LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

April 08/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.april08.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

Jesus Droves Sellers and Money Changers Out Of the Temple Saying: Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 02/13-25:"The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables.
Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’
His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone."

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander
First Letter of Peter 02/01-10:"Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner’, and ‘A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
 

Arizona Woman Claims Full Healing After Venerating Relics of St. Charbelمار شربل يشفي سيدة عمياء في أريزونا الأميركية
Aleteia/April o6/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/04/06/%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%84-%D9%8A%D8%B4%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3/
Physicians cannot explain why her eyesight was fully restored after prayers to St. Charbel Makhlouf of Lebanon
When Dafne Gutierrez, a 30-year-old blind mother of three, stood in front of a priest for a blessing, she felt there was someone standing on her right. Her family told her later that the priest was standing on her left side. “There was somebody [on the right] touching me,” she told her sister-in-law, who responded, “But there was nobody close to you.” “And ever since then I was feeling my body differently,” Gutierrez said in an interview Monday. She was at St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in Phoenix on a Saturday in mid-January for the visit of the relics of the St. Charbel Makhlouf, which were being brought around to many of the 36 Maronite parishes in the United States. Over the next couple of days her husband noticed something unusual about her. He asked her what the matter was. “You seem different,” he said. Before dawn on Monday morning, she complained to him that it felt like her eyes were burning. Her husband noticed a smell in the room that resembled meat burning. She tried opening her eyes. “I couldn’t see clearly, but I could see like shadows. I told him, ‘I can see you,’” she recalled. Gutierrez had lived with Arnold Chiari malformation since she was 13. Two years ago she lost vision in her left eye, and then in her right eye last year. Doctors inserted a shunt to try to relieve the pressure, but that failed. Her headaches were “vise-like,” and she was afflicted with tinnitus, vomiting, dizziness and seizures. She was approved to go to a rehab/nursing facility because she couldn’t care for her children. Her sister-in-law heard that the relics were coming and that St. Charbel had healed a blind boy in Mexico. Gutierrez is neither Maronite nor Lebanese, but as a woman of faith she prayed for the saint’s intercession. He’s had a great track record of healing, even after his death in 1898. Not only was her vision restored, it was restored to 20/20, said Dr. Anne Borik, one of several physicians to examine Gutierrez. “The pressure in her brain got to the point where it caused damage to the optic nerve. After this happened, the optic nerve looked completely normal, with no signs of damage or atrophy,” she said in an interview “There’s nothing in the medical literature that anything like this had ever happened.” She said that a long-standing damaged optic nerve causing blindness “does not just all of a sudden look normal in two days with complete restoration of vision.” According to the medical committee of which she was a member, she said, “We have no medical explanation and therefore believe this to be a miraculous healing through the intercession of St. Charbel.”“God gave me my vision back for a reason,” Gutierrez said. “I want to be able to help others. I give testimony wherever I can because it’s important for people to know that God does exist and he does hear us. I tell people, ‘Don’t lose the faith. And the most important of all is confession, which brings you healing.’”
**John Burger is news editor for Aleteia’s English edition.
http://aleteia.org/2016/04/05/arizona-woman-claims-restoration-of-eyesight-after-venerating-relics-of-lebanese-saint/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1459829065

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 08/16
Lebanon is not in a political stalemate, the changes are too quick to grasp/Ibrahim Halawi/Middle East Eye/Thursday 07 April 2016
A new Russian role in Lebanon/Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/April/16
History will judge Obama’s foreign policy legacy as one of failure/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
The third generation of terrorist organizations/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
Savage wolves assassinate Hammadi/Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
Nationwide lack of essential medicines in South Sudan/Dr. Joanne Liu/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
King Salman’s strategic Cairo visit/Mohammed Fahad al-Harthi/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
ISIS descends on Jordan’s border, activates suicides. Jordanian command post in Daraa/DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 07/16
An angel called Gabriel: The priest who stands with the Jewish State/Ilse Posselt/Jerusalem Post/April 07/16
Syria-Russia-Iran axis likely to liberate ISIS heartland, not Western backed forces/Ariel Ben Solomon/Jerusalem Post/April 07/16
Dr. Yassir al-Burhami, Egypt’s premiere Salafi Says Persecuted Coptic Christians Are “Criminal, Aggressive, and Oppressive”/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 07/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on April 08/16

Geagea Says Hizbullah, Iran Don't Want Aoun as President, Urges Hariri to Endorse General's Bid
Samaha in Detention at Military Court ahead of Final Verdict
Gemayel Wants President Who 'Can Protect Country from Region's Sectarian Conflict'
U.S. Embassy Beirut Hosts Waste-to-Energy Expert Thomas Henderson

Report: Hundreds of Lebanese Firms, Personalities Involved in 'Panama Papers' Leak
Cabinet Fails to Reach Agreement on State Security despite 'Lengthy' Discussions

D.A. Samaha in Detention at Military Court ahead of Final Verdict

Security Forces Arrest Syrian IS Member Planning Attacks against Military
ISF Frees Siblings Abducted in Hadath, Detains Australian Mother, TV Crew
Security Forces Arrest Syrian IS Member Planning Attacks against MilitaryState Prosecutor Defends Judiciary in Recent Scandals
Report: Judge Saqr to Reopen Investigations in the Zaarour File
Lebanon is not in a political stalemate, the changes are too quick to grasp
A new Russian role in Lebanon?
Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/April/16

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 08/16

King Salman Arrives in Egypt for Five-Day Visit
Czechs Scrap Program to Resettle Iraqi Christians
U.S., Turkey Want to Push IS further East in Syria
Kerry Urges Iran to Help End Wars in Yemen, Syria
Syria Peace Talks Pushed back to April 13, Says U.N.
U.N. Says Planning 'Major' Medical Evacuation from Besieged Syrian Towns
Erdogan Threatens not to Implement Migrant Deal if EU Fails on its Pledges
250 Syrians Missing after IS Attack East of Damascus
Turkey, Israel Hold New Reconciliation Talks, Says Davutoglu
Israeli Minister Says Government at Risk of Collapse
Libya Unity Government Bolsters Control despite Setback

Links From Jihad Watch Site for April 08/16
Egypt: Muslim cleric calls Christians “criminal, aggressive, and oppressive”.
Raymond Ibrahim: Revive Clear Thinking and the Jihad Dies.

Russian prof becomes “fascinated with Islam,” takes family to the Islamic State.
Sweden: Muslim bought components for Boston-style pressure cooker bomb.
Paris: Police arrest “lonewolf gunman” after shots fired.
SFSU students shout down Jerusalem Mayor: “Long live the intifada!”.
Islamic State kidnaps over 300 Syrian workers.
Greek government fears jihad attack if mosque not built in Athens.
Video: Mark Steyn Blisters Leftists Who Mocked Victims of Muslim Rape Gangs.
UK: Muslim quotes Qur’an to justify killing Muslim shopkeeper.
Swiss school exempts Muslim boys from shaking hands with female teachers.
Robert Spencer, FP: Perps of ‘Far-Right’ Hit-and-Run on Muslim Woman Were Muslims.
Bangladesh: Muslims screaming “Allahu akbar” hack to death campaigner for secularism.
Relax: DHS says airport workers suspected of terror ties have now all been vetted.

Geagea Says Hizbullah, Iran Don't Want Aoun as President, Urges Hariri to Endorse General's Bid
Naharnet/April 07/16/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed Thursday that Hizbullah and Iran do not want the election of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun as president, while calling on al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri to back Aoun's nomination in order to “embarrass” Hizbullah. “General Aoun is less committed to March 8 than (Marada Movement chief) MP Suleiman Franjieh and his stances are flexible, while MP Suleiman Franjieh's stances have been clear until the moment,” said Geagea during an interview on LBCI TV to explain why he has decided to endorse the nomination of Aoun – his long-time Christian rival. “It was not possible to achieve a certain breakthrough in the presidential issue without endorsing General Aoun's nomination,” he added. “If Saad Hariri wants to make a heroic act for Lebanon, let him endorse General Aoun's nomination,” Geagea said. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and the FPM, Hizbullah and some of their allies have been boycotting the electoral sessions. Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his suggestion was rejected by the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Hizbullah and the FPM, as well as Geagea, have argued that Aoun is more eligible than Franjieh to become president given the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community. “It is not my goal to embarrass Hariri over the presidential issue. If Saad Hariri nominates Aoun, he would embarrass Hizbullah and leave it with no other options,” Geagea told LBCI. Noting that Aoun's election as president would be a “major victory” for him, the LF leader emphasized that If Hizbullah was “serious” about supporting Aoun's nomination, “the General would have been in Baabda today not in Rabieh.” “Aoun is not attending the sessions because he is negotiating with Hizbullah over a certain issue,” Geagea revealed. He also underlined that there is no “Saudi veto” against Aoun and that Hariri has stressed in an interview that he “does not have a veto on Aoun.” Turning to the Tehran's stance, Geagea added: “The Iranian ambassador told Western diplomats to ask the Vatican to convince Aoun to withdraw his nomination so that the presidential election can be held.” “Hizbullah does not want a serious president because it does not want a strong republic,” Geagea went on to say.

Samaha in Detention at Military Court ahead of Final Verdict
Naharnet/April 07/16/The lawyers of former Information Minister Michel Samaha gave their closing arguments at the Military Court of Cassation on Thursday and the judge asked for a two-day deadline to issue his verdict in the terrorism case.
“Samaha will remain in detention at the Military Court pending the final verdict,” said his main lawyer Sakhr Hashem. “The verdict will be issued today or tomorrow and we hope it satisfies everybody,” the attorney told reporters gathered outside the court following the final trial session. Samaha, 67, was arrested in August 2012 and charged with attempting to carry out "terrorist acts" over allegations that he and Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk transported explosives and planned attacks and assassinations of political and religious figures in Lebanon. Samaha was sentenced in May 2015 to four-and-half years in prison, but in June the Military Court of Cassation nullified the verdict and ordered a retrial. In January this year, he was released on bail from prison under a controversial ruling that has sent shockwaves across the country. Under the 150 million Lebanese pounds ($100,000) bail conditions, Samaha was barred from leaving the country for at least one year, speaking to the press or using social media.

Gemayel Wants President Who 'Can Protect Country from Region's Sectarian Conflict'
Naharnet/April 07/16/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Thursday called for the election of a “neutral president” who has the ability to “protect the country from the ongoing sectarian conflict in the region.”In an interview with the Russian RT Arabic TV network, Gemayel stressed the need for the election of a president “who can neutralize Lebanon from the conflict and who can gather the Lebanese in a serious dialogue that protects the country.”The president must be “competent and must have a comprehensive vision that can pull the country out” of its crises, Gemayel added. “Kataeb endorses candidates based on their programs and their vision for Lebanon,” the party's chief underlined. “The party believes that Lebanon's diverse social structure necessitates keeping it away from the ongoing conflict and the president must be neutral and must be able to say 'No' to any attempt to drag the country into it,” Gemayel added. “The two candidates who are proposed today do not enjoy these characteristics,” he said, referring to Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh. Gemayel added that the next president must have the ability to “protect the country from the ongoing sectarian conflict in the region, which might spread to Lebanon at any given moment.”“He must be modernistic and competent and he must enjoy progressive ideas and an economic, social and national vision that can pull Lebanon out of its difficult situation,” Kataeb's chief added. Rejecting the claim that “a neutral president is a weak president,” Gemayel noted that “the president's strength does not come from his leadership of a party, but rather from his personality and his ability to stand in the face of the challenges.”A president would also be strong through “the support he would receive from popular parties that would give him the needed cover and strength to be able to govern,” Gemayel went on to say.

U.S. Embassy Beirut Hosts Waste-to-Energy Expert Thomas Henderson
Naharnet/April 07/16/The United States Embassy Beirut is hosting waste-to-energy expert Thomas Henderson as part of activities for Earth Day and in support of the Global Sustainable Development Goals, the embassy said on Thursday. “Henderson is in Lebanon from April 6 to 10 to share his 37 years of experience in the field of waste management with government, municipality, and civil society representatives. He will also deliver a lecture for industrial engineering students at Lebanese American University,” the embassy said in a statement. Earlier on Thursday, Henderson and embassy representatives met with Sidon municipal chief Mohammed al-Saoudi. “They discussed waste management concerns and how the municipality has approached finding waste management solutions. The discussion was followed by a tour at the waste management plant,” the embassy said. The visit comes in the wake of an unprecedented waste disposal crisis that gripped Lebanon for around eight months and saw streets, forests and riverbeds overflow with garbage. Last month, workers began removing tons of accumulated rubbish under a controversial government plan that involves a two-month reopening of the Naameh landfill and the setting up of two new landfills in Khalde and Bourj Hammoud. The Sidon waste management plant will also be used to treat part of Beirut's garbage. Civil society activists and environmental experts have lashed out at the new plan, warning that it does nothing to allay their ecological concerns. "The idea of taking the rubbish and dumping it in landfills -- this is how the crisis started in the first place. So they (authorities) are basically ignoring the crisis of the past eight months, pretending like nothing happened, and taking us back to square one," environmental and industrial engineer Ziad Abi Chaker has said. He explained that Lebanon could in fact recycle up to 90 percent of its waste.
But "there's a corruption dimension ... There is no huge money to be made out of recycling. The only way to make crazy money is with another corrupt contract," Abi Chaker said. "The cherry on the cake is that after the four years, we will have incineration -- I don't know if you can call this a plan, because it certainly has nothing to do with planning."Activists from the "You Stink" movement and other groups have also demanded long-term solutions, including investment in recycling and the transfer of waste management duties to municipalities. The movement has in recent months led a string of protests that has seen thousands of people taking to the streets, accusing the government of mismanagement and corruption, and even calling for its downfall. Below is Thomas Henderson's biography, as provided by the U.S. embassy: “Mr. Thomas Henderson is principal management consultant at Arcadis, the leading global design & consultancy firm for natural and built assets. He has more than 37 years of experience in developing and managing large Waste-To-Energy (WTE) facilities and integrated solid waste management systems. Mr. Henderson has served as a project manager on WTE facilities with more than 10,500 tons per day (tpd) of waste and 307 MW of electrical generating capacity. These facilities have successfully combusted more than 62 million tons of municipal solid waste over a combined 72 years of operation. His experience includes the planning, design, permitting, financing, construction, startup, and operation of projects including transfer stations, landfills, material recovery facilities and waste-to-energy facilities.”

Report: Hundreds of Lebanese Firms, Personalities Involved in 'Panama Papers' Leak
Naharnet/April 07/16/Hundreds of Lebanese companies and personalities are involved in the scandal of the so-called Panama Papers document leak, al-Liwaa daily reported on Thursday. The newspaper said the Lebanese entities and individuals mentioned in the documents in the "Panama Papers" leak are 468 companies, 30 customers, 131 beneficiaries and 624 shareholders. But al-Liwaa did not name any of them. The scandal erupted last week after a worldwide media probe into 11.5 million inside documents from a Panama law firm. The year-long investigation, published on Sunday, revealed the hidden offshore assets of some 140 political figures, including 12 current or former heads of state, as well as celebrities, sports stars and dozens of billionaires. The revelations from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have shone a light on the murky world of offshore tax dealings which, though legal, can he used to hide assets, launder the proceeds of crime or conceal politically inconvenient wealth.

Cabinet Fails to Reach Agreement on State Security despite 'Lengthy' Discussions
Naharnet/April 07/16/The cabinet held a regular session on Thursday to address various pending affairs with the contentious issue of general-directorate of state security taking up the majority of discussions. Information Minister Ramzi Jreij told reporters following the nearly four-hour meeting that “lengthy” talks were held over the issue, but no agreement was reached over it. The discussions took up so much of the allotted time of the cabinet session that no other issue could be addressed, he said from the Grand Serail. The government will convene again on Tuesday. Following the meeting, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said: “It appears that the sect of state security agency is more important than the government, airport security, the Internal Security Forces, and General Security.”Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil remarked: “We want to resolve the issue of general-directorate of state security, but the government got stuck.”In March, the Kataeb Party’s three representatives in the cabinet in addition to Minister Michel Pharaon warned that they would take action if the government fails to resolve the “marginalization” of the general-directorate of state security. "The siege laid on this agency is unjustified," said Pharaon.Economy Minister Alain Hakim, of the Kataeb Party, had said at the time that all Christians reject the neglect of the department. The general-directorate of state security had sent a bill to the cabinet on March 20, 2014 asking for the creation of a six-member leadership authority under which the director-general, Maj. Gen. George Qaraa, a Catholic, would have the casting vote. But the former secretary general of the cabinet, Suhail Bouji, paralyzed the plan by saying that the approval of the bill requires a draft-law to be adopted by the parliament unlike a decision made by the Shura Council, the report said. Media reports quoted a ministerial source as saying that Bouji’s move likely came as a result of his friendship with the deputy director-general, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Tufaili.

D.A. Samaha in Detention at Military Court ahead of Final Verdict
Naharnet/April 07/16/The lawyers of former Information Minister Michel Samaha gave their closing arguments at the Military Court of Cassation on Thursday and the judge asked for a two-day deadline to issue his verdict in the terrorism case. “Samaha will remain in detention at the Military Court pending the final verdict,” said his main lawyer Sakhr Hashem. “The verdict will be issued today or tomorrow and we hope it satisfies everybody,” the attorney told reporters gathered outside the court following the final trial session. Samaha, 67, was arrested in August 2012 and charged with attempting to carry out "terrorist acts" over allegations that he and Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk transported explosives and planned attacks and assassinations of political and religious figures in Lebanon. Samaha was sentenced in May 2015 to four-and-half years in prison, but in June the Military Court of Cassation nullified the verdict and ordered a retrial. In January this year, he was released on bail from prison under a controversial ruling that has sent shockwaves across the country. Under the 150 million Lebanese pounds ($100,000) bail conditions, Samaha was barred from leaving the country for at least one year, speaking to the press or using social media.

Security Forces Arrest Syrian IS Member Planning Attacks against Military
Naharnet/April 07/16/The General Security agency announced on Thursday the arrest of a Syrian member of the extremist Islamic State group. The suspect, identified as M.F., confessed to taking part in clashes against the army in the northeastern border town of Arsal in 2014. He was part of an armed group headed by Syrian Aa.H., known as “Abou al-Qaaqaa,” said the General Security statement. M.F. confessed to belonging to the IS and receiving training on how to make and plant explosives. The suspect revealed during interrogations that he plotted and prepared to carry out a suicide attack against an army checkpoint. This plot was being planned by a Lebanese identified as Aa.S., also known as “Abou al-Khattab al-Lubnani,” a leading member of the IS in Syria's Raqa city, which is a stronghold of the terrorist group. Over the past months, the army and security forces have arrested scores of terrorists and suspected terrorists linked to the armed groups involved in the conflict in Syria.

ISF Frees Siblings Abducted in Hadath, Detains Australian Mother, TV Crew
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/The Internal Security Forces said on Thursday that it has arrested four Australians suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of two siblings south of Beirut a day earlier after the Foreign Ministry in Canberra claimed the detainees were an Australian television crew. The ISF said the four Australians were arrested by the Intelligence Branch on suspicion of involvement in the abduction of Lahala al-Amine, 6, and her four-year-old brother Nouh in Hadath. Later on Thursday, the ISF Intelligence Branch was able to free the two children. "The woman and her two children are in ISF custody after being located in a home in Beirut 24 hours after their kidnapping," a source from Lebanon's interior ministry told AFP. Later in the day, the ISF said the freed toddlers were "handed over to their father, following an authorization from the relevant judicial authorities."The mother of the two children, identified by Australian media as Sally Faulkner, has said their Lebanese father took them for a holiday and then allegedly refused to return them to Australia. "The woman made an agreement with the 60 Minutes program from Channel Nine to come help her recover her children from Lebanon," a security source told AFP. The source said the children had been taken while with their grandmother and there was a plan for them to be removed from Lebanon by boat. A grainy video of the incident released by Lebanon's al-Jadeed television showed the children walking with an older figure, reportedly their grandmother. Several figures jump out of a nearby car and carry the children into the vehicle, which then speeds off. Channel Nine said that the crew had been unreachable for 15 hours but were later tracked down to a Beirut police station and put in contact with Australian consular officials. "It is a relief to know that Australian officials are about to speak to them," a network spokesman told the channel's evening news bulletin. "The crew knew that this was a risk, going to do this story." Earlier in the day, the TV crew's network said the Australians were detained in Lebanon after they filmed a private operation by a child recovery agency involving the children. Australian media named those held as reporter Tara Brown, producer Steven Rice and one or two camera operators. "The Australian mother called the children's father in Lebanon to tell him that she has both children with her," a Lebanese security source told AFP earlier on Thursday. The ISF said on Wednesday that the two children were kidnapped in the area of al-Hadath for family reasons. It did not give further details. According to the state-run National News Agency, three gunmen, who were riding a silver Hyundai, abducted Lahala and Nouh while they were waiting for their school bus with their grandmother on the Hadath-Shweifat road. The kidnappers took away the children after hitting their grandma on the head, it said, adding that the abductors were filming the operation. In a tearful interview last October, the mother told Daily Mail Australia, “It's literally like a living hell.”She said she called and emailed her Lebanese husband daily and had attempted to take legal action. As her money and resources dwindled, the woman asked for the Australian government to step in and also petitioned for Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop to help bring her children to Australia, the Daily Mail said. “But when the government 'did nothing' to help her, Ms. Faulkner is believed to have contacted 60 Minutes who offered to pay for the recovery operation in return for filming it as a story,” the Daily Mail added.

Security Forces Arrest Syrian IS Member Planning Attacks against Military
Naharnet/April 07/16/The General Security agency announced on Thursday the arrest of a Syrian member of the extremist Islamic State group. The suspect, identified as M.F., confessed to taking part in clashes against the army in the northeastern border town of Arsal in 2014. He was part of an armed group headed by Syrian Aa.H., known as “Abou al-Qaaqaa,” said the General Security statement. M.F. confessed to belonging to the IS and receiving training on how to make and plant explosives. The suspect revealed during interrogations that he plotted and prepared to carry out a suicide attack against an army checkpoint. This plot was being planned by a Lebanese identified as Aa.S., also known as “Abou al-Khattab al-Lubnani,” a leading member of the IS in Syria's Raqa city, which is a stronghold of the terrorist group. Over the past months, the army and security forces have arrested scores of terrorists and suspected terrorists linked to the armed groups involved in the conflict in Syria.

State Prosecutor Defends Judiciary in Recent Scandals
Naharnet/April 07/16/State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud has denied claims that the judiciary was covering up for suspects involved in the latest corruption scandals that have rocked the country. “We will not overlook anyone involved (in the cases). Yet we will make sure that our rulings are based on evidence because we don't want to do injustice to anyone,” Hammoud told As Safir daily published on Thursday. The judge denied that he has come under pressure by influential people and stressed “I will not be influenced (by such measures) if they do take place.”“We are determined to complete our investigations and pursue any suspect,” he said. Asked about the slow pace of the probes, Hammoud said: “Some of the issues, such as the illegal internet network, require sensitive technical investigation.” “Some of the suspects are also denying the charges against them, which requires more follow up to unveil the truth,” he said. Over fears that the judiciary would be pressured by some political parties to cover up the crimes, the judge told As Safir that the judicial branch will not conceal information no matter how sensitive the file is and no matter who is involved in the case. “The judiciary will perform its role in an effective manner and will not be subject to potential pressure,” he said. Among the scandals rocking the country are embezzlement in the Internal Security Forces, a ring abusing women, mainly Syrians, as sex slaves, and illegal internet networks. Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat and members of his party have been criticizing the judiciary for its slow investigations into the cases, hinting that it is covering up for influential people.

Report: Judge Saqr to Reopen Investigations in the Zaarour File
Naharnet/April 07/16/Sources close to the State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr stressed on Thursday that the judge will not let any pressure to control the path of investigations that he is leading with regard to the illegal internet stations and the latest incidents that took place at the Zaarour station.“Saqr will not be affected by the political and media hype accompanying the overall work of the judiciary. He will not allow pressure from anyone to control the path of the investigations into the two files he is handling,” a source close to the judge told As Safir daily.
The source added on condition of anonymity that Saqr is leading investigations in the illegal internet network file to find if there are any links between the stations and Israel, in addition to what happened in Zaarour when a group from Ogero was inspecting the equipment and devices in cooperation with the security forces. The source pointed to some political considerations that are trying to overwhelm the judicial standards. He affirmed that judge Saqr will not allow that to affect his course of work and that he continues his efforts as dictated by his convictions.
Investigations conducted so far on whether any contacts with the Israeli enemy were made through the internet stations have shown that none have occurred based on data from the Army Intelligence Branch and the Information of the Internal Security Forces. As for the Zaarour incident, the source pointed out that investigations were complete and did not record any assaults against the security members that have accompanied the Ogero telecommunication company team while they were inspecting the internet stations in the area. In March, reports have said that an Ogero team headed to Zaarour, based on an order by the financial public prosecutor, in order to see if there are illegal internet equipment installed in the area. Reports have said that several armed men have banned the team from carrying out its mission after finding some equipment that may have been illegally installed. Based on the parliamentary media committee's request that has been discussing the file for some time now, Saqr will expand investigations into the case until all details are uncovered leaving no room for confusion or ambiguity with regard to the Zaarour issue. Head of the committee MP Hassan Fadlallah had announced last week that four internet networks in the Dinnyieh highlands in north Lebanon, Ayoun al-Siman, Faqra and Zaarour in Mount Lebanon were found to be unlicensed and illegal.

Lebanon is not in a political stalemate, the changes are too quick to grasp
Ibrahim Halawi/Middle East Eye/Thursday 07 April 2016
The recent regional geopolitical changes fuelled a sudden and rapid political turn in Lebanon that is unravelling in unexpected ways
It is common and justifiable to look at Lebanon today and say: well, the country is in a political deadlock. It is true that Lebanon’s political institutions have been idle, to say the least, with the parliamentary mandate extended unconstitutionally for around two years, and the second anniversary of its presidential vacuum being reached next month.
However, beyond the sluggish institutions, recent regional geopolitical changes fuelled a sudden and rapid political turn in Lebanon that is unravelling in viciously unexpected scenarios. The historically paternal role that Saudi Arabia has played in Lebanon for decades is taking a new form: from a rewarding approach to a disciplinary one.
This shift seems to have started when Lebanon’s foreign minister and head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, refused to support the Arab League resolution condemning Iran’s “provocative acts” and linking Lebanon’s Hezbollah to acts of terror in Bahrain and elsewhere. This was enough of an excuse for Riyadh to start "punishing" Lebanon: halting deals worth $4 billion aimed at equipping and supporting Lebanese security forces, issuing travel warnings for Gulf citizens travelling to Lebanon, firing dozens of Lebanese workers in the Gulf, and declaring Hezbollah a terrorist organisation, among other measures that are yet to be officially announced.
This is only the beginning of a disciplinary route that Saudi Arabia is taking against the Lebanese rulers. No longer can Lebanon stand "neutral" or even pretend to do so. Senior Lebanese politicians have some tricks up their sleeves that are likely to shock the Lebanese political scene and impress the kingdom. The extent to which the masters of politics in Lebanon can reverse the rift with Riyadh is indeed marginal. But the way they are seeking this reverse is worth pondering on.
Political manoeuvres in Lebanon
Since the beginning of the presidential crisis, Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah reiterated that the party’s candidate is Michel Aoun. He justified this seemingly unshakable decision through two claims. The first claim is a moral one: Aoun has been a trustworthy ally and thus it is a moral duty to support his candidacy. The second claim is that Aoun’s party, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), is allegedly the biggest representative of Christian Lebanese. In that sense, Aoun is the most legitimate presidential candidate.
This firm stance was shaken by a political manoeuvre in early February privately set out by Walid Jumblatt and publicly presented by Saad Hariri, ex-prime minister of Lebanon who is close to Riyadh. Unexpectedly, Hariri endorsed Suleiman Frangieh’s candidacy, Bashar al-Assad’s staunch ally in Lebanon. Knowing Frangieh’s pro-Syrian regime stance, he is considered as one of the senior figures in Hezbollah’s political camp. For that matter, Hariri’s move tested the strength of Hezbollah’s alliance with the two Christian leaders, Aoun and Frangieh, and, consequently, threw the ball of presidential elections in Hezbollah’s court.
Since then, the unexpected in Lebanese politics happened. Gutted by Hariri’s initiative, the anti-Hezbollah right-wing Christian leader Samir Geagea dropped from the presidential race in favour of Hezbollah’s own candidate, Michel Aoun, who also happens to be his fierce political rival who he fought a bloody war against not so long ago.
Since Geagea’s move, the political scene was dominated by a series of rapid and sudden political manoeuvres with each politician trying to make the other blink. With the Saudi shift in policy towards Lebanon, the blinking game intensified. Lebanon’s most senior and long-standing Speaker of Parliament and leader of the Amal Movement, Nabih Berri, made the most daring move.
Nabih Berri throws the dice
Berri is one of the most senior politicians in Lebanon. He has been speaker of parliament for over two decades, mastering the art of Lebanese politics. Mastering this art also came after Berri’s experience as a warlord during the Lebanese civil war. His party, the Amal Movement, allied with Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party to fight the Christian right-wing militias.
Today, Berri positions himself strategically vis-à-vis the regional polarisation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. From his position, it became clear that he is not willing to see Aoun become president. Even after Geagea endorsed Aoun, Berri’s ministers were unwilling to go to the parliament and vote Aoun into office. However, Berri did not endorse Frangieh either. Prior to the Saudi shift, it seemed that the presidential vacuum was a better alternative for Berri than both candidates.
This all changed when the next political move came not from local rivals, but from a regional power: Saudi Arabia. When Saudi Arabia started its dangerously impactful disciplinary strategy against Lebanon, Berri saw that a compromise over the presidency could potentially revive diplomatic channels with Saudi Arabia and contain the rift.
On 19 March, during the hype of the Saudi-Lebanese tensions, Berri finally announced his support for Frangieh’s candidacy and, more importantly, urged his ally, Hezbollah, to succumb to the almost-national consensus over Frangieh and withdraw its support for Aoun.
Indeed, Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah responded promptly in a televised speech on 21 March by toning down his support for Aoun and clearly suggesting that his party’s endorsement of Aoun “does not mean that we do not approve of another candidate”.
The next morning, Berri sent the Saudi King Salman a message through the Saudi Ambassador in Lebanon Awad Al-Asiri and announced, in the same interview with Annahar newspaper, that the “presidential fruit has ripened”.
A Saudi-disciplined Lebanon is unattainable.
Despite Berri’s best efforts, his ally, Hezbollah, won’t go too far in its compromise. Frangieh is a trusted ally of Syria’s Assad. Approving his candidacy is not a huge compromise for Hezbollah, so long as it helps tame down Saudi fury. However, this is unlikely to end the rift.
Hezbollah has become one of Saudi Arabia’s most dangerous adversaries in the region. Its military involvement in Syria in particular, its growing influence on Shia communities in the Gulf, its tightening grip on Lebanese affairs, and its blatant support for Houthis in Yemen have fundamentally turned the tides against Saudi Arabia in its several proxy confrontations with Iran.
The soft power that Riyadh has over Lebanon will continue to be utilised. More Lebanese expats in the Gulf will suffer the consequences of this. Lebanon’s real estate, which is considered to be the only growing sector in Lebanon, will be hit hard by the withdrawal of Gulf investments and bank deposits. The Lebanese political elite will soon have to face the difficult truth that Lebanon cannot be side-lined in a game that involves a Lebanese party, Hezbollah, as a major player.
-Ibrahim Halawi is a London-based researcher and a PhD candidate in Politics at Royal Holloway University of London. His research focuses on the theoretical relationship between revolution and counterrevolution, with an emphasis on the Arab uprisings. Also, he co-founded a secular student movement and student-run newspaper in Lebanon. His twitter handle is: @ibrahimhalawi

A new Russian role in Lebanon?
Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/April/16
Following his meeting with Putin, Hariri hopes to steer Russia’s growing regional influence in his favor, at Hezbollah’s expense
A curious fact about Russia’s ongoing military intervention in Syria, which has killed at least 2,000 civilians and routed anti-regime rebels from swathes of strategic terrain in the north of the country since it began in September 2015, has been the absence of a widely-anticipated backlash from the region’s Sunni Arab powers, who support the Syrian opposition politically, financially and militarily. Officials from US President Barack Obama to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned after Moscow’s airstrikes commenced that Russia was on course for another “Afghanistan” in Syria, referring to the Soviet Union’s defeat at the hands of Islamist guerillas in the 1980s. The Russians “risk being perceived by a large part of the Arab community, and Muslim citizens of Russia, as taking part in the Sunni-Shia divide,” said Mogherini.
What actually transpired, however, was very different. In October, with Russian operations fully underway, President Vladimir Putin met the hawkish Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in Sochi, in a cordial encounter that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said “confirmed that Saudi Arabia and Russia have similar goals concerning Syria.” In February 2016, by which time evidence of Russia’s probable war crimes in Syria had been well-established, Bahrain’s King Hamad al-Khalifa even presented Putin with a specially-made ‘sword of victory,’ telling him he hoped it would bring “imminent victory, God willing.”
And, last week, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, head of the predominantly-Sunni Future Movement, paid a visit to Moscow where he was granted an audience with both Lavrov and President Putin himself. For a leader whose political stances are generally seen as in tune with Saudi’s, Hariri’s remarks were noteworthy. In a half-hour interview with Russia’s state-funded RT network, Hariri said Moscow and Riyadh shared a “vision” for Syria. Brushing aside differences between the two “on the issue of Bashar al-Assad,” he stressed it was the “endgame” that mattered, saying, “I believe that we should not look at the details today, but we should look a little bit further down the line, and I think everybody’s going to be happy.”
Perhaps more significant still, at least for the Lebanese audience, was Hariri’s comment after meeting Lavrov that, “We value the large role played by Russia in the region, and we look for you to have a role in Lebanon too.” Back in Beirut, pundits scrambled to try and divine the meaning of this remark, and of Hariri’s visit overall. Some were quick to declare it a blow for Hezbollah; a successful effort by Hariri to drive a wedge between Moscow and the Party of God’s Iranian backers, building on purported tensions between the two Assad allies regarding the future of Syria. Political analyst Ali al-Amin, for instance, painted a picture of a Russia, having secured its vital interests in Syria, now moving to patch things up with its Gulf Arab and Western partners, pressing toward a political solution with little regard for any potentially competing Iranian agenda. Hezbollah, in Amin’s reading, today faces a “choice [between] submission to what the American-Russian Accord decides, or an exit from Syria with nothing but losses.”
Others wondered whether Hariri was trying to win, or consolidate, Russian support for his declared presidential candidate, Sleiman Franjieh – support that one newspaper claims has already been privately expressed. Certainly, Hariri himself said following his Lavrov meeting that he had told the foreign minister “the highest priority for me [regarding Lebanon] is electing a president,” a sentiment he has repeated since returning to Beirut. Amin’s report further claimed, based on anonymous sourcing, that Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov gave a “message” to Iran last month “that blocking the presidential election in Lebanon is no longer acceptable.”
The reality is a rather diluted blend of the two interpretations, according to a source close to Hariri who told NOW he talked several times to the former prime minister during his Moscow visit, and who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Number one, it was a fact-finding mission,” said the source. Hariri’s view of regional developments, he explained, is that “the Iranians are no longer the sole player [on the pro-regime side] in Syria.” Instead, they have been supplanted by Russia, and “the Russian role in Syria will translate itself in Lebanon.” Thus Hariri, like his Saudi allies, is exploring whether this is a development that can be steered in his favor.
“It boils down to [that] we’d rather discuss things with the Russians than the Iranians,” the source told NOW. “Now that the Russians are acquiring a kind of upper hand in politics, why not, instead of alienating them and opposing them, why not manipulate the Russian positioning to our [advantage]? In this sense, yes, Hariri would like to negotiate with the Russians, and he would like to see the Russians playing a more aggressive role in pushing back the Iranians and helping things evolve in a positive way in Lebanon.” A “more aggressive” regional role is by no means something to which the Russian president would be averse, according to Anna Borshchevskaya, Russia specialist and Ira Weiner Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“Putin, for his part, is certainly looking to increase his influence in the Middle East, and this includes Lebanon,” Borshchevskaya told NOW. Though Lebanon may not be a top regional priority for Moscow, it does present at least three potential attractions: access to the Mediterranean Sea, which Putin may eye for his naval ambitions; untapped natural gas reserves, in which Russia has already shown interest, signing a memorandum of understanding with then-Energy Minister Gebran Bassil (now foreign minister) in 2013; and a construction industry that may have a principal hand in rebuilding Syria, if and when the war eventually subsides.
However, Borshchevskaya continued, there is no guarantee a more assertive Russian stance in Lebanon would work to Hariri’s advantage. For one thing, despite its positive relations with Israel, Russia has also forged a meaningful and enduring relationship with Hezbollah.
“The Muslim Brotherhood is officially designated as a terrorist organization in Russia. Hezbollah is not,” Borshchevskaya told NOW. “There have [also] been some visits from Hezbollah to Russia fairly recently […] this meeting with Hariri could perhaps be an attempt to appeal to the Sunni community, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that Russia’s policies definitely have a pro-Shia [inclination].”
Moreover, with that said, the bottom line of doing business with Putin’s Russia is potentially equally unfavorable to all comers; Sunni or Shiite, Arab or otherwise, said Borshchevskaya.
“Ultimately, Putin cares mostly about himself, and about staying in power, and about what he can get out of the region.”
**Amin Nasr contributed reporting.

King Salman Arrives in Egypt for Five-Day Visit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/Saudi King Salman on Thursday started a five-day visit to Cairo in a show of support for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with the leaders due to sign a raft of investment deals. Saudi Arabia has been the key backer of Sisi since the then-army chief in 2013 overthrew his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement was viewed with suspicion by Riyadh. It has pumped billions of dollars in aid and investment into Egypt's battered economy, and the two heads of state are expected to ink more investment agreements on Friday amounting to about $1.7 billion. Live footage on state television showed Sisi greet the 80-year-old Salman at Cairo airport, before heading off in a convoy to the presidential palace. The two will hold meetings later in the day and on Friday, when they will sign 14 agreements that include a $1.5 billion deal to invest in the Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian government official said. Salman is expected to address the Egyptian parliament on Sunday, state media reported. Egyptian media gave full coverage of the visit, with state television welcoming Salman to his "second country" and playing celebratory music as his plane touched down in Cairo. "This is the first official visit by King Salman, whose valuable and honorable positions in support of Egypt and its people will never be forgotten," the presidency said in a statement. "Egypt accords great importance to this visit," it said, adding the leaders would discuss regional issues and economic cooperation. The visit follows months of reports in both Saudi and Egyptian newspapers of strained ties over Cairo's unwillingness to participate fully in Saudi-led military operations in Yemen. Egypt had announced it would join the operations against Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen with ground troops if needed, but appears to have balked at the prospect of becoming mired in the conflict. However, Saudi Arabia has played a key role in propping up Egypt's economy, whose vital tourism industry has been devastated by years of political turmoil and jihadist attacks. For Saudi Arabia, which is in competition with regional rival Iran, keeping Egypt under its aegis is crucial.

Czechs Scrap Program to Resettle Iraqi Christians
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/The Czech government on Thursday abandoned a program to resettle Iraqi Christians after some refugees left for Germany and others decided to return home. "Based on my proposal, the government has dropped its project to resettle 153 Iraqis to the Czech Republic," Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Twitter. "It's impossible to support a project which doesn't meet its goals," he said, adding that the Czech Republic could not be "mistaken for a travel agency". Under the program, the government was planning to accept 130 refugees from Iraq's Kurdistan region and 23 Iraqi refugees from Lebanon. But only 89 have made it to the European Union member state, among them a 25-member family that refused Czech asylum and moved to Germany last week. Czech media quoted German officials as saying Germany wants them to go back. Another eight Iraqi Christians accepted under the program are due to return to Iraq on Thursday. "The reason is a 63-year-old man who told us he was 'withering and dying' and wanted to die in Iraq," said the Generace 21 charity fund that cooperated with the government on the project.
The fund added that it would continue to take care of the refugees still in the country.

U.S., Turkey Want to Push IS further East in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/U.S. and Turkish authorities are discussing plans to intensify support to the moderate Syrian opposition in a bid to push the Islamic State group back from the Turkish border, the U.S. Ambassador to Ankara said Thursday. "We have had some progress in recent weeks as these groups pushed further east along the border," John Bass told journalists. "There is conversation with the Turkish military and government to talk about opportunities to intensify support to those groups and to push Daesh (IS) east from the current line."Syrian rebel forces have in recent week snatched control of several IS-controlled villages near the Turkish border, thanks to an offensive launched by the Free Syrian army (FSA) -- backed by both Turkey and the United States. However relations between NATO allies Washington and Ankara have soured in recent months over the Syria conflict and human rights issues in Turkey. Washington has urged Turkey to do more to fight IS jihadists and Ankara has become increasingly frustrated over U.S. backing for Kurdish fighters. Washington has been backing Kurdish Syrian fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) as the best force in the fight against IS. But Turkey categorizes the PYD as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a decades-long insurrection against the Turkish state.

Kerry Urges Iran to Help End Wars in Yemen, Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iran on Thursday to help end wars in Yemen and Syria, where Tehran and its Gulf Arab rivals are backing opposing sides. On the first visit by a U.S. chief diplomat to Bahrain since 2010, Kerry also told authorities in Manama accused of discriminating against the country's Shiite majority that respect for human rights was "essential". Kerry was to meet his Gulf counterparts later Thursday, two weeks before President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh when Washington's Middle East policy is likely to come under the microscope. Kerry called on Iran to "help us end the war in Yemen... help us end the war in Syria, not intensify, and help us to be able to change the dynamics of this region". He told a news conference in Manama that Tehran should "prove to the world that it wants to be a constructive member of the international community and contribute to peace and stability". Iran struck last year a landmark deal with world powers scaling back its nuclear program, which has led to the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, whose government accuses Iran of stoking persistent protests among the kingdom's Shiites demanding an end to Sunni minority rule, echoed Kerry's call. "Yes, we do want to see Iran change its foreign policy," he said, speaking alongside Kerry. All the Gulf Arab states, apart from Oman, are taking part in a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen since March last year, in a war which the United Nations says has killed around 6,300 people. Human Rights Watch said Thursday that bombs supplied by the United States were used in coalition air strikes on a market in Yemen that killed at least 97 civilians including children last month. Asked to comment on the report, Kerry said: "With respect to Yemen I don’t have solid information, any documentation, with respect to what weapon might or might not have been used." The United States has been exerting efforts to "try to secure a full ceasefire in Yemen", he added. Yemen's warring parties have agreed to observe a U.N.-brokered ceasefire next weekend which is to be followed by peace negotiations in Kuwait on April 18. The Arab states of the Gulf have also been staunch backers of Syrian rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad's regime since 2011. Iran, with Russia, has been among the regime's principal supporters in the conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and pushed nearly five million into exile. In his meeting with Gulf ministers, Kerry was to discuss "some of the critical regional issues, primarily Yemen, Syria, the situation in Iraq, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the region," a U.S. official said. The six-nation GCC also includes the Sunni-dominated monarchies of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have carried out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria as part of a U.S.-led military coalition. "We're satisfied, I think, with the overall level of support that we're getting from the Gulf states in the coalition," the U.S. official said. On Bahrain, Kerry urged authorities to adopt an "inclusive political system". "Here, as in all nations, we believe that respect for human rights and an inclusive political system are essential," Kerry said. He said he and Sheikh Khalid had "had the chance to discuss the ongoing effort to address and to reduce sectarian divisions here in Bahrain and elsewhere". "I appreciate the seriousness with which he considers this issue," he said. "We all welcome steps by sides to create conditions to provide for greater political involvement for the citizens of this great country," he added. In 2011, the tiny but strategic island state, which is dominated by a ruling family drawn from the Sunni minority, crushed a Shiite-led uprising calling for a full constitutional monarchy with an elected prime minister. Scores of Shiites were rounded up and sentenced to lengthy jail terms, including opposition chiefs. Amnesty International urged Bahraini authorities earlier this month to "immediately and unconditionally" release jailed opposition figures. "The alarming erosion of human rights in Bahrain in recent years means that anyone who dares to criticize the authorities or call for reform risks severe punishment," said Amnesty's regional deputy director James Lynch.

Syria Peace Talks Pushed back to April 13, Says U.N.
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said Thursday that the next round of peace talks will begin on April 13 after he completes a diplomatic tour, including stops in Damascus and Tehran. The United Nations had previously said that the negotiations in Geneva would resume on April 11 after the last round ended on March 24. De Mistura told journalists that meetings with key regional players and Syria's government were crucial before the next round begins and that he expected to return to Geneva on April 12 or 13. "I need to verify the international and regional stakeholders' position" in order to have "concrete results in the next round of talks", de Mistura said. The main obstacle is the future of President Bashar Assad. The opposition High Negotiations Committee has said Assad must go before a transitional government is agreed, while the regime insists that his fate be excluded from the talks. De Mistura met with key regime ally Russia in Moscow this week, and will head to Tehran in the coming days for talks with another crucial government supporter. He also plans to meet Turkish officials in Europe by the middle of next week. Ankara has emerged as one of Assad's main foes. The U.N. envoy said he has not requested a face-to-face meeting with Assad in Damascus, but expects to hold talks with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

U.N. Says Planning 'Major' Medical Evacuation from Besieged Syrian Towns
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/The United Nations said Thursday it is aiming to begin a large-scale evacuation of wounded and sick people from four besieged towns in war-ravaged Syria within the next week. Jan Egeland, who heads a U.N.-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria, said "a very major" medical evacuation was planned for Madaya and Zabadani, two towns near Damascus blockaded by the regime and their allies, and Fuaa and Kafraya, which are besieged by rebels in Syria's northwest. "All together it could be up to 500 people," he told reporters in Geneva following a meeting of the taskforce, adding the aim was for the evacuations to begin "within the next week."Egeland said the move was desperately needed, pointing out that three boys recently bled to death in Madaya because Hezbollah, which is besieging the town, ignored "desperate pleas for them to be evacuated"after they touched an undetonated explosive that went off. They "died totally unnecessarily," he said, adding that a young man who "could have been saved" had also starved to death in the besieged town in recent days. The problem, he said, was that an agreement on aid and evacuations from the four towns was based on a "tit-for-tat" system, in which the same numbers of aid convoys must enter the different towns simultaneously and the same numbers of evacuees must be removed. "This is killing people," Egeland said. He also said he was "disappointed" and "disheartened" by the lack of progress in bringing aid to more of the nearly half a million people trapped in towns besieged by the Syrian army, armed groups or Islamic State jihadists. The U.N. began scaling up deliveries of aid in Syria after a ceasefire went into force in February, hoping the desperately needed supplies would shore up a fragile peace process that began that same month. But while a new round of peace talks is scheduled to begin next week, Egeland said access was "slowing down." Five convoys have been waiting for four days to go into several areas including Kfar Batna in the Eastern Ghouta region, but remained blocked, he said, adding that 287,000 people had not received the aid they needed as a result. The regime was particularly to blame for the obstacles, he said, "but not exclusively." Egeland said the members of the humanitarian taskforce, co-chaired by the United States and Russia, had been given "homework" to pressure the different sides to allow in more aid. Egeland also urged all sides to help facilitate a major push to vaccinate millions of Syrian children against polio, measles and other diseases. He warned though that a shortage of funds was jeopardizing the vaccination efforts, hinting that not all funding pledges made at a London conference earlier this year were materializing. "Donors have to step up funding," he said.

Erdogan Threatens not to Implement Migrant Deal if EU Fails on its Pledges
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday warned the European Union that Ankara would not implement a key deal on reducing the flow of migrants if Brussels failed to fulfill its side of the bargain.Erdogan's typically combative comments indicated that Ankara would not sit still if the EU fell short on a number of promises in the deal, including visa-free travel to Europe for Turks by this summer. Meanwhile, the Vatican confirmed that the pope would next week make a brief, unprecedented trip to the Greek island of Lesbos where thousands of migrants are facing potential deportation to Turkey under the deal. "There are precise conditions. If the European Union does not take the necessary steps, then Turkey will not implement the agreement," Erdogan said in a speech at his presidential palace in Ankara. The March 18 accord sets out measures for reducing Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II, including stepped-up checks by Turkey and the shipping back to Turkish territory of migrants who land on the Greek islands. In return, Turkey is slated to receive benefits including visa-free travel for its citizens to Europe, promised "at the latest" by June 2016. Turkey is also to receive a total of six billion euros in financial aid up to the end of 2018 for the 2.7 million Syrian refugees it is hosting.
'Need more than thanks'
Marc Pierini, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, described the visa-free regime as one of the "biggest benefits for Turkey" in the migrant deal. He told AFP that Turkey still has to fulfill 72 conditions on its side to gain visa-free travel to Europe's passport-free Schengen zone and that the move would also have to be approved by EU interior ministers. "We shall see if that is a realistic prospect," he said. Turkey's long-stalled accession process to join the EU is also supposed to be re-energized under the deal. But Pierini said there were many conditions still to be fulfilled here. "The worst reading of the EU-Turkey deal would be to imagine that Turkey is about to get a 'discount' on EU membership conditions just because of the refugees," he said. Erdogan argued Turkey deserved something in return for its commitment to Syrian refugees, on whom it has spent some $10 billion since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. "Some three million people are being fed on our budget," the president said. "There have been promises but nothing has come for the moment," he added. "We have received lots of thanks for our action on the refugees and in the fight against terrorism. But we are not doing this for thanks... Everything should happen in line with what has been promised, what has been set out in the text."
Pope to visit Lesbos
The first transfer of over 200 migrants from the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios to Turkey took place on Monday. But the process has been stalled by a last-minute flurry of asylum applications by migrants desperate to avoid expulsion. Since then, there have been no more transfers. Nikos Xydakis, Greece's junior foreign minister for European affairs, said it would take "at least two weeks" to process the first batch of asylum applications. Under the pact with the EU, Turkey has agreed to take back migrants who arrived in Greece in illegal crossings of the Aegean Sea after March 20. For every Syrian refugee among those sent back to Turkey, one Syrian is supposed to be resettled in Europe. The deal has caused huge controversy, with rights groups including Amnesty International claiming Turkey could not be considered a "safe country" for the return of refugees. Pope Francis will meanwhile visit Lesbos on April 16 to show his support for the migrants, the Vatican said. The Greek government Thursday started to move some migrants from the Moria camp on Lesbos, where 3,000 are crammed, to the open camp of Kara Tepe, also on the island, an official said, insisting it was not linked to the pope's visit.

250 Syrians Missing after IS Attack East of Damascus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/Some 250 Syrians were missing and feared kidnapped on Thursday after the Islamic State group attacked a cement factory in an advance against government positions east of Damascus. The jihadists launched the offensive after suffering a series of setbacks at the hands of regime troops in recent weeks including the loss of the ancient city of Palmyra, which officials said residents would start returning to on Saturday. The fresh fighting came ahead of a new round of peace talks due next week in Geneva following a ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels that has allowed Syrian forces to focus on fighting IS. After being pushed out of Palmyra on March 27, IS launched the fresh assault this week near the town of Dmeir, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Damascus. Residents said IS attacked the cement factory outside the town on Monday and that about 250 employees had gone missing. "We haven't been able to reach our family members since noon on Monday after an attack by Daesh on the factory," said one resident of Dmeir, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "We have no information about where they are." An administrator at the plant confirmed that 250 employees had been unreachable since Monday. Dmeir is divided between IS control in the east and rebel control in the west, but several key positions around it, including a military airport and a power plant, are still in government hands. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the fighting was heavy but the jihadists had not managed to gain significant ground. "The most violent clashes are near the airport and the power plant, but IS has not entered either yet," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. IS had seized five regime positions in the area, including two checkpoints, since Monday, he said, adding that 20 members of regime forces and 35 IS fighters had been killed in the clashes. A Dmeir resident told AFP on Thursday that she could hear heavy shelling around the city and that residents were not daring to leave their homes. "We're in the eastern neighborhood. The situation is very tense here," she said, asking not to be named out of fear for her safety. "We have no electricity, we have no water. There are people fleeing from the eastern districts to the west," she said. Last month's fierce street battles in Palmyra left much of the city's residential neighborhoods severely damaged. Most of Palmyra's pre-war population of 70,000 people fled west towards the city of Homs when the extremist group advanced on the city in May 2015. Syrian officials in Homs city were this week preparing for the first of these displaced residents to return. "The first group of buses transporting residents back to Palmyra will leave on Saturday (from Homs). The residents started to register their names today," a provincial government official told AFP. He said nearly 45 percent of residential neighborhoods in the city had been destroyed by the recent round of fighting. Many apartment blocks had partially collapsed walls and some had been totally demolished, AFP journalists who visited the city after its recapture reported. Authorities this week began restoring power lines in the city and repairs to housing began on Wednesday, provincial governor Talal Barazi told state news agency SANA.An estimated 15,000 residents stayed on under IS rule and most left during the Syrian army's offensive to retake the city, but it was not clear to where they had fled. Since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, thousands of people have gone missing -- many of them arbitrarily arrested by armed forces -- across the country.
More than 270,000 people have been killed and millions have fled their homes. U.N.-backed peace talks to bring an end to the conflict are set to resume next week in Geneva, with this third round focusing on plans for a political transition. The key stumbling block remains the fate of President Bashar Assad. Syria's opposition has clung to its years-long demand that he leave power immediately, but the government has refused. This week the main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, said the upcoming negotiations were certain to fail unless Assad's fate is on the table. "If negotiations did not address the fate of Assad, it would be a waste of time and doomed to failure," HNC representative Riad Naasan Agha said Tuesday at a forum hosted by Al-Jazeera in Qatar. Agha said that he was not hopeful the talks would succeed, as negotiations on forming a transitional government were almost at a "dead-end".

Turkey, Israel Hold New Reconciliation Talks, Says Davutoglu
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/Turkey and Israel held a fresh round of talks Thursday in an effort to normalize ties after relations were partially frozen five years ago, said Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. NATO member Turkey was a key regional ally of Israel until the two countries fell out in 2010 over the deadly storming by Israeli commandos of a Turkish aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, bound for Gaza. After several years of acrimonious accusations, two sides met in December in secret talks to seek a rapprochement, with another round of high-level talks taking place in February in Geneva. "Meetings with Israel have been taking place for a while and they are continuing today," Davutoglu said in Ankara. "If our demands are received favorably, then the next steps will be clear and the necessary announcements will be made to the public."An Israeli official confirmed the meeting was taking place, but its location was not made public. Previous meetings are believed to have been conducted in Geneva. In February, Turkey said the two former allies were "close to concluding a deal". But the two sides have yet to agree on all of Turkey's conditions, with the main hurdle appearing to be the lifting of Israel's blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Turkey already got an apology for the Mavi Marmara incident, which left 10 Turkish aid activists dead, and talks have advanced on the subject of compensation for the victims. Analysts have suggested that Turkey's desire for a rapprochement has been accelerated by the drastic worsening in ties with Moscow since the shooting down of a Russian warplane wrecked several joint projects. Ankara relies on Russia for more than half its natural gas imports and Turkey now has its eyes on Israeli gas reserves. Batu Aksoy, the CEO of Turkish energy firm Turcas Petrol, told local media that at least 15 energy companies wanted to be part of a planned consortium to carry Israel gas to Europe, and that the first Israeli gas may reach Turkey in the next five years. Aside from the Mavi Marmara incident, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had raised hackles in Israel with his sometimes inflammatory rhetoric towards the Jewish state. But in a highly symbolic encounter, Erdogan last week met representatives of Jewish organizations in the U.S. to discuss the fight against terrorism and racism. Another sign of a thaw came when Israeli President Reuven Rivlin phoned Erdogan to thank him for his compassion after a suicide bombing in Istanbul last month left three Israelis dead.

Israeli Minister Says Government at Risk of Collapse
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/A key Israeli minister said Thursday that the government is at risk of collapsing if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's narrow coalition is not enlarged soon. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan's comments came amid claims that talks have taken place between Netanyahu and the opposition Zionist Union on joining the coalition, which currently holds a one-seat majority in parliament. Speculation over such a move began shortly after elections in March 2015, but there have been claims in recent days of fresh negotiations. "The government will not be able to last much longer," Erdan, a senior member of Netanyahu's rightwing Likud party, told army radio. "I hope that the Labor Party and other parties will do what is needed."Erdan said a major obstacle will be this summer's budget discussions. Netanyahu's government is one of the most rightwing in Israel's history and its razor-thin majority has left it little room for maneuver. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon this week spoke of discussions with the Zionist Union, an opposition coalition led by Labor. Kahlon told local media that the Zionist Union was on the verge of joining the government, but discussions were frozen in late March when Labor leader Isaac Herzog was linked to a preliminary investigation into party financing. Both Likud and Zionist Union officials. however. dismissed Kahlon's claims as exaggerated, Haaretz newspaper reported. A recent poll showed that the current coalition would lose its majority if elections were held today. But some analysts say that right-wing and religious members of the government would be reluctant to leave the coalition since they currently wield significant power. They include the religious-nationalist Jewish Home and the Jewish ultra-Orthodox Shas parties.

Libya Unity Government Bolsters Control despite Setback
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 07/16/Libya's new unity leaders worked to tighten their hold on Tripoli Thursday, taking over the website of a rival authority in the capital whose head is refusing to stand aside. A week after arriving by sea with a naval escort, the U.N.-backed unity cabinet appears to be winning the support of key institutions that control Libya's wealth and, crucially, militias in the capital. But a call by Tripoli's unrecognized prime minister Khalifa Ghweil on Wednesday for his ministers not to cede power, contradicting an earlier announcement, highlighted the still-chaotic situation. It was unclear how much influence Ghweil, an engineer from the port city of Misrata east of Tripoli, still wields in the largely tribal nation. Libya's warring rivals have come under intense international pressure to rally behind the unity government at a time when the country is grappling with a growing jihadist threat. The Islamic State group has exploited the turmoil in Libya since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi five years ago, raising fears that it is establishing a new stronghold on Europe's doorstep. In a sign of its widening influence, the U.N.-sponsored administration of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj took over the website of the unrecognized Tripoli authorities on Thursday. The site now bears the logo of the unity government, and the names of Ghweil's cabinet have been replaced by those of a presidential council created under a power-sharing deal in December. That agreement was inked by some lawmakers from both sides but not endorsed by the country's two rival governments. The other administration, which has long claimed international legitimacy because it was appointed by the parliament elected in the last polls in 2014, has so far refused to back the unity government. The  reason behind Ghweil's apparent U-turn was unclear but it hinted at divisions within the Tripoli authorities that were installed by a militia alliance that seized the capital in 2014. A statement issued a day earlier in the name of his so-called National Salvation Government had said that it was ready to step aside. The fear is that a new power struggle could spark fresh violence in a country that has been in turmoil since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Gadhafi. Much now depends on the support of powerful militias that overran Tripoli two years ago, forcing the government backed by the international community to take refuge in the country's far east. A politician close to the unity government said money was a key factor because some of the militiamen who brought Ghweil to power are no longer being paid by his authorities. According to a security source in Tripoli, there were talks between the unity government and armed groups for weeks before Sarraj's arrival to ensure it went smoothly. "There is no security body or armed group now opposed to the unity government, and they are holding back while the situation, and this government's actions, become clear," he said. Sarraj's cabinet has in recent days been broadening its support, winning the backing of the National Oil Corporation, the Central Bank and the Libyan Investment Authority. His Government of National Accord on Wednesday ordered all government "ministries and institutions and committees" to respect its authority and use its logo. It also instructed the Central Bank and the Audit Bureau to freeze all state accounts immediately, except for salary payments to government employees. At the government headquarters in Tripoli, uncertainty abounds, said an official who did not want to be named. "Ghweil hasn't come for several days and nobody knows where he is right now," he added. U.N. envoy Martin Kobler, who visited Libya this week, was due to brief the U.N. Security Council Thursday on his efforts to bring about a peaceful power handover.Kobler has welcomed the Tripoli authority's willingness to hand over, but warned that "deeds must follow words".

History will judge Obama’s foreign policy legacy as one of failure
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
As President Obama is about to leave the White House at the end of the year, the legacy he leaves behind will be mixed. He has averted a second Great Depression, has saved the car industry in the United States, and gave Americans what seven other presidents have tried and failed to deliver: comprehensive healthcare. And despite battling a hostile and deliberately obstructionist Congress year after year since 2010, he has managed to move things forward in a progressive direction in most areas of life. Almost everything you would impute the President as a failure in domestic politics can be laid down squarely at the feet of Congress Republicans who have gone out of their way to sabotage the administration at whatever cost. Otherwise, his record is quite impressive. But the same cannot be said about Obama’s record on foreign policy. And it is not likely that history will look kindly on his legacy in this regard.
To be fair to the President, he was not dealt an easy hand. He had to contend with the legacy of two disastrous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the devastation they brought to American war coffers and to political stability in the Middle East. After the Global Financial Crisis when Obama took office, the entire world was shaken to the core. Political and administrative institutions have suffered everywhere, including in the developed world. But in the Middle East, these factors were combined with chronic poor governance, a ballooning youth population who suffered from huge rates of unemployment, and corrupt leaders from yesteryear who no longer had the capacity to inspire the loyalty of any of their citizens except through brutal repression. The entire region was a powder keg waiting to blow up. And blow up it did, when it was lit up by Mohamed Bouazizi, the 27-year-old man who set himself on fire in protest at the economic conditions in his native Tunisia, and sparked what became known as the Arab Spring.
Where did it all go wrong?
In the early days, the Arab Spring seemed like the greatest opportunity to reshape the Muslim world and global geopolitics towards a brighter future in two generations. And the United States was there to support the democratic governments who were to emerge from the uprisings and help them integrate properly into the global system. Obama does not seem to have considered what happens if America stops being the power and authority behind a global system of international law which we have been building since WW2. But then, things went horribly wrong. And the United States has a fair share of responsibility for the way things have turned up. Much of it will the legacy of those two disastrous Bush wars. But Obama made his own mistakes too. The one thing that Obama will never be able to live off is his decision not to punish the Assad regime in Syria when they used chemical weapons against civilians in Damascus. That single decision was what turned Syria from a routine civil war to a humanitarian disaster that is still raging after five years and which has significantly redrawn the geopolitical power map. But it would be a mistake to argue about that decision with the benefit of hindsight. We now know that this decision is what ultimately led to the rises of the horror that is ISIS and has enabled Russian to bulldoze its way into the Middle East again, with their usual predilection for bombing hospitals and aid workers and all. But these are not the reasons why Obama was wrong not to intervene: after all, how could he have known that things would turn up this way? None of us could have known. Yet we could have known this: if we refuse to uphold international law even in cases where there are such blatant violations, then international law counts for nothing. If the United States shirks its responsibilities to uphold international law because it judges that it would not to be in its national interests to do so, then that invites every chance to take a piece of the geopolitical pie: and you do not need to ask Vladimir Putin twice for him to jump on such an opportunity. The absence of American leadership and authority invited Russia, Iran, the Gulf States and Turkey, and the global jihadi movement all to pile into the conflict, with predictable consequences. Obama had the authority and the power to enforce the chemical weapons “Red Line” he drew to President Assad. He was concerned what might happen next if Assad was toppled in a disorderly fashion and whether this would mean the US would get tangled in the country for years to come as had happened in Iraq. And that was a legitimate concern. But he does not seem to have considered what happens if America stops being the power and authority behind a global system of international law which we have been building since WW2. The full consequences of this are yet to play out. But what we have seen so far gives us every reason to be fearful of the future.

The third generation of terrorist organizations
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
The good news is that we no longer hear parents complain that their sons are going to fight in Syria. There has been no news on social media about the deaths of fighters there either. It seems the recruitment of young men, which was widespread in the past, has diminished a lot, as has the number of fighters going to Syria. Regional cooperation has resulted in restricting political and religious propaganda, and the collection of funds in support of militant jihad. However, this does not mean we no longer have sympathizers with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al-Nusra Front. It only means their activity has diminished. Many regional and international security apparatuses are cooperating in tracking these groups and bombing them daily. Since we do not know how many members they have, it is difficult to believe the estimates circulating of the extent of their losses. Even the estimated number of Arabs and foreigners within their ranks is unknown. One cannot completely destroy their cells. Proof of that is how jihadist remnants are still fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. As long as the war in Syria continues, there will be extremists engaged in fighting. It is not unlikely for these extremist parties to make a powerful comeback later, due to the US-led alliance’s wrong strategy of only targeting one group. ISIS is clearly suffering great losses in Syria. This is positive because it can help rid the Syrian cause of a terrorist group that represents a big problem in Syria, and which will represent a bigger problem for the region later. However, this will increase fighting between two major parties in Syria: the regime and its allies versus the armed opposition.
Selective targeting
The US-led coalition is targeting ISIS, but not other terrorist groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi League of the Righteous, whose practices are similar to that of ISIS. The policy of only fighting ISIS is probably short-sighted, and will lead to the expansion of sectarian fighting due to the failure of diplomacy because there is an insistence to impose the regime by force on the Syrian people. Even if the coalition kills all ISIS fighters, others will take their place if the war continues and if President Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for murdering half a million people and displacing 10 million others, remains in power. A new ISIS will inevitably appear in Syria and outside it. The coalition would say its task in Syria is specifically to eliminate ISIS, not engage in the civil war. This is a blind policy. Even if the coalition kills all ISIS fighters, others will take their place if the war continues and if President Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for murdering half a million people and displacing 10 million others, remains in power. A new ISIS will inevitably appear in Syria and outside it. This happened in Iraq when Sunni tribes helped US troops eliminate al-Qaeda there. Due to the authoritarianism and hostility of the Iraqi government, ISIS emerged and expanded into Syria, eventually becoming more powerful than al-Qaeda.Therefore, the coalition must realize the threat of its current campaign, because it is leaving pro-Assad foreign militias free to wage a sectarian war against Syrians. It is thus certain that a third generation of terrorists, more determined and dangerous, will appear.

Savage wolves assassinate Hammadi
Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
“As long as you do good deeds, you will be rewarded.” This was the last thing Saudi Colonel Kitab Majed al-Hammadi sent to his friends on WhatsApp at 8:24 a.m. on Tuesday. At 8:30 a.m., he was shot dead by assailants from a savage terrorist organization. In the past three decades, some people have sought to demonize security forces’ work and image. Hammadi nobly served his country, which he wanted to be secure and stable. Security apparatuses have been frequently targeted. For example, there were the assassination attempts against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and General Abdulaziz al-Hoireny.
Fooling nobody
The attack against Hammadi came a day after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attacked a police station in Al-Kharj. Fortunately, society is fully aware of what these violent organizations are trying to do. Fortunately, society is fully aware of what these violent organizations are trying to do. In the past, Al-Qaeda tried and failed to convince society of the legitimacy of its April 21, 2004 attack in Riyadh, which killed at least four and injured hundreds. May God have mercy on the soul of the hero and martyr Hammadi.

Nationwide lack of essential medicines in South Sudan
Dr. Joanne Liu/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) wants to express its frustration that, in an already dramatic context of protracted violence and displacement, the warning we formulated a year ago to the humanitarian community and donors did not lead to any structural or decisive action to prevent a countrywide shortage of essential drugs. The conflict in South Sudan has now continued for over two years, heavily impacting its population and putting as always the most vulnerable at risk. On top of this already dire humanitarian situation, an additional and preventable medical emergency is unfolding. The discontinuation of the Emergency Medicines Fund (EMF) - the program which ensured the funding, procurement and provision of essential medicines for the whole in South Sudan – has now led to unacceptable and devastating outages of drugs throughout the country. While the program’s objectives had officially been handed back to the Government, there was little doubt that they would not be able to fill this gap amidst the continued crisis in the country.
‘The road ahead’
Efforts to prevent the worst have been temporary without acknowledging the wider impact of these massive drug shortages. Reserves have been distributed and reassigned which have not prevented our teams from witnessing shortages in the majority of primary healthcare facilities in the areas around where we work. As an example, in and around Aweil we visited 42 medical centers and units of which 12 were completely closed and 23 experienced closures and were sending patients to the market to purchase their prescribed medicines. Failure to come together for South Sudan will put the lives of thousands in jeopardy and again disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in this country, particularly women and children. All this was aggravated by a malaria outbreak last year in which we treated more severe malaria cases than ever before despite donations and distribution of tests and treatments. Still many patients arrived in progressed stages of the disease because of the lack of access to basic medication at the local level. However predictable at the time of our warning, these findings have now been reflected and confirmed by official reporting mechanisms. Still no structural approach has been formulated for the road ahead while drug outages are now a reality around the country. A new rainy season is approaching fast, promising new outbreaks as well as complicated logistics. It is not a situation that one actor can resolve on their own but concerted efforts seem to be lacking. We are therefore calling upon all donors, actors and authorities again to come together to avert a complete medical crisis, which adds to an already dire humanitarian situation. The population can least afford to be denied lifesaving medication. Failure to come together will put the lives of thousands in jeopardy and again disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in this country, particularly women and children. Having already raised these concerns in writing to all major donors and after numerous bilateral meetings, I feel compelled to reiterate our appeal publicly, in the form of this now open letter.

King Salman’s strategic Cairo visit
Mohammed Fahad al-Harthi/Al Arabiya/April 07/16
There is intense focus on the upcoming visit of Saudi King Salman to Egypt. Described by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry as historic, it will certainly disappoint many who have been betting on a rift between the two nations. A significant part of the visit would be for Saudi Arabia to gain the support of Egypt, one of the most influential countries in the region, for the Kingdom’s strategic vision in the Middle East and globally. There has been a significant leadership vacuum created in the Arab world after the so-called Arab Spring. This has allowed regional countries such as Iran to attempt to expand its influence by all means possible, including the backing and funding of various militant groups. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf states have a history of supporting Egypt, knowing that a strong Egypt contributes significantly to a resilient Arab world. King Salman’s visit is indicative of the close ties between the two countries, particularly on regional issues. It flies in the face of those who have argued there is a divergence of views on Syria. Both countries have agreed that Syrians must govern themselves, and called for the withdrawal of all militias and foreign troops.
Strong ties
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is keen to use its status in the Arab world, including at upcoming events such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in mid-April in Turkey, to smooth relations between Ankara and Cairo. Riyadh’s foreign policy has long been focused on having good relations with all parties, and to work as a mediator to institute joint action, either through direct bilateral talks or by supporting work undertaken by the OIC, which is based in Saudi Arabia. Observers have argued that Saudi-Turkish understanding on issues would have significant benefits for the region and fill the major void resulting from the United State’s ever-diminishing role here. The OIC’s 13th Islamic Summit from April 10 to 15 would be a chance to bridge the gap between Egypt and Turkey. If the Egyptian leadership can eliminate bureaucracy and fight corruption, there is likely to be a flood of investments into Egypt, especially from the Gulf countries. There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia and Egypt enjoy strong ties, as reflected by the number of Egyptian workers in the Kingdom, its largest community abroad. There is also a substantial number of Saudis living in Egypt. On the economic front, Saudis are still the largest foreign investors in Egypt, with a potential increase on the cards because King Salman has already ordered that investments should be raised to SR30 billion. The commitment is such that the Saudi monarch will be accompanied by a large delegation of businesspeople, who have expressed a desire to place their money in the country. However, concerns have been raised on the Saudi side about the creation of a conducive investment environment in Egypt. The country has huge, untapped potential. If the Egyptian leadership can eliminate bureaucracy and fight corruption, there is likely to be a flood of investments into Egypt, especially from the Gulf countries. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind what constitutes the major challenges in the region. The most obvious is Tehran’s interference in Arab affairs, which would have remained unchecked if it was not for Operation Decisive Storm. Egypt played a small but significant role in the coalition’s operations. Considering the current state of the region and events taking place, the importance of the royal visit cannot be understated. Relations are likely to be further enhanced, boding well not only for the two nations, but also for Arabs across the region.

ISIS descends on Jordan’s border, activates suicides. Jordanian command post in Daraa
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 07/16
ISIS forces in southern Syria overran several Jordanian border crossings south of the Yarmouk River on Tuesday, April 5. This disastrous turn of events is illustrated by an exclusive picture obtained by debkafile of an ISIS fighter unfurling the organization’s flag at one of the crossings which sports a Jordanian flag.
The picture taken the same day shocked the royal court and the Jordanian military command in Amman. Our military sources report that an urgent conference was called at the Military Operations Command (MOC), north of Amman to devise measures for containing the Islamic State’s leap into more territory on the Syrian-Jordanian border. It was attended by Jordanian, American, Israeli, Saudi and UAE officers.They voiced apprehension about three developments which give Daesh a substantial edge
1. A group of high ISIS officers traveled south from headquarters in Raqqa in the last few days, took command of the 3,000 fighters of the affiliated Yarmouk Brigades, and is now working to form a continuous jihadist enclave along Syria’s borders with Israel and Jordan, like the 90-kilometer ISIS strip blocking part of the Turkish border.
This enclave would directly threaten the Israeli Golan and northern Jordan.
2. When ISIS forces retreated last week from Palmyra, a group headed south, fetching up outside Jebel Druze without entering this mountain region. It is now feared that the jihadis are about to turn west toward the Israeli border and link up with the Yarmouk brigades. This would double the number of ISIS forces in southern Syria and make possible a major new assault on the Jordanian and Israeli borders.
3. The strengthening of ISIS forces in southern Syria has attracted some of the Syrian rebel groups fighting the Syria army to the jihadist flag and the Yarmouk Brigades. The largest militia to enlist recently is the Al-Muthana movement. Although its leaders deny taking an oath of allegiance or any other ties with ISIS, Al-Muthana is currently fighting alongside ISIS. This has sent a disturbing signal to the hundreds of other anti-Assad militias in the neighborhood.
Jordan has meanwhile stepped forward to stem this flow of strength to ISIS.
debkafile’s military and intelligence sources report that Jordanian military intelligence officers specializing in guerrilla warfare have been infiltrating rebel-held areas in the South, especially Daraa, the regional hub, for the purpose of whipping rebel militias together into a front against ISIS. These officers have succeeded in setting up a joint war room with the three biggest rebel groups in the south, the Southern Front, Jaish Fatah al-Junub and Jaish al-Islam, for action under the direction of the MOC outside Amman.
On Monday, April 4, the joint force saw combat, when rebel forces under Jordanian commanders launched an attack to drive the ISIS forces back into their former corner in the narrow triangle near the meeting-point of the Syrian, Israeli and Jordanian borders. ISIS hit back with suicide bombers, who blew themselves up next to the Jordanian-led rebel assault force. It was the first time ISIS had unleashed suicide bombers so close to the Israeli border.

An angel called Gabriel: The priest who stands with the Jewish State
Ilse Posselt/Jerusalem Post/April 07/16
Father Gabriel Naddaf never intended to step into the limelight. Popularity and prominence hardly figured into his plans for the future. But the Greek Orthodox priest who pastors his flock from Nazareth knew he was called to speak the truth on behalf of Israel, the tiny sliver of a country in the midst of a roiling Middle East where he and his fellow Christians are safe to live, thrive and worship.
Naddaf’s conviction has little to do with politics. The truth, he knew, was found in the source of all he believes: the Bible. And the Bible is clear about God’s everlasting commitment to the Jewish People. Moreover, it teaches that the title deed for the Land of Israel is held by the Almighty and pledged with a covenant to the children of Abraham.
And so the Arabic-speaking, Christian priest who calls the Jewish state home stepped up as an objective voice telling those who wished to hear – and often those who did not – of the freedoms, rights and security Israel’s non-Jewish citizens enjoy.
The past four years have proved particularly eventful for Naddaf. It started with his public call on Christian Israelis to join their Jewish brothers and sisters in shouldering the responsibility of guarding the Promised Land. Then came the establishment of the Christian Recruitment Forum as a formal platform to encourage his flock to join the Israel Defense Forces and the Christian Empowerment Council – a mouthpiece on behalf of Israel’s Christian citizens.
Both the forum’s and council’s efforts are supported by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, led by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who has been by Naddaf’s side since the very beginning, funding the council’s $150,000 annual operating budget.
“We have a wonderful, close relationship, and we are very thankful for the support that enables and strengthens us,” Naddaf says of his backers. “When I described our need for help to Rabbi Eckstein, he promised that his fund, which raises money from Christians all over the world who love Israel, would help us create programs that help Christian Arabs integrate into Israeli society,” Amit Barak, the forum’s project manager, says.
“Our connection with the IFCJ has played an extremely important role in helping us strengthen our relationship with other Christians around the world. We explain to people how Israel is the safest place for Christians to live in the Middle East, and tell them about the efforts being made to help integrate Arabs into Israeli society.”
Then there was an opportunity to address the United Nations. And then a flurry of invitations to share his testimony with audiences around the world. Despite an increasingly jam-packed schedule, Naddaf also found the time to author a booklet warning international Christians against the malice masquerading as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and act as the voice of those forging a non-Arab, Aramaic identity in the Land of Promise.
All too soon, the priest who never intended to step into the limelight became a household name in Israel.
Naddaf has gone by many titles. His Arab opponents label him a “traitor,” a “divider of the Arab society” and a persecutor of Palestinians. The Israeli media refer to him affectionately as “the unorthodox priest who stands with the Jews.”
To Western believers, he is a Christian brother, sharing experiences forged from everyday life in the country where their belief was born. And for those who look to him for spiritual guidance, he is abouna, Arabic for father.
But who is this Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth who ruffles feathers, wins hearts, speaks truth about Israel to the international Church, inspires the young of his flock to serve their country and stands for a people forging an identity?
During a recent visit to the Christian Empowerment Council offices in Nazareth, Naddaf spoke about the man behind the labels – and the beliefs and convictions that shape and drive him.
The journey begins
“I am an ordinary man, doing what is right, saying and doing what I know God wants me to.” This is how Father Gabriel Naddaf describes himself.
Dressed in the traditional Greek Orthodox clerical garb, the tall priest cuts an imposing figure. His manner is warm and inviting with an easy smile that hovers close, ready to spill into a joyous grin. Naddaf exudes peace, a quiet awareness that he is exactly where he is supposed to be, engaged in a life calling much bigger than him. A native Galilean, the Christian priest was born and raised in Nazareth. Even at an early age, Naddaf knew he wanted to serve God. “Some voice, some pull inside told me to leave all to spend my time with God, praying.”
Yet the influences shaping his young mind were not all equally constructive. Growing up in Israel’s largest Arab city, he learned the details of the volatile history between Jews and Arabs from his teachers and neighbors. “The Arabs in Nazareth told me over and over again, ‘This is our land and the Jews took it!’”At age 18, Naddaf moved to Haifa – a city where Jews and Arabs live as friends, colleagues and neighbors. For the first time, the narrative of the Jews as oppressive colonizers without a claim to the land came under scrutiny – and failed to hold true.
It started when he found work in a hotel under Jewish management. Seeing the young man’s potential, the powers that be took him under their wing, sending him on training courses to further his career. “I saw something completely different from what I learned in school and growing up in Nazareth,” he asserts. Things came to a head in 1995, when he enrolled at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. “I learned history and theology,” he explains. “I learned about our roots as Christians. I learned that Jesus was Jewish, the descendant of Israel’s King David and that King David’s son King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. I learned about the same Jewish people living in this land 3,000 years ago, and that the New Testament calls it the Land of Israel. Nowhere is the land given to someone else.”
“It is not something I decided,” he declares. “It is all right here in black and white in the Bible, the foundation of what we believe.” Naddaf was ordained as a Greek Orthodox priest trough the University of Thessaloniki, after which he returned home and joined the Patriarchate in Jerusalem. But the young cleric was troubled by the Christian community in Israel’s ignorance concerning their roots and history. “The Jewish heritage of our faith is not spoken about in our churches or schools,” he explains. “In Arab communities, the teachings are on Arab or Islamic history. But what about the Christians? Someone had to show them their roots and their history so that they could know their identity.”
Naddaf turned out to be that someone. “What could I do?” he asks, grinning joyously. “I had seen the truth from the Bible. And I had to share it; I had to tell the Christian community about our incredible roots and the bond we have with our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
Called to speak
Then came the dawn of the Arab Spring in 2011 – and radical Islam reaping death and destruction across large swatches of the Middle East and North Africa. “Christians were slaughtered in their thousands – simply for being Christian,” he explains, his face drawn. “And I knew, again, that I had to speak, this time to the international community – even if I had to visit every country and go from house to house.”Naddaf understands all too well that the atrocities committed in the Middle East against Christians and other minority groups is far from a pleasant subject. People in the West, he says, do not want to hear the horrifying details. “It is much easier to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear, pretend that it is happening far away and therefore does not concern or touch us.”
But the Christian priest from Nazareth has seen and heard too much to remain silent. “The world needs to know what is happening, what we are facing here in the Middle East. And above all, the world needs to know that in a region overrun with genocide, persecution, fanaticism and terrorism, Israel is different.”This is the message that Naddaf proclaimed when he took to the podium at the UN Human Rights Council in September 2014. “In the Middle East today, there is one country where Christianity is not only not persecuted, but affectionately granted freedom of expression, freedom of worship and security,” he declared boldly. “It is Israel, the Jewish state. Israel is the only place where Christians in the Middle East are safe.”
Naddaf also had a word of warning for the 47 member nations of the council. “It is time the world woke up to the fact that those who want to destroy the Jewish state are signing the death warrant on the last free Christians in the Holy Land.”It is this conviction that motivated him to take on the “hypocritical” BDS movement last year. In July 2015, Naddaf’s Christian Empowerment Council published a booklet aimed at debunking the hype around the movement and thus helping Christians understand its true nature. Entitled “Test the Spirits: A Christian Guide to the Anti-Israel Boycott Movement,” the guide educates and outlines why Christians should turn their back on the movement.
“There is a concerted coordinated effort to boycott Israel, which is managed by the Arab League, the Palestinian Authority and activist groups seeking to influence their churches against Israel,” Naddaf told Jerusalem Online. “It is important that churches do not allow themselves to be used as tools of a corrupt foreign policy, which is what the BDS movement targeted against Israel essentially is.” In the guide’s introduction, Naddaf addresses the confusion in the global church today towards the Jewish state. He argues, however, that one simply has to look to the Bible to see that God claims Israel as the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8).
“I love this country, this is my home,” he declares. “That is why I encourage our youth to physically protect those who would harm our home. But as a spiritual leader, I also have the responsibility to protect our home against malicious lies and to encourage Christians around the world to think about Israel in biblical and moral ways.”To those around the world who have bought into the BDS hype, Naddaf offers a simple challenges: “Who are you going to believe? The international media or the Bible? Are you going to be swayed by the emotional arguments of political leaders who pocket money and oppress people? By a hypocritical bully like the BDS movement? Or will you listen to a fellow Christian who lives, loves and thrives right here in Israel? Someone who speaks from personal experience?”“According to the Bible, the Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, belongs to the Jewish people forever. The promises of God to His people cannot be erased.”
United
Father Naddaf’s office is decorated in shades of mahogany and blue. An Israeli flag occupies a place of honor. But the first thing that catches the eye is a giant poster adorning one of the walls, offering visitors a brief glimpse of what the Christian Empowerment Council stands for. Pictures of Christian IDF soldiers, saluting and running into action, a smiling Naddaf keeping watch over his flock and a silhouette of a cross fills the right side of the poster. To the left, a quote from Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a Revisionist Zionist, “From the wealth of our land there shall prosper; the Arab, the Christian, and the Jew.” And in the middle, joining the past with the present, the haunting words from Israel’s national anthem, “To be an independent people in our land, the Land of Zion and Jerusalem.”
“I embrace Zionism, Jewish sovereignty in Israel, and the tolerance, respect and opportunity for all that have grown out of that sovereignty,” Naddaf wrote recently. “I believe that our youth – Christian youth – should fully integrate into Israeli society. Part and parcel of that integration includes serving in the IDF, Israel’s army.”
“Israel offers all its citizens – Jewish, Arab, Christian, Druse, Bedouin and whoever else – the freedom to worship as we wish, to pursue our dreams, to travel, to love and to live in safety,” he explains.
“We live in a country that offers us such benefits – is it not also our responsibility to help keep our home safe from those who would destroy it? Our Jewish brothers and sisters go to the army. So do the Druse and the Bedouins. It is also our duty to protect our country and our people.”
That is what the Christian Recruitment Forum is all about. Established in 2012, the forum offers the youth of Naddaf’s flock the motivation, assistance and support on their journey of enlisting and serving in the IDF. Moreover, the forum also encourages young Christians who are unable to join the army to contribute and integrate in Israeli society through national service, such as volunteering in hospitals, schools and centers for the physically and mentally handicapped or in old age homes. The fruit of the forum’s efforts is clear. Three years ago, only 40 Christian soldiers served in the IDF. Figures for March 2015 show that the number has quadrupled to almost 110.
‘They came back as men’
One of the young Christians proudly protecting Israel is Jubran, Naddaf’s oldest son, who enlisted in December 2014. “In only one year I have seen tremendous growth in my son,” the priest confides. “He takes responsibility, he cares, he helps, and he loves this land and its people from his heart.”
Naddaf is not the only one singing the praises of the IDF for its positive impact on the lives of their sons. Sana Ashkar had no idea that her oldest son planned to join the army. She found out once he had already enlisted. “I was proud, of course,” she explains, “but it was difficult. He was my little boy.”
When Ashkar’s youngest son turned 18, he decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps to enlist. “Things were not always easy for them,” she remembers, “but they are happy they did it. So am I. I sent the IDF my boys and they came back to me as men.” “You never know someone until you live with them,” she muses. “My sons call the Jews their brothers. And it is true. They lived together, served together and protected each other. There is now that bond.”Sari and Saher Matar agree. The two Christian brothers from Nazareth are both former IDF soldiers. Sari, 27, served in a primarily Bedouin unit and walked away with the award for most outstanding soldier in his unit every year. Saher, 22, joined the famous Golani infantry brigade. “I was the only Arab and the only Christian in my unit. But I was in the right place,” he explains. “I was with friends and brothers.”
When Operation Protective Edge raged during the summer of 2014, young Saher went to Gaza to defend Israel alongside his Golani friends and brothers. “I protected them and they protected me. We felt safe knowing we had each other’s backs.”“I encourage many young people to join the IDF,” he says. “I tell them how good it is to be part of the army and to be part of this country. It is very important to me to show my loyalty to my country.”
Naddaf’s call for the youth of his flock to enlist goes beyond the realization of a shared duty. Israel’s Christians, he believes, should take their place as patriotic citizens, integrating into the society to participate and celebrate the rights and responsibilities of this vibrant democratic state. “As Christian citizens of this land, we do not only want to take – that is not our way. We also want to give. By joining the army, we are telling our Jewish brothers and sisters that the Christian community is willing to stand with them, to protect with them and one day, enjoy peace with them.”
The IDF, Naddaf told a local media outlet, is the “melting pot” of Israeli society, and thus “the ticket” to full integration into that society. But integration, he assures, does not mean a loss of identity. In fact, the Christian priest has been instrumental in forging a new, non-Arab identity for his flock. “My people have mistakenly been called “Christian Arabs,” he wrote recently, “but the reality is that we are Arameans – descendants of people who lived here in Israel since biblical times.” Following a public campaign, the Interior Ministry recognized the Arabic-speaking Christians of Israel as Aramean, as opposed to Arab or Palestinian.
“It is like returning home,” Naddaf confesses. “We are coming back to our roots, once again speaking our own language, Aramaic. We are learning about our ancestors, who lived in this land some 2,000 years ago – long before the Arabs came.” The recognition of an ancient identity spanning more than two millennia also reinforces an important link, Naddaf says. “Christians have a bond with the Jews,” he said recently. “We have an allegiance with the Jewish people; with the Muslims we are neighbors. There is no covenant there.”
Unafraid
For Naddaf, the past four years in the limelight came with its own blessings and burdens. On the upside, a more public profile meant that an increasingly large audience heard and processed the missives of a Christian leader thriving in the Jewish state. Moreover, hundreds of young Christians heeded the call to enlist in the IDF and are reaping the benefits of integration into the Israeli society. Yet the results came at a price. As soon as the Christian priest’s voice rang out in truth and unity, Muslim community leaders and Arab members of parliament responded with an equally passionate campaign of harassment and hate. Both Naddaf as well as the young Christian soldiers were threatened, reviled and humiliated – on social media, in Arab news outlets, within their communities and often by their own neighbors and families.
Despite the calls for his execution – one allegedly offering a whopping reward of $300,000 – death threats and excommunication attempts by some of his colleagues in the church, Naddaf remains steadfast, thanking his backers, such as Pastor John Hagee and Christians United for Israel. “I am not afraid,” he assures. “I am doing what God called me to do. I am speaking the truth, found in the Bible. And He is with me. So why will I be afraid?” So what legacy does Father Gabriel Naddaf want to leave for his children? How would the Christian priest from Nazareth want to be remembered?
Naddaf ponders the question from a long moment, then grins joyously.
“I am not the important one here. They can forget me. But I want them to remember to live in the truth without fear. What I want for my children and their children is that they will love God – and love the land of Israel.”

Syria-Russia-Iran axis likely to liberate ISIS heartland, not Western backed forces
Ariel Ben Solomon/Jerusalem Post/April 07/16
If Islamic State and al-Qaida’s Nusra Front lose control of their strongholds in Syria, Bashar Assad’s army will likely supply the boots on the ground to supplant them, with help from Russian air strikes and Iranian and Hezbollah forces.
The US-led air strikes and occasional special forces missions to take out high quality targets are not enough to break these terrorist groups’ hold on territory.
And the failure of US-trained rebel forces means that besides the Kurds, no other party has the forces to take on Islamic State and Nusra Front on the ground.
“Today, only two militaries are in a position to take the eastern province of Deir al-Zor that borders Iraq or Raqqa. They are the US-backed Kurdish forces and the Syrian Army,” Joshua Landis, a Syria expert and the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
The Democratic Unity Party (PYD), the main political organization in Syria’s Kurdish-administrated areas, is demanding recognition for their autonomous enclave in exchange for expending the blood necessary to take either Arab city, Raqqa or Deir al-Zor, explained Landis.
The PYD is backed by the US in fighting Islamic State. The fragile cease-fire between the Syrian regime and the rebels does not include Islamic State or the Nusra Front.
“Assad spoke about taking both cities recently, but his ability to do so will depend on Russian support and the threat posed by rebel militias in the western region of Idlib and eastern Aleppo. They are supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey and have been resuming their attacks on Assad forces,” continued Landis.
Therefore, he said, if these rebel forces abandon the cease-fire completely, Assad will be forced to concentrate his forces instead back in the west of the country, the Syrian heartland.
“So long as the Kurds do not take further Islamic State held cities, Assad need be in no rush to retake them. The US is holding down Islamic State and degrading its forces and economy,” said Landis.
“Thus, the longer the Syrian Army holds off retaking the region, the fewer of their soldiers will be killed in retaking it,” he said, adding, “Military logic suggests going slow and allowing the coalition to further destroy Islamic State.”
The Syria expert points out that despite US abhorrence of the Assad regime, it finds itself in what is in practical terms an alliance with it.
“The refusal of the US to embrace Assad over Islamic State leads to odd battlefield alliances,” he said, noting that when Islamic State was attacking Palmyra last year, the US refrained from attacking the group’s convoys and fighters that remained massed on the outskirts of the ancient city.
And when Syrian forces recently retook Palmyra, US forces did not attack either side in the battle.
In effect, President Barack Obama “is allowing both sides to kill each other without overtly taking sides.”
“Although the US insists it is prioritizing the fight against Islamic State, its efforts are limited by the refusal to help Assad forces retake Syrian territory,” Landis concluded.
Joel Parker, a researcher on Syria at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, told the Post the Syria-Russia-Iran axis’s operations have quickly evolved into a much more sophisticated campaign than what we saw in Zabadani last summer, located near Damascus and the border with Lebanon.
“What happened there was that a small group of Syrian rebels and others joined with them in a mountain town surrounded on every side by allies of the regime. Nevertheless, Hezbollah forces and the regime could not fully liberate the town from the rebels, or at least not quickly,” said Parker.
Since them, Russian support has put the momentum back on the regime’s side, making a critical difference.
He points out that the struggle against the Islamic State seems to be going well now, “but it isn’t clear whether the group has any cards up its sleeves. For instance, what kind of tunnels they have and whether they are still able to move supplies around.”
In addition, the Turkish government’s current focus on countering the Kurds and supporting allied rebel groups means that “as long as the Assad regime is seen as fighting Islamic State and the rebels are seen as having lost the major battle against Assad, things are going to continue to go well for the regime, even if there are setbacks.”

Dr. Yassir al-Burhami, Egypt’s premiere Salafi Says Persecuted Coptic Christians Are “Criminal, Aggressive, and Oppressive”
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 07/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/04/07/raymond-ibrahimcoptic-solidarity-dr-yassir-al-burhami-egypts-premiere-salafi-says-persecuted-coptic-christians-are-criminal-aggressive-and-oppressive/
Dr. Yassir al-Burhami, Egypt’s premiere Salafi, was once again videotaped inciting hate for and violence against the nation’s Christians, the Copts—including by decrying the notion of giving them their full human and civil rights: “When you cooperate with a criminal, aggressive, oppressive, infidel minority, you attack the rights of the majority [Muslims].”
He went on to concede (sarcastically) that the Copts were “brothers”—but only in the context of the nation, not in the much more important context of religion, or “reality”:
We call them “our Christian brothers, the infidels.” And I use the word “brother” in its common usage: we say, yes, they are our brothers in the nation—but they are infidels who are on their way to hell … and we advise them to break away from the authority of the taghut [meaning “idolatrous,” “tyrannical” or “oppressive”] Church.
Discussing this video, Egyptian talk show host Yusif al-Hussayni made several important points, including that “among these Islamic groups, use of the word taghut is synonymous with ‘go and kill!’ That’s how Anwar Sadat was killed—he was first described as a taghut. So when Burhami describes the leaders of the church as taghut, this is the same as if he were to incite against and kill them.”
He added that for Burhami to call Christians “brothers” and “infidels” in the same breath is as contradictory as if he, Hussayni, were to say “Dear sir, scholar, sheikh, doctor Burhami—you son of a b***.” He also decried the fact that while secular Egyptian and Coptic Christians are regularly accused of “defaming religions,” and prosecuted accordingly,
Al Azhar doesn’t accuse Burhami of inciting hatred and violence against minorities. Indeed, there isn’t a single pious Muslim who is zealous over his religion, who does not permit his religion to be equated with hatred, violence, and incitement against other religions, who bothered to file a case against Yassir Burhami. Not one!
Indeed, while riots and violence regularly erupt whenever a Christian is merely accused of liking a Facebook page critical of Islam, followed by the arrest and prosecution of the accused, no Muslim seems to care when Christians are mocked or attacked in the name of Isam, even though Egypt’s “defamation of religions” law is supposed to protect Christianity and Christians as well in Egypt.
Hussayni pointed out that by allowing people such as Burhami to continue to preach and disseminate their message, the Egyptian government, by default, supports this message of hate and violence against Christians.
As others have indicated, it’s not enough for Egyptian president Sisi merely to speak out against radicalism, or do PR visits to Coptic churches. So long as people like Burhami are permitted to disseminate such hate-filled messages, so long will Christians suffer.!