increasingly thin. More than 5.25 million of Sudan’s 49 million people have been uprooted since the fighting erupted, according to UN figures. Over 1 million of those have crossed into neighboring countries, but more than 4.1 million have stayed in Sudan, where they have come under increasing financial pressure. “The states (outside Khartoum) are safe but the prices are expensive and rents are high, and we cannot continue with that,” Abdelmoneim said by phone from Omdurman, a city adjoining Khartoum where he has rented a house in an area where he can still hear artillery fire but is no longer in the midst of clashes. The conflict has brought Sudan’s stagnant economy to its knees, blocking much trade and transport, hampering farming, halting many salary payments, and causing vast damage to infrastructure. The country now has to draw on what meager resources are left to support an internally displaced population which, when those made homeless by previous conflict are included, reaches nearly 7.1 million, more than any other in the world.
Aid workers expect that more of those who had paid rent or lodged for free when they fled the capital will end up in collective shelters as their funds dry up. “We are hospitable but people are handling more than they can,” said Omar Othman, a government official in Kassala, where he said rents had risen sharply. “If the war continues, these people came with small savings so they will need shelter.”Host communities in areas little affected by fighting have been reeling from the knock-on effects of the war. In Rabak, about 275km (170 miles) south of Khartoum, many young people had been trying to make a living in factories or as day laborers in the capital before the war broke out. “For the locals the labor market is paralyzed. Khartoum is the engine for the rest of the country,” said resident Fadeel Omer. Displaced people in the city unable to afford rent were lodged in shelters with crumbling walls and scorpions, and several malnourished children had been dying daily in the city hospital, he said. Large groups had headed back to Khartoum. In Merowe, 340km north of Khartoum, salaried workers and farmers have seen their income dry up, and local volunteers are struggling to provide basic meals to the displaced, some of whom were sleeping on sofas or tables, said lawyer and local volunteer Izdihar Jumaa. Damage to infrastructure in the three regions worst affected by the war – Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan – could be $60 billion, or 10 percent of its total value, said Ibrahim Al-Badawi, Sudan’s former finance minister and an economics researcher. He estimated that the gross domestic product could plunge 20 percent this year. “If the war stops, Sudan would need emergency economic support of $5-10 billion to revive the economy,” he told Reuters in an interview in Dubai. “The continuation of the war will lead to the destruction of the Sudanese economy and the state.”Since the start of the war, prices for many products soared. The currency has fallen as low as 900 Sudanese pounds to the dollar on the black market in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, a hub for government officials and aid workers, from about 560 pounds in April. A continuing lifeline for many is remittances sent by Sudanese living abroad, said Omar Khalil, who fled to Port Sudan from Omdurman in June with his wife and three children. “They are the ones bearing this burden on their shoulders,” he said. “This cannot last forever.” Khalil and his wife, both former art teachers, now make ice cream at home to sell to supermarkets. International aid efforts for Sudan are severely underfunded, with less than 25 percent of the $2.6 billion required for this year received by mid-August, according to the United Nations. Aid workers say relief operations have also been hindered by government red tape and the breakdown of services and logistics based in the capital. Authorities are nervous about relief operations by local volunteers and want the displaced to be housed in camps, but there are no funds to run them on the scale that would be needed, said Will Carter of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Across Sudan, some displaced people who had been renting were being evicted, though most were still lodging with extended families or strangers, he said. “We’re going to have an impasse – people squatting will be destitute within these cities,” he added.

Iraq wants to overcome dispute with Kuwait over maritime waterway, PM says
Reuters/September 27, 2023
Kuwait’s prime minister has described the Iraqi court ruling on the waterway as containing “historical fallacies,” calling on Iraq to take “concrete, decisive and urgent measures” to address it. Iraq is keen to overcome a dispute with Kuwait on maritime navigation in the Khor Abdullah waterway between the two countries, Iraq’s prime minister said on Tuesday. In comments carried by Iraq’s state news agency, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said the country wants a solution that does not conflict with its constitution or with international law. Iraq respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kuwait and is committed to all its bilateral agreements with countries and to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, a statement from the prime minister’s media office said on Tuesday after Al-Sudani’s meeting with the state’s administration coalition. “Such crises are resolved through understanding and reliance on rationality, away from the language of emotion and convulsive populist statements that only produce more crises and tension,” Al-Sudani was quoted as telling his cabinet. Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled this month that a bilateral agreement regulating navigation in the waterway was unconstitutional. The court said the law ratifying the accord should have been approved by two-thirds of parliament. The countries’ shared land border was demarcated by the United Nations in 1993 after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, but it did not cover the length of their maritime boundaries. This was left for the two oil producers to resolve. A maritime border agreement between the two nations was reached in 2012 and ratified by each of their legislative bodies in 2013. Kuwait’s prime minister has described the Iraqi court ruling on the waterway as containing “historical fallacies,” calling on Iraq to take “concrete, decisive and urgent measures” to address it.

Syria slams US ‘terrorist war’ in UN address
Arab News/September 26, 2023
NEW YORK: The US launching a “terrorist war” in Syria has led to “creative American chaos” and destabilization in the Middle East, Syria’s vice foreign minister told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Bassam Sabbagh, who previously served as Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, condemned the policies of successive US administrations “to serve geopolitical and selfish interests” and “work to create and exaggerate problems to ignite tensions and then conflicts.”The world is facing myriad challenges, he said, listing “devastating conflicts,” the “continued occupation of some peoples,” “sharp rises in poverty and hunger” and “economic blockade policies.”Confronting these challenges requires global cooperation among all UN member states and the building of a “new multipolar world order that achieves a new balance,” he added. Sabbagh accused the US of misinterpreting the UN Charter to “justify attacks committed against the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other countries.”This led to Washington spending “billions of dollars” to “demolish and destroy development achievements (in Syria) made over decades,” he said. The emergence of terrorist groups, including Daesh and Al-Nusra Front, can also be blamed on “creative American chaos,” Sabbagh added. “The basic principle affirmed by the UN Charter is respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of member states,” he said. “Therefore, any acquisition of the lands of others by force is an occupation, and any illegal military presence on the territory of any sovereign state is a clear violation of this charter.”He named Israel, the US and Turkiye as the chief exponents of territory violation, saying the activities of the former in Palestine are “consistent with the destructive role” played by the latter two in Syria.Damascus “spares no effort” in “standing alongside the brotherly Palestinian people,” Sabbagh said, defining the issue as “the central Arab cause.”
He condemned Israel’s occupation of “Arab lands in Palestine and the Syrian Golan” since 1967, demanding that it end “immediately and unconditionally.”As part of its occupation, Israel is committing the “most heinous forms of grave and systematic violations” of the UN Charter, Sabbagh said. Israel’s actions this year have pushed the region to “unprecedented levels of tension and instability,” he added, naming a litany of policies targeting Palestinians as well as Syrians in the Golan Heights. “This is evident in it (Israel) committing more massacres, the escalation of its military aggression, and its repeated missile bombing of Syrian cities, ports and civil airports, which endangered civilian lives and the safety of civil aviation, and hampered United Nations humanitarian operations,” he said. “This is in addition to its continuation of policies of settlement, Judaization, sieges, arbitrary arrest, forced displacement and racial discrimination in the occupied Arab territories.” Sabbagh also denounced the “continued support for such practices and silence about them” by some countries that “declare themselves protectors of international humanitarian law.”He repeated Syria’s support for an independent Palestinian state along the June 1967 borders and the return of the Golan Heights to Syria, “no matter how long it takes.”
He accused the US of causing $115 billion in losses to Syria’s oil sector since 2011. This “systematic and exposed American plunder of the Syrian people’s national wealth” also included gas and wheat, and has led to deprivation and human suffering in an “unprecedented manner,” Sabbagh said. He urged the UN to meet its obligation in holding the US accountable for the “looted money,” demanding its return to Syria. As well as siphoning wealth, Sabbagh accused both the US and Turkiye of “infiltrating” Syrian territory and launching an illegal military presence as part of a “flagrant interference” in his country’s internal affairs. Syria is seeking an end to the “unilateral coercive measures” of the US and its European allies, including sanctions on the “public health, banking and energy sectors.”These “illegal, immoral and inhumane” measures have only “exacerbated the suffering of Syrians wherever they are, given that their impact includes third countries,” Sabbagh said.
The devastating earthquakes in Syria this year added “a new burden and suffering” for its people, he added, saying Damascus has tried to open all aid tracks for the arrival of humanitarian relief. “Syria was one of the most stable and prosperous countries in the world. It was achieving food self-sufficiency and providing all the basic necessities of life for its people in a way that was rarely seen in the region,” Sabbagh said. “However, the terrorist war launched against it since 2011 changed this situation and caused a significant humanitarian crisis.”He thanked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for launching a flash funding appeal in the wake of the earthquakes, but called on international donors to fulfill their funding pledges in order to improve the humanitarian situation. Sabbagh declared Syria’s readiness to “welcome the return of every Syrian refugee who left their home, village or city” since 2011, including citizens “who were forced by terrorist organizations to seek refuge. “I call on Western countries that ask refugees not to return to their homeland to stop these inhumane practices.”He hailed the achievements of the Arab League Summit in Jeddah in May, which “restored to the collective Arab position its shine, and to Arab joint action its momentum. “The Arab countries affirmed their support for Syria in preserving its sovereignty … and overcoming the difficult circumstances it’s going through.”Sabbagh also expressed Syria’s “support and solidarity” with Libya and Morocco in the wake of the recent natural disasters in the two North African countries. He ended his address by calling for the UNGA to be used as a platform for “dialogue and public diplomacy,” not for “leveling false accusations and launching hostile campaigns.”Working to translate the UNGA slogan of “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity” into “real and serious action” will ensure no one is left behind, Sabbagh said.

25 dead as Syria govt loyalists clash with Kurdish-led forces
Agence France Presse/September 26, 2023
Fighters loyal to the Syrian government have clashed with Kurdish-led forces in a mainly Arab district of eastern Syria, leaving 25 people dead in two days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who are backed by Washington, said Tuesday they had "driven out the regime gunmen who had infiltrated the Dheiban area" of Deir Ezzor province in the clashes which erupted on Monday.

US captures Islamic State official in Syria as fighting renews among allies
Jared Szuba/Al-Monitor/September 26, 2023
US troops captured a senior Islamic State (IS) official during a helicopter raid in northern Syria on Saturday, the latest in a steady drumbeat of such operations in the wake of the multinational campaign to eradicate the terror group.American forces captured Abu Halil al-Fad’ani, alleged by US Central Command to be an “operational and facilitation official” for IS in Syria whom the United States “assessed to have relationships throughout the IS network in the region.” The military said no civilians were harmed in the raid. "The capture of ISIS officials like al-Fad’ani increases our ability to locate, target and remove terrorists from the battlefield,” CENTCOM spokesperson Lt. Col. Troy Garlock said in a press release. “USCENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS.” A spokesperson for CENTCOM did not reply by publication time to Al-Monitor’s inquiry as to the precise location of the operation. US forces control a truncated sliver of northeast Syria in support of Kurdish-led local fighters, while Syrian opposition factions backed by Turkey control the country’s northwest. US special forces have occasionally launched helicopter-borne raids into opposition-held northwest Syria to capture or kill IS officials deemed to be high-value targets. News of the latest raid comes as the US military’s mission in Syria faces the prospect of pressure due to renewed fighting between the US-backed Kurdish-led militias and members of local tribes in eastern Deir Ezzor province. On Monday, fighters took control of the villages of Dhiban and al-Tayyanah in rural Arab-majority Deir Ezzor, according to local reports. In a statement, US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they had encircled “two armed groups affiliated with the security apparatus of the Syrian regime,” which it said had “infiltrated Dhiban town under cover of random artillery shelling coming from al-Mayadeen,” a town controlled by Syrian government forces on the far side of the Euphrates. The SDF claimed a number of members of the alleged armed groups were killed and injured before being evacuated back across the river to government-held areas. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said some of the fighters had crossed from government-held areas. Those claims could not be independently verified by Al-Monitor. The SDF blamed pro-government forces for shelling in Dhiban, which it said injured a number of residents and damaged property. The Hajin branch of the Deir Ezzor Military Council, which falls under the authority of the SDF, imposed a curfew in response to the fighting on Monday. Late last month, the SDF sought to tamp down spreading skirmishes in Dhiban and other areas after the Kurdish-led force arrested the head of the subordinate Deir Ezzor Military Council, Rashid Abu Khawla, on allegations of corruption, mismanaging security and conspiring with hostile parties. Despite calls from prominent tribal officials for the US military to negotiate a new arrangement for their continued participation in the coalition, American military officials took a back seat to the State Department's role in the negotiations, Al-Monitor previously reported. SDF chief Mazlum Abdi previously told Al-Monitor that his forces would investigate allegations of abuses against the local population. Mazlum also said his side would issue a general amnesty for those involved in the fighting. The violence between the SDF and Arab fighters has renewed concerns that other parties to Syria's civil war could launch attacks on US positions in a bid to pressure them to leave the country. Key bases housing hundreds of US troops east of the Euphrates River in the oil-rich province lie several kilometers from potentially hostile pro-Bashar al-Assad forces, including militias backed by Iran. Washington’s NATO ally Turkey joined Assad’s backers Russia and Iran for the first time last year to call on the United States to withdraw its contingent from Syria, which American officials insist will remain for the foreseeable future to keep pressure on the remnants of IS. "We’re kind of at the last phase of the operation where we’re trying to set conditions now for normalizing relationships that will allow pressure to remain on ISIS," the top US Air Force commander for the Middle East told reporters in Abu Dhabi last week. Mazlum was quoted on Sunday by Al Majalla as saying his side had not seen "any signs of a solution with Damascus."The SDF has publicly suggested it would agree to become a part of the Syrian armed forces in exchange for a degree of autonomy for the Kurdish-controlled region. Assad has vowed to retake all Syrian territory but remains unable to do so with US and Turkish forces present.

Erdogan says Turkey will keep promise on Sweden's NATO bid if US approves F-16s
Ezgi Akin/Al-Monitor/September 26, 2023
ANKARA — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey will keep its promise to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession if Washington keeps its pledges to Ankara, including on the sale of the F-16 fighter jets. Speaking on his way back from Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan bordering Turkey, Erdogan recalled that his Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his American counterpart Antony Blinken discussed Sweden's NATO accession during their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit last Friday in New York. “My hope is that if they stay true to their word, our parliament will also stay true to its word and will act accordingly,” Erdogan told journalists onboard without elaborating, according to the Turkish presidency’s Communication Directorate. Asked whether he was referring to the pending Turkish bid to buy new F-16 jets and modernization kits from the United States, Erdogan said, “They are linking Sweden to the F-16s. … In turn, we say if you have a Congress, we have a parliament.” Turkey had requested in October 2021 to buy $20 billion worth of F-16 fighter jets and nearly 80 modernization kits. High-ranking members of Congress have objected to this sale, but could soften their position if Ankara ratifies Sweden’s bid, improves relations with Greece and maintains distance from Russia. Turkey and Hungary are the sole holdouts that haven’t ratified Sweden’s NATO accession after the Nordic nation formally applied to join the transatlantic alliance last year.
Under a trilateral statement with Turkey, Sweden and NATO on the sidelines of the alliance’s Vilnius summit in July, Erdogan greenlit his country’s ratification, but postponed it to October, when the Turkish Parliament returns from a summer recess. Earlier this month, he also added further uncertainty to the issue, saying it was for the Turkish Parliament to decide whether to greenlight Sweden’s application and not for himself to decide. Erdogan’s ruling coalition has a parliamentary majority. The president said he would also have further discussions with his coalition partners on the issue. “We cannot bypass our parliament. … Our parliament follows every development about this issue in detail. It is at the discretion of our parliament when it will make that decision and what the decision will be,” he said. Erdogan also took a swipe at the former head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who stepped down from the post last week after being indicted in an alleged bribery scheme involving Egypt. Recalling the senator's opposition to the sale of the new jet fighters to Turkey, Erdogan said, “Menendez's exclusion would give us an advantage, but the F-16 issue is not something that solely depends only on Menendez.”

QatarEnergy, BP, others snap up Egyptian oil and gas concessions
Jack Dutton/Al-Monitor/September 26, 2023
Egypt immediately awarded four blocks of an oil and gas exploration bid round in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta to Italy’s Eni, the UK’s BP, QatarEnergy and Russia’s Zarubezhneft, the Egyptian Petroleum Ministry announced on Tuesday. Eni will take two of the blocks and a third in a coalition with BP and QatarEnergy, while Zarubezhneft will take the fourth. On Monday the ministry opened international bidding for exploration of 23 open blocks with a Feb. 25 deadline, Reuters reported. It includes areas in Egypt’s Western Desert, two in the Eastern Desert, seven in the Gulf of Suez and four in the Red Sea, the ministry said. Egypt is looking to position itself as a regional energy hub, increasing collaboration in this field with actors including the European Union and Israel. A game-changing step in the country's energy ambitions came in 2015 when ENI discovered Zohr, an offshore natural gas site in the Egyptian Exclusive Economic Zone that is the largest field in Eastern Mediterranean region, holding an estimated of 850 billion cubic meters of gas. In March, QatarEnergy acquired 40% of an offshore exploration area off the Egyptian coast, in the Mediterranean's North Maraca marine area. ExonMobil owns the remaining 60% of the site. On Aug. 28, BP pledged to invest $3.5 billion in gas exploration in Egypt over the next three years. The following day, Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla said that his government plans to invest $1.5 billion into drilling 35 natural gas wells by 2025. Since the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022, due to Western sanctions on Russia over the invasion, European countries have been reducing their reliance on Russian gas and have turned to countries including Egypt to help make up the shortfall. However, with the world transitioning away from fossil fuels, Egypt will likely face some challenges down the line. Recently, a national shortage of fuel oil and lack of renewable power meant that there were frequent power cuts across Egypt in the summer.

South Korea Warns Kim His Regime Would End If It Uses Nukes
(Bloomberg)/September 26, 2023
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned North Korea its regime would be ended by Seoul and Washington if it used nuclear weapons, in a speech marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of his country’s military. Yoon celebrated the long-standing alliance with the US to mark Armed Forces Day and agreements he reached with President Joe Biden to strengthen consultations on the deployment of American nuclear assets to the region to deter Kim Jong Un from trying to launch a strike. “If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response from the ROK-US alliance,” Yoon said Tuesday, referring to his country by its formal name. He also slammed Pyongyang for its pursuit of atomic arms, saying its people are paying the price. “The North Korean regime’s obsession with the development of nuclear weapons aggravates the North Korean people’s suffering,” Yoon said. “The North Korean regime must clearly realize that nuclear weapons will never be able to guarantee its security.”South Korea held its first military parade in a decade in Seoul to mark the anniversary, which featured thousands of troops and its latest military hardware such as domestically made long-range surface-to-air missiles. KF-21 fighter jets, next-generation light-armed helicopters that were supposed to be featured at an airshow beforehand, were grounded due to bad weather. The parade began in the afternoon in the streets of a central Seoul area that has been home to massive protests and gatherings of hundreds of thousands to watch events such as World Cup soccer on big screen video monitors. Yoon was seen walking down a main road with the defense minister and other officials. The event included displays of drones from a newly established unmanned aerial vehicle command and highlighted the country’s 70-year military alliance with the US. Festivities at the airbase in the morning were attended by more than 10,000 people, including veterans of the 1950-1953 Korean War from 19 different countries and their families. South Korea has held a parade every five years to mark its Armed Forces Day but it was not conducted under then President Moon Jae-in in 2018 as he sought rapprochement with North Korea. Pyongyang, for its part, has held several parades under Kim Jong Un, showing off its latest nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike South Korea and deliver warheads to the US mainland. Biden was dealt a stronger hand in Asia when Yoon became South Korea’s president more than a year ago, backing hawkish security policies that brought Seoul closer to Tokyo while looking to diminish bickering between the neighbors. When Biden met Yoon at the White House in April, the US leader said a North Korean nuclear attack on the US and its allies would be the end of Kim’s regime as he announced new efforts with South Korea to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear buildup. North Korea has denounced Yoon as a “puppet traitor” and stepped up its provocations in displays of anger at joint military drills between the US and South Korea.

Historic Iraq-Iran railway link ready in 18 months -Iraq transport adviser
BAGHDAD (Reuters)/September 26, 2023
Iraq hopes to complete its first railway link with neighbouring Iran within 18 months, largely to help facilitate the transport of millions of pilgrims that visit Shi'ite Muslim shrines in Iraq each year, a senior transport adviser said. The roughly 30-kilometre (18.64 miles) line will run between Iraq's southern city of Basra and the Iranian border-town of Shalamja, linking nations with ties that have deepened since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, after which pro-Tehran Shi'ite Muslim parties enhanced their influence in Baghdad. "We should see the trains moving in about 18 months because it's a small distance," Nasser Al-Asadi, transport advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, told Reuters. He added the government also planned a metro link between Karbala and Najaf, the seat of Iraqi Shi'ite clergy. Iraq and Iran fought a devastating eight-year war in the 1980s, during which much of the border area was heavily mined. But since the U.S. toppled former leader Saddam Hussein in 2003, Shi'ite Muslim parties close to Tehran have become key political players in Baghdad and economic and religious ties between both nations have expanded. Asadi said work was underway to clear the area before ground work could begin on the rail link. Regularly, the world's largest annual religious gathering of up to 20 million mostly Shi'ite Muslims takes part in the 'Arbaeen' pilgrimage to Iraq's holy city of Karbala to commemorate the slaying of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Many pilgrims walk hundreds of kilometres from the Iran-Iraq border to Karbala, or drive there in overcrowded cars and buses, and deadly accidents have been frequent. Asadi said the rail link would reduce the risk of such accidents and allow Iraq to benefit financially from ticket sales. The projects are part of major transport-sector development planned by the government, including an overhaul of Baghdad's international airport and a 1,200-kilometre (745.65-mile) rail, road and services project from a major commodities port in the south to its border with Turkey.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 26-27/2023
Israel must not roll the dice when it comes to nuclear threats
Jacob Nagel/ Israel Hayom/September 26, 2023
If Israel's rejection of allowing enrichment in Saudi Arabia means the derailment of normalization deals, so be it. Israel should seek a deal that overcomes the problematic Saudi demand for an independent fuel cycle on the one hand, and minimizes the damage from the nuclear understandings with Iran on the other hand.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held important meetings with President Joe Biden this week, as well as with other world leaders. But the highlight will be his speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Assuming this will be like previous speeches, there is definitely something to look forward to.
The direct Iranian threat to Israel through its nuclear program and the continued development of long-range and accurate missiles and drones that carry heavy weaponry, the indirect threat coming from its proxies in the Middle East (Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and sometimes even the Palestinian Authority), and the continuing threat from Iran to the free world through its support and encouragement of terrorism, will all undoubtedly take center stage during Netanyahu’s speech at the UN. He will also emphasize the wish for normalization with Saudi Arabia and other countries, the multi-front threats in the north, Gaza, and the West Bank, and the need to tone things down in the (legitimate) internal debate in Israel.
We must not confuse the world regarding what Israel’s real priorities are. The prime minister should put the onus on the US and Europe in light of the continued aggressive and negative behavior of the ayatollahs in Iran. The listeners must clearly understand that the effort to prevent a terrible agreement with Iran, even in the form of the recent “understandings,” has not been relegated by Israel to a low priority. However justifiable and important, the push toward Israel-Saudi-US normalization should in no way come at the expense of the acute need to stop Iran. The meeting with the president and Mohammed bin Salman’s interview made it clear that the reported suspension of talks with the Saudis was false.
Parts of the agreements with Saudi Arabia are linked to dealing with the Iranian nuclear program and must not be separated from it; on the contrary, proper linkage will lead to a win-win.
Despite the reports about (legitimate) continued attempts at persuasion, led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, it seems that the discourse regarding a narrow defense pact between the US and Israel has lost momentum, mainly due to a lack of American (White House) motivation to promote an alliance at this time, which is a very good thing, as I detailed in previous articles. The drawbacks of such an alliance far outweigh the advantages.
Riyadh’s main demands for an agreement with the US are security guarantees, based on a defense agreement along the lines of the Asian model, mainly against Iranian aggression; advanced weaponry deals; a free trade zone, and more. These are demands that Israel can accept, assuming its qualitative military edge (QME) is maintained.
On the other hand, the demands for “civilian nuclear power” are problematic. The demand is for a full nuclear fuel cycle capability, on Saudi soil. The “civilian justification” for such a request is the tapping of natural resources, i.e., mining uranium and transforming it into “yellowcake,” converting it to gas (UF6), and enriching it to the level necessary to produce nuclear fuel rods for power reactors (generating electricity), for local use and export.
Make no mistake, as many do: The Saudis have not asked for nuclear power reactors for the sake of generating electricity, as the Chinese, for example, are offering them. That would not pose a problem, if the reactors and their fuel sources came from the outside the kingdom and were taken out after they were used (like the reactor that Russia supplied Iran at Bushehr). The problem is that the Saudis seek a full fuel cycle on their soil, including enrichment.
The Saudis are ready for any supervision and control measures imposed by the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency to prevent a future shift to a military program. Despite all the reports about experts from all sides seeking and finding ways to “square the circle,” I recommend continuing with the old approach of not rolling the dice when it comes to nuclear capabilities. MBS’ interview in which he said that the kingdom will have nuclear weapons if Iran gets them, validates this approach. We should ignore irresponsible reports saying Israel is developing “hidden capabilities” that in the future will prevent Saudi Arabia from shifting to a military nuclear program. Even if someone will prove that such verification methods have a high success rate, there is no way of knowing how things unfold. If Israel’s rejection of allowing enrichment means the derailment of normalization deals, so be it. Israel should not give in; this is essential.
Accepting the Saudi nuclear demands will of course serve as a basis for demands by other countries in the region such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. It will launch a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
The Palestinian issue, mainly pushed by the US, has gained traction in recent weeks and Israel will probably make concessions. This issue, which I am less concerned about because it is not an existential threat like the nuclear issue, must not become the main issue, and calculated risks can be taken to achieve normalization.
Netanyahu should remind the world that the Iranians have violated every treaty and agreement that they have signed and despite this, the recent understandings struck with Tehran (which the Americans deny) grant the regime the permission to continue to enrich to 60% purity, which constitutes about 98% of the required path for full military enrichment level. Iran’s brilliant negotiating tactics resulted in having the US pay it so that it doesn’t do something it really had no plans on doing: namely, enrichment to 90% and beyond.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to develop and produce advanced centrifuges and has been constructing an extensive underground site at Natanz, which will be used for the enrichment and manufacturing of centrifuges. It continues developing and maintaining ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and continues to move forward in the weaponization efforts, the only thing that stands in the way of them having full nuclear capability.
Accordingly, it’s clear where the Saudi demands are coming from. They are based on the Iran nuclear deal, and on the absurd “understandings.” The US is, of course, denying there is any linkage between the shameful surrender and the transfer of billions of dollars to release prisoners (this is not only six billion dollars; the true amount will reach around $50 billion), and the agreements on the nuclear issue that bypassed the need for congressional approval, which would have never been granted.
At the same time, the mass-murdering Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been welcomed at the UN General Assembly, humiliating Biden with declarations of his complete control over the use of the surrender funds, in complete contradiction of American statements. The Iranians are expelling a third of the IAEA inspectors, failing to answer questions about open cases, attacking American interests in the gulf, violating human rights, killing women and girls in Iran, continuing its massive support of Russia and sending advanced weapons, while the US is giving a de facto approval to increase Iranian oil sales to China in record high volumes.
The prime minister should make it clear in his speech what Israel’s priorities are.
It is very important to promote a Saudi-American-Israeli deal that will include normalization, without a defense alliance between Israel and the US, but at the same time, it is possible to overcome the problematic Saudi demand for an independent fuel cycle and to minimize the damage from the understandings with Iran by triggering the snap-back mechanism in the UN that would reimpose the Security Council sanctions on the regime (including a total prohibition on enriching uranium on Iranian soil). This will pull the rug out from under Saudi Arabia when it comes to its demands, will allow the normalization deals to move forward without a nuclear threat from Saudi Arabia, and will create an opening for joint action against the Iranian nuclear program. Those who have suggested that Israel can assure MBS that the Jewish state will remove the Iranian nuclear threat and therefore he should not seek his own nuclear capabilities are assigning Israel the duties of a superpower, despite there being a possible scenario in which Israel will ultimately have to carry out the task on its own.
*Brigadier General (res.) Jacob Nagel is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a visiting professor at the Technion’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. He previously served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security advisor and head of the National Security Council (acting). FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Why is Hamas Sending Palestinians to Die at the Border with Israel?
Khaled Abu Toameh/ Gatestone Institute./September 26, 2023
During the past few days, the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas has again been encouraging Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza Strip to march toward the border with Israel and attack Israelis.
The latest attacks on Israelis by Hamas, however, appear to be less linked to Israel....
Hamas, instead of directing its grievances toward Qatar [for cutting grants to Hamas], responds by sending young Palestinian men to throw explosive devices, Molotov cocktails, and stones at Israeli soldiers along the border with the Gaza Strip.
Apparently, Hamas is hoping that the "Zionist enemy" (Israel) will come to its rescue by putting pressure on Qatar not to cut the financial grant. With many of its leaders sitting in Doha, Hamas must be rather fearful about coming out in public against Qatar.
The official said that civil servants, including senior Hamas officials, have not received full salaries because of the reduction in the financial grant. Hamas, in other words, is admitting that the renewed violence is not linked to Jerusalem or the Temple Mount, but to its leaders' desire to obtain more funds from Qatar.
The real blackmail, however, is coming from Hamas. First, Hamas is implying that if it doesn't get the funds, it will accuse the Qataris of collaboration with Israel, harming the Gulf state's image in the Arab and Islamic countries. Second, Hamas is openly stating that it will continue to send Palestinians to attack Israeli soldiers near the border if the Qataris do not resume the financial aid.
Will the international community call out the Hamas leaders for sending young men to their deaths for the sake of the money being withheld? Based on experience: not likely Far more likely is that we will hear loud and bitter condemnations of Israel for "opening fire" at Palestinian protesters along the border with the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is now sending Palestinians in Gaza to attack Israelis on the border with Israel with explosive devices, Molotov cocktails, and stones, because Hamas is apparently upset that its friends in Qatar have reduced their monthly financial grant. Pictured: A bomb thrown by Hamas terrorists explodes in the Gaza Strip, near the border fence with Israel, during a riot on September 23, 2023. (Photo by Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)
During the past few days, the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas has again been encouraging Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza Strip to march toward the border with Israel and attack Israelis. Similar protests in 2018, also encouraged and sponsored by Hamas, resulted in the death or injury of hundreds of Palestinians.
Those anti-Israel protests lasted for a year and ended without any noticeable achievements for Hamas. Israel agreed to ease some restrictions on the Gaza Strip, such as expanding the fishing zone three miles and allowing more raw material to be imported for civilian factories.
The latest attacks on Israelis by Hamas, however, appear to be less linked to Israel, which has taken a series of measures over the past two years to boost the economy and improve the living conditions of the Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Those measures include issuing work permits in Israel for more than 17,000 Palestinians.
Hamas is now sending Palestinians to get killed or injured on the border with Israel because it is apparently upset with its friends in Qatar, the Gulf state that has long been supporting the Muslim Brotherhood organization, of which Hamas is an off-shoot. Hamas is evidently taken aback because Qatar has reduced the monthly financial grant it has been providing to the Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip over the past five years.
Here is what is happening. An Arab country (Qatar) decides that it wants to channel fewer funds to a Palestinian terrorist group (Hamas). Hamas, instead of directing its grievances toward Qatar, responds by sending young Palestinian men to throw explosive devices, Molotov cocktails, and stones at Israeli soldiers along the border with the Gaza Strip. Apparently, Hamas is hoping that the "Zionist enemy" (Israel) will come to its rescue by putting pressure on Qatar not to cut the financial grant. With many of its leaders sitting in Doha, Hamas must be rather fearful about coming out in public against Qatar.
Salama Marouf, director of the Hamas-controlled Media Office, confirmed that the Qataris have reduced the financial grant by a few million dollars. He said that in addition to Qatar's reduction of the grant, the financial deficit in Hamas's budget is also attributed to a decline in revenues that has exacerbated the economic crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Although Qatar has not offered any explanation regarding its decision to reduce the financial grant, a source close to Hamas told the BBC that the move was connected to the Qataris' dissatisfaction Hamas' recent effort to restore its relations with President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria. Shortly after the eruption of the civil war in Syria in 2011, the Syrian authorities expelled Hamas leaders and closed their offices in Damascus for failing to side with the Assad regime against the rebel groups.
Relations between Qatar and Syria have been strained since the beginning of the civil war in Syria. Then, Qatar backed rebel groups aiming to overthrow the Assad regime. According to reports, Qatar allegedly provided weapons, ammunition and financial support to rebel groups, such as the Free Syrian Army and Army of Conquest.
Hamas and other terror groups have attempted to portray the renewed protests near the border with Israel as a response to Israeli "provocations," specifically visits by Jews to the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. However, the visits, which have been taking place for several years, have not affected Muslims' access to the holy site.
A Hamas security official in the Gaza Strip admitted that the attacks on Israeli soldiers along the border are due to differences between Hamas and Qatar regarding the Qatari grant. The official said that civil servants, including senior Hamas officials, have not received full salaries because of the reduction in the financial grant. Hamas, in other words, is admitting that the renewed violence is not linked to Jerusalem or the Temple Mount, but to its leaders' desire to obtain more funds from Qatar.
Commenting on the renewed attacks on Israeli soldiers along the border, former Palestinian Authority peace negotiator and cabinet minister Hassan Asfour lashed out at Hamas for turning the protests into a "poisoned weapon" against the people of the Gaza Strip. Asfour accused Hamas and its leaders, "who are sitting in hotels in Doha," of exploiting the issue of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to send young men to clash with the Israeli army.
While Hamas leaders are evidently afraid to criticize Qatar, Hamas-affiliated journalist Rajab al-Madhoun accused Qatar of joining up with Israel to maintain the relative calm that has prevailed in the Gaza Strip over the past two years. Al-Madhoun quoted unnamed Hamas sources as saying that Qatar, at the behest of Israel, was withholding the funds to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to exert pressure on them to refrain from carrying out terror attacks against Israel, especially during the Jewish holidays in September and October.
The real blackmail, however, is coming from Hamas. First, Hamas is implying that if it doesn't get the funds, it will accuse the Qataris of collaboration with Israel, harming the Gulf state's image in the Arab and Islamic countries. Second, Hamas is openly stating that it will continue to send Palestinians to attack Israeli soldiers near the border if the Qataris do not resume the financial aid.
The controversy surrounding the financial grant is yet another example of how Palestinian leaders (in this instance Hamas) regularly sacrifice their young people for the sake of money. The leaders of Hamas, most of whom lead comfortable lives in Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon, appear to care little about Palestinians getting killed or injured while attacking Israeli troops. What they do appear to care about is how to enrich themselves and their families and continue the Jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel. They also appear not to care if thousands of Palestinian workers are unable to enter Israel every day for work because of the violence along the border.
Will the international community call out the Hamas leaders for sending young men to their deaths for the sake of the money being withheld? Based on experience: not likely Far more likely is that we will hear loud and bitter condemnations of Israel for "opening fire" at Palestinian protesters along the border with the Gaza Strip.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
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US presidential election 2024: Is it time to acknowledge Trump as the Republican candidate?
Kerry Boyd Anderson/Arab News/September 26, 2023
The Republican process of choosing a nominee for president is well underway, with a second televised debate scheduled for Wednesday. However, former President Donald Trump currently is far ahead in polls, raising the question of whether it is time to just acknowledge that he will be the party’s nominee. A core part of US elections is the selection of each political party’s nominee. The Republican and Democratic parties, as well as some smaller parties, hold elections to choose a candidate for many political positions, including president. The specific rules and procedures vary by party and state. For the presidential nominee, most states hold “primary” votes to choose the candidate, while a few hold a “caucus.” If a party has a president in the White House who can run for a second term, then usually it is assumed that the president will be the party’s nominee. President Joe Biden technically faces two competitors, but he is highly likely to be the Democratic nominee. The Republican Party is holding a primary contest to choose its nominee, following the usual pattern for the party that is out of power. However, one of the Republican candidates is a former president — a historically unusual situation.
At the start of 2023, Trump and DeSantis were much closer in the polls, but DeSantis has lost ground since then
Kerry Boyd Anderson
Currently, Trump is far ahead of his competitors. In national primary polls, Trump polls at 55.2 percent, according to the FiveThirtyEight model. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a distant second at 13.2 percent, followed by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 7.4 percent, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at 5 percent and all other candidates polling lower. At the start of 2023, Trump and DeSantis were much closer in the polls, but DeSantis has lost ground since then. Another useful indicator is the number and type of endorsements that a candidate receives from other party leaders. FiveThirtyEight’s endorsement tracker (which counts and weighs endorsements) shows Trump far ahead with 360 endorsement points compared to 43 for DeSantis and all other candidates at 16 or fewer. Fundraising is another important indicator but is very difficult to accurately track. Candidates’ principal campaign committees are legally required to disclose fundraising numbers. Trump’s campaign reported that it had raised $17.7 million between April 1 and June 30, behind DeSantis’ $20.1 million. However, Trump and other candidates receive financial support from multiple other sources that are not reported in the same way, which makes it difficult to know which candidate is truly ahead in fundraising. Trump has significant fundraising abilities, but media reports suggest that he also is spending a lot, including in response to four legal indictments against him.
Trump’s huge lead in polls and endorsements, combined with his massive name recognition and fundraising apparatus, put him far ahead in the race for the Republican nomination. The reality is that he is very likely to be the Republican nominee.
It remains possible that Republicans who do not want Trump to run again for president might rally around one competitor
Kerry Boyd Anderson
Indeed, Trump is behaving as though he does not have serious competition — and he might be right. He skipped the first official debate among Republican candidates, opting to do an interview with right-wing media figure Tucker Carlson instead. He also plans to skip the second debate; instead, he plans to give a speech to auto workers in Detroit.
Nonetheless, Trump faces some potential risks on the road to nomination. His legal problems might drain some of his funds and distract him from campaigning. It is very unusual for a leading candidate to face serious indictments in the middle of a campaign. However, while some of Trump’s opponents might have hoped that his legal woes would undermine support for him, the Republican base is so far undeterred. Polls suggest that, while a slight majority of Americans support the indictments, a strong majority of Republicans do not. Conservative media tends to either downplay the legal accusations against Trump or portray them as part of an unjust conspiracy against him. Trump’s legal problems are more likely to be a challenge in a general election against Biden than in a primary election against other Republicans.
While Trump has a devoted base of supporters and high approval ratings among Republicans, he also has opponents within the party. He easily leads in terms of major endorsements, but he also faces some high-profile Republican critics. Trump’s recent comments on abortion have been more moderate than many religious conservatives support, which might chip away at his support among that cohort; but on the other hand they have previously supported him despite a lifestyle and comments that are far from a Christian ideal.
It remains possible that Republicans who do not want Trump to run again for president might rally around one competitor, such as DeSantis or Haley. However, they would have to do so soon in order to have time to build support, endorsements and fundraising for one candidate to match or beat Trump’s figures. A few months ago, DeSantis seemed the likely choice, but some Republicans who object to Trump also object to DeSantis and he has not performed well in national campaigning.
The Republican race for the presidential nomination is not over yet — but almost. If Republicans rally around one competitor to rival Trump and if other risks damage the support for Trump and increase concerns about his electability, then the race for the nomination might heat up. If that does not happen soon, Americans are very likely to face a Trump-Biden rematch.
*Kerry Boyd Anderson is a writer and political risk consultant with more than 18 years of experience as a professional analyst of international security issues and Middle East political and business risk. Her previous positions include deputy director for advisory with Oxford Analytica. X: @KBAresearch

Universities should provide an education, not just professional training
Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/September 26, 2023
Universities are today facing a balancing act, in which they need to provide a complete education that includes both professional degrees and the liberal arts, while at the same time adapting to new trends.
Universities have to stay relevant in a changing world. In response to student demand, they are investing heavily in schools of engineering, medicine and business, but at the same time positions that become vacant in the humanities and the liberal arts are not filled in a hurry. Universities are at risk of failing in their original mission to educate and are instead becoming institutions of professional training.
Meanwhile, some employers are favoring people with experience and abilities over degrees and qualifications. In Kendall Square, the epicenter of the biotech industry in Cambridge, Massachusetts, recruiters hang around Starbucks trying to poach employees because the field is progressing faster than universities can teach it. On the US’ West Coast, companies like Google are also favoring experience over qualifications in an industry set up mainly by university dropouts. Some banks will employ humanities graduates for their communications and analytical skills, but it is not the norm.
A good example of a mixed education is that of Charles Darwin, who had a firm grounding in the classics and exposure to medicine. It is an illustration of what we are losing in universities when we neglect the humanities and liberal arts to concentrate on what are labeled as STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and math.
Today’s trend toward STEM is driven by student demand, which itself is driven by the need to find a good job
Consider the influence of a book like Darwin’s “On The Origin of Species” and his theory of evolution. This theory undoubtedly had a great impact on defining the development of ideas in the 19th and 20th centuries. It provoked discussions about the relationship between religion and science, instilled an element of doubt in religious beliefs and ensured a shift toward the sciences that shaped our world. Darwin is also one of the main reasons we now care about nature, which we see as a series of interconnected elements, and about protecting the environment. Countless movements emerged from such a view of nature.
The theory of evolution also triggered fierce theological controversies, with several schisms resulting from the still ongoing creation versus evolution debate. The Natural History Museum in London, heavily influenced by Darwinism, has a central hall fit for a cathedral and visiting children are marked for life when they enter and are immediately confronted with the spectacular skeleton of a blue whale. They are then taken through various rooms that represent the different stages of evolution, almost exactly like they would be led through the stations of the cross in a real cathedral.
Several philosophical and political movements also emerged from Darwin’s theory of evolution. The welfare state has its roots in the application of the theory of evolution to societies. It was an offshoot of Darwin’s idea that the survival of the nation depended on improving the health and living standards of its population. Amid rising nationalism, the fittest nations were thus more likely to survive and prevail; this was also behind the idea of compulsory military service.
One could go on forever about Darwin’s influence, but the main point is that it was Darwin’s classical education, including knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin texts, that gave him the breadth of mind that included critical thinking combined with creativity, as well as empathy and ethical reasoning. It was Darwin’s solid foundation in the study of the classics and his later study of medicine that helped produce one of the great ideas that shape our world.
We have an imbalance in the development of universities in favor of STEM and professional degrees
The influence of classical authors such as Virgil, Horace and Aristotle were the foundation of his scientific theories. Particularly important was Aristotle’s ideas on natural history and “the great chain of being,” which classified and arranged living organisms in a hierarchical order within an interconnected natural order. Today’s trend toward STEM is driven by student demand, which itself is driven by the need to find a good job after graduation. Families go into debt to give their children an education that will secure their future careers. In addition to STEM, there are professional degrees like law or business that symbolize upward social mobility.
Suburban mothers traditionally want their boys to become doctors, engineers, lawyers or businessmen and their girls to marry one of those, or vice versa. The belief is that there is no career path in the humanities: What would you do with a degree in literature or history other than become a school teacher? Because of this increased demand, especially after the financial crisis of 2008, we have an imbalance in the development of universities in favor of STEM and professional degrees over the humanities and liberal arts.
The result is that, instead of an education that gives students the ability to think critically and the imagination to understand the context and the big picture, with its ethical, moral or even theological implications, they now tend to provide the equivalent of professional training.
The ability to think critically, to analyze and communicate ideas, to perform convincingly with charm and kindness, and to captivate and impress your interlocutor gives you power and imagination and can best be acquired through a theater performance. The analytical skills and powers of persuasion acquired from such training can serve any profession. A good novel can be life-changing and inspire a major change of worldview — it can be as disruptive and stimulating as a new scientific development.
Most importantly, the new trends in innovation and entrepreneurship require perspective and imagination, which are talents gained through the humanities and liberal arts. They are as important as the technical training required to execute projects.
While, in a technology-driven world, universities are fully justified in strengthening both STEM and professional disciplines, this should not be at the expense of providing a well-rounded education.
*Nadim Shehadi is a Lebanese economist. X: @Confusezeus

Israel Normalization Negotiations and the U.S.-Saudi Defense Relationship
Grant Rumley/The Washington Institute/September 26/ 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/122605/122605/
Brief Analysis
In discussing a potential deal with Israel, Riyadh is pressing Washington for expedited access to more advanced U.S. weaponry.
The contours of an emerging U.S.-brokered normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia are already in public view. Riyadh mainly seeks U.S. support for its civilian nuclear program, broader trade access (possibly including a free trade accord), still-undefined concessions on the Palestinian issue, and an array of U.S. defense commitments and upgrades, including some form of security guarantee and access to more advanced military equipment and streamlined procurement. Washington has plenty to offer here—as previous normalization agreements have shown—provided certain conditions are met.
Better Weapons, and Faster
The longstanding Saudi request for more advanced U.S. weaponry is straightforward: Riyadh is unlikely to accept anything less than what other Arab countries were pledged in return for normalizing relations with Israel. Yet its request for expedited access is more complicated: in addition to the perils of navigating the U.S. government’s byzantine arms exporting bureaucracy, almost every U.S. customer faces long wait times, production complications, and delivery delays. In the normalization discussions, Riyadh will try to use its leverage to make Washington honor its previous pledges to remedy this conundrum, and to gain access to the most-advanced U.S. systems.
The request for premium arms may reflect frustration in Riyadh at the contrast between sales in the Trump and Biden administrations. During Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 2017, he announced billions in previous and potential future weapons contracts for the kingdom. While he was president, the United States approved Saudi purchases of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, helicopters, missiles for its Patriot air defense systems, air-to-ground munitions, antitank missiles, radar systems, and frigates. Many of these have yet to be delivered, and some have suffered production delays or supply-chain constraints.
In contrast, Saudi Arabia has been limited to primarily defensive systems during the Biden administration, such as missile interceptors for its Patriots. The notable exceptions are a 2021 approval to purchase 280 air-to-air missiles for $650 million (which the administration still framed as defensive because they would address airborne threats from Yemen) and a recent approval to purchase spare parts for existing armored vehicles.
Riyadh likely sees the normalization talks as a potentially useful conduit to resume purchases of more offensive platforms. Specifically, it will not want to receive anything short of what the United Arab Emirates was pledged in return for its normalization accord with Israel: the F-35 joint strike fighter, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and an assortment of precision-guided missiles. Together, these would have cost the UAE $23 billion and made it the first Arab country to operate both the F-35 and the MQ-9. However, the Trump administration failed to complete the sale before President Biden’s inauguration, and the deal broke down after the new administration—which initially approved it—reportedly discovered the construction of a clandestine Chinese military facility in the Abu Dhabi port complex. The facility, coupled with the UAE’s close ties to China in other sectors, particularly telecommunications, derailed the country’s bid to take possession of some of the most-advanced U.S. weapons systems. The Emirati example is on the minds of Saudi and U.S. officials alike: one Democratic senator acknowledged last year that Riyadh would likely seek the F-35 as well, but that certain safeguards regarding China would have to be in place first.
Indeed, Riyadh will face two major hurdles to accessing such advanced U.S. weaponry. The first is its relationship with China. Although these ties are perhaps not as extensive as the UAE’s, the kingdom maintains a close relationship with China in sensitive commercial sectors such as telecommunications, has purchased advanced weaponry from Beijing, and has also reportedly cooperated with China on drone and ballistic missile production. Recently, an agreement between a U.S. and Saudi defense firm was reportedly called off due to the latter’s relationship with sanctioned Chinese defense firms, and Saudi crown prince Muhammad bin Salman issued a thinly veiled warning that the kingdom could deepen arms purchases from China. For its part, Beijing is eager to expand its arms exports in the lucrative Gulf markets, and its defense ties with the Saudis could indeed increase rapidly if Riyadh so desires.
The second hurdle is the U.S. requirement to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME) in any sale to the region. Previously, Israeli agreements with Egypt and Jordan led to advanced U.S. arms sales to each country, albeit with subsequent restrictions on armament capabilities. The focal point here is likely to be the F-35 and associated variants and capabilities, given the fighter’s status and the fact that no country in the region besides Israel operates it. Since Israel desires a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, one can reasonably assume that it will temper its QME concerns slightly, though the details of the accompanying sales will still have to be ironed out pursuant to U.S. regulations.
Finding a streamlined weapons delivery mechanism, however, poses significant challenges. The Saudis are in the same spot as just about every U.S. defense customer: the Ukraine war has revealed the many issues plaguing defense industrial bases around the world, including America’s. While production is ramping up in some sectors, in others it is still lagging. The Saudis are no strangers to this predicament: while one of the platforms they have reportedly requested in exchange for normalization is the THAAD, they in fact already purchased the THAAD in 2018 and are simply waiting for delivery (which some sources indicate could take place around 2026). All U.S. customers are experiencing delays in acquiring weaponry, and even the closest partners feel the effects of the slow delivery process, including Israel, which is awaiting KC-46 refuelers, and Taiwan, which has a nearly $19 billion backlog. Absent significant domestic investments in upgrading the U.S. defense industrial base and reforms to the Foreign Military Sales process, all customers will continue to experience long delivery times.
Navigating this process is easier with legislative support, since Congress can hold up or complicate certain funding for arms sales and enact measures for oversight on weapons use. Although Congress has never successfully blocked an arms sale outright, it has come close, and Saudi Arabia was the target.
In 2019, the Trump administration invoked an emergency procedure to proceed with an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the UAE without congressional notification. When a bipartisan Senate vote advanced a resolution blocking the sale, Trump vetoed it and pushed the sale forward.
At other times, members of Congress have delayed or complicated arms sales. In the Middle East, Turkey’s desire to expand and upgrade its F-16 fleet—often viewed as part of an arrangement to garner Ankara’s support for Sweden’s NATO accession—has been subjected to holds in the Senate. Hence, if the Biden administration pledges to streamline weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, it would require coordination with defense firms as well as a concerted effort by the White House and Riyadh to improve the kingdom’s image on Capitol Hill and demonstrate why such sales remain in America’s national interest.
This is an area where the United States has some leverage in the normalization negotiations. One of the components of Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” plan is to build an independent defense industrial base. Like many countries that rely on foreign arms suppliers, the kingdom has long chafed at the turbulence and delays associated with purchasing largely from a single supplier, in this case, the United States. Developing a defense industrial base is a way to attain greater independence, boost economic growth, and potentially create another tool for wielding influence abroad through arms exports. Vision 2030 includes plans to increase spending on domestic military equipment from 2 percent to 50 percent of overall spending, with the state-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) tasked with overseeing that effort. Riyadh has also announced that starting in 2024, foreign defense firms and other companies will be required to have regional headquarters in the kingdom.
Theoretically, an enthusiastic U.S. administration and supportive Congress could prove a boon to the kingdom’s defense modernization efforts. Efforts like the Red Sands facility, where the two countries jointly test counter-drone technology, can boost Saudi defense expertise. Another option would be granting Saudi Arabia the status of a major non-NATO ally (MNNA). While this designation is neither a treaty nor a defense commitment, a country so designated significantly upgrades its defense relationship with the United States. MNNA countries are eligible for priority access to U.S. excess defense articles (EDA), can host U.S. war reserve stockpiles, and are able to conduct “cooperative research and development projects on defense equipment and munitions” with U.S. firms. Other countries in the region designated as MNNAs include Egypt, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, and Tunisia. This step could elevate the U.S.-Saudi defense relationship and provide additional resources for the kingdom’s efforts to establish its own defense industrial base.
Conclusion
Rightly or not, countries that purchase primarily from the United States tend to view the types of platforms they are offered as a barometer of their overall defense relationship with Washington. Washington’s defense partnership with Saudi Arabia has become one of its most polarizing defense relationships, and the resultant turbulence has fueled Riyadh’s desire to look elsewhere. A U.S.-brokered normalization agreement with Israel would provide an avenue for course-correcting this relationship in a time of great power competition, while ensuring that Washington remains Riyadh’s security partner of choice for years to come.
*Grant Rumley is the Goldberger Fellow in The Washington Institute’s Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East. From 2018 to 2021, he served as an advisor for Middle East policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/israel-normalization-negotiations-and-us-saudi-defense-relationship

مفاوضات التطبيع مع إسرائيل والعلاقة الدفاعية الأمريكية السعودية/غرانت روملي/معهد واشنطن/26 أيلول/2023
Israel Normalization Negotiations and the U.S.-Saudi Defense Relationship/Grant Rumley/The Washington Institute/September 26/ 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/122605/122605/
In discussing a potential deal with Israel, Riyadh is pressing Washington for expedited access to more advanced U.S. weaponry.