LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 13/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.april13.16.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
Children are a wonderful gift from God and a joy for parents.
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 13/16
Lebanese Writer
Paul Shaoul : Hizbullah Is No Longer A Resistance Organization, But An Occupier
And Target For Resistance/MEMRI/April 12/16/
Hezbollah transforming to a juggernaut in Syria/Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/April
12/16
Egypt’s strategic importance to the Gulf region/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/April
12/16
Analysis: Netanyahu's admission to Syrian attacks leaves more questions than
answers/Yossi Melman/Jerusalem Post/12 April/16
Netanyahu: We've carried out dozens of strikes against Hezbollah in Syria/Ron
Ben-Yishai/Ynetnews/Published: 04.12.16/ Israel Opinion
Egypt Informed Israel in Advance of Plan to Hand Over Red Sea Islands to Saudis/Haaretz/Barak
Ravid, Jack Khoury, Gili Cohen and The Associated Press12 April/16
Will Egypt-Saudi island agreement affect Israel/Smadar Perry and Itamar Eichner/Ynetnews/Published:
04.12.16/Israel News
Are elections possible in Syria/Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/April 12/16
While Trump boggles the mind, Hillary will be no picnic for the Middle East
either/Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya/April 12/16
Palestinians: Erasing Christian History/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone
Institute/April 12/16
Why the Middle East needs Saudi-Iranian rapprochement/Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al
Arabiya/April 12/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on April 13/16
Lebanese Writer Paul Shaoul :
Hizbullah Is No Longer A Resistance Organization, But An Occupier And Target For
Resistance
Hezbollah transforming to a juggernaut in Syria
Car Bomb kills Palestinian Official in Lebanon’s Sidon
Report: Lebanon Tries in Vain to Stop Branding Hizbullah Terrorist at Islamic
Summit
Cabinet Calls for Tenders to Meet Airport Needs, Postpones to Next Session Talks
on State Security
Fatah Official Killed in Sidon Car Bomb Blast
Berri Urges Sisi to Seek Reactivation of Saudi Grant to Army
Tripoli Man Held over IS Contacts, Attempted Assassination
Man Says he Offered to Snatch Beirut Children for Aussie TV Show, Suspects
Charged
Zoaiter Expects Cabinet to Approve Airport Security Funding
Harb Says Judiciary Not Hesitant in Internet Scandal
Sierra Leone Vice President briefs Jumblatt over Lebanese expats condition
Jreissati: We refuse blackmailing FPM
Army reopens crime scene neighborhood in Sidon
Jumblatt receives FranceLebanon Parliamentary Friendship Group
NSSF Subscribers Union to go on one week strike
Future Bloc: Presidential vacancy main problem, cause of crises
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
April 13/16
Two more suspects charged in
Brussels bombings
Syria ceasefire withers as ‘Russia plans offensive’
Two Russian pilots killed in Syria helicopter crash
Iran expresses concern over breaches of Syria truce
Turkey decorates Saudi king for close ties
Turkey strikes at ISIS targets after rockets hit border town
Two soldiers killed, nearly 50 wounded in PKK attack in Turkey’s southeast
US urges ‘unified, federal and democratic Iraq’
Abbas says ‘urgent’ need for UN resolution on Israeli settlements
Italian premier starts landmark two-day Iran trip
America's top general reminds troops to stay out of politics
Zika virus ‘scarier’ than first thought, say US health officials
Afghan Taliban Announce Start of 'Spring Offensive'
Israel signals no opposition to Egypt's return of islands to Saudi Arabia
Links From
Jihad Watch Site for
April 13/16
Islamic State murders 21 Christians, some for violating terms of
dhimmi contract
Raymond Ibrahim: ISIS or Islam — Which Breeds Terrorism?
London: Muslim screaming “Allahu akbar! Kill the Jews” harasses Jewish teens
NYC: Muslim accused of Islamic State bomb plot pleads guilty to non-terror
charge
Video: Ex-Muslim Hazem Farraj on ISIS, Muhammad and non-Muslims
Islamic State murders 21 Christians, some for violating terms of dhimmi contract
California: Muslim couple charged with keeping housekeeper as slave
Robert Spencer in Front Page: Reza Aslan: Trump Is Popular Because of
‘Islamophobia’
German intel top dog says analysts didn’t expect jihad terrorists to sneak into
Europe with migrants
UK: Leaflets calling for murder of Ahmadis found in London mosque
Only one in three Muslims in UK would tip off police to jihad terror plot
Brussels: NINETY PERCENT of Muslim teens call jihad murderers heroes
Video: Robert Spencer explains the “Islamophobia” scam
Lebanese Writer Paul Shaoul : Hizbullah Is No Longer A Resistance Organization,
But An Occupier And Target For Resistance
MEMRI/April 12/16/Special Dispatch No.6383
Tension between the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, and Hizbullah is currently
very high, as reflected in measures taken recently by the Gulf states against
this organization in response to its military involvement in Arab countries such
as Syria, Iraq and Yemen, including its designation as a terror organization.[1]
Against the backdrop of this tension, the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal, which
belongs to Hizbullah's rivals in Lebanon, the March 14 Forces, and is known for
its support for Saudi Arabia and its opposition to Hizbullah, published an
article by Lebanese poet and literary critic Paul Shaoul in which he challenges
Hizbullah's legitimacy as a resistance organization.
Shaoul states that, since Israel is no longer occupying any part of Lebanon,
there is no longer any need for resistance in Lebanon. However, he says,
Hizbullah and its patron, Iran, have invented an alternative target for
resistance, namely the Arab states and the Sunni world led by Saudi Arabia.
Shaoul claims that Hizbullah has turned from a resistance organization into a
force that acts as an occupier in several Arab countries, including Syria, Iraq
and Yemen; in fact, it is a Trojan horse manufactured by the Iranian
intelligence services with the purpose of destroying the Arab states and the
Sunni world. Shaoul notes that not only isn't Hizbullah waging resistance
against Israel, it has actually abandoned the Palestinian cause altogether and
is doing nothing to promote it. He expresses satisfaction that the Arab world
has finally awakened to the danger posed by Iran and Hizbullah that want to
annihilate it and is now ready to fight for its life. Hizbullah is no longer a
resistance organization, he concludes, but rather a target for resistance.
It should be noted that Hizbullah has for years been accepted as a resistance
organization by large sectors of Lebanese society, including by its rivals, the
March 14 Forces, and many Lebanese governments even recognized Hizbullah as such
in their guidelines, including the current government headed by Tammam Salam.
The Al-Mustaqbal article is the first time that the March 14 Forces have
explicitly challenged Hizbullah's status as a resistance organization. Moreover,
on March 14, the day after it published Shaoul's article, Al-Mustaqbal published
a column by Muhammad Mashmushi that stated, in a similar vein, that Hizbullah is
no longer a resistance organization but only uses this designation as an excuse
to further other goals.[2]
The following are translated excerpts from Paul Shaoul's article:[3]
Israel's Withdrawal From Lebanon Rendered Hizbullah's Resistance Unnecessary;
Hizbullah Has Become An Occupier In Its Own Right
"Hizbullah's existence depends on the existence of a permanent enemy, imaginary
or not, otherwise it [might as well] not exist. [Hizbullah] was originally
created, or fabricated, in Iran in order to fight certain enemies that were
chosen for it. That is why its militias were called 'resistance [forces],'
because they fight an enemy that was designated [as such] not by Hizbullah
itself but by [Iran], who created it like Frankenstein's monster.
"The Israeli occupation of South Lebanon was an act of aggression that required
someone to fight it, and [that struggle] was called 'resistance'... Hizbullah
thus received the label of resistance and it began carrying out the task
required of it and waged a struggle against Israel until the latter withdrew.
Today [only] the Shab'a Farms remain as a slogan and an excuse [for continued
resistance].
"In the natural course of things, when the enemy withdraws the resistance
withdraws as well, for it is no longer needed. But in the absence of an enemy,
the slogan of 'resistance' must still be maintained in order to maintain
legitimacy. How can [Hizbullah] achieve this? In one of two ways: by continuing
to treat the enemy that has withdrawn as an enemy, though without confronting
it, or else by having its maker [Iran] choose another enemy for it, [an enemy]
that is not occupying its country or even part of it. This is how the resistance
[Hizbullah] continued to exist without [actually waging] resistance, but
remained as [a tool] in reserve, ready for [the day] when the enemy becomes an
internal one... Since Hizbullah's resistance is purely sectarian [i.e., Shi'ite]...
reflecting the identity of the one who invented it, Iran, anyone belonging to a
different sect [than Iran i.e., the Sunni sect]... or to a different ethnic
group [than the Iranians, i.e., to the Arab nation] becomes the enemy...
"Hizbullah thus acquired two identities: sectarian [i.e., Shi'ite] according to
the faith of its guide [Iran], and Persian, according to [Iran's] ethnicity.
This empties its resistance [of its essence] and gives it a different [essence],
making [Hizbullah] an occupier. In its new garb, we find that this new
faux-resistance [force, i.e., Hizbullah], instead of cultivating and uniting its
country, is actually prospering as a dividing and destructive element. It took
the place of the Israeli occupation in Lebanon, and also inherited from its
'enemy' [Israel] every characteristic that makes it an enemy of its country
[Lebanon], of the Arab world and of Palestine. It became a militia without any
identity [of its own], a mercenary, but possessing very large ambitions,
starting with destroying its country, which it has begun to pulverize with its
weapons...
"Thus, the original enemy, namely Israel, acquired a protected status and is now
outside the priorities list and off [Hizbullah's] agenda. In fact, it is an ally
whose strategy dovetails with Hizbullah's strategy of sparking sectarian fitnas,
destroying the Arab world, carving it up and expelling its people, while making
a pact with the Syrian regime..."
Hizbullah Has Turned Lebanon Into A Military Base From Which To Attack The Arab
World, That Has Become Its Enemy
"Since this 'resistance' is [associated] with a party [Hizbullah] that is owned
[by Iran] and with a [certain] Part [of Lebanon], it has turned Lebanon into
military base... from which to attack the Arab world, which has become its enemy
instead of Israel. This new Arab enemy justifies Hizbullah continuing to call
itself a resistance [organization] that confronts sovereign countries and
indigenous peoples and governments. Take for example Yemen: Iran plans to divide
it by exploiting the presence there of a group that is close to the Shi'ites,
namely the Houthis... As a resistance [organization], Hizbullah has sent its
experts and fighters... to spark fitna and an armed revolution [in Yemen] in
order to prepare the ground for extending the Persian influence into this
country. Or take Iraq: [Iran] made a pact with the U.S. in order to topple the
Sunni regime [there] and take over this country by means of sectarian fitnas
[between] the Shi'ites [who support] Iran and the Iraqi Sunnis. Or take Syria: A
Shi'ite minority rules a country in which 80% are Sunnis and violently opposes a
civilian revolution – and the resistance party [Hizbullah] has joined [this
minority] while waving a sectarian flag and defining the Syrian people as an
enemy that must be killed, uprooted and expelled and whose cities must be
destroyed.
"And all this [is happening] in the name of resistance... to the extent that
Hizbullah's presence in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria has become, in essence, a
replacement for Israel... Across the Arab world, [Hizbullah wages] the same
campaign, [and employs] the same method and the same plan... Since Israel is no
longer [Hizbullah's] primary enemy... that role has been taken by another enemy,
namely the Gulf and especially Saudi Arabia... Iran has chosen the Saudi kingdom
as a target, since it [represents] the solid bond between two elements: Arabism
and Islam...
"Hizbullah's resistance has acquired many arms... and it no longer [sees] the
Americans as the Great Satan, Israel as absolute evil, or Russia as the
imperialist regime of the Orthodox [Church]. [The enemies] are now Sunni Islam,
represented by Saudi Arabia, and Arabism, represented by the majority of the
Arab nation – which [according to Iran] must both be dismantled in order to
redraw the borders and create new states or mini-states, or even new peoples...
"How can Hizbullah be a resistance [organization] when it has become the enemy
of its own country and of countries that never occupied its land? Moreover, how
can it be a resistance [organization] when it takes part in occupying other
countries? In Lebanon, Hizbullah has become an occupier endowed with every
characteristic of the occupiers this country has known. Furthermore, how can
this resistance [organization] continue to bear this title when, in the name of
Iran, it attacks the borders of an Arab country, Saudi Arabia, occupies parts of
Syria and uses Persian weapons to take control of the Lebanese people? Against
whom is this resistance directed? Against the legitimate Arab regimes? Against
the very existence of Islam? Against democratic phenomena? Moreover, how can it
continue to be a resistance [organization] when it erases the borders of
countries on the orders, with the funding, and according to the plan of the
Persian state that [itself] occupies the Arab city of Ahwaz and three Arab
islands [in the Persian Gulf], Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Moussa...?"
The Arab Genie Has Awakened To Oppose The Monstrous 'Resistance' If Hizbullah
And Iran
Oh Mr. Hassan [Nasrallah], you talk to us of Palestine. Well, what have you done
for Palestinian except thwart any solution of establishing an independent
[Palestinian] state with its own borders and government? What have you done for
Palestine except create schism within the Palestinian resistance, which serves
Israel? What have you done for Palestinian except cause some of the
[Palestinian] organizations affiliated [with you] to drag Israel into destroying
Gaza? What have you done for Palestine except draw attention away from it by
triggering disagreement among the Arabs that marginalized the Palestinian
struggle and weakened its very foundations? What have you done for Jerusalem
since the establishment of the Islamic Republic [of Iran in 1979]?... What have
you done for the Palestinians in Syria except destroy the Al-Yarmouk refugee
camp?... You have done nothing for them worth mentioning, but only harmed them
and plotted against them... The boastful statements against Israel and in
support of Jerusalem that often pepper the speeches of Khamenei and Nasrallah
are nothing but dust thrown in [everyone's] eyes, nothing but high-flown
rhetoric in attempt to remind people that Iran is 'standing fast' with
Palestine. [This,] after it took all the weapons [that was directed] against
Israel and directed them instead at the breast of the Arab peoples. Do Hizbullah
and the Persians behind it think we believe them when they threaten Israel and
the U.S. with empty slogans[?]...
"Hizbullah, you have done nothing since they invented you in the labs of the
Iranian intelligence [apparatuses]! Excuse me, you are [worse] than Trojan
horses within the Arab nation. You must understand now that the end has come for
your attempts to assume new active roles... and that your influence, too, has
grown very minimal. For the Arabs now realize that their existence is in danger
and that the wars declared upon them [by Hizbullah and Iran] are more than just
political. Therefore we now see them awakening and coming out against the plots
to wipe them off the map. It has become a battle of life and death. Yes! And
you, Iran, are the one who has awakened the Arab genie and prompted it to
establish the legitimate resistance, which will never allow your monstrous
resistance [to continue]!"
Endnotes:
[1] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No 1232, Lebanon's Failure To Support Saudi
Arabia In Struggle With Iran Sparks Crisis Between Lebanon And Saudi-Led Gulf,
March 7, 2016.
[2] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), March 14, 2016.
[3] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), March 13, 2016.
Hezbollah
transforming to a juggernaut in Syria
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/April 12/16
Conventional wisdom that Syria will turn out to be “Hezbollah’s mini-Vietnam”,
and that the Iranian backed Lebanese armed group could encounter its gradual
collapse in the conflict, is proving to be misguided three years into its
involvement. While Hezbollah is losing manpower and assets in Syria, it is also
expanding its foothold and leverage across the country and gaining military
expertise. One of the most intriguing stories from Palmyra after ISIS lost the
city late March, was a New York Times photo essay from the 2000-year-old ruins.
The story's significance was not just in the headline or the photos documenting
the archeological and cultural damage incurred by ISIS, but also in how it came
about. It was eye catching that Hezbollah – a designated terrorist organization
by the United States- escorted and guided the New York Times tour to the ancient
ruins. This image encapsulates where Hezbollah stands today in Syria,
overshadowing the regime and the opposition, and running its own show in Syrian
territory.
Tactical and strategic advantages
Back in May 2013 when Hezbollah officially declared its entry to the Syrian war,
a US official told me that "there is a silver lining over here", mainly in
having two terrorist organizations bleed and fight each other in Syria. The
official was referring to Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.
Three years later, however, this silver lining is heavily tainted by the fact
that Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and the more notorious terrorist organization ISIS
control large swaths of land and operate at large in Syria. The notion that a
safe haven will help bleed out terrorist organizations is a dangerous and naive
myth that has backfired on the West in the long term. Some of the Brussels and
Paris attackers spent time with ISIS in Syria, while Hezbollah is now a
juggernaut with offensive capabilities and territorial gains across the country.
The notion that a safe haven will help bleed out terrorist organizations is a
dangerous and naive myth that has backfired on the West in the long term. A
visiting Israeli scholar told a Washington audience recently that the strategic
picture is shifting regionally in Iran’s favor, and that Hezbollah has gained
the upper hand in Syria without losing its stronghold on Lebanon.
This upper hand started in 2013 when Hezbollah tipped the balance in the
conflict, helping the Assad regime retake the town of Al-Qusair and moving from
there to Homs and to the South, while securing Damascus, training paramilitaries
and then expanding presence to Aleppo in 2015. Even with an estimate of more
than 1200 fighters dead and reports about a serious financial crisis,
Hezbollah's territorial gains in Syria have granted it direct access and
supervision over some of the weaponry supply routes to its home base in Lebanon.
Tactically and as Nadav Pollak and Muni Katz illustrate here, Hezbollah is
adding offensive capability and gaining firsthand fighting experience on foreign
territory and against a military insurgency. It is almost a reversed role for a
party that fought Israel defensively from its home turf in the 1990s and in a
full blown war in 2006.
On the weaponry front, regional analyst Elijah Magnier recently reported that
Hezbollah has acquired air-to-surface missile capability. Hezbollah's Secretary
General Hassan Nasrallah regularly speaks of acquiring more sophisticated
weaponry since 2006.
Changed rhetoric & perception
Hezbollah's own rhetoric and regional perception has also changed following its
intervention in Syria. While the wrath in the Arab street against the party for
supporting Assad, has completely shattered the party's image in 2006 as leading
the fight against Israel, it has not affected its calculus. Hezbollah who is now
active in 3 military fronts outside Lebanon: Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, is
promising a long involvement regionally. Nasrallah said in a recent interview
that his party “will not withdraw from Syria even if the Iranians decide to do
so.” The rhetoric channels this regional expansion, attempts at shoring up its
base to win these conflicts while securing its military capability and playing
politics in Lebanon. Israeli media now portrays Hezbollah as “an army in every
sense”, with an estimate of “45,000 fighters, including 21,000 standing forces,
and more than 100,000 increasingly accurate rockets and missiles of which
several thousands are mid and long range.”
Geopolitically as well, Hezbollah has improved its relations with Russia. A high
level source in Beirut tells me that "Moscow and Hezbollah are coordinating very
closely the military action plan in Syria." Russia's air cover was crucial in
the Palmyra battle and in the fighting around Aleppo, both of which involved
Hezbollah’s ground troops. Even culturally, the Hezbollah effect is more visible
in Syria. The Shiite Ashoura rallies have gradually grown in numbers in
Damascus, and talk about Sunni-Shia population swaps between Hezbollah and the
rebels now takes place openly in Syria.
For a party that entered the Syrian war to protect the "axis of resistance", it
is slowly taking over this axis and replacing the Assad regime with its own
troops and spheres of control inside Syria. This dynamic is an asset for
Hezbollah whose sole objective is to gain presence and influence, operating with
impunity as a non-state actor, without being burdened by the Vietnam playbook
Car Bomb kills Palestinian
Official in Lebanon’s Sidon
Asharq Al-Awsat/April 12/16/A
car bomb exploded in the southern Lebanon city of Sidon, killing an official
from the Palestinian Fatah movement on Tuesday, an official from the group said.
Photographs of the blast site near a Palestinian refugee camp showed scorched
body parts lying near a car in flames. Lebanon’s state news agency said a local
official in Palestinian movement Fatah was killed in the car bomb. The man
targeted was identified as General Fathi Zaydan, a Fatah official responsible
for the Palestinian camp of Mieh Mieh in Sidon. The official, killed by a bomb
placed under his vehicle, was reportedly attending a security meeting in Mieh
Mieh. The Internal Security Forces called on citizens via Twitter to leave the
explosion site in order to make way for ambulances to transfer those wounded to
hospitals. The number of casualties hasn’t been identified yet. The camp, which
lies 4 km east of Sidon, is home to 5,250 Palestinian refugees, according to the
U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which aids Palestinian refugees across the
region. The nearby Palestinian camp of Ain al-Hilweh has repeastedly witnessed
violent disputes between rival factions. One man was killed and others injured
earlier this month when one such dispute escalated into gunbattles.
Report: Lebanon
Tries in Vain to Stop Branding Hizbullah Terrorist at Islamic Summit
Naharnet/April 12/16/Lebanon has tried in vain to stop considering Hizbullah a
terrorist group at a preparatory meeting for the Islamic summit that will be
held in Turkey later this week, As Safir daily reported on Tuesday. The meeting
was held in Istanbul ahead of the talks of the foreign ministers of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Tuesday. The OIC summit will be held on
Thursday and Friday. According to As Safir, Lebanon’s Ambassador to Riyadh Abdul
Sater Issa, who represents Lebanon at the OIC for being based in Jeddah, has
expressed reservations on a clause about Hizbullah. The representatives of Iraq,
Algeria, Iran and Indonesia did the same, said the newspaper. Prime Minister
Tammam Salam will represent Lebanon at the OIC summit. He will travel at the
head of a ministerial delegation that represents all the factions represented in
the government because he wants to show the solidarity of the Lebanese with
internal unity and Arab consensus, said As Safir. Last month, the Arab League
formally branded Hizbullah a terrorist organization, a move that raised concerns
of deepening divisions among Arab countries and ramped up the pressure on the
Shiite group, which is fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in
Syria.The move aligned the 22-member league firmly behind Saudi Arabia and the
Saudi-led bloc of six Gulf Arab nations, which have also made the same formal
branding against Hizbullah.
Cabinet Calls for Tenders to Meet Airport Needs, Postpones to Next Session Talks
on State Security
Naharnet/April 12/16/The cabinet held a regular meeting on Tuesday during which
it called for tenders to meet the needs of the airport, but failed to resolve
the dispute over the general directorate of state security. Information Minister
Ramzi Jreij told reporters that the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works
will be tasked with calling for tenders for the Rafik Hariri International
Airport. The government also approved a technical report that would call for
raising security measures at the airport, said the minister following the
cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail, which was chaired by Prime Minister Tammam
Salam. The ministers discussed outside of the cabinet agenda the case of the
illegal internet network and the recently uncovered human trafficking ring. “The
cabinet demanded that the greatest punishment be laid against those involved in
the cases once the investigations are complete,” declared Jreij.
The ministers failed however to address the contentious issue of the general
directorate of state security. “This will be the first article of cabinet's next
meeting,” said the information minister. Cabinet will convene again on Monday
afternoon. Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said after Tuesday's session: “There
can be no solution to the state security dispute without achieving equality
among the agencies.” Christian ministers are claiming that the agency is being
intentionally marginalized for being led by a Catholic, Maj. Gen.George Qaraa,
who has differences with his deputy Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Tufaili, a Shiite.
The government failed last week to approve any decree on pressing issues as a
result of the discord on the leadership of State Security and the lack of
appropriations for the agency.
Fatah Official Killed in
Sidon Car Bomb Blast
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/April 12/16/A senior Palestinian
official with the mainstream Fatah Movement was killed on Tuesday in a car
bombing in the southern city of Sidon.Reports said that Fathi Zaidan died and
four others, including two bodyguards, were injured in the blast near Ain el-Hilweh
Palestinian refugee camp. Zaidan, who goes by the nom de guerre of Zoro, is the
security official with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group in Mieh
Mieh camp.The Internal Security Forces drew a tight dragnet and asked people to
distance themselves from the blast scene to pave way for ambulances to transport
the wounded. The army's forensics unit later arrived at the scene of the
explosion and cleared away scorched body parts lying near a car in flames, said
an Agence France Presse correspondent at the scene. Ziadan's body parts were
taken to al-Hamshari and Sidon state hospitals, said the state-run National News
Agency. The head of the joint Palestinian security force in Lebanon Mounir al-Maqdah
told LBCI TV that before the blast, Zaidan attended a meeting in Mieh Mieh
during which he asked for increased security measures at the camp. Fatah gunmen
have recently clashed with Islamic extremists in Ain el-Hilweh, the largest of
12 refugee camps in Lebanon. Ain el-Hilweh has become the scene of
score-settling between several factions, and a breeding ground for extremist
groups that have flourished on the back of the poverty afflicting the
camp.Lebanon is home to some 400,000 Palestinians.
Berri Urges Sisi to Seek Reactivation of Saudi Grant to Army
Naharnet/April 12/16/Speaker Nabih Berri held talks Tuesday in Cairo with
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of his participation in
the works of the 23rd conference of the Arab Inter-parliamentary Union. “The
one-hour meeting tackled the developments, the threats of terrorism and the ties
between the two countries,” Lebanon's National News Agency said. Berri hailed
“Egypt's pan-Arab stances,” urging the Egyptian president to “exert efforts to
provide military support to the Lebanese army, including efforts to reactivate
the Saudi grant to the army,” NNA added. The appeal comes a few days after Sisi
held talks with visiting Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz. Saudi Arabia is the
main regional supporter of Sisi's post-Arab Spring rule in Egypt. Saudi Arabia
has suspended a $4 billion aid program for the Lebanese army and security forces
amid a political confrontation with the region's Shiite powerhouse Iran and its
Lebanese ally Hizbullah. During Tuesday's meeting, Berri also stressed to Sisi
“the importance of inter-Arab dialogue and rapprochement between Iran and Saudi
Arabia which would have a positive impact on the region and Lebanon.” Sisi for
his part expressed his “support for Lebanon and the Lebanese,” underlining that
“Egypt does not discriminate between one Lebanese party and another.”The
Egyptian leader also emphasized the need to elect a president in Lebanon, noting
that this issue is “more than necessary.” He also expressed his relief over “the
national dialogue among the Lebanese,” noting that it “protects Lebanon.”
Tripoli Man Held over IS
Contacts, Attempted Assassination
Naharnet/April 12/16/A man was arrested Tuesday in the northern city of Tripoli
on charges of communicating with the extremist Islamic State group and
attempting to assassinate a Lebanese citizen, LBCI television reported. “The
Tripoli State Security bureau has arrested Lebanese national A. W. in the
Tripoli area of al-Qobbeh due to his communication with Raqa-based IS members,”
the TV network said. The detainee confessed to “attempting to assassinate M. D.
on March 25 by opening fire at him from a pistol in the al-Qobbeh area because
of the latter's collaboration with security agencies,” LBCI added. A man who was
near M.D. was accidentally wounded in the incident, the TV network said. The
detainee has since been referred to the relevant judicial authorities.
Man Says he Offered to Snatch
Beirut Children for Aussie TV Show, Suspects Charged
Associated Press/Naharnet/April 12/16/A contractor said Tuesday that he
negotiated with an Australian television network to snatch two
Lebanese-Australian children from their father's family in Beirut but the
network chose a cheaper option. Col Chapman, who describes himself as a child
recovery specialist, said executives at the Nine Network's "60 Minutes" program
told him to "sharpen his pencil" when he quoted them 150,000 Australian dollars
($114,000) late last year to get the children Lahala, 6, and Noah, 4, out of
Lebanon. The children's Australian mother, Sally Faulkner, a four-member crew
from Nine, two British agents from the Britain-based Child Abduction Recovery
International company, known as CARI, and two Lebanese men are in police custody
in Beirut over a bungled attempt last week to smuggle the children out of the
country. A state prosecutor in Lebanon filed on Tuesday kidnapping charges
against the suspects. After issuing the charges against them, Mount Lebanon
Prosecutor Judge Claude Karam referred them to the first military examining
magistrate. The TV crew, including presenter Tara Brown, were recording from a
car window on April 6 as the two CARI agents grabbed the children from their
grandmother Ibtissam Berri and a domestic servant in the area of Hadath south of
Beirut. Chapman said his business Child Recovery Australia would never allow a
media client to direct their operations during a child recovery attempt to suit
filming priorities and deadlines. "The reason '60' didn't go with us is we were
dearer and we don't work with media, not in that sense, anyway," Chapman said.
Nine refused to say if it paid for CARI's bid to retrieve the children. Faulkner
accuses her former husband Ali al-Amin of taking them from Australia last year
without her permission. "We don't ever talk about payment in relation to a
story," network spokeswoman Victoria Buchan said. She declined to say if the
network had ever been in negotiations with Chapman. Lebanese authorities had a
signed statement from one of the CARI agents in custody that said the network
had paid AU$115,000 for the operation, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The custody dispute between Faulkner, 29, and he ex-husband has been going on
for several years, and Australia media have reported that he took the two
children to Lebanon for a holiday last year but did not return.
Zoaiter Expects Cabinet to
Approve Airport Security Funding
Naharnet/April 12/16/Public Works Minister Ghazi Zoaiter expected the cabinet to
approve on Tuesday the necessary funding to improve security at Rafik Hariri
International Airport despite the insistence of Christian ministers to resolve
the controversy on the State Security agency first. Zoaiter told al-Mustaqbal
daily that he agrees with Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on the importance
of resolving the security of the airport amid claims of misunderstanding between
them. The minister expected the cabinet to resolve the matter to boost the
needed plan to build the airport fence and improve the luggage transport system.
But the Christian ministers have not given up on their demand to provide the
necessary funding to State Security before resolving any other matter. Minister
Alain Hakim said ahead of the cabinet session that he will not approve the
appropriation of funds to any security department before the dispute on State
Security is resolved. The Christian ministers are claiming that the agency is
being intentionally marginalized for being led by a Catholic, Maj. Gen.George
Qaraa, who has differences with his deputy Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Tufaili, a
Shiite. The government failed last week to approve any decree on pressing issues
as a result of the discord on the leadership of State Security and the lack of
appropriations for the agency.
Harb Says Judiciary Not
Hesitant in Internet Scandal
Naharnet/April 12/16/Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb has said that the
judiciary is “no longer hesitant” in dealing with the scandal on the illegal
internet network. Harb told An Nahar daily published on Tuesday that the issue
“is taking a serious turn after it was being dealt with laxly.”“The probe of the
judicial authorities is … revealing information on the network, its members and
those in charge of it,” he said. “The judiciary is no longer hesitant. It is
following up (the issue) decisively,” Harb added. He stressed that the file will
not be covered up after claims were made that influential people were involved
in the case. The minister attended on Monday a security meeting that was chaired
by Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail. An Nahar said that the
investigations of the judiciary are not just focusing on the financial aspects
of the illegal network but also on the security breach. It said the suspects
have dismantled equipment and have tampered with evidence and data. The number
of suspects arrested in the scandal has risen to four and 22 people have been
charged. A warrant is out for a fifth. Harb said last month that the owners of
unauthorized stations were buying bandwidth from Turkey and Cyprus and selling
it to subscribers at low prices.
Sierra Leone Vice President
briefs Jumblatt over Lebanese expats condition
Tue 12 Apr 2016/NNA - Head of the Democratic Gathering, MP Walid Jumblatt,
accompanied by his son Taymour, visited on Tuesday Sierra Leone Vice President,
Victor Bockarie Foh, at his residence at Four Seasons Hotel, in presence of
Sierra Leone Consul in Lebanon, Donald Abed, among other diplomats. Speaking to
reporters following the meeting, Abed indicated that the Vice President briefed
his guests over the condition of the Lebanese Diaspora in the African nation,
stressing that they do work hard in order to represent Lebanon honorably. He
also hoped that a president of the Lebanese republic would be elected in the
nearest time possible. For his part, Assistant Envoy of Sierra Leone in the Arab
countries, Mahmoud Abu al-Aynein, said that Sierra Leone was concerned about the
Lebanese [expats], "as if they were its own citizens."
Jreissati: We refuse blackmailing FPM
Tue 12 Apr 2016/NNA- Former minister Selim Jreissati, said that the Free
Patriotic Movement (FPM) refused to be blackmailed, noting that solutions cannot
be solved on the basis of sectarianism. Jreissati's fresh words came on Tuesday
in the wake of the periodic meeting of "Change and Reform" bloc, chaired by bloc
head MP Michel Aoun, at his Rabieh residence. He added that the lawmakers
discussed several regional and local issues, including the government work and
the State Security agency. "We reject sectarian dimensions in all files. We
tackle these issues objectively. Solutions cannot be taken in a fragmented
manner, on a confessional basis," he stressed. "The item on the State Security
is listed in the agenda of the cabinet's next session, as well as the
Telecommunications file, in order to shed light on the Internet scandal,"
Jreissati said. Regarding the series of scandals revealed to the public, the
former minister said that they all shared one aspect, considering the fact that
corruption went back to a long time ago and was related to state officials at
various levels. "This issue is no longer limited to the waste of public money,
the exposure of Lebanon's security, or the installation of dangerous facilities;
it threatens to collapse today all national and moral values within the State,"
he underscored. Concerning all corruption cases raised recently in Lebanon,
Jreissati said that his bloc would not end its actions before showing to the
Lebanese the identity of those who steal funds and violate rights. "These
criminals should be prosecuted and punished." In light of the presidential
vacuum, he stressed that the state should not be undermined. "A president should
be elected by virtue of the national pact. This is how order is restored
regarding the distribution of power in the Lebanese state."
Army reopens crime scene
neighborhood in Sidon
Tue 12 Apr 2016/NNA - The Lebanese army reopened this evening the road leading
to al-American roundabout, where Fath Movement official was killed earlier
today, National News Agency correspondent reported on Tuesday. Palestinian
General Fathi Azzam was killed today as his booby-trapped car blew off nearby a
refugee camp in Sidon. The army removed the remnants of the battered vehicle,
while the town's municipal workers cleaned the scene.
Jumblatt receives
FranceLebanon Parliamentary Friendship Group
Tue 12 Apr 2016/NNA - Democratic Gathering Head, MP Walid Jumblatt, received on
Tuesday at his residence in Clemenceau a delegation of France-Lebanon
Parliamentary Friendship Group, headed by its president MP Henri Jibrayel.
NSSF Subscribers Union to go
on one week strike
Tue 12 Apr 2016/NNA - The Union of the National Social Security Fund's
subscribers on Tuesday announced that it would go on strike as of next Monday
for one week, in protest at the failure of mediation by the Labor Ministry and
workers' union to secure old-age pension demands.
Future Bloc: Presidential
vacancy main problem, cause of crises
Tue 12 Apr 2016/NNA - Future Bloc called upon parliamentary members to go to
Parliament and elect a president for the country to put terms to the vacancy
"which is the main problem at the current stage and the cause of crises."The
bloc on Tuesday convened at the Center House in Beirut under the chairmanship of
MP Samir Jisr and discussed overall developments in Lebanon and the region. The
bloc thereby called upon Hezbollah and Free Patriotic Movement to release free
the republic and go to Parliament to elect a president. It also stressed the
necessity for the government to resolve the issue relevant to State security
apparatus away from any confessional consideration. The bloc condemned the
terrorist operation that targeted today Fatah Movement senior Fathi Zaydan,
considering any action of unrest in the country to be targeting all Lebanese and
the Lebanese state as well "that is deprived of exercising its sovereignty
across all Lebanese territories due to the presence of illegal arms."
Two more
suspects charged in Brussels bombings
The Associated Press, Brussels Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Belgian authorities said
Tuesday two more men had been charged with offenses related to the Brussels
bombings. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s office said the suspects, identified
only as Smail F. and Ibrahim F., were involved in renting an apartment in the
Etterbeek area of Brussels that served as a hideout for the bomber who attacked
the Brussels subway as well as a suspected accomplice.Sixteen victims died in
the March 22 attack, the same day a pair of suicide bombers also killed 16
victims at Brussels airport. An investigating magistrate on Monday ordered Smail
F., born in 1984, and Ibrahim F., born in 1988, held on charges of participating
in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist
murder as perpetrators, co-perpetrators or accomplices, the prosecutors’ office
said in a statement.Prosecutors could not been immediately reached for comment,
but state-run RTBF broadcasting, citing information form unspecified sources,
reported the two suspects were brothers, and that the older sibling had rented
the apartment on the Rue des Casernes, while the younger brother helped empty
and clean it following the attacks. Belgian police searched the Etterbeek
apartment Saturday but found no weapons or explosives. The statement from
prosecutors said the investigation “is continuing actively day and night.”
Syria ceasefire withers as
‘Russia plans offensive’
AFP, Washington Tuesday, 12 April 2016/The United States expressed concern over
threats to the ceasefire in Syria on Monday, amid reports that Russian-backed
government troops are planning an offensive. Fighting has increased around the
northern city of Aleppo, where a variety of rebel factions are fighting forces
loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.On Sunday, Syria's Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi
warned that the regime and its "Russian partners" were readying an offensive to
recapture the city. In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said
Secretary of State John Kerry had called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
on Sunday to express concern. "We are very, very concerned about the recent
increase in violence. And that includes actions we believe are in contravention
to the cessation of hostilities," Toner said. Although the February 27 ceasefire
deal has largely held, hardline groups such as ISIS, also referred to as Daesh,
and the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front are seen as fair game. Aleppo is home to
a variety of rebel forces, however, and Washington is concerned that any
Russian-backed assault on Al-Nusra may spread to also target moderate factions.
This in turn could cause the ceasefire to collapse and even derail the
UN-mediated political peace process due to resume in Geneva on Wednesday. "One
of the things the secretary stressed very strongly in his phone call yesterday
with Foreign Minister Lavrov, is that we need to make certain that we work to
determine which fighting group is where," Toner said. "We've talked about the
fact that everybody needs to focus on Nusra and Daesh, but we can't have overlap
and we can't have violations against those groups who have bought into the
ceasefire or the cessation."
Two Russian pilots killed in
Syria helicopter crash
By AFP, Moscow Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Two Russian military pilots were killed
when their helicopter crashed near the central Syrian city of Homs, the defense
ministry said on Tuesday, adding that the aircraft had not been under fire. "Two
crew members died," the defense ministry said in a statement. The crash of the
Mi-28 attack helicopter happened in the early hours of Tuesday, the ministry
said, adding the bodies had been recovered and brought to Russia's Hmeimim air
base."According to a report from the crash site, the helicopter was not fired
at," the defense ministry added, saying experts were looking into the reasons of
the accident. The crash takes Russia's official combat death toll in Syria to
seven. Moscow says that five Russian servicemen perished while on combat duty in
Syria, including the pilot of a warplane shot down by Turkey and a special
operations officer who called an air strike on himself after being surrounded by
ISIS militants near Palmyra. Another serviceman committed suicide while on duty
in Syria, the defense ministry said. The helicopter crash took place less than a
month after President Vladimir Putin surprised the West by ordering the bulk of
Russian forces to pull out of Syria after a five-and-half-month bombing campaign
there. Putin said that after some 9,000 bombing raids over Syria -- targeting
ISIS militants as well as moderate rebels -- Moscow's military mission had been
"on the whole" accomplished. After the drawdown Syrian forces -- backed by
Russian firepower -- scored some of their most dramatic successes, reclaiming
the world heritage site of Palmyra from ISIS.
Iran expresses concern over
breaches of Syria truce
Reuters, Tehran Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Iran is concerned that an uptick in
violations of Syria's ceasefire could harm planned peace talks this week aimed
at ending the five-year-old civil war, a deputy foreign minister was quoted as
saying on Tuesday. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments, cited in state
news agency IRNA, after speaking to United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura, who
arrived in Tehran after holding meetings with Syria's foreign minister in
Damascus on Monday. "One of our main concerns in Syria is the increasing
activities of armed groups in recent days and the increase in breaches of the
ceasefire that can harm the political process (of peace talks)," Abdollahian
said. Nevertheless, he said Tehran was "happy to see that we are approaching a
political solution to this crisis", ahead of talks due to resume in Geneva on
Wednesday. The United States on Monday also expressed concern at the recent
increase in violence, which it blamed on Syrian government forces that are
backed by Iran. Iran has called for a political solution to Syria's civil war,
but has also sent troops to bolster President Bashar al-Assad's forces and
rejected the opposition's demands that Assad depart as a precondition for peace.
Four Iranian soldiers have been killed in Syria since the deployment of regular
troops was announced last week. Several members of the paramilitary Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps have also been killed fighting alongside Assad's
forces.
Turkey decorates Saudi king
for close ties
By AP Ankara, Turkey Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Turkey has decorated Saudi Arabia’s
King Salman with the country’s highest state medal in recognition of the close
ties between the two countries. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Tuesday bestowed the medal, saying the Saudi monarch had exerted “great efforts”
to forge friendly ties since taking the throne. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are both
strong supporters of the opposition forces in Syria and have been building
strong military ties. Turkey participated in military drills in Saudi Arabia
this year. Riyadh has deployed warplanes at a Turkish air base as part of the
anti-ISIS coalition. Talks during the king’s three-day visit were expected to
focus on Syria and other regional issues. King Salman is scheduled to attend an
Islamic Cooperation summit in Istanbul later in the week.
Turkey strikes at ISIS
targets after rockets hit border town
The Associated Press, Ankara, Turkey Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Turkish artillery
units on Tuesday shelled ISIS targets across the border in Syria, officials
said, hours after rockets fired from Syria struck a Turkish border town,
wounding eight people. Two rockets hit the town of Kilis early in the day in the
third such cross-border incident at the town in the past five days. One rocket
struck a guesthouse while the second landed on an empty field near a bus
terminal, the state-run Anadolu Agency said. The Kilis governor’s office said
eight people were hurt and two of them were in serious condition. Authorities
evacuated children from a nearby youth center that has been turned into a
temporary school for Syrian refugees, the report said. Turkey’s military
routinely retaliates to rockets or shells that land on Turkish territory. On
Tuesday, artillery units fired at ISIS targets around the town of Azaz, in
northern Syria, Anadolu reported.
The agency, citing unidentified security sources, said the targeted ISIS
positions were located around the villages of Sawran, Dabiq, Akhtarin and
Ehtemlat and added that the “intensive shelling” was continuing. Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said the Turkish military had responded to rockets “immediately
in line with the rules of engagement.” “We are determined to take every step
that is necessary,” Davutoglu said. The wider province of Kilis borders areas in
Syria that are controlled by ISIS, Syrian Kurdish militia or anti-government
Syrian rebels.
Two soldiers killed, nearly
50 wounded in PKK attack in Turkey’s southeast
Reuters, Diyarbakir Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Two soldiers were killed and nearly
50 people wounded in a car bomb attack on a Turkish gendarmerie base in the
southeastern town of Hani overnight, security sources said on Tuesday.
A large vehicle laden with explosives rammed into the base and the dormitory
housing the families of security personnel, shattering windows and wrecked the
roofs of buildings. Such attacks on security bases in the southeast have become
more common as in recent months as fighting between Kurdish militants and
security forces rages. Witnesses said vehicles, houses and shops nearby were
also damaged due to the powerful blast. Security sources told Reuters that two
soldiers were killed and nearly 50 wounded. The military confirmed in a
statement that one soldier and 47 people had been wounded. Six of the wounded
civilians were relatives of the soldiers, the military said. Following the
attack, Turkish gendarmerie and special forces launched an operation with air
support in the town centre and the countryside around Hani, north of the
provincial capital Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
On Tuesday, a Turkish flag was draped on the side of the base. Thousands of
militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK
(Kurdistan Workers’ Party) resumed its fight for greater autonomy last summer,
wrecking a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and peace process. The government has refused to
return to the negotiating table and has said it will crush the PKK, considered a
terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The
military said 30 Kurdish militants were killed on Monday in clashes across four
southeastern towns Syria, Iraq and Iran, which have been placed under curfews
due to military operations. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the
conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984.
US urges ‘unified, federal
and democratic Iraq’
Agencies Tuesday, 12 April 2016/US Vice President Joe Biden made separate calls
on Monday to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdish regional President
Massoud Barzani to underscore the need for cooperation amid the country's
political crisis, the White House said. "The vice president conveyed continued
US support for a unified, federal, and democratic Iraq, and encouraged close
cooperation between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government
as they take steps to strengthen political unity and economic stability," the
White House said in a statement. Meanwhile, the United States and its Gulf
allies will discuss providing economic aid to Iraq, US defense chief Ashton
Carter said Monday, as low global crude prices and ongoing conflict batter
Baghdad's economy. Carter was speaking on a trip to India before heading to the
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia Saturday, where he will attend a Gulf
Cooperation Council ministerial meeting ahead of a GCC summit that will include
President Barack Obama. "Economically, it's important that the destruction that
has occurred be repaired and we are looking to help the Iraqis with that," the
defense secretary told reporters on the deck of the USS Blue Ridge in Mormugao
harbor.(Reuters and AFP)
Abbas says ‘urgent’ need for
UN resolution on Israeli settlements
By AFP Ramallah, Palestinian Territories Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Palestinian
president Mahmud Abbas said there is an “urgent” need for a UN resolution
condemning Israeli settlements, in an interview with AFP ahead of a
multi-country diplomatic tour. “The Security Council is a very important subject
because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel
has not stopped these activities,” Abbas said, with the Palestinians currently
discussing a new draft resolution at the UN Security Council on the subject.
Abbas also criticized what he said was insufficient action from US President
Barack Obama’s administration, while at the same time he firmly backed a French
initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer. He spoke late
Monday ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France,
Russia, Germany and New York. The two-week tour may be among the last chances at
renewing peace efforts for the 81-year-old leader. Peace efforts have been at a
complete standstill since a US initiative collapsed two years ago. Israeli
settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international
law as well as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on
land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. The United States has
repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but
there has been speculation that Obama could change tack in the waning days of
his administration.
Italian premier starts
landmark two-day Iran trip
AFP, Tehran Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi started a
two-day visit to Iran on Tuesday, the highest ranking European leader to do so
since world powers completed a nuclear deal with Tehran. Accompanied by a
250-person delegation, Renzi is seeking to re-establish Italy’s economic clout
in the Islamic republic which, before sanctions, made it Iran’s number one
European trade partner. The official IRNA news agency said Renzi would meet
Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani, who visited Rome in January just days after
sanctions were lifted under Tehran’s deal with six world powers. Annual trade
between Iran and Italy peaked at about $8 billion but a decade of
nuclear-related sanctions saw it plummet to $1.8 billion currently. When Rowhani
visited Rome the two countries agreed initial terms on long-term contracts that
could be valued as high as $19.4 billion, including deals in the oil, transport
and shipping sectors. Iran has said it wants European help to modernize and
expand its rail, road and air networks as well as seeking investment to boost
its manufacturing base, notably in the automobile industry. During his visit,
Rowhani also talked of reconstructing a relationship between “two superpowers of
beauty and culture” that dates back to the days of the ancient Roman and Persian
empires.
America's top general reminds
troops to stay out of politics
AFP, Washington Tuesday, 12 April 2016/The Pentagon's top general is reminding
US forces not to express political views during a heated election season marked
by Republican candidates calling for contentious military measures, an official
said Monday. General Joe Dunford, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
and serves as the top military advisor to Defense Secretary Ash Carter, is
drafting a letter due to be released in the coming days encouraging troops to
remain apolitical in public. The document comes after several senior military
officials were questioned over whether they agree with views espoused by
Republican presidential hopefuls, including Ted Cruz's calls to carpet-bomb
parts of Iraq and Syria. "There's a trend developing where people are trying to
drag our military into the political conversations of the day. It's not helpful
to our country and it's not helpful to the military," Dunford spokesman Navy
Captain Greg Hicks told AFP. He said America's top brass usually remind troops
to steer clear from election season debate, as the Pentagon has a long history
of staying out of politics. But the conversation has proven exceptionally
contentious this year. Donald Trump has called for the broad use of torture and
for the military to kill families of ISIS suspects, although he later dialed
back his rhetoric. Dunford has openly expressed frustration about Pentagon
journalists' continued questions about Trump-related matters. The chairman was
himself last month asked whether he agreed with Trump's assertion that the NATO
military alliance is obsolete. And in February, a lawmaker asked Dunford whether
he supported Trump's pledges to torture terror suspects and "take out" their
families.
Zika virus ‘scarier’ than
first thought, say US health officials
Reuters, Washington Tuesday, 12 April 2016/Top health officials expressed
heightened concern on Monday about the threat posed to the United States by the
Zika virus, saying the mosquito that spreads it is now present in about 30
states and hundreds of thousands of infections could appear in Puerto Rico. At a
White House briefing, they stepped up pressure on the Republican-led Congress to
pass approximately $1.9 billion in emergency funding for Zika preparedness that
the Obama administration requested in February. "Everything we look at with this
virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought," said Dr. Anne
Schuchat, a deputy director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. "And so while we absolutely hope we don't see widespread local
transmission in the continental U.S., we need the states to be ready for that,"
Schuchat added.Zika, linked to numerous cases of the birth defect micocephaly in
Brazil, is spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean. The White House
said last week in the absence of the emergency funds it will redirect $589
million, mostly from money already provided by Congress to tackle the Ebola
virus, to prepare for Zika before it begins to emerge in the continental United
States as the weather warms. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said if Congress does not provide
emergency Zika funding, U.S. officials likely would be forced to redirect money
currently dedicated for research into malaria, tuberculosis and a universal flu
vaccine. "I don't have what I need right now," Fauci said. Hopefully the funding
crimp will never reach a point where the stopgap money runs out, but if it does,
he said, "we'll have to start raiding other accounts, and very important
research in other diseases is going to suffer, and suffer badly."
Schuchat said Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species that primarily transmits the
virus, is present in about 30 states, rather than 12 as previously thought. In
the U.S. territory Puerto Rico, there may be hundreds of thousands of Zika
infections and perhaps hundreds of affected babies, she added.
Fauci said it appears the first Zika vaccine candidate is on target to enter
initial clinical trials in September. Schuchat declined to forecast the number
of Zika infections that could occur in the United States. While she said she did
not expect large outbreaks in the continental United States, "we can't assume
we're not going to have a big problem."Schuchat said Zika is likely to be a
problem during much of a pregnancy, not just not just during the first trimester
as previously believed. As Brazil prepares to host the Olympic games in August,
the CDC has recommended that pregnant women avoid traveling to the country.
"We also want people to know that travel to the area may lead to 'silent'
infections or infections with symptoms, and that following infections, it's very
important to take precautions during sex not to spread the virus," Schuchat
said. The World Health Organization has said there is a strong scientific
consensus that Zika can cause microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born
with small heads that can result in developmental problems, as well as
Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in
paralysis, though proof may take months or years.
Brazil said last week it has confirmed more than 1,046 cases of microcephaly,
and considers most to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.
Afghan Taliban
Announce Start of 'Spring Offensive'
Agence France Presse/April 12/16/The Afghan Taliban announced Tuesday the start
of their "spring offensive" even as the government in Kabul tries to bring the
insurgents back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict. The
Taliban said in a statement they would "employ large-scale attacks on enemy
positions across the country" during the offensive they have dubbed "Operation
Omari" in honour of the movement's late founder Mullah Omar, whose death was
announced last year. The annual spring offensive normally marks the start of the
"fighting season", though this winter the lull was shorter and they continued to
battle government forces albeit with less intensity. The statement promised
"martyrdom-seeking and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds", a reference
to suicide bombings -- a strategy the group has long resorted to against its
enemies, the Afghan police and army, which they view as "stooges" of the West.
On Monday, 12 fresh recruits were killed in one such attack in the country's
east. The Islamists, who have been waging an insurgency since being toppled from
power in 2001, also promised attacks on the 13,000 NATO troops currently
stationed in the country, officially in a training and advisory role since the
end of their combat mission in 2014. "By employing such a multifaceted strategy
it is hoped that the foreign enemy will be demoralised and forced to evict our
nation," they said. The Taliban have made the departure of all foreign forces a
precondition to the resumption of direct peace talks with Kabul which began last
summer in Pakistan but ended abruptly after it was revealed that Mullah Omar had
been dead for two years. Responding to the announcement Sediq Sediqqi, a
spokesman for Afghanistan's interior ministry said: "The Taliban just want to
show that they are still there. In the past 14 years they were not able to reach
their goal and we will not allow them to do that" he said Dawlat Waziri, a
spokesman for the war-ravaged country's defence ministry, said that the
government forces were prepared to hit back: "Now that the Taliban have rejected
peace talks, we are prepared to respond to war with war."
- Battlefield victories -A four-country group comprising Afghanistan, the United
States, China and Pakistan has been holding meetings since January aimed at
jump-starting negotiations, though their efforts have so far been in vain.
Mullah Omar's successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour, meanwhile, has won a string of
impressive victories on the battlefield, helping to silence emerging factions by
stepping up the intensity of his military campaign. Last year the Taliban were
able to briefly capture Kunduz, the first time they had held an Afghan city
since the fall of their government in 2001. It is not clear whether the
announcement of the spring offensive will lead to an immediate escalation in
fighting. Afghanistan has actively courted the NATO-led coalition to delay a
planned drawdown of their troops stationed in the country, most of which are US,
and maintain its air power and military support. The Taliban's resurgence has
raised serious questions about Afghan forces capacity to hold their own, with an
estimated 5,000 troops killed last year, the worst ever toll. Kabul-based
analyst, Haroon Mir said: "This is the first Taliban spring offensive launched
under their new leadership. "Mansour has persistently rejected peace talks and
insisted on war. Therefore he is expected to focus more on battlefield victories
this year -- that could mean a worse year for Afghanistan in terms of violence
and bloodshed." It has also prompted calls for the U.S. to reconsider its troop
withdrawal schedule, already delayed once by President Barack Obama.
There are currently 9,800 American troops in the country, with the number set to
fall to 5,500 by 2017. General John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. and NATO
forces in Afghanistan since March, had promised during his U.S. Senate
confirmation hearings to review the drawdown plan. American forces are being
increasingly drawn into fighting despite the official end of their combat
mission, partnering with Afghan forces particularly in southern Helmand. Last
year, 22 U.S. personnel were killed in Afghanistan, half of the deaths
classified as "hostile", according to the icasualties.org website which tracks
the war.
Israel signals no opposition
to Egypt's return of islands to Saudi Arabia
Reuters/April 12/16/Israel signaled on Tuesday it did not oppose the return of
two Red Sea islands in a strategic strait to Saudi Arabia by Egypt, with one
senior lawmaker seeing a chance to get closer to Riyadh, with which Israel has
no formal peace agreement. The islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located at the
southern entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, will be formally demarcated as being in
Saudi waters under a treaty announced on Saturday by Cairo, which has had de
facto control over them since 1950. In 1967, Egypt blocked the strait of Tiran,
a move that prompted Israel to launch the Middle East war. In its later peace
deal with Israel, Cairo promised to respect freedom of shipping in Aqaba and
Eilat, a commitment that Saudi Arabia says it will uphold when it takes over the
islands. Eilat is Israel's only port in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. A
powerful lawmaker in the premier's rightist Likud party said the treaty would
not threaten Israel. "It relates to us and it does not bother us," the lawmaker,
Tzachi Hanegbi, who heads parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee,
told Israel's Army Radio in an interview. "The Saudis, who are committed to
freedom of shipping under international law, will not harm the essence of the
agreement between Egypt and us in this regard and freedom of shipping in Aqaba
and Eilat will remain as is."Some Israeli commentators suggested that the
islands treaty, and a related plan to build a bridge linking Saudi Arabia to
Egypt, might make it easier for militants to reach the Sinai. Hanegbi dismissed
this as "paranoid anxiety" and welcomed the closing of ranks by Sunni Arab
states that share Israeli hostility to Shiite power Iran and its Lebanese
guerrilla ally Hezbollah, as well as to Islamist insurgents racking the region.
"We have an interest in expanding the cooperation in the Sunni axis, which is
struggling against the radical axis headed by Iran," said Hanegbi a long-time
Netanyahu confidant. "The more the Saudis, and the Gulf states in general,
connect to the countries with which we are at peace and create with them a
strategic front against ISIS, Iran, Hezbollah, against all the players that are
our actual enemies, ultimately the effect will be unifying and not weakening."
For its part, Riyadh is keeping a frosty posture to Israel. "There will be no
direct relationship between the kingdom and Israel due to the return of these
islands," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Egypt's CBC television on
Sunday. But in an apparent allusion to Egyptian-Israeli relations, he added:
"There is an agreement and commitments that Egypt accepted related to these
islands, and the kingdom is committed to these."
Egypt’s strategic importance
to the Gulf region
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/April 12/16
The situation hasn’t changed much since Egypt was a monarchy during the era of
the Fouad and then Farouq and when it turned into a republic following a
revolution and then became socialist. This was followed by the era of Anwar
al-Sadat and the Camp David Accord, and of Hosni Mubarak and Mohammad Mursi of
the Brotherhood. Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries have always considered Egypt a
basic pillar in their strategic calculations. When relations were once unstable
for around five years in the 1960s, the entire region was disturbed. Relations,
however, restored their historic path immediately after the 1967 War as the
region’s stability is based on Egypt and Saudi Arabia. This explains the uproar
stirred by the Egyptian opposition, particularly opposition figures who reside
outside Egypt, and the parties allied with them prior to and during Saudi King
Salman bin Abdulaziz’s visit to Egypt.
The opposition wanted to embarrass Egyptian President Abdelfattah el-Sisi and
the Egyptian government because it knew it could not prevent the visit, which
turned out to be the most important one since King Faisal’s meeting with Gamal
Abdelnasser. That visit, in 1969, corrected and solidified the relations which
we see today.
The opposition exaggerated its narratives about Saudi-Egyptian disputes
regarding the region and resorted to these exaggerations to create doubts about
the success of the visit. The surprise, however, is that the agreements signed
between the two countries were more significant than what we expected. The
agreements are unprecedented and they came as a surprise even to those who know
how close the ties are between King Salman and President Sisi. Most of the
agreements are related to strategic projects of which the most important is
building a bridge that links the two countries and the two continents, Asia and
Africa, together. This bridge is no less significant than the Fatih Sultan
Mehmet Bridge, the Turkish Bosphorus bridge, which links Asia and Europe. After
this bridge over the Red Sea is built, it will become the first geographic
passage between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The agreements also included
power-related projects and declaring that the Tiran and Sanafir islands will be
returned to Saudi Arabia. There are 15 other agreements which will enhance the
relation between the two shores of the Red Sea.
The Egyptian opposition and the rivals of Gulf countries, particularly of Saudi
Arabia, have a shortsighted vision that aims to sabotage relations to serve
their immediate interests. However, for Cairo and Riyadh, the relation between
the two countries has been of strategic importance since 1936.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia do not allow disturbing the balance of these relations
due to disagreements over minor bilateral stances or different points of view
regarding regional developments or journalistic articles. Wise politicians
differentiate between what’s strategic and what’s minor, between higher aims and
tactical initiatives, between disagreements and differences and when it comes to
their calculations, they leave space to act and be diverse and to even disagree.
Isn’t there a problem in the Saudi and Gulf relations with Egypt?
All the Egyptian opposition wants is to thwart any cooperation to prove that the
government has failed and thus corner it
The irony is that most of the frequent complaints by both the parties are
related to the weaknesses in implementing the cooperation already agreed upon.
Therefore, both parties want greater cooperation but the work mechanism often
confronts obstructions that are not political at all. Gulf countries want to
increase their investment and economic projects in Egypt and the Egyptians also
want that. What ruins collective efforts work whether on the level of the
governmental or private sector is old bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is a worse enemy
than all other lurking enemies. There are in fact major ambitions but systems
which do not harmonize with the new world and the bureaucracy protectors who
miss opportunities for possible developmental transitions have diminished them.
If Gulf countries’ huge financial investments and international commercial
partnership team up with Egyptian firms and enter the biggest market in the
region, they can turn Egypt’s developmental problems into traits and transform
the overpopulation into an example to the power of Egypt and the region and thus
put Egypt among the ranks of tiger economies. The financial surplus and
overpopulation require brave political decisions to overcome the slow pace.
Crisis of chronic failure
The Egyptians, the Gulf citizens and the entire Arabs want to overcome this
crisis of chronic failure. Truth be told, the ambitious agreements which King
Salman and President Sisi signed express the hopes of the region’s people -
hopes that they have a future that’s better than our current situation.
People want governments to focus on building, developing and meeting their needs
and not to take political stances and repeat their statements. These promised
projects represent the biggest program for work between two countries in the
region. This is why this came as happy news to everyone except for the
opposition. All the Egyptian opposition wants is to thwart any cooperation to
prove that the government has failed and thus corner it although most of the
affairs discussed during the king’s visit were related to development plans that
concern the present and the future of 100 million Egyptian and Saudi citizens.
They aim to enhance their lives and their children’s future away from political
tampering. Egypt is a country with huge capabilities and it deserves everyone’s
attention because the region stands strong when Egypt is solid. The US is
encouraged by Iran’s openness and considers the latter a promising state
although when comparing it to Egypt, it’s a very underdeveloped system. In
response to the international project to make Iran succeed, we must bet on
Egypt. This is what the Saudis, Emiratis and the rest who believe in
developmental projects and not just military ones are doing.
Analysis:
Netanyahu's admission to Syrian attacks leaves more questions than answers
Yossi Melman/Jerusalem Post/12 April/16
For years, Israel’s Military Censor has prevented journalists from reporting
about Israel Air Force strikes in Syria aimed at foiling the transfer of
advanced weapons to the Islamic terrorist organization Hezbollah. But, on
Monday, while attending an IDF tour on the Golan Heights, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that Israel has attacked dozens of weapons
deliveries on their way to Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. “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, referring
mainly to long-range missiles, as well as anti-aircraft missiles and radar
systems.While it’s true that Israeli media have reported on past Syrian
operations, this was done on the condition that the information was sourced from
“foreign reports.”
It is more than likely that Netanyahu had not discussed the revelations with
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon or IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot,
neither of whom accompanied the premier on his sojourn in the North. It is not
the first time Netanyahu has alluded to Israeli operations in Syria, however. In
December 2015, he stated: “Israel is operating to prevent Syria’s transformation
into a front fighting against us.”Yet, it was Monday’s clear admission regarding
Israel Air Force operations against Hezbollah targets that has undermined the
military’s effort to keep such actions out of the media. It is difficult to know
whether the prime minister decided to expose the secret information after a
comprehensive debate with authorized security officials – mainly Eisenkot,
Ya’alon and IDF intelligence officials – nor why he chose now to reveal such
details.
Whatever the answer, one thing is clear: The situation in Syria has not changed
considerably over the past several months apart from the existence of a fragile
cease-fire between the Assad regime and the rebel factions, which does not apply
to Islamic State or the Nusra Front. Thus, Netanyahu’s declarations on Monday
have left observers scratching their heads, wondering why he exposed such
sensitive information. There was a healthy logic in the Israeli “ambiguity”
policy regarding the attacks in Syria that aimed to achieve military goals by
destroying supplies of advance weapons while not claiming responsibility so as
to not humiliate Syria or Hezbollah and, thus, reduce their temptation to
respond. In any case, it is clear that the situation on Israel’s border on the
Golan Heights has not changed and, therefore, the prime minister’s statement is
surprising.
Clearly, the Assad regime and Hezbollah will not like Netanyahu’s remarks. His
comments portray them as weak for not responding to the Israeli air strikes.
Obviously, Bashar Assad and Hezbollah have no desire or intention, even if they
have the capability, to attack Israel on the grounds of violating Syria’s
sovereignty, or what is left of it. However, given the fragile balance of
threats and intimidation between Israel on the one hand, and the Shi’ite
Lebanese terrorist group along with the Damascus regime on the other, the
premier took a big risk with his remarks. This is not the first time that
Netanyahu has decided to reveal state secrets suddenly and for no apparent
reason, except to clip proverbial political coupons. He has divulged classified
information more than once over the past two decades. Once, when serving as the
leader of the opposition, Netanyahu disclosed a leaked Knesset document
attributed to IDF Brig-Gen.
Zvi Shtauber regarding alleged plans for a meeting in Washington between then-IDF
chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and his Syrian counterpart.
Netanyahu: We've carried out
dozens of strikes against Hezbollah in Syria
Ron Ben-Yishai/Ynetnews/Published:
04.12.16/ Israel Opinion
Op-ed: While observing a paratrooper drill in the Golan Heights, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu admits to striking Hezbollah weapons shipments in Syria: is
this simply a war of words, or the start of somthing larger? Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu oversaw a paratrooper reserve drill on the Golan Heights
recently where he heard a situational report prepared for him by various
generals, and spoke to the reservists during their training. Netanyahu was
quoted during a press conference during the drill saying "We have ISIS on the
other side of the fence here, Hezbollah on the other side of the fence, and
Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the south." He continued, saying "we're proud that
here, in the stormy Middle East, we managed to preserve our relative peace and
quiet here in Israel. We operate when and were we need to operate, including
there, over the border, where we have carried out dozens of strikes in order to
keep Hezbollah from obtaining weapons which can change the status quo."These
weren't Netanyahu's first statements alluding to alleged Israeli strikes on
Hezbollah weapons convoys in Syria. Even Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon alluded
to this several times. But this time, Netanyahu's statement was different,
especially in the explicit and almost blunt way he spoke about the issue. The
question is - why did Netanyahu do it, especially as his statements are usually
very calculated? And specifically, why did he say it on the Golan Heights and
while he was watching a military drill? This makes it seem like more of a
threat.
There are three reasons why the Prime Minister could have said these things. One
of the possibilities is that the Prime Minister knows about a concrete threat or
possibility that the Iranians or the Syrians are sending advanced weapons to
Hezbollah in Lebanon which might endanger the IDF's operational abilities, or
which might pose a deadly threat against the Israeli home front, navy, or gas
wells.
The Syrians might be trying to deliver shoulder fired or camouflaged
surface-to-air missiles which endanger the air force's freedom of operation,
Yakhont anti-ship missiles which can hit a naval target 300 kilometers away, or
precision Iranian made surface-to-surface missiles. Hezbollah has already tried
to bring these weapons into Lebanon, and Israel – according to reports – have
largely managed to thwart these transfers. Assad currently has a dearth of
modern, Russian weapons at his disposal, and the risk that these weapons might
fall into the hands of Hezbollah is only increasing. Therefore, it can be
inferred that the Prime Minister decided that the words of this blunt threat are
cheaper than jet fuel or precision missiles, and that he's hoping that his words
will reach Hezbollah and its patrons. While it's true that Israel cooperates
with the Russians on a lot of issues, the Russians will not get involved in
stopping weapons transfers to Hezbollah. Therefore, it's better to send a direct
message as opposed to a strike in Syria or Lebanon which might cause another
regional flareup. Israel doesn't want to be involved in a war with Lebanon, and
prefers to provide deterrence through messages rather than through weapons.
This is one possibility. Another is that by sending this message from the Golan
itself, in the midst of a military drill, the message will be heard not only in
Syria, but in Russia as well.
Netanyahu will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia next
week, and he has already warned Putin that Israel has a list of red lines, and
that if these red lines are crossed, Israel will not be afraid to react using
armed force - even if Russians are present in the area. The Israeli defense
minister has also made statements to this regard. This upcoming meeting between
Netanyahu and Putin seems as if it will be about how to mitigate attacking the
interests of both parties in Syria. It seems that they will also speak about the
Russian transfer of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran, parts of which
have already been delivered. It's possible to infer that Netanyahu will request
the Russians to not deliver the most advanced form of the S-300 to Iran, which
can close down the airspace in a 100 kilometer circumference, and can shoot
missiles which can reach different altitudes. Netanyahu will also most likely
request from the Russians not to provide the Syrian military with SA-22 and
SA-17 SAM missiles, which the Syrian regime already attempted to send to
Hezbollah in the past. The third possibility is that Netanyahu didn't intend to
send an "operational" message to Hezbollah, but did it to enhance his image as
"Mr. Security." This image has been eroded somewhat in the past several months
in light of the "knife intifada" and after his failure to block the Iranian
nuclear deal. However, Netanyahu already took credit for the decline in the
stabbings during a government meeting this week. It seems that Netanyahu, who
loves visiting infantry units and who feels at home amongst the soldiers, has
come to the conclusion that Hezbollah, Syria, and the Russians have gotten used
to the fact that Israel strikes at shipments of advanced game changing weapons
to Lebanon, and therefore allowed himself to brag about it based on the
assumption that the other side won't make a fuss.Or, perhaps all of the above
possibilities are correct.
Egypt Informed Israel in Advance of
Plan to Hand Over Red Sea Islands to Saudis
Haaretz/Barak Ravid, Jack Khoury, Gili Cohen and The Associated Press12 April/16
Jerusalem said it wouldn't object as long as Egypt's international commitments
are honored. Egypt, Saudis promised they will honor treaty. Egypt informed
Israel in advance of its intention to transfer the sovereignty over two islands
in the Gulf of Aqaba to Saudi Arabia, Haaretz has learned.
During the talks with Egypt, Israel made clear that it doesn't oppose the move
as long as Israeli ships are guaranteed freedom of navigation in the area, and
as long the rest of the commitments Egypt made as part of the peace agreement
with Israel are honored. Egypt confirmed to Israel and the U.S. that the treaty
will indeed be honored, and the Saudi government later made a public
announcement to that effect. The two islands, Tiran and Sanafir, control
entry to the Gulf of Aqaba and the ports of Eilat and Aqaba in Israel and
Jordan, respectively. Tiran is the closest of the two to Egypt's coast, lying
about six kilometers (four miles) from the Red Sea Resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Israel's 1979 treaty with Egypt guarantees Israel full maritime passage rights
in the Red Sea and through the Straits of Tiran, a deal enforced by the presence
of a multinational force deployed in the Sinai Peninsula.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue during a security cabinet
meeting two weeks ago, and briefed the ministers on the planned move. The U.S.
and the multinational peacekeeping force, whose troops are stationed on the
islands in question, were also kept in the loop and did not oppose to the
transfer. The initial assessment by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and defense
establishment is that the transfer of the islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia
won't adversely affect the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Nevertheless,
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon are awaiting a more comprehensive
assessment that is currently being devised by lawyers from several government
ministries. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Egyptian editors in
comments published Monday that Cairo won't cooperate with Israel following the
transfer, and that there will be no coordination between the sides. However, he
made clear that Saudi Arabia "will honor all of Egypt's legal and international
commitments in regard to the two islands." Saudi Arabia has also promised not to
use the islands for military purposes, the Egyptian daily Al Ahram reported.
The New York Times said that Israel once expressed its concern to Egypt about
permitting a Saudi takeover of the islands and threatened it would view such a
step as a violation of the peace treaty. Soldiers, most of them Americans, have
been deployed on the islands since the treaty was signed, the newspaper said.
But Israel has since eased its adherence to the treaty's limits on forces
permitted in the Sinai. In 2013, for instance, Egypt sent in more troops, with
Israel's agreement, to cope with unrest after Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim
Brotherhood, was toppled as Egypt's president. The treaty provides for
renegotiation and international arbitration if necessary in the event that
Israel were to object to Egypt's handover of the islands to the Saudis. Saudi
Arabia had control of both islands until 1950 when Riyadh handed them over to
Cairo, fearing Israel would seize them. Israel did capture the islands during
the 1956 Sinai Campaign but returned them to Egypt four months later.
Egypt denied Israel passage through the straits in 1967 in a dispute that led to
the Six-Day War when Israel again captured the islands in defiance of U.S.
pressure. It returned them to Egypt in 1982 as part of its withdrawal from the
Sinai Peninsula under the peace treaty.
The late Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan famously visited these islands
while honeymooning in Sharm el-Sheikh, at the southern tip of Sinai. For now, it
seems, Egyptian activists seem more opposed to the islands being handed over and
have taken to social media to voice their objections which they see as
tantamount to a sell-off in return for aid. The deal for the islands was one of
more than a dozen accords and memoranda that involved billions of dollars in
Saudi aid and investment to Egypt. Protests against handing over the islands
clouded the culmination of King Salman of Saudi Arabia's five-day visit to Cairo
on Monday. But Egypt's oldest secular university granted Salman an honorary
doctorate for his "unique services" to Arabs and Muslims. Egypt's government has
gone to great lengths to counter allegations against giving the Saudis back
control of the islands. Officials have cited diplomatic correspondence dating
back decades that shows Cairo acknowledging Saudi ownership of the islands.
"Egypt has not surrendered a single square inch of its territory under any
condition," Al-Ahram said in its Monday editorial. "But it will be unreasonable
to deny our brothers their right to holding on to their own territory when all
documents prove their ownership." Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said
Cairo had never claimed sovereignty over the two islands. "Egyptian presence on
the two islands does not mean we have sovereignty over them," he told a TV
interviewer late Sunday. The decision to hand them back to the Saudis, he said,
was taken by a panel of Egyptian experts, including officials from the foreign
and defense ministries as well the country's top intelligence agency.
Will
Egypt-Saudi island agreement affect Israel?
Smadar Perry and Itamar Eichner/Ynetnews/Published: 04.12.16/Israel News
Analysis: The Egyptian agreement to hand sovereignty of strategic islands in
Straits of Tiran to Saudi arouses Israeli concerns; Saudi Arabia signaled that
Israeli freedom of navigation will not be impeded, and they will respect
Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Egypt told Israel in advance about the agreement to
transfer sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir high ranking Israeli
officials claim, adding that Netanyahu told the cabinet about the agreement two
weeks before it happened. The two islands - which are inhabited only by a
Multinational Force Observers (MFO) detachment and an Egyptian military outpost
- are located at the mouth of the Gulf of Eilat in the Straits of Tiran. Whoever
controls these islands is able to control the movement of ships through the
straits. Saudi Arabia controlled the islands until 1950, when they were given
over to Egyptian custodianship. Since then, they have been occupied by Israel
two different times - once during the 1956 Suez Crisis, and again following the
1967 Six Day War. Every time they were returned, they were returned under the
framework of evacuating the Sinai. The Israel-Egypt peace agreement guarantees
that Israeli vessels have freedom of navigation through the Straits of Tiran.
However, with these islands passing into Saudi sovereignty, there is fear that
this freedom of navigation may be in jeopardy.
It's for precisely this reason that the Saudis told the Egyptians and the
Americans that they "recognize and respect" the peace agreement which was signed
in 1979, and that they will continue to uphold the arrangements stipulated in
the military addendum to the peace treaty, specifically as it relates to Israeli
freedom of movement in the straits. As long as this freedom of navigation is
guaranteed, Israel will not express any objection to the handover. It's possible
to draw these conclusions by analyzing statements from Saudi Foreign Minister
'Adel Jubair during a press conference held on Sunday, who subtly allayed
Israeli concerns by emphasizing that Saudi actions in the straits do not
constitute a security or military threat to Israel. However, he clarified that
"Saudi Arabia will not engage in any kind of negotiations with Israel, nor will
Saudi Arabia sign any agreements with Israel until the Palestinian issue is
solved." Legal experts in the Foreign Ministry are currently looking into the
legal ramifications of the transfer of these islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.
Specifically, they're looking into whether or not this presents a need to change
the military addendum to the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Preliminary findings by
high ranking Israeli officials suggest that there will be no need to change the
addendum, in light of the fact that the Saudis publicly stated that they will
abide by the treaty. The Americans are encouraging Israel to accept the
Egypt-Saudi agreement - a sign that the US views the agreement as something
which will strengthen the moderate Sunni states in the region. Saudi officials
also described this agreement with Egypt as "dramatic" in creating a Sunni front
against Iran. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is allegedly secretly working on a
reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas and even invited Hamas Politi-bureau
Chief Khaled Mashaal to Riyadh.
Are elections
possible in Syria?
Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/April 12/16
Let us put aside the political rhetoric on Syria and think objectively about the
efficacy and legitimacy of Russia’s insistence on free and fair elections as the
only way to decide the conflict’s most intractable issue, President Bashar
al-Assad’s fate. At least with regard to administrative considerations, fair
elections cannot be held in Syria - the country, which is a police state, has no
experience of that, even before the totalitarian regimes of the Assad family.
Russia’s stubborn stance has complicated the crisis because it has never
indicated how elections can be conducted in Syria. Surreally, Assad told a
Russian news agency that early elections were possible “if the Syrian people
wanted it.” What is the Syria he means, who are the Syrians he refers to, and
how can they express this wish? Does he include the parts of the country that
are not under his control?
U-turn
Assad’s statement to the Russian news agency signified a considerable retreat
from his position following his “landslide” win in the 2014 election, that no
further vote was possible until the end of his seven-year term in 2021.
Moscow and Damascus should explain how Syrians living under ISIS or the 12
million displaced inside and outside the country, would be able to cast their
ballots. The softening of his stance is in line with Moscow’s political
maneuvering on Syria, which depends on the compromises it sometimes needs to
make to Washington, especially since their partnership against terrorism.
Conducting elections in Syria, as in any post-war country, would require
administrative measures to ensure transparency, including the deployment of
international observers, monitors and journalists. In war-torn Syria, however,
even the entry of humanitarian aid trucks has been frequently hindered by
warring parties. Moscow and Damascus should explain how Syrians living under the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or the 12 million displaced inside and
outside the country, would be able to cast their ballots.
While Trump boggles the mind,
Hillary will be no picnic for the Middle East either
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya/April 12/16
The world’s fascination with the car crash that is Donald Trump is certainly
understandable. However, lost in the global horror at the prospects of the White
House being managed by someone with only the foggiest understanding of
international relations, is the almost wholly unexamined case of what Hillary
Clinton is likely to do as president. But surely we already know that. Clinton
has been on the global scene for decades, and – like her or loath her – must be
seen as a known quantity, certainly in comparison to the populist Trump. The
truth, as we saw in my column about the Republican, is more nuanced and elusive
than the standard, cartoonish version of events would have you believe. For
while Hillary Clinton’s garden variety Wilsonian foreign policy tendencies are
well known (in contrast to the more cautious realism practised by Barack Obama)
and jibe with the mainstream of her party, during the Obama years they have
amounted to a minority view in policy terms, as the White House has broadly
followed the more realist line of the President. As such – and if as is likely
she becomes president – Clinton’s victory will signal more change in foreign
policy than has been accounted for.
A Wilsonian in the Middle East
The primary season has made the broad parameters of a Clinton foreign policy
regarding the Middle East clear. Gone will be the structural view that the US is
in relative decline. Back will come into fashion America as the indispensable
power, the only legitimate superpower on the world stage that can tilt the
global balance on any number of issues. From this fundamental structural
difference with Obama’s realism, activism is the logical policy result.
Wilsonians can be characterized as more ready to use force than realists, being
inclined to do so when an international coalition can be assembled, often for
humanitarian purposes, and when the international community generally backs the
use of such military power. Look for Clinton, as she did while Secretary of
State, to press for a greater American role in the world, including in the
Middle East. Rather than stepping back, and hoping to morph into some sort of
off-shore balancer as the present White House has angled to do, instead a
Clinton administration will be much more involved in the nitty-gritty day-to-day
affairs of the region. Since leaving office, Clinton has rarely criticized her
former boss, but did take him to task for failing to support the Syrian rebels
early enough, thereby creating a strategic vacuum which has since been filled by
ISIS and the al-Nusra Front
Secretary Clinton has pushed for a large, if residual, American force to stay in
Afghanistan (she advocated the same policy earlier in Iraq), an outcome the
Obama administration only reluctantly agreed to in October 2015, following
Taliban gains in Kunduz. She has consistently advocated policies that would
position more American forces in the region, a direct contradiction of the Obama
goal of trying to limit America’s strategic footprint in the Middle East.
Likewise, Clinton has not been shy in advocating the use of such force. She led
the charge within the administration for western efforts to topple the Qaddafi
regime in Libya, even as the President rightly worried about what might come
next. Secretary Clinton was also an early and passionate advocate of arming the
Syrian rebels. Since leaving office, Clinton has rarely criticized her former
boss, but did take him to task for failing to support the Syrian rebels early
enough, thereby creating a strategic vacuum which has since been filled by ISIS
and the al-Nusra Front.Specifically, Clinton has called for the US to establish
no-fly zones on the Turkish-Syrian border, and for a more serious American
effort to train and arm the Syrian rebels, even at this late date. Whereas Obama
has done all he can to avoid the quagmire of the Syrian Civil War, Clinton seems
intent on jumping into the swamp.
Be careful what you wish for
And this takes us to the heart of the matter. From a Middle Eastern perspective
all this newly rediscovered American activism may be less gratifying than it
seems at first glance. First, greater American involvement will mean a greater
American say in foreign policy outcomes, in itself not something any number of
American allies – having grown used to a greater degree of strategic autonomy
during the Obama years – may welcome. Second, as Libya so compellingly
illustrated, greater American involvement can lead to disaster. Without working
through the desired political outcomes before a decision to intervene is made,
it is impossible to reach any sort of end state approaching “success”.
Wilsonians – like their hated but similar neoconservative cousins in the
Republican Party – tend to shoot first, and ask questions later. Her primary
authorship in the Libya debacle is not a great advertisement for a more activist
Clinton foreign policy in the region. Lastly, in terms of the structure of the
world, Secretary Clinton’s global view is several decades out of date. While the
US remains, and by a long way, the most important country in the world, it
certainly does not possess the almost unheard-of dominance it enjoyed when
Clinton’s husband so ably ran the affairs. As such, following the same policies
in a different era of lessening American power is a recipe for disaster. Elites
in the Middle East may come to regret their support for a candidate who seems to
still be living squarely in the 1990s.
Palestinians:
Erasing Christian History
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone
Institute/April 12/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7832/palestinians-christian-history
For Palestinian Christians, the destruction of the ancient Byzantine church
ruins is yet a further attempt by Palestinian Muslim leaders to efface both
Christian history and signs of any Christian presence in the West Bank and Gaza,
under the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas. A growing number of Christians
feel they are being systematically targeted by both the PA and Hamas for being
Christians.
Bulldozers were used
to destroy some of the church artifacts; some Palestinian Christians accused
both Hamas and the PA of copying ISIS tactics to demolish historic sites.
"Where are the heads of the churches in Jerusalem and the world?... Where are
the Vatican and UNESCO? Where are the leaders and politicians who talk, talk,
talk about national unity and the preservation of holy sites? Or is this a
collective conspiracy to end our existence and history in the East?" — Sami
Khalil, a Christian from the West Bank city of Nablus.
The plight of Palestinian Christians does not interest the international
community. That is because Israel cannot be blamed for demolishing the
antiquities. If the current policy against Christians persists, the day will
come when no Christians will be left in Bethlehem.
Palestinian Christians are up in arms over the destruction of the ruins of an
ancient Byzantine church that were recently discovered in Gaza City.
The protest, however, failed to win the attention of the international
community, especially United Nations agencies such as UNESCO, whose mission is
to secure the world's cultural and natural heritage.
The ruins of the 1800-year-old church were discovered in Palestine Square, in
the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, where Hamas is planning to build a
shopping mall. The dramatic discovery of the antiquities did not seem to leave
an impression on the construction workers, who removed artifacts and continued
with their work at the site.
Defying belief, bulldozers were used to destroy some of the church artifacts,
drawing sharp criticism from Palestinian Christians, some of whom rushed to
accuse both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) of copying ISIS tactics to
demolish historic sites.
For Palestinian Christians, the destruction of the church ruins is yet a further
attempt by Palestinian Muslim leaders to efface both Christian history and signs
of any Christian presence in the Palestinian territories.
Hamas has destroyed the ruins of an 1800-year-old Byzantine church that was
recently unearthed in Gaza City. The charges reflect the bitterness felt by
Palestinian Christians against their leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The charges also reveal the growing sense of marginalization and persecution
that many Christians feel under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Palestinian
Christians also express disappointment with the lack of interest that the
international community, including the Vatican and Christian communities around
the world, have shown in this case, which they regard as an assault on their
heritage and holy sites. Hamas claims that it does not have the resources to
preserve the ancient site of the church. Preserving the Christian site, they
say, would require millions of dollars and hundreds of workers at a time when
the Islamist movement is facing a financial crisis due to the ongoing "blockade"
on the Gaza Strip.The Palestinian Authority, for its part, maintains that, as it
is not in control of the Gaza Strip, the destruction of antiquities is out of
its hands. Still, the PA leadership in the West Bank has not come out publicly
against the demolition. This is the same PA that promotes a stabbing and
car-ramming "intifada" for the Jews' "desecrating" the Al-Aqsa Mosque in
Jerusalem by touring the Temple Mount under police protection.
As far as the Palestinian Authority is concerned, visits by Jews to the Temple
Mount are far more dangerous than the wrecking of important Christian sites in
the Gaza Strip. Instead of denouncing Hamas's actions itself, the PA's official
news agency, Wafa, ran a report quoting Palestinian archeologists and historians
voicing their outrage over the destruction of the Christian site. One of the
leaders of the Christian community in the West Bank, Father Ibrahim Nairouz,
wrote an angry letter to PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah complaining about the
wanton mishandling of the church ruins in the Gaza Strip.
Father Nairouz wrote in his letter: "Would you have handled this issue the same
way had the ruins belonged to a mosque or a synagogue?"He also announced his
decision to boycott a tour of the Palestinian prime minister to Bethlehem and
Hebron, in protest against the destruction of the church ruins in the Gaza
Strip. Father Nairouz's protest was joined by many angry Palestinian Christians
-- and some Muslims -- who voiced their revulsion at the wreckage.
Sami Khalil, a Christian from the West Bank city of Nablus, wrote: "I think that
silence is up to the stage of conniving. But the question is where are the
artists to preserve our Christian Heritage? Where are the heads of the churches
in Jerusalem and the world? Where are the bishops? Where are the Vatican and
UNESCO? Where are the leaders and politicians who talk, talk, talk about
national unity and the preservation of holy sites? Or is this a collective
conspiracy to end our existence and history in the East?"Another Christian,
Anton Kamil Nasser, commented: "Whether it was a church or something else, this
is a form of intellectual terrorism and retardation."Abdullah Kamal, a staff
member at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, said: "Regrettably, the silence over
this destruction of this Heritage and historic site in our country is tantamount
to a crime."A Christian woman from East Jerusalem remarked: "Shame on us. If
this happened under the Jews, they would have turned the site into a museum."
Yes, all is not well under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for the Christian
minority.It is no secret that a growing number of Christians in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip feel that they are being systematically targeted by both the PA
and Hamas for being Christians. The ravaging of the ancient Byzantine church in
Gaza is just one example of the disrespect with which the Palestinian Authority
and Hamas deal with their Christian residents. In yet another incident that has
enraged Christians, the PA police last week arrested a prominent Christian
businessman in Bethlehem, 60-year-old Raja Elias Freij.
The Palestinian Authority claims that Freij was arrested for threatening a
merchant from Bethlehem -- a charge he, his family and many other Christians
strongly deny. Last weekend, several Christians staged a protest in Bethlehem's
Manger Square to demand the release of Freij, and accused the PA of religious
discrimination against him. The plight of Palestinian Christians does not
interest the international community. That is because Israel cannot be blamed
for demolishing the antiquities. If the current policy against Christians
persists, the day will come when no Christians will be left in Bethlehem, and
pilgrims visiting the city will have to bring their own priest with them to lead
the prayers.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved.
Why the Middle East needs
Saudi-Iranian rapprochement
Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/April 12/16
A prominent Iranian clergyman living in the West recently told me US Secretary
of State John Kerry told him he was willing to visit Tehran. I replied that I
would be happier to hear that the Saudi foreign minister wanted to visit Tehran
- that would be more helpful given the regional situation. While a visit by
Kerry is possible, it certainly would not happen in the near future. Currently,
implementation of the nuclear deal is the biggest challenge for the government
of President Hassan Rowhani, and most Iranians blame Washington for the
difficulties.Hope for rapprochement following the deal has been dashed by the
supreme leader and his supporters, who believe the United Sates poses the
biggest threat to them.
Hurdles
With this mentality, and confrontational behavior toward Iran’s neighbors,
achieving meaningful diplomatic progress over Yemen and Syria looks difficult.
Last week, Kerry called on Tehran to help bring peace to both countries, but
what help can Rowhani give when he is under pressure from hardliners? His
priorities are implementing the nuclear deal and improving the economy. While
everyone wants an end to the bloodshed in Syria and Yemen, there are no direct
contacts between Iran and Saudi Arabia - both major regional players - to
discuss these issues. Washington and its Western allies can help Iran play a
productive regional and international role by boosting its economy. However,
they cannot influence its relations with countries in the region amid mutual
animosity and accusations of meddling in each other’s internal affairs.
Restrictions on buying Iranian oil have been lifted, but there is little room in
the market if Saudi Arabia will not decrease production. Iran’s oil minister has
vowed to increase production, but this will drive prices down, to the detriment
of both countries. While everyone wants an end to the bloodshed in Syria and
Yemen, there are no direct contacts between Iran and Saudi Arabia - both major
regional players - to discuss these issues, since Riyadh severed ties in January
following attacks against its diplomatic missions in Iran. Regional peace is
unlikely without both countries resolving their differences. They have never had
excellent relations, not even during the shah’s reign, but at least there was
mutual understanding and respect at the time.