LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

April 12/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.april12.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 06/28-34:"Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’"
 

God's eyes are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But God's face is against those who do evil
First Letter of Peter 03/01-12:"Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight. It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands. Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters as long as you do what is good and never let fears alarm you. Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honour to the woman as the weaker sex, since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life so that nothing may hinder your prayers. Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called that you might inherit a blessing. For ‘Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’"

New Tweets by Pope Francis
Society cannot do without the family, and it ought to be protected
Every family, despite its weaknesses, can become a light in the darkness of the world.
To know how to forgive and feel forgiven is a basic experience in family life.
The divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the Church. They are not excommunicated.
Fidelity has to do with patience. Its joys and sacrifices bear fruit as the years go by.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 12/16
We the Lebanese/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Now Lebanon/April 11/16
Lebanon: A Middle East oasis that deserves preservation/Robert Chahine/Now Lebanon/April 11/16
ISIS or Islam: Which Breeds Terrorism/Raymond Ibrahim /PJ Media/April 11/16
Kuwaiti Writer: Yousuf 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi: Arab, Muslim States Should Recognize Israel, Openly And Immediately/MAMRI/April 11/16
Yemen: Between ending the conflict and a warrior’s break/Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/April 11/16
Five days that changed the face of the region/Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/April 11/16
Youth should be the main priority for Muslim leaders/Elshad Iskadarov/Al Arabiya/April 11/16
Green Card’ for expatriates in Saudi Arabia is a strategic plan/Khaled Almaeena/Al Arabiya/April 11/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on April 12/16

Hizbullah Tops List of 68 Groups Deemed Terrorist by Bahrain
Salam Regrets Sectarian Dispute on State Security, Urges Christians to Elect President
Hariri Wants 'Hizbullah Arms' in Any 'Package Deal', Urges Geagea to Back Franjieh
Zoaiter Reassures on Airport Security as Army Frees 2 Workers Cleared of Terror Charges
Pharaon: No Financial Scandal Linked to State Security Agency
Details Emerge on Terror Cell Recruiting Minors
Ibrahim Appeals for Support to Security Agencies
Lebanon Judiciary to Press Kidnap Charges against Australian Mother, TV
Jumblatt: Interior Minister confirmed to me involvement of high ranking figures in internet affair
Lebanese Army clarifies circumstances of airport personnel release
Raad: He who refuses to mull voting law hinders president election
Abduction of Syrian botched in Baalback
We the Lebanese
Lebanon: A Middle East oasis that deserves preservation

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 12/16

Iran announces the killing of a first Iranian army soldier in battles in Syria
Netanyahu: Israeli actions beyond northern border kept Hezbollah from 'game-changing' arms
Iran regime flogs activists for demanding release of political prisoners
Dissident Iranian cleric poisoned in prison
U.N. Envoy Says Next Phase in Syria Talks 'Crucial'
Syria Jihadists Push Offensives, Threaten Truce
Saudi King Receives Red Carpet Treatment on Turkey Visit
Saudi King Ends Landmark Egypt Visit with Firm Support to Sisi
Suicide Attack Targets Police Station in South Russia
Reports: Turkey Hits IS in Syria after Rockets Hurt 4 in Turkish Town
Obama's Worst Mistake? Failing to Plan Libya Aftermath

Links From Jihad Watch Site for April 12/16
UK: 50% of Muslims want homosexuality outlawed, 31% want polygamy legalized, 23% want Sharia.
Germany: Muslim “refugee” admits to setting shelter on fire, spray-painting swastikas to frame “far-right”.
Brussels Muslim had rotting animal testicles and feces in backpack, suggesting Islamic State biological attack plot.
Video: Muslims screaming “Allahu akbar” attack police at Greek-Macedonian border.
60% of “Palestinians” support jihad attacks against Israeli civilians.
Turkey’s top Muslim cleric: Terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.
Was Islam Really More Tolerant Than Christianity?.
UK: Muslim Labor official fired for saying Hitler was “greatest man in history”.
Kerry invites Taliban to negotiate, they respond with rocket fire.
Canadian paper removes story about Muslim migrant bullying: “sensitive subject”.
Sesame Street unveils hijab-wearing Muslim puppet.
Saudi TV host: We must admit that terrorists “adhere to the religion of Islam”.
Austria: Muslim “refugee,” Mumbai jihad suspect, arrested for plot in Europe.
Dr. Omar Ahmad and The Agony of the “Decent Muslim”.

Hizbullah Tops List of 68 Groups Deemed Terrorist by Bahrain
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/The Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Monday published a list of 68 Islamist groups it classified as "terrorist", the state news agency BNA said. Hizbullah, already branded as "terrorist" by the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League, topped the list approved by Bahrain's cabinet, BNA said. Also on the list was Al-Qaida and its branches in Yemen and North Africa, as well as Al-Nusra Front in Syria and the Islamic State group (IS). Nigeria's Boko Haram, Egypt's Islamic Jihad and Al-Murabitoun in Mali are also on the list. Also included are the little-known Al-Ashtar Brigades and Resistance Brigades, as well as the clandestine February 14 Coalition, all believed to be Shiite groups in Bahrain. A similar list already issued by the United Arab Emirates includes 83 groups. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are all partners in the U.S.-led coalition that is bombing IS militants in Syria and Iraq.

Salam Regrets Sectarian Dispute on State Security, Urges Christians to Elect President
Naharnet/April 11/16/Prime Minister Tammam Salam has expressed regret that the controversy on the State Security agency has turned into a sectarian dispute among cabinet ministers, urging Christian parties to push for the election of a new president. Salam said in remarks published in several dailies on Monday that the article on State Security is on the agenda of a cabinet session that will be held Tuesday. “I will hear all the opinions on the article and will cooperate with what serves this agency,” he said. “Just tell me … what has confessionalism got to do with an organizational-administrative issue inside an official security agency?” the PM asked. “We will be fair with the State Security Department if we find out that it has been treated unjustly. If we discover flaws in its performance, then we fill fix them,” he said. Last week, the cabinet failed to address various pending affairs with the contentious issue of the general-directorate of State Security taking up the majority of discussions. Following nearly four hours of talks on the issue, no agreement was reached after Christian ministers insisted on resolving the controversy on State Security and then move on to discuss other matters such as the security at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport. The ministers have been claiming that the leadership of the agency has been deliberately sidelined. 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 have 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. But Salam stressed in his remarks to the newspapers that “the officials in charge of the agency are civil servants and are not the employees of a certain sect.”“The parties trying to shove confessionalism into the issue are weakening and not strengthening the state,” he said. The premier added that the Christian parties should focus instead on the election of a head of state. Baabda Palace has been vacant since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014. The vacuum has caused paralysis at state institutions, mainly the parliament.

Hariri Wants 'Hizbullah Arms' in Any 'Package Deal', Urges Geagea to Back Franjieh
Naharnet/April 11/16/Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri declared Monday that he would want Hizbullah's controversial arsenal of weapons to be part of any “package deal” among the rival political parties. “When Hizbullah lost hope that (Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel) Aoun can become president, it started talking about the package deal,” said Hariri in a chat with reporters. “If they want a package deal, we also want a package deal involving its weapons,” the ex-PM added. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had in November called for a “comprehensive political settlement” over the issues of the stalled presidential vote, the next government and the electoral law that should be approved for the parliamentary polls. “Let us engage in bilateral, tripartite or four-party talks to discuss the issues of the presidency, the premier, the government's structure and the electoral law,” Nasrallah urged, noting that addressing the country's problems “little by little” has become “very tiresome.”In the wake of Nasrallah's call, Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency, an offer that has faced reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. “We will maintain our support for Franjieh and we will meet soon,” Hariri told reporters on Monday. “Everyone knows that if quorum was secured, MP Franjieh would have enough votes to become president,” Hariri added, referring to the boycott of electoral sessions by Hizbullah, the FPM and some of their allies. Asked about Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea's latest call for him to endorse Aoun's nomination in a bid to “embarrass” Hizbullah, Hariri said: “I understand (Geagea's) approach towards the presidential issue but Hizbullah does not want a president.” Addressing the LF leader, he added: “If you want to embarrass Hizbullah, give up your support for Aoun's nomination and endorse Franjieh.”Separately, Hariri stressed that he is not insisting on becoming the country's next prime minister and that he is not “paralyzing the country over this issue.”

Zoaiter Reassures on Airport Security as Army Frees 2 Workers Cleared of Terror Charges
Naharnet/April 11/16/The army announced Monday that two Beirut airport workers held on suspicion of terrorism have been freed after being cleared of the charges. “They were interrogated under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities and eventually released after it was verified that they had no ties to any terrorist activities or groups,” the Army Command said in a statement. On Sunday, state-run National News Agency said the Airport Security Apparatus had arrested two Lebanese airport employees on charges of “communicating with terrorist groups.” The two employees were apprehended “two days ago,” NNA said. Media reports said the two workers are employed by the Middle East Airports Services SAL company (MEAS), a subsidiary of Lebanon's national carrier Middle East Airlines. Unconfirmed media reports said one of them had managed to smuggle a weapon to the airport and that it was discovered in “his drawer.”In remarks published Monday, Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Zoaiter said the arrest of the two employees shows that the security situation at the Rafik Hariri International Airport is not a source of concern. “The apprehension of the two workers at the airport proves that the security situation at the facility is not worrisome,” said Zoaiter. The security situation is “under control,” he told As Safir newspaper although he admitted that the airport needs more equipment and improvements. Zoaiter stressed the importance of providing the needed funds to build a fence for the airport and improve the luggage transport system. The issue was not discussed at the cabinet session last week after Christian ministers insisted on resolving the controversy on State Security before discussing any other matter. The ministers claim that the agency, which is headed by a Catholic, is being intentionally marginalized.
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq has recently vowed that he will exert efforts to address “security gaps” at the airport, hours after suicide bombers killed more than 30 people and wounded over 200 at Brussels airport and a Belgian metro train. Citing “Western reports,” the minister warned that the said gaps “might be equivalent to those that were present at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport and led to the bombing of the Russian plane.”

Pharaon: No Financial Scandal Linked to State Security Agency
Naharnet/April 11/16/Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon stated on Monday that there is no financial scandal linked to the controversial file of the State Security Agency and slammed reports claiming that there is a kind of political “fight” over the file. “There is no battle and no one is raising the stakes in the State Security file,” said Pharaon in a press conference. “After we studied the file thoroughly we found out that there were some nonlegal measures that were taken based on a political background,” he said without elaborating on the issue but stressed that contacts with several ministers were made to unify the points of view. “There is no financial scandal linked to the file. The agency is carrying out its duties in countering terrorism,” stressed the Minister adding “no one is trying to transform the security institutions into sects.”The dispute over the file centers on the budget of the State Security agency and differences between its director Major General George Qaraa and his deputy Brigadier General Mohammed al-Tufaili. The disagreements between the two officials have started to take on a sectarian turn, reports have said. They added that Pharaon supports Qaraa, who represents Christians, while Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil supports Tufaili, who enjoys the backing of several ministers, including Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Akram Shehayyeb, and Wael Abou Faour. Given these differences, reports have doubted that a cabinet session set for Tuesday will be able to solve a breakthrough in this file. In March, the Kataeb Party’s three representatives in the cabinet in addition to Pharaon warned that they would take action if the government fails to resolve the “marginalization” of the general-directorate of state security. 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 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, reports say. Media reports quoted a ministerial source as saying that Bouji’s move likely came as a result of his friendship with Tufaili.

Details Emerge on Terror Cell Recruiting Minors
Naharnet/April 11/16/The General Security agency was able to arrest an extremist network that recruits minors in favor of the Islamic State group and is active between the northern areas of al-Mankoubin and Wadi Nahle, al-Akhbar daily reported on Monday. The network is comprised of five members most of whom are Lebanese nationals who work under the instructions of Lebanese Omar al-Satem who runs the Islamic State group's activity from the 'capital of the caliphate' in the Syrian province of al-Reqqa, it added. Investigations run by the General Security Directorate have revealed that members of the network were hiding under the cover of a religious school that they alleged had run in a region in north Lebanon.The General Security detained Lebanese Bakr S., Khaled Kh., Ahmed M. and A.Mhanna, and the Syrian Mohannad G. The group have confessed that they were preparing groups to carry out terrorist operations in addition to planning attacks against the Lebanese army in Tripoli's al-Beddawi. Inspections have also shown that a Lebanese female “with Jihadist ideology” was able to convince detained Bakr S. aka Abou Omar to pledge allegiance for the al-Nusra Front. The young man who is still held by the police said that the woman has encouraged him to enroll with al-Nusra Front group for “jihad in Syria”. He said that she paid him a sum of money in order to pay for his transportation from north Lebanon to the northeastern border town of Arsal and from there to the camps of the al-Nusra group in the outskirts.
Five months ago, the General Security was able to intercept a telephone call between the woman and the detainee where she notified him that she was tasked with receiving jihadists and suicide killers in Lebanon and asked for his help.
The woman was said to have left Lebanon to Syria using a false identity card and has then moved to al-Reqqa where the contact was lost.

Ibrahim Appeals for Support to Security Agencies
Naharnet/April 11/16/General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has called for providing the country’s security agencies with their needs for being the reason behind the relative stability that Lebanon is enjoying. “It is enough to carry out a quick comparison between the security situation here and in the region to find out the importance of the work carried out by the agencies,” Ibrahim told As Safir daily published on Monday. “We are pursuing several terrorist networks based on information we have received,” he said. “We hope we would make more achievements in confronting terrorism,” he said a few days after a dangerous terrorist cell was uncovered in the North by the General Security. Extremist groups were using a religious school as a front for jihadist dealings. The school was being run by a terrorist called Omar al-Satem, who is currently in Syria's al-Raqa, a stronghold of the extremist Islamic State group. “Our strategy lies in activating preventive security,” said Ibrahim. Security agencies should "take action rather than resorting to counter-reaction," he said, adding that there is ongoing cooperation among them to thwart terrorist attacks.

Lebanon Judiciary to Press Kidnap Charges against Australian Mother, TV
Associated Press/Naharnet/April 11/16/A state prosecutor in Lebanon is expected to file kidnapping charges against an Australian woman, an Australian TV crew, and others for attempting to take the woman's two children away from her Lebanese ex-husband and bring them back to Australia.Sally Faulkner, along with four Australians, two Britons, and two Lebanese, was brought into police custody last Thursday after a botched attempt was made to snatch Faulkner's five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son from their paternal grandmother as she took them to school in the Hadath area. Faulkner said her ex-husband, Ali al-Amin, moved the children to Lebanon without her permission. The detainees include prominent Australian TV presenter Tara Brown and her crew from Channel Nine TV. A reporter from the station said in an interview broadcast Thursday that the crew was there to cover the story for 60 Minutes.
Michael Brown said it was a "risky operation, a risky story -- this desperate Australian mum trying to get her two children home," but said the crew was prepared for the difficulties. A judicial official, speaking on the condition of anonymity Monday because he was not authorized to speak publicly, quoted prosecutor Claude Karam as saying: "Their files will be studied in preparation of charging them in the case regarding the kidnapping of two underage children, in contravention to Lebanese law." The children's grandmother, Ibtisam Berri, said she and a domestic worker were taking the children to school last Wednesday when two men jumped out of a parked car and took the children away. She said a cameraman was filming the scene from the car. At least one of the Britons is being held on suspicion that he planned to smuggle the children out of Lebanon on his boat, docked in a private Beirut hotel, police officials said. The authorities returned the children to al-Amin, who told a local TV station that he would not sue his former wife. "She is the mother of my children ... if I were her I would have done the same," he said last Thursday. He told another TV network that Faulkner and Australian security agencies knew he was leaving Australia with the children and denied kidnapping them from their mother.

Jumblatt: Interior Minister confirmed to me involvement of high ranking figures in internet affair
Mon 11 Apr 2016/NNA - Head of the Democratic Gathering, MP Walid Jumblatt, on Monday maintained that Interior Minister, Nohad Mashnouq, had confirmed to him high-ranking figures were involvement in the affair of the unauthorized internet networks. "I received a phone call from Minister Mashnouq (...) I accidently asked him about the internet issue, and he confirmed my doubts about the involvement of high-ranking figures. We leave this matter to the judiciary," he tweeted.

Lebanese Army clarifies circumstances of airport personnel release
Mon 11 Apr 2016 /NNA - The Lebanese army clarified, in a statement on Monday, that the release of the two employees of Rafic Hariri International Airport followed interrogation under the supervision of the competent judicial authority, who made sure they had nothing to do with any terrorist group.

Raad: He who refuses to mull voting law hinders president election
Mon 11 Apr 2016/NNA - Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, on Monday accused the political sides refusing to mull a new election law of hindering the election of a new president of the republic. "What guarantees that if a president is chosen, the election law will be discussed?" he wondered. "They want to head to the Parliament to elect a president anyhow, then they wash their hands clean of the rest if the issues in the country," he said, in reference to the unauthorized internet networks and the trash ordeal. Raad made these remarks during a ceremony held by Hezbollah in Aita Shaab in the South.

Abduction of Syrian botched in Baalback
Mon 11 Apr 2016/NNA - Bekaa police managed to save Syrian Mohammad Yasser Sleiman Tatin from an abduction attempt on the highway of Hellanieh in Baalback, National News Agency correspondent reported on Monday. In details, a police patrol spotted at 11:00 am today, a tinted white Cherokee, without a number plate, as trying to intercept a silver Shana car holding a Syrian plate. Four gunmen stepped out of their Jeep and rushed to Tatin to steal his belongings and kidnap him. They soon fled as they saw the police advancing towards them, leaving the Syrian man thrown aside the road. Investigation started into the incident.

We the Lebanese
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Now Lebanon/April 11/16
After long being a pawn in regional conflicts, Lebanon’s recent troubles have been self-inflicted. Thanks to Saudi-Iranian detente in Lebanon, the country has enjoyed stability since February 2014. But because of a greedy oligarchy, incompetent leadership and a narcissistic culture, Lebanon lingers on the verge of collapse. Regional conflicts have exacted a high toll on Lebanon since its inception. The civil war ended in 1990 after the US brokered a Saudi-Syrian agreement. Syria’s Hafez al-Assad skillfully walked on the fence between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but his son Bashar threw himself on the Iranian side, pushing both Syria and Lebanon closer to the Iranian orbit. In 2003, scared of the US invasion of Iraq, both Saudi Arabia and Iran were happy to see the Americans bogged down in a quagmire. As Tehran prevailed, Riyadh switched course and decided to help Washington.
Iran perceived the Saudi switch as an aggression and responded region-wide. Countries with Sunni and Shiite populations, like Lebanon, turned into fault lines. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in 2005, and a number of anti-Syrian politicians and journalists were also taken out.
Lebanon’s luck, however, improved with the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011, which became the outlet for regional wars. After some clashes, both Iran and Saudi decided that maintaining Lebanese stability was in their interests: The Iranians wanted Hezbollah’s command center stable to allow the party to fight in Syria; the Saudis wanted to preserve their decades-long investments in post-war Lebanon. And hence, since 2013, Lebanon has been spared the regional fire, which means that the nation’s troubles have been Lebanese-made.
Lebanon’s socio-political identity is a hybrid between Levantine and Western cultures. From their Levantine roots, the Lebanese have inherited misogyny, patriarchy, tribalism and other pre-Enlightenment social aspects. From the West, the Lebanese have imported the commercialization of women, consumerism and shallow intellectualism. The image of bikini-clad women sunbathing while puffing on their hookahs is uniquely Lebanese. Young men driving luxurious cars while holding expensive cigars, all funded by their competitively generous dads, are also uniquely Lebanese. Famous female Lebanese singers, who break almost every social taboo by hiding little flesh while on stage, carry regressive social principles. One of them said she opposes “women taking more than their rights,” and is also against “breaking the manliness of men.”Next to their amalgam of Western looks and medieval principles, the Lebanese have an awfully inadequate understanding of public space. A majority is always trying to game the system. Almost always, the Lebanese prefer to employ their connections to circumvent, not only rules, but also basic administrative procedure because standing in line like everybody else — in the Lebanese mind — is for losers and the poor.
The Lebanese have a dangerously twisted understanding of the state. To them, nationalism is the “coexistence” of sects. Each sect’s share in the bureaucracy is commensurate with its demographics, an arrangement that undermines meritocracy, encourages corruption and hinders accountability. When one sect perceives itself as being unfairly treated by not receiving its share of governmental jobs, its leaders — with support from their partisans — raise hell over what they call “the loss of their rights.”For some reason, the Lebanese just cannot see themselves as individuals with equal rights and with direct ties to the state without the oligarchs. The majority of the Lebanese have a sense of entitlement. They expect the state to do magic for them and seem unable to fathom that the state is the reflection of its people. The Lebanese simply do not understand that the state’s resources come mainly from the taxes that very few of them pay. The Lebanese are also annoyingly whiny. They curse the state and the oligarchs, but repeatedly elect the same cast that they’ve been sending to office over the past century. The Lebanese have an outdated sense of national identity. They often fight over the historic narrative. Thus, being Lebanese hinges around Fairuz, mezza cuisine, a flag and a male-chauvinist national anthem. For some reason, the Lebanese seem unable to reorient their national identity and tie it to the future. Instead of oligarchs fighting over their “rights,” how about they deflate their egos to make way for Lebanon’s “interests,” such as growing the economy and creating jobs. Finally, a word on “alternative” movements, mainly the civil society. While these are mostly young, they offer little more than slogans. They define themselves in the negative, that is by often saying what they are not: They are not political, not sectarian, not corrupt and so on.
There is no reason for alternative movements in Lebanon to fear politics. Let them offer a new brand of politics: One that is informed and that offers a fresh perspective, independent of the oligarchs and their game. The Lebanese seem doomed, not because they live in a tough neighborhood, but because they are dangerously unaware of their shortcomings. Lebanon’s constitution needs a preamble, maybe one that begins with “We the Lebanese” and reflects a new national thinking of taking ownership of one’s destiny. If the Lebanese do not help themselves, there is little others can do for them.
**Hussain Abdul-Hussain is the Washington Bureau Chief of Kuwaiti newspaper Alrai. He tweets @hahussain
 

Lebanon: A Middle East oasis that deserves preservation
Robert Chahine/Now Lebanon/April 11/16
For a long time, Lebanon was referred to as a Middle East oasis, owing to the fact that it is the only country in the region that does not have a desert within its borders. More importantly Lebanon is an oasis of freedom, democracy, diversity and until now, relative calm in a very turbulent region of the world. Nevertheless, most expatriate Lebanese and many Americans and other nationals of Lebanese origin currently suffer extreme anxiety about Lebanon’s stability and future. The relentless violence and fragmentation in Syria and the expansion of barbaric radicalism in several additional Arab countries constitute an existential threat to Lebanon. Yet despite all the unthinkable difficulties of the past few years, the country of the cedars has managed to survive and its population continues to live a near normal life with somewhat business as usual.
The long traditions of freedom and democracy, as well as the generally agreed upon strict division of power since independence, may have contributed to avoiding a new civil war. Nevertheless, regional stresses have pushed the country into a dangerous political stalemate. Modern Lebanon has had a reasonable balance between Christians and Muslims as well as relative equilibrium between the Sunnis and Shiites within its Muslim community. The wisdom, moderation and patriotism of the majority of Lebanese of all sects have certainly contributed to avoiding a complete collapse of the country. However, deep and significant problems continue to stress, erode and shake Lebanon’s constitutional institutions, which in turn have perpetuated fears and anxieties of the Lebanese and their friends, in and outside the oasis.
While its general population has distinguished itself with wisdom, tolerance and patience, Lebanon’s problems continue to progress more and more into riskier situations. This is due to complex internal and external factors. Many Lebanese leaders and politicians seem to fail in differentiating between the general interests of the country and their selfish benefits. Further, many have not adapted to the necessity of exercising their independence. They keep watching or waiting for a secret word or signal to come from abroad in their favor or against their adversaries.
The so called Arab Spring and the eruption of the Syrian Civil War necessitated that the Lebanese overcome the chronic polarization of March 8 vs. March 14 and find a consensus for unity to protect Lebanon from the stormy atmosphere in its neighborhood. Instead, the increasing tension between the competitors for Middle East dominance and the onset of barbaric violence in the name of religion has caused some internal fragmentation of the two main political groups as well as changes in alliances. This has further complicated any possible solution to the most important constitutional problem, the election of a new president. In the absence of such an election, most other institutional problems may persist or worsen, and the country will continue to suffer from very weak and shaky governance.
Two problems of immense importance cannot wait for too long before they produce irreparable consequences to the health and future of the country: The magnitude of the Syrian refugee issue remaining unchecked and practically out of control, and the accumulation of garbage, resisting solutions, with the successive failures ascribed to rampant corruption. The current government is clearly frustrated by the difficulties it encounters in trying to resolve these problems and many others, without the option to resign for fear of causing a total vacuum. Thus the election of a new president cannot be postponed any longer. Leaders in the US and the Lebanese expatriate community are constantly warning of the growing existential threats to Lebanon. Many see Harriri’s support for the Franjieh candidature, followed by Geagea’s support for the candidacy of Aoun, as further complicating and inadvertently or possibly intentionally obstructing the election of a new president. We see a potentially unifying feature in the March 14 coalition sacrificing their right to try to elect one of their own and deferring to March 8 to take the presidency of Lebanon. To capitalize on an optimistic outlook to this development, the Lebanese leaders who participate in the dialogue process should enter into intense open discussions to convince all deputies to go to parliament and elect one of the two current March 8 candidates, after securing a pledge that all Lebanese will support the winner. If after reasonable efforts to reach such a noble democratic goal, no agreement can be reached, they should return to the search for a consensus candidate from the ranks of March 8 and their allies. If they have difficulty finding such candidate, we in the expatriate community can promptly suggest two or three names fully qualified for the job and who will have the strength and ability to unify the country. Some of those, although they are not official candidates, have enough patriotism and concern for Lebanon that they may be prepared and ready to address most of the pressing issues in a courageous and timely manner.
Friends of Lebanon, whether from the Near East or the far West, have consistently shown concern and support for the country. They recognize that in the currently globalized world the small republic with a very broadly diverse population, united in moderation, must succeed in securing peace, stability and prosperity. It should serve as a prototype for the limitation of radical terrorism and previewing a better future for the world. They have always stated that Lebanon should be saved and protected. They also continue, despite sometimes conflicting interests, to do what they can to shelter Lebanon from the hurricane strength storms surrounding it. It is time that the Lebanese leaders and politicians wake up and demonstrate the necessary wisdom, patriotism and unselfish initiative to save their beautiful oasis, and secure its future stability and prosperity.

 **Dr. Robert A. Chahine is president of the American Lebanese Foundation. www.alfusa.org

Iran announces the killing of a first Iranian army soldier in battles in Syria
Jerusalem Post/April 11/16/
The Iranian Special Forces sent to Syria in mid-March suffered their first loss Sunday, as one officer was killed during battles with Syrian opposition factions, news sites affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards reported Monday. The Special Forces officer, Mohsen Qitaslo, fought within the ranks of Brigade 65 in the Iranian army, known as the "brigade of green berets."Tabank, an Iranian news site aligned with the Revolutionary Guards, reported: "The Iranian army sacrificed its first martyr," but did not specify where the officer was killed. The reports about the officer's death contradict previous declarations of the Iranian Army Ground Forces' Deputy Commander, who stated that the Special Forces that are sent to Syria will perform an advisory role and will not participate in the fighting. On Wednesday, several Iranian news sites reported that the Iranian Special Forces arrived in al-Hader village in Aleppo's southern suburbs to prepare for their participation in battles aimed to recapture a number of villages in the region the Syrian regime has recently lost. In mid-March, following the heavy losses inflicted on Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards in the battles against Syrian opposition factions over Aleppo, the Iranian army announced that it would send its Special Forces brigade to Syria, to reinforce its forces in Aleppo.

Netanyahu: Israeli actions beyond northern border kept Hezbollah from 'game-changing' arms
Jerusalem Post/April 11/16/Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on Monday that Israel has taken action dozens of times beyond the northern border to prevent Hezbollah from attaining “game-changing”weaponry.”Netanyahu's comments came during a visit to Golan Height to observe a large scale maneuver of reservists in the Paratroopers Battalion. “We are proud that in the stormy and volatile Middle East, we were able to maintain relative calm and relative safety in Israel. We act when we should act, including here, across the border, in dozens of attacks, to prevent Hezbollah from getting game-changing weaponry,” the premier said. Netanyahu said that Israel was acting on other fronts as well, “nearby and far away, but are doing it in an intelligent manner.” He said Israel was facing Islamic State and Hezbollah in the north, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the Islamic State and global Jihadists in Sinai.“If we are required to go into battle, and that is a possibility that lies ahead, which is why you are here, it is because we were unable to prevent the dangers to Israel through other means,” he said. Speaking to the soldiers, Netanyahu said “this is our country, and we need to defend it; nobody else will defend it except us,” Netanyahu said. “You look at the earthquake around us and you see people and countries wiped out, and if anyone expects someone to come to his aid , that will not happen. If we have learned anything, it is that we need to be able to defend ourselves by ourselves – that is also the significance of the reserve duty you are doing here.” One piece of advanced weaponry that Israel did not succeed in blocking from reaching the hands of its enemies is the S-300 anti missile system, which Russia has reportedly begun supplying to Iran. According to Iranian media reports on Monday, Russia has delivered the first part of the surface-to-air system – first deployed at the height of the Cold War in 1979 in the USSR to defend large industrial facilities and military bases – to Iran. In its updated form this system is one of the most advanced systems of its kind and, able to engage multiple aircraft and ballistic missiles around 150 km away, potentially making it more difficult to attack the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities from the air. Israel and the US have been trying to prevent the sale of the system to Iran for nearly a decade. In a recorded transmission, Iranian state television showed Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari telling a news conference on Monday: "I announce today that the first phase of this (delayed) contract has been implemented." Ansari was replying to reporters' questions about videos on social media showing what appeared to be parts of an S-300 missile system on trucks in northern Iran.
Russia says it cancelled a contract to deliver S-300s to Iran in 2010 under pressure from the West. President Vladimir Putin lifted that self-imposed ban in April 2015, after an interim agreement that paved the way for July's full nuclear deal. Israel had no response to the reports that the supply of the system had begun. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Russia on April 21 for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which arms sales are expected to be raised. In November, Russia's ambassador to Israel Alexander Shein told The Jerusalem Post that Moscow never annulled this contract and “as an act of goodwill only suspended it for the period of international sanctions on Iran.” He said that Russia would likely implement the contract after the initial lifting of the sanctions on Iran early in 2016.
**Reuters contributed to this report.

Iran regime flogs activists for demanding release of political prisoners
NCRI/Monday, 11 April 2016/- Iran's fundamentalist regime last week flogged five activists in a prison north of Iran for demanding the release of political prisoners. The five men, identified as Amir Amini, Morteza Parvin, Maysam Jolani, Saleh Peachganlou, and Mostafa Parvin, were flogged on April 6 in a prison in Ardebil. They had been charged with raising a placard during a soccer match that called for the release of political prisoners in Iran. The regime's court in Ardebil condemned each of these activists in November 2015 to three months’ imprisonment and 30 lashes for raising the placard in a soccer match between Ardebil and Hormozgan teams which read “Abbas Lesani and political prisoners must be freed.” The verdict was upheld by the regime's Court of Appeal. On March 25, 2015, Abbas Lesani, an activist, was condemned to one year of imprisonment for “propaganda” against the regime. He is currently serving his sentence in Shiraz Prison, southern Iran. The mullahs’ regime continues to carry out barbaric punishments including hangings, torture, flogging, amputation of limbs, eye gouging, and stoning to death.

Dissident Iranian cleric poisoned in prison
NCRI/Monday, 11 April 2016/ A dissident Iranian cleric has been poisoned in prison by agents of the regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), reports from Tehran's notorious Evin Prison say. The reports indicate that Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi fell seriously ill on April 7 after MOIS agents poisoned his food. He has since developed strong pain all over his body, in particular in his feet and legs, and his vision has been drastically reduced.Ayatollah Boroujerdi, 57, has spent nearly 10 years in the Iranian regime's jails, including at least 440 days in solitary confinement, due to his opposition to clerical rule. He was arrested in Tehran on October 8, 2006. Earlier reports from Evin Prison said Boroujerdi had been facing brutal physical and psychological tortures behind bars. One report said that in prison his health has drastically deteriorated and he has been suffering from various illnesses, yet he has been denied proper treatment or medicine. In prison, he has developed a heart condition and kidney and respiratory problems. He has also lost about 90 percent of his vision in one eye and has lost a lot of weight. The only medication made available to him are pain-killers, the report said. Ayatollah Boroujerdi was prosecuted behind closed doors by the regime's Special Clerical Court.
According to Amnesty International:
“He was charged with some 30 offences, including ‘waging war against God’ (moharebeh); committing acts against national security; publicly calling the principle of political leadership by the clergy unlawful; having links with anti-revolutionaries and spies; and using the term ‘religious dictatorship’ instead of ‘Islamic Republic’ in public discourse and radio interviews. He was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment on 13 August 2007 and defrocked (banned from wearing his clerical robes and thereby from practicing his clerical duties), and his house and all his belongings were confiscated. His family had appointed lawyers for him but the SCC refused to allow them to defend him on the grounds that only clerics appointed by the Judiciary could make representations on his behalf.”“He is now held in Evin Prison’s Ward for the Clergy: he was imprisoned for advocating the separation of religion and state. He has been under increased pressure to write and sign ‘confessions’. Prison officials have told him at least once, in October 2013, that if he does not write a letter recanting his beliefs, he will never be released.”

U.N. Envoy Says Next Phase in Syria Talks 'Crucial'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/The U.N. peace envoy to Syria on Monday said in Damascus that an upcoming round of negotiations in Geneva aimed at ending the country's five-year war would be "crucially important"."The Geneva talks' next phase are crucially important because we will be focusing in particular on the political transition, on governance and constitutional principles," Staffan de Mistura told reporters after meeting Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. "We hope and plan to make them constructive and we plan to make them concrete," the envoy said. Scheduled to resume on April 13, the Geneva talks are aimed at ending a conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes since it erupted in March 2011. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in December which paved the way for the talks and called for elections in Syria to be held 18 months after a transitional government is agreed. The fate of President Bashar Assad is a major sticking point, however. While the opposition insists Assad can play no role in a future transitional government, the regime says voters should decide his fate. According to state news agency SANA, Muallem confirmed the government delegation was ready for the next round of peace talks. "Muallem reaffirmed in his meeting with De Mistura the Syrian position on the political solution to the crisis and the commitment to Syrian dialogue under Syrian leadership, without pre-conditions," the agency said. Meanwhile, De Mistura said he had also discussed with Muallem a shaky ceasefire in place since February 27. "We did raise and discuss the importance of protecting and maintaining and supporting the cessation of hostilities which is fragile but is there, and we need to make sure that it continues to be sustained even when there are incidents to be contained," said the envoy, who spoke in English. The truce, which was brokered by the United States and Russia, does not include areas where the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda's affiliate Al-Nusra Front are present. De Mistura and Muallem also discussed humanitarian aid access to besieged areas, the envoy said. The envoy also hailed the U.N. World Food Program's "promising" first successful airdrop on Sunday on Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, where 200,000 people live under IS siege.

Syria Jihadists Push Offensives, Threaten Truce
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/Syria's Al-Qaida affiliate and allied rebels pushed offensives around northern, central and coastal Syria on Monday, triggering a spike in violence that could threaten a truce ahead of peace talks, a monitoring group said. The Islamic State (IS) group also took back control of the town of Al-Rai near Turkey, which rival rebels had captured last week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Neither the Al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Nusra Front nor IS are included in a truce brokered by the United States and Russia that came into force on February 27. But the fact that rebels are fighting alongside Al-Nusra in such a broad offensive, while regime forces push back, has sparked concerns over the durability of the shaky truce. "Al-Nusra and allied rebel groups are waging three synchronized offensives" on front lines in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. So far, they have seized a hilltop in Latakia province, the heartland of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, the group said."This is the offensive that Al-Nusra warned it would carry out several weeks ago," Abdel Rahman said.
He was referring to a threat issued by the jihadist group when President Vladimir Putin, a key backer of Assad's regime, announced the partial pullout of Russian troops from Syria last month. A military source confirmed that an offensive was under way. "Armed groups are trying to attack some military positions in Latakia and Hama provinces, but they have not succeeded in making any advances," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Further north, rival jihadist group IS took back the town of Al-Rai, their key supply route from neighbouring Turkey, the Observatory said. Rebels fighting IS had taken Al-Rai last week following two days of clashes. "The fact that the rebels could not hold on to Al-Rai shows that it is impossible to maintain an advance against IS without adequate air cover," Abdel Rahman said. Syrian, Russian and U.S.-led coalition warplanes are all staging separate air campaigns in the war-torn country. The latest violence came ahead of a new round of peace talks in Geneva on April 13, which will see indirect negotiations between government and opposition delegations. "Neither Al-Nusra nor IS have an interest in the ceasefire or a peaceful solution to Syria's war -- because should the war end, they would no longer have a role," Abdel Rahman said. Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests but has since evolved into a multi-front war drawing in regional powers.

Saudi King Receives Red Carpet Treatment on Turkey Visit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/Saudi King Salman arrived in Turkey on Monday for a visit aimed at tightening increasingly close ties between the two overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim allies, receiving a lavish welcome that underlined the strength of relations. The 80-year-old king was welcomed at Ankara airport by a delegation personally led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an unusual break from protocol and showing the importance Turkey attaches to the visit. Television footage showed the king, wearing black sunglasses, serenely descending from the plane with a special escalator rather than steps before being welcomed by Erdogan. King Salman is expected to hold talks on Tuesday at Erdogan's presidential palace in Ankara expected to focus on the Syrian conflict and the fight against militants. Salman will then attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul on Thursday and Friday after wrapping up talks in the Turkish capital. Local media reported that he will stay in Ankara in a 450 square-meter (4,850 sq ft) hotel suite, with bullet proof windows reinforced by bomb-resistant cement. A 300-person Saudi delegation had earlier arrived in Ankara to coordinate the king's accommodation and deal with security issues, the Hurriyet newspaper said. Five hundred luxurious Mercedes, BMW and Audi cars had been hired for the king's transport in Ankara and Istanbul, it added. The king's personal belongings had all been shipped to Turkey in cargo planes. Saudi Arabia and Turkey have forged close alliance after their relationship had been damaged by Riyadh's role in the 2013 ousting of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, a close ally of Ankara. Ankara and Riyadh have cooperated closely over the five-year Syrian war. Both back rebels who are seeking to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power and see his exit as essential to ending the war. In February, Saudi jets arrived at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey to join the air campaign against Islamic State jihadists. Turkey will take over the OIC's rotating presidency from Egypt at the Istanbul summit, which is seen as a new bid by Erdogan to showcase Turkey's influence in the Islamic world.

Saudi King Ends Landmark Egypt Visit with Firm Support to Sisi
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/Saudi King Salman on Monday wrapped up a landmark five-day visit to Egypt marked by lavish praise and multi-billion-dollar investment deals, in a clear sign of support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's regime. The 80-year-old monarch's visit came as Riyadh aims to shore up ties with Cairo as it engages in several conflicts in the Middle East and competes with Shiite Iran for regional supremacy. The visit also highlights Saudi Arabia's firm support for Egypt's fight against the jihadist Islamic State group, which has spearheaded a brutal insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. "The other mission that we should work on together is the fight against extremism and the fight against terrorism," King Salman said on Sunday in an address to the Egyptian parliament. On Monday, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cairo University. He later flew to Turkey where he was met by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the past five days, King Salman and Sisi signed a slew of multi-billion-dollar investment deals that included a plan to build a bridge over the Red Sea connecting Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Egypt also agreed to demarcate its maritime borders with Saudi Arabia by officially placing two islands in the Straits of Tiran in Saudi territory. The agreement provoked an immediate backlash in Egypt, with thousands of Twitter users accusing Sisi of selling the islands. The islands had historically been Saudi and were "leased" to Egypt in 1950. Analysts said Salman's visit puts to rest months of reports in Saudi and Egyptian media of strained ties between the two countries over Cairo's unwillingness to participate fully in Saudi-led operations against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen. Egypt had announced it would back Saudi Arabia with ground forces if needed, but appears to have balked at sending troops for fear of becoming mired in the conflict. "The two countries realize that common interests outweigh their practical differences," said Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle East politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Following Salman's visit, Egypt would now be expected to offer more vocal support for Saudi Arabia when it comes to Iran and Yemen, he said. "The Egyptians are basically going to convince the Saudis that they are in the same trench when it comes to the Saudis' existential fight with Iran, and Saudi Arabia too seems to be very committed to Egyptian national security and the Sisi administration," said Gerges. Since he ousted Morsi in 2013, Saudi Arabia has supported former army chief Sisi. Riyadh viewed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement with deep suspicion. Saudi support for Cairo has helped Sisi tighten his grip on Egypt after he crushed not just the Brotherhood but also secular dissidents. Hundreds of supporters of Morsi have been killed and tens of thousands jailed in a blistering police crackdown. Hundreds more including Morsi himself have been sentenced to death or lengthy jail terms after often speedy trials that have been condemned by the United Nations and global rights groups. Prior to Salman's visit, Riyadh had already pumped billions of dollars in aid and investment into Egypt. It has helped prop up Egypt's economy, whose tourism industry has been devastated by years of political turmoil and jihadist attacks. "Although Saudi Arabia's support is important to confront Egypt's economic crisis, what Egypt needs is more political stability and security to attract tourism and foreign direct investments," said Ibrahim El-Ghitany, a researcher at Cairo-based Regional Center for Strategic Studies. Egypt's economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism, was dealt a body blow when IS downed a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31. All 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists, were killed in the attack which IS said was carried out by stowing a bomb on the aircraft.

Suicide Attack Targets Police Station in South Russia
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/Three suicide bombers blew themselves up on Monday as they tried to storm a rural police station in a usually peaceful region of southern Russia, causing no other casualties, police said. After the attack in the village of Novoselitskoye in the southern Stavropol region, regional authorities ordered the tightening of security measures at kindergartens, schools and hospitals.Russia's North Caucasus -- including Chechnya, where the Kremlin has fought two wars against separatists over the past 20 years -- has been gripped by nearly daily violence for years due to a simmering Islamist insurgency there. But attacks in the Stavropol region -- close to the Muslim-majority North Caucasus -- are rare. "We were holding a meeting in the morning when five explosions went off," Sergei Karamyshev, a senior local police official, told AFP. "Three people blew themselves up after an officer on duty at the entrance blocked the door to the building." He said three of the explosions were caused by the suicide bombers, while a fourth was caused by a grenade. The source of the fifth blast was not immediately clear, he added. "There are only fragments of flesh over there," said Karamyshev. A regional police spokeswoman said however that only one of the attackers had detonated his explosive charge, while the other two assailants were killed by "return fire.""They were shooting at the building," spokeswoman Natalya Tyncherova told AFP. Investigators identified the three attackers as residents of the nearby village of Kitayevskoe: Zaur Akayev, in his early 30s; Ramazan Khaibulayev in his 20s and Isai Abdulatipov who was born in 1996. Investigators said the three men tried to storm the police station and detonated grenades, adding that the building and nearby cars were damaged and that they had opened a criminal probe. The lifenews.ru news outlet, known for its close ties to police and security agencies, posted an eyewitness video shot after the attack, showing the police station with an alarm sounding and what appear to be fragments of bodies outside. "There were five explosions and a volley of automatic gunfire," a male witness can be heard saying in the video. "There's no one here, everyone has run away in a panic."In a sign of the significance of the incident, deputy chairman of the Moscow-based Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, visited the scene. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said efforts were under way "to understand what was behind" the attack, which is likely to be seen as a blow to the Kremlin's prestige. "Was this a terrorist threat or gangsters? Without knowing the circumstances it is hard to say," Peskov told reporters during a conference call. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility in December for a deadly shooting in Derbent, a city in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan with an ancient citadel that is popular with tourists. IS has vowed revenge against Russia after Putin launched a bombing campaign in Syria last September. The Syrian army backed by Russian forces recently scored a hugely symbolic victory over IS jihadists in the ancient city of Palmyra and is preparing to retake control of the northern city of Aleppo from rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad. In 2009, the Kremlin formally canceled a decade-long counter-terrorism regime in Chechnya, claiming a semblance of normality had returned to the war-scarred region.

Reports: Turkey Hits IS in Syria after Rockets Hurt 4 in Turkish Town
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/Turkey's army has launched artillery strikes on positions of the Islamic State(IS) group in Syria after the jihadists recaptured an area near the Turkish border, local media reported Monday. Turkish artillery fired shells from howitzers positioned on its border region of Kilis against IS targets, the private NTV television reported. Meanwhile, more than one rocket fired from the Syrian side of the border hit the center of a Turkish town, a Turkish government official told AFP. The official did not say who fired the rockets which slammed into the center of Kilis -- the main town in the province of the same name -- near the Syrian border and left more than four people wounded. The injured were taken to hospital in ambulances, he said. The Turkish army's shelling of IS targets comes after the extremists took back control of the town of al-Rai near Turkey, which rival rebels had captured last week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Neither the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front nor IS are included in a truce brokered by the United States and Russia that came into force on February 27. In February, Turkish artillery had also shelled targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Syria, with the military saying it was responding to incoming fire. But Turkey has not shelled any positions held by Syrian Kurdish fighters inside Syria since the ceasefire was implemented. Washington has applauded Turkey's role in the anti-IS coalition but U.S. officials on occasion have urged Ankara to do more.

Obama's Worst Mistake? Failing to Plan Libya Aftermath
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 11/16/President Barack Obama says the biggest mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the fall of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, with the country spiraling into chaos and grappling with violent extremists. Asked in a Fox News interview aired Sunday to name the "worst mistake" of his presidency, the U.S. leader said it was "probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya." Obama has repeatedly acknowledged that the United States and its allies could have done more to prevent Libya's descent into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising that led to Gadhafi's ouster and killing in 2011. He expressed regret over the handling of the aftermath in a lengthy interview with The Atlantic magazine last month, calling the situation in Libya "a mess." Obama also sharply criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron and former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy for their roles in the Libya campaign, saying in particular that Cameron became "distracted."Since Gadhafi's death, Libya has descended into near-anarchy, ruled by rival militias vying for power while the Islamic State group has gained influence in the country. The head of a U.N.-backed unity government arrived earlier this month in Tripoli to begin garnering support for his administration. Asked by Fox News to name the worst moment of his White House tenure, the president said it was the day he traveled to Newtown, Connecticut, after a gunman shot 20 young children and six adult staff members at an elementary school in December 2012. His biggest accomplishment? "Saving the economy from a great depression."And his best day in the White House? "The day that we passed health care reform," Obama said. "We sat out on the Truman Balcony with all the staff that had worked so hard on it and I knew what it would mean for the families that I'd met who didn't have health care."When asked what he most looked forward to upon leaving office next year, Obama replied: "Being able to take a walk outside."

ISIS or Islam: Which Breeds Terrorism?
Raymond Ibrahim /PJ Media/April 11/16
A lie conceals the truth. And ugly but hidden truths never have a chance of being acknowledged, addressed, and ultimately ameliorated.
Because of this simple truism, one of the greatest lies of our age—that violence committed in the name of Islam has nothing to do with Islam—has made an intrinsically weak Islam the scourge of the modern world, with no signs of relief on the horizon.
One of the latest manifestations of this lie took place in Pakistan. On Easter Sunday, March 27, a suicide bombing took place near the children rides of a public park, where Christians were congregated and celebrating the resurrection of their Lord. At least 74 people—mostly Christian women and children—were killed and nearly 400 injured. “There was human flesh on the walls of our house,” recalled a witness.
Who—or what—was responsible for this assault? “We claim responsibility for the attack on Christians as they were celebrating Easter,” said Jamaatul Ahraar, a splinter group of the Taliban. In a media statement, the group said it had “deliberately targeted the Christian community,” adding that “we had been waiting for this occasion.”
The Taliban and its affiliates are not alone. Click here, here, here, here, and here, for numerous examples of similarly lethal attacks on Christians celebrating Christmas or Easter by other Islamic groups and individuals around the world who also “had been waiting for this occasion.” Even “the terror cell that struck in Brussels [last month, killing 34] was planning to massacre worshippers at Easter church services across Europe, including Britain, intelligence chiefs believe.”
Still, connecting the dots and understanding what binds all Islamic terrorist groups is a big no-no for the so-called mainstream media. The problem, we will be told, is the “Taliban,” which “has nothing to do with Islam.” Rather, it’s a finite, temporal, localized problem: defeat it, and the problem vanishes.
Meanwhile, about 5,000 miles west of Taliban territory, in Nigeria, Christians are also under attack. Indeed, according to a new report, since 2000, some 12,000 Christians have been slaughtered for their faith and 13,000 churches destroyed. Just last month, over 500 Christians were butchered.
According to the official narrative, something called “Boko Haram” is responsible. This is another group that defines itself exclusively according to Islam; another group that habitually bombs churches during Christmas and Easter; and another group that, we are told, “has nothing to do with Islam,” but rather is a finite, temporal, localized problem: defeat it, and the problem vanishes.
About 5,000 miles west of Nigeria, in the U.S., Americans were told that something called “al-Qaeda” attacked and killed 3,000 of their countrymen on 9/11; defeating that finite group would cease the terror. Its leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed, and victory loudly proclaimed—except that an even more savage manifestation, this time called the “Islamic State” (it too “has nothing to do with Islam”) came on the scene and has gone further than al-Qaeda could’ve ever dreamed, in great part thanks to the Obama administration.
It gets worse. The problem is not only that the media and decision-makers refuse to connect the dots and insist on treating each of the aforementioned groups as disparate, finite groups with different motivations—none of which has to do with Islam. The problem is that regular Muslims who are not called “Taliban,” “Boko Haram,” “al-Qaeda,” “ISIS,” ad infinitum commit similar acts, and much more frequently, though this is rarely ever mentioned by the MSM.
Thus, although the “Taliban” was behind the recent Easter Day massacre, it is everyday Muslims who discriminate against, persecute, enslave, rape and sometimes murder Christians every day in Pakistan (click here for a typical month); it was everyday Muslims who burned a young Christian couple alive due to unsubstantiated rumors that they had insulted Muhammad.
Those who slaughtered 500 Christians last month in Nigeria were not “Boko Haram” but rather un-affiliated (but Muslim) herdsmen. Likewise, “Northern Muslim political and religious elite are also major actors of targeted violence towards the Christian minority.”
Although ISIS claimed the Brussels attack, it is everyday Muslims who ban, burn, bomb, and urinate on Christian churches, and who, as in Pakistan and other Muslim majority nations, target non-Muslim European women for rape on the basis that they are subhuman “infidels.”
This is the real issue. While the media may name the terrorist groups responsible for especially spectacular attacks—followed by the customary admonitions that they “have nothing to do with Islam”—few dare acknowledge that Muslims in general engage in similar acts of violence and intolerance against non-Muslims. According to a recent study, Muslims —of all races, nationalities, languages, and socio-political and economic circumstances, hardly just “terror groups”—are responsible for persecuting Christians in 41 of the 50 worst nations to be Christian in.
These statistics are consistent with a recent Pew poll finding that, in 11 countries alone, at least 63 million and as many as 287 million Muslims support ISIS. Similarly, 81% of respondents to a recent Al Jazeera poll supported the Islamic State.
In sum, what “extremist” “terrorist” and “militant” groups (that “have nothing to do with Islam”) are doing is but the tip of the iceberg of what Muslims are doing all around the world. (See “Muslim Persecution of Christians,” reports which I’ve been compiling every month since July 2011 and witness the nonstop discrimination, persecution, and carnage committed by “everyday” Muslims against Christians. Each monthly report contains dozens of atrocities, any of which if committed by Christians against Muslims would receive 24/7 blanket coverage.)
Media aren’t just covering up for Islam by pretending that the spectacular attacks committed by Islamic groups on non-Muslims “have nothing to do with Islam.” They are covering up for Islam by failing to report the everyday persecution non-Muslims experience at the hands of everyday Muslims—Muslim individuals, Muslim mobs, Muslim police, and Muslim governments (including America’s closest “friends and allies”)—not just Muslim “terrorists.”
Because of these entrenched lies, the world must continue to suffer from Islamic terror. Not only have these lies allowed countless innocents to be persecuted into oblivion in the Muslim world, but they have allowed the same persecution to enter America and Europe, most recently via mass immigration.
The fact remains: an ugly truth must first be acknowledged before it can be remedied. It may be hard to acknowledge an ugly truth—that Islam, not “radical Islam,” promotes hate for and violence against non-Muslims—but anything less will just continue to feed the lie, that is, continue to feed the jihad on innocents.

Kuwaiti Writer: Yousuf 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi: Arab, Muslim States Should Recognize Israel, Openly And Immediately
MAMRI/April 11, 2016 Special Dispatch No.6382
In an April 9, 2016 article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, Kuwaiti media personality Yousuf 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi called on all Arab and Muslim states to recognize Israel, openly and without delay, and stop calling it "the Zionist Entity" or "the Israeli occupation." He argued that, by sitting alongside Israel in UN institutions, these states already effectively recognize it, and they should take a lesson from countries like Qatar and Oman that take a pragmatic approach to Israel and maintain ties with it openly. He wondered why certain Arab and Muslim countries take a more hardline approach to Israel than the Palestinian Authority itself, which does maintain ties with it.
The following are excerpts:[1]
Yousuf 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi
"Israel became a member of the UN on May 11, 1949, namely 67 years ago, before most of the Arab and Islamic states [even] became independent. [It gained this status] after 37 states voted in favor of the decision [to admit it to the UN], 12 voted against and 10 abstained. At the time, the UN had only 57 member states, which means that over 62% favored Israel's admittance. Today, when the [UN] General Assembly has swelled to include 193 states, I believe that the proportion of states that support Israel is even greater, and is over 83%. This, especially after some five Arab states and quite a few Muslim ones have recognized the state of Israel, [that state] which the dreamers – those who dream of restoring the stolen homeland [Palestine] – so expertly call by a whole bunch of names, such as 'the Zionist entity' or 'the Israeli occupation,' etc. Today, there are only 32 countries that don't recognize Israel, in different parts of the world... It came to the point where the Arab League itself proposed in 2002 that the Arab states normalize their relations with Israel as part of the Arab peace initiative and as part of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"The very presence of the Arab and Islamic states in the UN General Assembly, under the same roof as the Israeli delegation, means... that they recognize Israel. Otherwise, what is the meaning of their presence [there], alongside Israel, which they do not recognize? All those Arab and Islamic states that do not recognize Israel, if they have courage, let them stand before the members of the UN General Assembly, or in a session of the [UN] Security Council, and declare that they do not recognize Israel. I say this because, decades ago, most of the Islamic states [started] changing their political tone vis-à-vis Israel, and started calling it by names that those dreamers [i.e., those who dream of restoring Palestine] had not previously heard, such as 'the Israeli government' instead of 'the government of the Zionist state,' and 'the state of Israel' instead of 'the Israeli occupation.'
"Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman deal with the reality of Israel pragmatically, and recognize that it is a fait accompli that we cannot ignore. In 1996, both of them established Israeli trade representations [in their territory], and the ties between Israel and Qatar existed until 2000, when these representations were officially closed after the outbreak of the second Palestine intifada. But it seems that the closing [of the representations] was only nominal and was meant as a political gesture, for it did not prevent the maintaining of bilateral relations in various domains, such as sports. These relations existed openly and directly...
"If the Palestinian state itself – by means of the PA, which is considered to be the legitimate representative of the Palestinians, whose lands have been stolen – consolidated its ties with Israel, why do some Arab and Muslim countries take a more proprietary approach [to Palestine] than the Palestinian owners [of the land themselves]?...
"The countries that have established ties with Israel understood reality as it was and took active steps to deal with it. The first and foremost of them is Qatar, which recently hosted a beach volleyball tournament, in which Israel took part a few days ago. If for decades we have been maintaining indirect ties with Israel, by means of Israeli companies that [operate under the flags of] other countries – and most Arab and Islamic companies and businessmen are aware of this ridiculous reality – why should we keep up this political charade, and until when?"
Endnotes:
[1] Al-Siyassa (Kuwait), April 9, 2016.

Yemen: Between ending the conflict and a warrior’s break
Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/April 11/16
The coming week is poised to see significant shifts in the Yemeni, Libya, and Syrian issues midwifed by the three UN envoys in charge of searching for political solutions to these conflicts, in which many local, regional, and international factors overlap and interact. In Syria, with the approach of the real plan, the Western countries, particularly the US and Britain, seem to be caving in to the fait accompli represented in the insistence of Russia and Iran on Bashar al-Assad fighting the presidential battle to the end, because, in his view, he is part of the political process until it ends in 18 months with presidential elections.
In Libya, resolve is making its way to conciliatory international attitudes regarding the centrality of controlling the capital Tripoli and the centrality of having an official request made by the national accord government that would enable the US, Britain, France, and Italy to create an alliance against ISIS and al-Qaeda there, similar to the coalition working with the Iraqi government at present. In Yemen, the recent Saudi engagement with the Houthi rebels is coinciding with notable changes in the government announced last week, with both military and diplomatic implications. They also coincide with an international understanding of the new military and political facts on the ground, on the basis of which the peace process is being pushed forward.
Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi took a surprising decision to sack his deputy and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah from both posts, appointing General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar vice president and Ahmed Obeid ibn Dagher as prime minister. Appointing Ahmar raised questions about the intentions of Saudi Arabia, particularly since he has a history of brutality and bloodiness. The sacking of Bahah also caused tension between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Ahmar’s appointment also caused anger as the man is seen as a Muslim Brotherhood affiliate. Sources familiar with Saudi thinking downplayed the concerns that Ahmar could become president of Yemen, even if Hadi dies, given his difficult history and the implication for the secession of South Yemen. What about his affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood? The sources say that some in Riyadh see him as part of the Muslim Brotherhood, but a “lighter shade” thereof. Ahmar, the sources said, is not ideological, and is cut of the same cloth as former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Therefore, he should be seen as the military counterpart of Saleh, and this is the main reason he was appointed, in addition to the fact that Hadi is convinced Ahmar’s presence along his side guarantees he would remain in office.
The advantages Ahmar brings with him to those who support him in the kingdom is that he has formidable military and tribal assets. Therefore, he has the ability to accommodate a large segments of northern tribes, and to rally and boost the morale of the Yemeni army, as well as win over part of the army forces that defected in favour of Ali Abdullah Saleh.Other informed sources said the Saudi support for the pro-Riyadh Yemeni president’s moves is a message to the Houthis and the supporters of Saleh: Either engage in lasting peace, or continue the fierce war this time with Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar at the helm.
These sources quoted what the Saudi side told UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to communicate to the Houthis: Do not misread or miscalculate, and come to mistakenly believe the kingdom is fatigued and would not be able to continue the war. What is at stake is its strategic interests for which no price is too high. We want peace with you, but not from a position of weakness or intimidation.
The Houthi challenge
In the opinion of some, it is what happened on the ground in the Yemeni war that has prompted the Houthis to reconsider and seek peace with the Saudis. A source put it this way: The Houthis were born and have grown old in the space of a single year. They concluded that Iranian assistance under the table would not be sufficient to fight a ferocious war, and that Iranian support would not be enough to cover the burden of the war in Yemen, which is why they decided to distance themselves to an extent from Tehran. The Houthis agreed to engage with Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that their request for them to be recognized as an equal to the legitimate government of Hadi was rejected. The Houthis found an opportunity through the UN envoy to discuss a settlement based on resolution 2216, which is backed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, led by Russia and the US. They understood that these countries accepted Saudi Arabia’s insistence on its own arrangements at its southern border and its desire to reach a political settlement after eliminating the threat at the border. Now there is a different dynamic after the gains on the ground.
In Yemen, the recent Saudi engagement with the Houthi rebels is coinciding with notable changes in the government announced last week, with both military and diplomatic implications
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed will build on this dynamic, after the ceasefire, which starts on April 10, is consolidated, at the negotiations scheduled for April 18 in Kuwait. Ould Cheikh will seek support from the UN Security Council for the five axes he declared and which he wants to implement through five teams working in parallel: Withdrawals; handing over weapons to the state; temporary security arrangements; resumption of the political process; and mutual release of detainees.
These breakthroughs may amount to a quantum leap towards ending the conflict in Yemen, but it could be merely a “warrior’s break” before resuming the fighting even more ferociously. It depends on several unpredictable considerations, especially since the pace of the war has become part and parcel of the pace of negotiations.
To be sure, the Ali Abdullah Saleh factor remains a key part of the equation, even if some are now claiming he is marginal and others are saying he would not be able to get any deal after the Houthis abandoned him. Some believe Saleh has become an obstacle to the political process, and that there can be no safe exit for him because the conditions for that are impossible. Indeed, his funds and assets he wants to remove from Yemen makes his exit difficult.
Perhaps it is the fatigue factor that will allow Yemen to end its many wars, and the same could apply to Libya’s bloody conflict, where now there seems to be finally a willingness to stop the bleeding. The head of the UN-backed Libyan national accord government Fayez Sarraj arrived in Libya with international support, with the UN pledging to continue to support the government to impose its authority in the capital.
The Secretary-General’s envoy Martin Kobler made a first visit to Tripoli, as a number of countries said their ambassadors would be returning to the Libyan capital. In other words, there is a bare minimum level of security guaranteed in Tripoli, in what could indicate the militias that controlled the city have endorsed the national accord government. This government has received economic and political support as well, as municipalities, the central bank, the national oil company, and the Libyan investment authority all endorsed it.
The Western governments, with Russian support, want the Sarraj government to be stable in order for this to lead to address two main threats: the expansion of ISIS in the Libyan interior and into Africa and Europe; and illegal migration via Libya’s shores to Europe. What the West wants is for the Libyan government to authorize a Western intervention in Libya against terrorism and illegal migration.
Security control
The first challenge is to consolidate security control over the capital and the country. This requires equipping the army and the police. Indeed, current capabilities make the talk about the government tackling the likes of ISIS out of the question, as the UN Security Council continues to implement an arms embargo on the Libyan government. For this reason, there are agreements being sought to pass exceptional resolutions that would sanctions arms deals with fast approval. The primary beneficiary of any arms deal would be Russia. The Libyan air force’s equipment is primarily Russian and Eastern European. Meanwhile, Britain and Italy could take the lead on restricting the army and police. What Libya needs is not just mobilizing its army and police to fight against ISIS and similar groups. Help must also be extended to the government to get rid of militias and merge them into the national institutions, in addition to allowing the army and police to procure the right weaponry. The national accord government will not be able to work as long as the militias refuse to hand over their weapons and be assimilated. The government will not function unless experienced political and administrative cadres are brought in. There is now an opportunity, provided that local, regional, and international decisions are combined to effect radical changes and launch a serious effort for institution-building in Libya. Stopping the bleeding may be the result of fatigue, but reconstruction needs more than tactical measures.
The Syrian issue needs more than one last paragraph. What is certain, however, is that the moment of truth is now challenging all sides to be honest with themselves and with others, but this is still elusive amid the quest for deals and amid wishful thinking. The main obstacle is the fate of Bashar al-Assad, and this is the key to a breakthrough in the transitional political process in Syria, which is supposed to culminate with presidential elections 18 months after the start of negotiations. The onus of proving good intentions falls primarily on the duo Kerry and Lavrov, not Bashar al-Assad. Assad is clear in that he intends to fight the presidential battle even if atop the ruins of Syria. But others, especially the sponsors of the presumed political solution, are still hiding behind their fingers and dodging the issue.

Five days that changed the face of the region
Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/April 11/16
“The announcement to build the King Salman Bridge between Saudi Arabia and Egypt is the most important Arab decision since World War II.” This was the message I received from an Algerian colleague on Saudi Arabia’s King Salman’s visit to Egypt. This is not just an important visit but the most important meeting between two Arab leaders as several significant decisions have been made. The Saudi delegation accompanying King Salman on his five-day visit to Egypt included Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 14 ministers, six high-ranking officials and more than 20 princes. The decisions taken included demarcating the maritime borders. More than 20 agreements have been reached apart from the projects which will involve both the government and the private sector. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the Arab nation’s two poles. They unify and bring Arab countries together thus pleasing friends and displeasing enemies
During his visit, the Saudi king also addressed the Egyptian parliament, visited al-Azhar University and met with Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II.
Regional support
Most of these Saudi-Egyptian agreements were reached in the presence of Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, the United Arab Emirates’ national security advisor, and Marzouq al-Ghanim, the speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly. This demonstrates that Gulf countries stand with Riyadh in support of Egypt.
The efforts made by the Saudi-Egyptian coordination council have yielded results in this longest visit of a Saudi king to a country. This visit has also been the most important in the region’s history. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the Arab nation’s two poles. They unify and bring Arab countries together thus pleasing friends and displeasing enemies. To show how valuable Egypt is to the Saudis, it is enough to recall King Salman’s tweet upon his arrival to Cairo. “Egypt has a special place in my heart. We, in the Saudi Kingdom, are proud of it and of our strategic relationship which is significant to the Arab and Muslim worlds. May God protect Egypt and its people,” he said.

Youth should be the main priority for Muslim leaders
Elshad Iskadarov/Al Arabiya/April 11/16
As the 13th OIC (57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation) Heads of State Summit gets under way in Istanbul this week, it is important to remember that whilst many Muslim countries are known for oil and gas, this is not, however, their most valuable resource, and it is not the only sector that needs to be invested in. Our youth will last longer than our oil reserves, and their worth is impervious to price fluctuations and market forces. Investment in youth is now a top priority for Muslim countries, because if we do not invest in our young people, someone else will – this is a free market. It is no coincidence that the majority of Daesh recruits are between the ages of 15 and 25. This generation of Muslims has been exposed, perhaps more than any other, to the twin external and internal dangers of extremism and sectarianism and this is exacerbated by challenges around education, employment and developing a sense of active citizenship.
This is why the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (an OIC affiliated international institution headquartered in Istanbul) have convened a youth summit not just to coincide with, but to be an official part of the 13th Islamic Summit in Istanbul this week, which convenes Heads of State and official delegations from across the OIC’s 57 member states. More broadly, it is also why the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, under the leadership of its Secretary General – Iyad Ameen Madani, has made youth engagement in the Islamic world one of the organisation’s key priorities.
The main objective of this first-ever Young Leaders Summit (#OIC which will gather some 200 young leaders across 57 Muslim-majority countries) will be to discuss a comprehensive Youth Strategy. Recommendations reflecting different aspects of this strategy are to be tabled in the agenda of the heads of states for decision-making. The Middle East must create 80 million new jobs over the next fifteen years, just to keep pace with population growth, i.e. just to maintain the status quo. Once adopted this strategy will encompass various goals to be reached by Muslim countries in order to turn demographic challenges into opportunities which Muslim countries and the world at large can benefit from. In addition to young community leaders, the summit, will also feature Ministers of youth, a Nobel peace winner and extensive body of experts who will work together to come up with solutions throughout this week.
Young people constitute about a third of the population of most member states of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, and growth rates for this age group are higher than in demographic segment. This “youth bulge” across the Muslim world means that opportunities are limited: Michelle Gavin of the CFR stated recently that this “lowers the opportunity cost” of joining an armed movement. It is our job to increase the opportunity cost. Historically, young disenfranchised people have often been drawn to new and sometimes radical ideas to challenge older forms of authority, leading to political instability. This can be seen throughout history and across cultures, from the French revolution to Marxist insurrections in Latin America, to Arab Spring uprisings. This has been thoroughly documented by the Political Scientist Jack A. Goldstone, a consultant to USAID.
'High risk'
It is not surprising that Population Action International rates many Muslim countries as “high risk” or “very high risk” when surveying the youthfulness of their populations, and the potential political effects of this challenge. As the recent outcome of Arab Spring demonstrated however those disenfranchised groups are not necessarily better off in the result of “revolution” which in countries like Libya and Syria has led to collapse of state structure and torn apart the very fabrics of society. To overcome such dangerous path several youth related reforms are urgently needed. Job creation is particularly important in Muslim countries, where youth unemployment stands at 15.6 percent compared to the global average of 12.6 percent – that’s almost a quarter higher. In the Arab world, 50 percent of the unemployed are between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four. The Middle East must create 80 million new jobs over the next fifteen years, just to keep pace with population growth, i.e. just to maintain the status quo. However, it is not good enough to stand still – we must move forward. The challenge is huge, but not insurmountable.
Unfortunately, a typical young Muslim’s education prospects do not fare much better than his or her job prospects. There are only two universities from the Muslim world - which constitutes a quarter of the global population - in the top 200 universities in the world. In order to help closing this quality/quantity gap the Youth Summit will not just propose to upgrade the level of 20 best OIC universities into the world 200 but also establish a network of youth centers which serve as hubs for skills development and “school to job transition” for hundreds of thousands of young people.
Good practice of utilizing cost efficiency of such centers of informal education that supplement formal ones as well as models of governmental programmes of funding “youth training projects” being implemented lately in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia will be presented at the Summit for study and prospective multiplication. Education, as well as economic and political empowerment go hand in hand. Utilizing social media to create a positive active citizenship and sense of civic pride is essential. The government of Malaysia estimates that 75 percent of Daesh recruits are recruited online. If the only form of “active citizenship” available online is that of Daesh, then they will win. We must provide an alternative. What is the silver bullet that can create education, employment and a sense of online social empowerment? I believe that investment in IT entrepreneurship is one of the crucial answers. This is a huge opportunity: there is not a single Muslim country in the top 30 of the IT Industry Competitiveness Index (66 countries were surveyed, so essentially the top half of the table is non-Muslim). Many of the higher ranking countries in the Index are Central European states such as Poland and Estonia who have utilised IT investment to navigate complex social and political challenges somewhat similar to those facing Muslim countries now.
This is why next month ICYF-DC (Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation) have also co-organised the 2nd Kazan OIC Youth Entrepreneurship forum, where young IT entrepreneurs from across the Muslim world will utilize the capacity of newly completed high-tech Innopolis Compound and get connected with international investors and world-renowned tech experts. The Forum will also connect this bright young minds with their colleagues not just from 57 OIC countries expertise of their same-ages from the West. The major responsibility to take IT development to the next level is with top 10 OIC MS which command almost 80 percent of OIC GDP and which should take a lead in transforming wealth acquired from natural resources into high –tech education and research opportunities for the next generation. If you doubt the transformational potential of IT investment, consider that Indian intelligence agencies estimate that there may be at most 23 Indian Daesh recruits - from a population of 172 million Indian Muslims. That is still 23 recruits too many, but compares very favorably with many other countries. This also demonstrates that supporting developmental programmes for Muslim youth should be in priority list also for non-OIC countries with considerable Muslim minority communities. When Muslim youth have a choice between false martyrdom in Syria or becoming live bomb in Brussels or Ankara and a high-tech start-up in Bangalore, I am not surprised that they choose the latter. The only way to increase the “opportunity cost” is to increase the opportunity. How many Bangalore’s can the Muslim world build? The answer will to some extend be dependent on how quickly the Summit recommended OIC Youth Strategy will be adopted and how effectively it will be implemented.

Green Card’ for expatriates in Saudi Arabia is a strategic plan
Khaled Almaeena/Al Arabiya/April 11/16
The “green card” plan disclosed by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, in an interview with Bloomberg, has been welcomed by many expatriates. The plan will help expatriates ease away from the tight hold of sponsors, many of whom have been exploiting both white and blue-collar workers. Though the modalities of how to attain this “green card” needs to be framed carefully, there are essentials that the future card holders will be required to do or get once obtaining the card. They’ll have to pay zakat and value added tax, and they can own property and undertake commercial, industrial and other related activities. The plan was welcomed by expatriates especially who have been in the country for three or four decades and whose children were born and bred in the Kingdom. One Indian told me “this is home”. A Filipino engineer living in Riyadh since 1988 said that with the plan more cohesion between expatriates and nationals will evolve. Over the years, I have been writing on the contribution of expatriates to the Kingdom. I was privileged to be in contact with them due to my stint as editor in chief of both the English language dailies from 1982 to 2014. They (the expatriates) would approach us to voice their grievances, fears, aspirations and quest for justice. With great changes happening all over the world and globalization at its highest peak we too should avail of the expertise available. Working in a foreign land, braving heat and cold and at times being subjected to harsh treatment by heartless sponsors their only voice were the English-language media outlets in the Kingdom. Many, after years in the Kingdom, did aspire to gain a residential status in Saudi Arabia. Some did propose similar systems whereby the Saudi government would be the sponsor. Even Arab expatriates would write to us expressing their problems and their requests.
Philosophy of the founding father
Our editorials reflected our belief that this country is a heaven for all who live and participate in its development irrespective of their caste or creed. This was the philosophy of its founding father King Abdul Aziz. With great changes happening all over the world and globalization at its highest peak we too should avail of the expertise available. The greatness of America, an already advanced nation, was enhanced by the acceptance and inclusion of Asians who came and added value to the economic and social system. We too can gain from their system. As we try to boost our non-oil sector we would be requiring all available experienced hands. Yes, Saudization is a goal but we can’t implant bodies in systems that require a high caliber of professionalism. Many tactics have to be improvised in order that a total strategic plan is evolved for competing in a highly competitive and fierce business environment. The “green card” plan is one of them.