LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

August 14/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.august14.16.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006

Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006

Bible Quotations For Today

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10/38-42/:"Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’".

We speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts
First Letter to the Thessalonians 02/01-13/:"You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. You remember our labour and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was towards you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you should lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.".

Question: "What happens after death?"
GotQuestions.org
Answer: Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some hold that after death, everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell. Others believe that at the moment of death, people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still others claim that when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell, to await the final resurrection, the final judgment, and then the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say happens after death?
First, for the believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that after death believers’ souls/spirits are taken to heaven, because their sins are forgiven by having received Christ as Savior (John 3:16, 18, 36). For believers, death is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). However, passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 describe believers being resurrected and given glorified bodies. If believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, what is the purpose of this resurrection? It seems that while the souls/spirits of believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, the physical body remains in the grave “sleeping.” At the resurrection of believers, the physical body is resurrected, glorified, and then reunited with the soul/spirit. This reunited and glorified body-soul-spirit will be the possession of believers for eternity in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22).
Second, for those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. However, similar to the destiny of believers, unbelievers also seem to be sent immediately to a temporary holding place, to await their final resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny. Luke 16:22-23 describes a rich man being tormented immediately after death. Revelation 20:11-15 describes all the unbelieving dead being resurrected, judged at the great white throne, and then being cast into the lake of fire. Unbelievers, then, are not sent to hell (the lake of fire) immediately after death, but rather are in a temporary realm of judgment and condemnation. However, even though unbelievers are not instantly sent to the lake of fire, their immediate fate after death is not a pleasant one. The rich man cried out, “I am in agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24).
Therefore, after death, a person resides in a “temporary” heaven or hell. After this temporary realm, at the final resurrection, a person’s eternal destiny will not change. The precise “location” of that eternal destiny is what changes. Believers will ultimately be granted entrance into the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). Unbelievers will ultimately be sent to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all people—based entirely on whether or not they had trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).
**Recommended Resource: Answers to Your Questions About Heaven by David Jeremiah
 

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 13-14/16

Sayyed Nasrallah: 2006 War Hit Zionist Entity’s Spirit, Arrogance, Existence /Marwa Haidar/Hezbollah's web site-AlManar/August 13/16
Nasrallah Reiterates Commitment to Aoun's Nomination, Says 'Open to Discussing Premiership/Naharnet/August 13/16
Nasrallah: 'the Israeli home front will be hit'/Roi Kais/Ynetnews/August 13/16
Hassan Nasrallah: 'There is no location in Israel outside of our cross-hairs/Jerusalem Post/August 13/16

Municipal elections offer political first step for Lebanese women/Florence Massena/Al-Monitor/August 13/16

What to Tell Would-be Jihadis/Mark Durie/Cross-posted from Markdurie.com/August/13/16
New audio file sheds light on 1980s executions in Iran/Arash Karami/Al-Monitor/August 13/16
How do Egypt's official religious authorities view Shiites/Ahmed Hidji/Al-Monitor/August 13/16
Sweden: Summer Inferno of Sexual Assaults/Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/August 13/16
Era of impunity in Syria must end/Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
Does the Western business drive trigger more terrorism/Mohammed Nosseir/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
Accusing Zewail of apostasy means accusing us all/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
The brittle world the Arabs built, then destroyed/Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
Judge Olympians on their achievements, not their hijabs/Peter Harrison/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
The US Retreats, Russia Advances in Crises Square – Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey/Middle East Briefing/August 13/16
US-Saudi Relations: Where to/Middle East Briefing/August 13/16
Obama Re-enters the Libya War/Middle East Briefing/August 13/16
The Future of the GCC: Some Preliminary Thoughts/Middle East Briefing/August 13/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on August 13-14/16

Sayyed Nasrallah: 2006 War Hit Zionist Entity’s Spirit, Arrogance, Existence
Nasrallah Reiterates Commitment to Aoun's Nomination, Says 'Open to Discussing Premiership
Nasrallah: 'the Israeli home front will be hit
Hassan Nasrallah: 'There is no location in Israel outside of our cross-hairs
Report: Berri Rejects Vacuum in Military Institution
Report: Oil and Gas Exploration Back on Front Burner
Lebanese Army Statement: Officer Wounded in Bekaa Family Clash
Drug Dealer Arrested in Dahiyeh after Exchange of Fire
Civil Defense Volunteers Escalate Measures Mid August
Bony M revives 1970's disco in Kobayat
Army runs patrols in Hourtaala, carries out raids
EDL daily workers in Bekaa to end sit in tomorrow
Adjutant Ali Ayoub wins world championship in kung Fu
Unidentified persons throw medications at Ible Al Saqi vicinity
Civil Defense: We're not challenging anyone but we demand our rights
FPM, LF are in same vein to break into new electoral law
Municipal elections offer political first step for Lebanese women

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on August 13-14/16

Thai Authorities Hunt Tourist Town Bombers
Victories against IS Leave Iraq's Sunni Heartland Shattered
ISIS frees hundreds of abducted civilians in north Syria
ISIS ‘on the ropes’ in northern Syria: Pentagon
Turkey: UN rights boss’ comments ‘unacceptable’
Saudi army foils massive Houthis infiltration
Yemen parliament meets under arms threat
California man jailed for murder of Saudi student
Iran: Execution of a young prisoner in public
Al-Arabiya: Iranian activist speaks out against regime’s mock courts, executions
Washington Post: An audio file reveals new aspects of political massacre in Iran in 1988
Iranian political prisoner Arzhang Davoodi on Day 28 of hunger strike
Day 3 of hunger strike in Sweden to draw attention to massacre of political prisoners in Iran

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on August 13-14/16
Is there room in the Catholic Church for those who don’t believe Islam is a religion of peace?
Green Party VP candidate wrote essay for book claiming Charlie Hebdo jihad massacre perpetrated by CIA and Mossad
David Duke endorsing Trump got six times more coverage than jihad murderer’s pro-Taliban father endorsing Hillary
Mississippi: Convert to Islam gets 12 years for plot to join the Islamic State
11 bombings in one day: “When Thai police say they have ruled out terrorism, they have done nothing of the sort”
Virginia: Muslima claims she was fired for wearing hijab, Hamas-linked CAIR jumps on the case

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on August 13-14/16

Sayyed Nasrallah: 2006 War Hit Zionist Entity’s Spirit, Arrogance, Existence
Marwa Haidar/Hezbollah's web site-AlManar/August 13/16
As he stressed that the defeat era has gone, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said that the Zionist entity was hit during 2006 war in its spirit, arrogance and existence.
Sayyed NasrallahAddressing crowds who were marking the tenth anniversary of July victory in the southern town of Bint Jbeil, Sayyed Nasrallah recalled his famous saying that “Israel is weaker than spider web.”
The resistance leader said that the resistance had foiled the goals of the Israeli aggression in 2006 war, detailing the strategic military achievements secured following July war.
Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the resistance rockets can reach everywhere in the occupied territories.
On the other hand, Hezbollah Chief stressed that the US has created the Takfiri ISIL group in a bid to crush the resistance, after they had failed to do so in 2006.
Sayyed Nasrallah also vowed that Hezbollah will go on with its battles especially in the Syria’s city of Aleppo.
2006 War Historical Event to Zionists
After he thanked all those who stood by resistance in July, 2006 war, Sayyed Nasrallah said that this event is considered as historical one by Zionists, noting that many of the Israeli officials have been interested in talking about the decisive repercussions of this war.
“When we talk about victory in July war we shall talk about main title, which is foiling the Israeli goals of the aggression.”
The US-Israeli aggression was aimed at crushing the resistance after disarming it, excluding Hezbollah from the local and political life in Lebanon, turning the area south of Litani river into a buffer zone, and deploying multinational force in the country’s south and along the border with Syria, Sayyed Nasrallah summed up the goals of the Israeli aggression in 2006 as saying.
Meanwhile, the main goal was to establish the so-called “new Middle East” in the region, Sayyed Nasrallah elaborated.
Decisive Repercussions
On the other hand, Hezbollah Chief said: “there is another phase of July war that we shall talk about, which is the repercussions.”
Of these repercussions are the losses which were inflicted upon the Israeli military institution. These losses led to distrust between the army, political command and the Israeli people, something which has decisive effects on the Zionist entity, Sayyed Nasrallah said.
The resistance leader said that following July war the Israeli military doctrine set by (founder of the Zionist entity David) Ben Gurion has fallen.
“This doctrine which is based on swift victories, fighting in the enemy’s land, calm home front, this doctrine has fallen and both July and Gaza wars proved this.” Sayyed Nasrallah said.
His eminence also stressed that questions on the Zionist entity’s existence has been raised following July war, citing quotes by Israeli officials who were alarmed by the resistance capabilities which pose threat to Tel Aviv.
“(Benjamin) Netanyahu said that following July war things changed and it’s clear now that Israel is no longer an invincible state,” Sayyed Nasrallah stated, adding that the Israeli PM said that the Zionist entity’s allies and enemies are raising questions on its existence.
“Of the repercussions also is that the deterrence of the resistance was bolstered, in which there has been a mutual deterrence between the Zionist entity and the resistance, and this is reality that many Israeli officials talk about. Netanyahu’s remarks few days ago about the relative calm on Israel’s borders prove this reality,” Sayyed Nasrallah said.
“The common factor in all these repercussions is that July war hit Israel’s spirit, arrogance, will, trust and existence.
“Israel Weaker Than Spider Web”
Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Israeli enemy has been for decades waging a psychological war in which it convinced the Arabs that ‘Israel’ is invincible; stressing that following July war this theory was over.
“In 2000, I said that ‘Israel’ is weaker than a spider web. This statement was kept in the Israelis’ memories, and July war came to confirm this reality.”
Sayyed Nasrallah stated that Bint Jbeil battle during July war was part of the resistance’s counter psychological war.
“The army of spider web was not able to get into the stadium of Beint Jbeil and confront my saying,” Sayyed Nasrallah addressed cheering crowds in the southern town which witnessed heroic battles between the resistance fighters and the Israeli soldier.
The resistance leader meanwhile, stressed that the victory in 2006 has established deterrence equation between the resistance and the Zionist entity, stressing that this equation was set by the resistance and only the resistance.
On the other hand, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Israeli enemy “nowadays fears the resistance’s occupation of Galilee.”
US Created ISIL
Hezbollah Chief urged the Lebanese and people in the region to watch the remarks of US officials nowadays, noting that these officials are blaming each others for creating the Takfiri group ISIL.
“Who can imagine that the US can’t know who is behind sending money and arms to the terrorists in Syria and Iraq?” Sayyed Nasrallah wondered, stressing that Washington created ISIL in a bid to crush the resistance.
“The US created ISIL after it failed to destroy the resistance in July war. Washington did so in a bid to hit the axis of resistance and especially Hezbollah.”
“After the “new Middle East” scheme failed and after the US could not change the equation in Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington relied on its plan of proxy war,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, stressing that by this plan the US wanted to get rid of both the Takfiri groups and the resistance.
Hezbollah S.G. meanwhile, called on the Takfiris to stop their fight which is in favor of the US and the Zionist entity.
Future of Region Is RESISTANCE
Sayyed Nasrallah also stressed that the resistance will go on with its battles in the region, especially that in Aleppo, noting that “we have no other choice.”
“The future in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and the entire region is resistance. Defeat era has gone, it's the time of victories.”
On the Lebanese issue, Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated Hezbollah’s commitment to elect MP General Michel Aoun for presidency. His eminence noted that Hezbollah’s only candidate for speaker post was and will still the current Speaker, Nabih Berri.
Sayyed Nasrallah also urged the government to bear its responsibility in dealing with the Lebanese issues, stressing that Lebanon should take decision to start drilling for gas and oil.

Nasrallah Reiterates Commitment to Aoun's Nomination, Says 'Open to Discussing Premiership'
Naharnet/August 13/16/Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Narallah reiterated Saturday that his party is still committed to the presidential nomination of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun while stressing that Speaker Nabih Berri is Hizbullah's only candidate for the parliament speaker post. “We have been committed to General Aoun's presidential nomination since the period that preceded the July war, and should an agreement be reached over the president, we are open to discussing the premiership,” said Nasrallah in a televised speech marking 10 years since the end of the 2006 war with Israel. “It is clear that everyone has entered a waiting phase although the issues are still in the hands of the Lebanese, and everyone agrees that the solution begins by the election of a president,” Hizbullah's chief said. Referring to recent remarks by ex-PM Fouad Saniora, the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, Nasrallah added: “Someone committed a mistake in the past few days before apologizing, but it wasn't a mistake, and we declare from now that our only candidate for the parliament speaker post is Speaker Nabih Berri, regardless of the outcome of the next parliamentary elections.”
As for the situations in Syria, Nasrallah said Hizbullah's “only choice is to stay in the battlefields, in Aleppo and anywhere that our duty requires us to be.” “I tell all the groups that are still fighting in the region that they have been exploited for five years in order to destroy the axis of resistance and the peoples and hopes of this region so that regimes that are subservient to the U.S. and Israel can be created. If you still believe in anything that has to do with Islam you better stop this fighting, which is in the interest of Israel and the U.S.,” Nasrallah added, addressing jihadist groups such as the Islamic State and the Fateh al-Sham Front. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.
 

Nasrallah: 'the Israeli home front will be hit'
Roi Kais/Ynetnews/August 13/16/In a speech marking ten years since the end of the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claims that his group had a 'divine victory' in the war, and that the war destroyed Israeli Hezbollah chairman Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech on Saturday celebrating the "anniversary of the end of the Second Lebanon War." Speaking from his bunker, his speech was broadcasted on giant screens in the town of Bint J'beil, located only a few hundred yards away from the border with Israel. Nasrallah said that Israel is in need of a new doctrine. "The whole issue of 'after Haifa' is over. The Israelis have adopted a new doctrine which isn't based on a quick victory – meaning that they know that they are unable to achieve (quick victory), and they know that the Israeli home front will be hit during the fighting." He also responded to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's statements, whereby the prime minister said that anyone who thinks that Israel is weak like a cobweb will receive an iron fist. "We saw your 'iron fist' in Bint J'beil in 2006. I say this to Netanyahu – you are a society which is weaker than a cobweb, and are fed up with fighting and self defense."
The Hezbollah leader also said that as a result of the war in 2006, "the Israeli military establishment has been undermined, and there is a lack of trust between the different ranks – something which continues to this day. (The war) also undermined the trust which the Israeli public has in the military, and undermined the Israeli public's belief that the IDF can win wars. Eisenkot himself said that the largest threat to the IDF is the public's lack of trust in it. The trust in the political leadership was also undermined, something which has created a crisis which continues in Israel to this day."
"In light of all of these results," Nasrallah continued, "it is possible to surmise that Israel was hurt in the last war in terms of its spirit, trust, and will. It also lost confidence in its very existence." Nasrallah stressed that "after the (Second Lebanon War), the question was raised as to whether or not Israel will continue to exist. Both Israel's enemies and even Israel's 'friends' aren’t sure of the answer to the question of Israel's existence." The Hezbollah leader went on to claim that the quiet on the border isn't due to agreements between Israel and the UN or the Lebanese government, but because "Israel is deterred by this country. (Israel) knows that the resistance (Hezbollah) has grown in terms of weapons, strength, faith, and determination. Israelis today are afraid of the possibility of an invasion of the Galilee after OUR villages lived in fear." Regarding the "divine victory" over Israel, Nasrallah said that newspapers all over the world said that Hezbollah "thwarted the goals of the aggressors." He argued that Israel; and its backers failed to defeat Hezbollah during the war, failed to drive Hezbollah back from the border, failed to form an international coalition, failed to restore Israel's deterrence factor, and failed in retrieving its captured soldiers without paying a price. He added that what he claims was the main objective of the war – to re-shape the Middle East as per an Israeli-American conspiracy – also failed.
 

Hassan Nasrallah: 'There is no location in Israel outside of our cross-hairs'
Jerusalem Post/August 13/16/Thanks Syria and Iran for help in war against Israel 10 years ago “Israel knows that there is no location in the country that is not in Hezbollah’s cross-hairs,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech Saturday evening. He added that there is “no region of Israel outside the reach of Hezbollah’s missiles.”At the ceremony, marking the tenth anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, Nasrallah stated that “Israel believes everything the resistance says. Israeli authorities didn’t declare any goals in the Gaza Strip for fear they wouldn’t achieve them.”Nasrallah spoke via video to his supporters in Bint Jbail in southern Lebanon and said that victory in the war was the organization’s most important achievement. “Israel’s military theory, which rested on a quick military operation in enemy territory, failed. Results of the war damaged public trust in the Israeli army, as well as the confidence of the political leadership,” Nasrallah said. “A physical body can be repaired, but the spirit is much more difficult. Israel’s spirit and will was damaged and their trust was undermined between the public and the army and between the army and the political echelon.
“The war stirred an awakening in the Israeli army and caused a crisis of confidence which still exists. This damaged their ability to win the war. [IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi] Eisenkot said that the biggest threat to the military is the decline in public confidence. This undermined confidence in the leadership of the army which was cowardly and weak. It also undermined the confidence of the Israeli political leadership and created a leadership crisis in Israel. “The last war between the Lebanese resistance [Hezbollah] and the Israeli occupation hurt them [Israel] internally,” Nasrallah said. “It almost brought the state to near collapse.”“Israel’s aims include destroying the resistance,” Nasrallah continued, “and to remove Hezbollah from their border and to create a new Middle East, which has failed.”The Hezbollah leader also thanked Syria and Iran for their assistance in the war 10 years ago, and noted that his terrorist organization “is spearheading the fight” against Israel

Report: Berri Rejects Vacuum in Military Institution
Naharnet/August 13/16/Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Saturday that Lebanon's military institution must not fall in the vacuum as he reiterated the necessity to fortify the country's army and distance it from political conflicts, al-Joumhouria daily reported. Hailing the role of the military institution in confronting terrorism and reinforcing security and internal stability, Berri said: “I refuse vacuum in the military institution, not even for one minute. This institution is the safety valve of the country.”Berri was referring to the controversy over the term extension of Army commander General Jean Qahwaji whose tenure expires in September. The Free Patriotic Movement has reportedly warned previously that it intends to turn Prime Minister Tammam Salam's cabinet into a “caretaker cabinet” should the term of Qahwaji be extended by another year. Defense Minister Samir Moqbel had in August last year postponed the retirement of Qahwaji, Salman and Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir, extending their terms by one year, after the political forces failed to reach an agreement on security and military appointments. The army chief's term has been extended twice since 2013 despite political objections, especially from the FPM which says it rejects term extensions for any military or security official.

Report: Oil and Gas Exploration Back on Front Burner
Naharnet/August 13/16/Lebanon's stalled oil and gas exploration file will hopefully be put on the front burner after reports said that it shall be referred to the related ministerial committee in order to refer it later to the cabinet for approving the related decrees, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday. In that regard, Berri voiced hopes that the file takes a smooth path away from obstacles, he told the daily: “I assume that things are going well. I see no justification for impeding this topic. The necessary government measures must be taken quickly and we are ready to keep up with this matter.”The Speaker added that he does not see any internal obstacles hampering the exploration “things are going well so far,” he said. However he voiced concerns from foreign (U.S. and Israel) intentions, but nevertheless stressed that Lebanon “should protect its right which requires putting all oil blocks for investment particularly the ones in the south.”A meeting between the Free Patriotic Movement and AMAL Movement officials at Berri's residence lately announced that the two parties have settled their disputes over the excavation of Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas reserves. The disagreement between the two parties has hindered agreements on energy extraction for years.Moreover, Lebanon and Israel are bickering over a zone that consists of about 854 square kilometers and suspected energy reserves that could generate billions of dollars. Lebanon has been slow to exploit its maritime resources compared with other eastern Mediterranean countries. Israel, Cyprus and Turkey are all much more advanced in drilling for oil and gas. In March 2010, the US Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 34.5 trillion cubic meters of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean, which includes the territorial waters of Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Cyprus. In August 2014, the government postponed for the fifth time the first round of licensing for gas exploration over a political dispute. The disagreements were over the designation of blocks open for bidding and the terms of a draft exploration agreement. Lebanese officials have continuously warned that Israel's exploration of new offshore gas fields near Lebanese territorial waters means Israel is siphoning some of Lebanon's crude oil. Lebanon argues that a maritime map it submitted to the UN is in line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by Israel.

Lebanese Army Statement: Officer Wounded in Bekaa Family Clash
Naharnet/August 13/16/The Lebanese army said that one of its officers was wounded after troops intervened to control an armed clash in the eastern Bekaa town of Hawrtaala a day earlier, the Army Command Orientation Directorate said in a statement on Saturday. The army intervened on Friday to control an armed fight that broke out between members of the al-Masri family in Hawrtaala. The troops went under fire by the gunmen and an officer was slightly injured, added the statement. The troops staged raids in the area and arrested three suspects involved in the shooting. They also seized an unknown quantity of medium and light weapons, ammunition and military equipment, added the statement.

Drug Dealer Arrested in Dahiyeh after Exchange of Fire
Naharnet/August 13/16/Internal Security Forces arrested a man in Beirut's southern suburb, Dahiyeh, on charges of smuggling narcotics, an ISF statement said on Saturday. The ISF obtained information stating that two people were smuggling narcotics in Tahwitat al-Ghadir in Beirut's southern suburb. They kicked off investigations and intensified monitoring in the said area where the assailants were spotted on a motorcycle on August 12. An exchange of fire erupted when one of the suspects opened gunfire from his pistol at police members when the latter ordered them to stop. However, police managed to arrested one of the suspects, Lebanese M.M., while his accomplice, Q.Z., managed to flee to an unknown destination. A gun and kitchen knife found in the possession of the detainee were confiscated in addition to amounts of drugs including hashish, salivia and narcotic pills that were packed in small plastic bag. Related authorities kicked off investigations and the efforts continue to arrest the second man.

Civil Defense Volunteers Escalate Measures Mid August
Naharnet/August 13/16/Civil Defense volunteers vowed on Saturday to escalate actions if the government decrees for their full-time employment were not implemented. The volunteers gathered in martyrs square and made a televised statement vowing to head to the Lebanese-Palestinian border without disclosing what they intend to do after. They want to pressure the government to implement decrees that make them full- time employees. “Our next move will be at the Lebanese-Palestinian border. We will head there on August 15 and we will erect tents and our action will start,” said a spokesman of the volunteers. Late in 2015 the cabinet adopted decrees for the appointment of the head and members of the Civil Defense Directorate. However it failed to pass decrees related to the full-employment of volunteers although it vowed to address the issue in coming meetings.

Bony M revives 1970's disco in Kobayat
Sat 13 Aug 2016/NNA - Iconic disco band Bony M stirred up the much-missed oldies mood, and revived the infamous disco beat of the 1970's and the 1980's, during Kobayat's summer night festivities. Crowds of fans flocked to the northern town from the various Lebanese regions, and gleefully sang and danced along the band's electrifying hits.

Army runs patrols in Hourtaala, carries out raids
Fri 12 Aug 2016/NNA - The Lebanese army is currently running patrols in the town of Hourtaala, which witnessed earlier clashes with machine guns between people of Al-Masri family due to revenge disputes, NNA reporter said on Friday. The army is carrying out raids to arrest shooters.

EDL daily workers in Bekaa to end sit in tomorrow
Fri 12 Aug 2016/NNA - Daily workers and tax collectors of Eléctricité du Liban (EDL) in Bekaa announced in a statement on Friday that they would end their sit-in tomorrow (Saturday).They also vowed to continue their demands until their rights are eventually met.

Adjutant Ali Ayoub wins world championship in kung Fu
Sat 13 Aug 2016/NNA- Adjutant Ali Ayoub--a member of the martial arts team at the Interior Security Forces (ISF) -- won the world championship title of Kung Fu sports as he scored first in the said sport games for participants under 85 kg which were held in Lisbon in Portugal.
Ayoub in addition to other Lebanese players participated in the games within the Lebanese national team for the game. Adjutant Ayoub scored first and won the gold medal for the game, "Sanda Kung Fu" and won two bronze medals for the two games "Light Sanda" and "Toy Show". It is worth noting that this is the fifth time in a row (2012 - 2016) at which Ayoub wins the world championship title for the said game.

Unidentified persons throw medications at Ible Al Saqi vicinity
Sat 13 Aug 2016/NNA - Unidentified persons threw and burned amounts of medical drugs at Ible Al-Saqi vicinity near to Al-Khiyam village, NNA correspondent reported on Saturday. The field reporter added that the drugs include medications for infections, coughing in addition to children medications and others. This action raised a lot of concerns due to the gravity of this issue, especially that the drugs were thrown at the mouth of Al-Hasbani river which flows into Al-Wazzani river. Security apparatuses open investigation over the issue, the field reporter added.

Civil Defense: We're not challenging anyone but we demand our rights
Sat 13 Aug 2016/NNA - Civil Defense volunteers stage a sit-in on Saturday in Martyrs Square to underscore their righteous demand to be turned into full timers. The protestors' demand came during a press conference at the Square reiterating their right to become full timers and announcing their upcoming moves which will carry out until their demands are met. "We are not challenging anyone, we are only asking for our rights," protestors said. One of the volunteers said that PM Tammam Salam, Interior Minister, Nohad Machnouk, and other ministers, all approved the humanitarian side of their case. Starting August 15, Civil Defense volunteers will set up protest tents on the Lebanese-Palestinian border, Civil Defense spokesperson added.

FPM, LF are in same vein to break into new electoral law
Sat 13 Aug 2016/NNA - Change and Reform bloc member, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said that the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Lebanese Forces (LF) are in the same vein to break into a new electoral law that insures equity in representation, noting that other Christian forces, on top of them Bkirki, should adopt the same position. MP Kanaan's position came during an interview to "Free Lebanon" radio station, adding that communications and coordination between FPM and LF are ongoing regarding both the presidential elections and the formation of a new legislative law files.
Kanaan explained that disagreements between LF and FPM over suggested formulas are insignificant, unlike those between Sunni and Shias parties.

Municipal elections offer political first step for Lebanese women
Florence Massena/Al-Monitor/August 13/16/
According to the National Commission for Lebanese Women, some 600 women were elected during the 2016 municipal elections, an increase of 15% compared to the last elections held in 2010. More educated and more present in the work sphere, women seem to be gaining representation in the public sphere, serving their local communities. In Baakline, 15 people are elected to the city council, including the president of the municipality. Sara Bou Kamel, a telecommunications engineer running as an independent, almost won the 15th position on the city council in the Chouf area, but ended up 16th, losing by five votes.
Bou Kamel is highly involved in her community through her activities with the nongovernmental organization TERRE Liban. She worked with the previous municipal administration to implement garbage-sorting solutions in Baakline and to train people to fight deforestation and prevent fires.
“I come from a family that was already involved in politics. I was raised to care about this country,” Bou Kamel told Al-Monitor. “Even though I implemented TERRE Liban's branch in the Chouf, leaders of the community would prefer to talk to [founder and president] Paul Abi Rached than me. I wasn't taken seriously as a woman, which was a bit frustrating since it was about my own village.”
However, the garbage crisis in the summer of 2015 pushed her to more extensive involvement. She met You Stink activists and learned how to mobilize others around her. “I was lucky that Baakline has many projects in coordination with the European Union, like the one on democratic participation in the municipality,” she explained. “There is a committee for each zone of the city that meets to talk about their issues in order to present them to the municipality, and I was involved in one committee. I felt that I can lead something, and I was encouraged by many people such as the former mayor, Nouha Ghosseini, who is an important figure in the community. It helped for people to think a young lady can participate. Baakline is a kind of prototype.” Although more women have been elected in local elections, there are currently only four women in the Lebanese Parliament. Rima Majed, a lecturer at the American University of Beirut, told Al-Monitor, “It still shows a very low political representation for women, but municipalities are better than the parliament because women are not representing or related to male politicians.”She went on, “It shows a bigger role for women in communities, which can be explained in different ways. Lebanese society is in a period of transition, with a clear shift in female employment, for example, but men are still dominating the public sphere. Still, women are more independent financially because working is often a financial necessity for a household, and there is an increasing phenomenon of unmarried women, because there are more and more divorces. A lot of women in Lebanon have reached the stage where they feel they can take charge of public matters. They are well educated and they work. Society can also be considered a bit more open. It's still not [the norm] — very few women were elected in Akkar and in the south — but in Arsal, one woman won. We can't generalize, but women do participate more and more. There is still a long way to go, and that should be helped with proper measures and policies to balance gender in our society.”Majed also emphasized the importance of the community: “Municipalities are a lot about families, not necessarily politics. In small localities, active women get more visibility, especially with their personal network, whereas it's more difficult in bigger cities for women, as parties and big families have a lot of weight there.” Another problem women face in local elections is that the system is not based on proportionality. The full list either wins or loses. “It indirectly reinforces the patriarchy,” she said.
“If the list containing women fails, women can't reach the municipality,” Majed told Al-Monitor. Yet according to Decree-Law No. 118 of 1977, these elections should be of the majority plurinominal type and not a list system like the parliamentary elections. This situation led Bou Kamel to fail, even with the support of her parents, an important political family of Baakline that agreed not to have representatives from the family run against her so that their daughter could lead her own independent program. But her first steps in politics paid off, she told Al-Monitor: “People, especially the young ones, were very supportive. They contacted me and they know I am good and active on the ground, reliable. It was a great experience personally, and people started to know me although I didn’t go to school in the village.”
The path for women in Baakline was blazed a long time ago by Ghosseini, the former mayor who is currently a lecturer for three Lebanese universities. In 1992, she returned to Lebanon from studying in France. Five years later, with the support of the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, her students and the Lebanese association Baladi, Baldati, Baladiyati ("My Country, my Town, my Municipality"), she decided to be part of a list in the 1998 municipal elections.
Ghosseini told Al-Monitor it was a real challenge for a woman at that time: “The electoral list was prepared by compromise with the families and political forces of Baakline. It was not so easy for me to find a place as a woman. The support of Jumblatt was essential for me to be accepted — first as a city council member, not mayor — by the male members of my family and the religious leader of my town. The election results were inspiring: I had the best score in the poll with a surplus of 200 votes out of 2,089 compared to the second winner. These results clearly show the aspiration of the people of Baakline for change.”
However, a compromise was established and the municipal mandate from 1998 until 2004 was shared under the direction of two mayors belonging to the great families of Baakline. Ghosseini was then elected as mayor and president of the federation of municipalities of Chouf Souayjani for two consecutive terms: 2004-2010 and 2010-2016.
Herself inspired by two women elected as mayors in 1963, Soulayma Dorgham in the Bekaa and a Mrs. Eid [author’s note: Ghosseini didn't remember her first name] in her own region, Ghosseini considered Bou Kamel's loss a success: “It doesn't have to be for women a reason to renounce politics. We have to change mentalities by a constant presence in every election. Failure is not the end. We women must always work and support each other, in order to increase the number of women in politics and encourage them in the short term to invest their commitments and convictions in serving others, this being possible because municipal elections are local elections focused on family and services, whose objective is optimizing the well-being of residents. Municipal elections are considered the first level of the expression of authority and power to local democracy. Subsequently, women can access regional and even national levels.”
This wish is shared by a number of women who have organized themselves to challenge the dominance of male representation in the Lebanese public sphere. One, Women in Front, is an association created to motivate women to participate in the legislative elections that have been pushed from 2014 to 2017. From this group, lawyer Nadine Moussa became the first woman to submit her candidacy for the presidential elections that still have yet to be held.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on August 13-14/16

Thai Authorities Hunt Tourist Town Bombers
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/August 13/16/Thai authorities on Saturday hunted for culprits behind a wave of bombings targeting popular holiday destinations, as businesses braced for the economic fallout from the attacks on the crucial tourism industry. The kingdom was on edge after 11 small bombs exploded across five southern provinces Thursday night and Friday morning, killing four locals and wounding more than 30 people -- including foreign tourists. The bombs, most of them detonated in twin blasts, struck key tourism hubs during a long weekend, including the seaside resort town of Hua Hin and the island of Phuket. No one has claimed responsibility for the coordinated attack, but police have ruled out international terrorism and said the campaign was an act of "local sabotage". "We are confident this was work of a network with a mastermind," said deputy police commissioner Ponsapat Pongcharoen, adding that no arrests had been made. "It's still unclear what the motive is," he said, stressing it was not connected to a simmering insurgency in Thailand's south, as analysts have suggested. If the Muslim rebels are to blame, it would mark a major expansion of a secessionist campaign that rarely targets foreigners. It would also be a huge embarrassment to Thailand's coup-installed military government, which has made boosting national security a flagship policy of its regime. In hardest-hit Hua Hin, a popular beach resort rocked by four bombs in 24 hours, locals said they were fearful the town's mainstay industry would suffer just ahead of peak tourist season. "Hua Hin has never had a problem like this," Nai Amporn, the owner of a beachside restaurant, told Agence France Presse. "I am afraid business will become slow -- even this morning, you can see there are fewer people here for breakfast. I think they have all gone home," he added. Hua Hin, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Bangkok, is home to the favourite palace of revered but ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has spent most of the past few years hospitalised in Bangkok. -- 'Confidence will return' --Famed for its idyllic islands and Buddhist temples, Thailand is a tourism powerhouse and was hoping for a record 32 million visitors this year. The bombings will not affect the tourism industry's target revenue of 2.4 trillion baht ($69 billion) for 2016, Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said Saturday. "The confidence in tourism will return," she told reporters in Bangkok. "Thailand solves problems very quickly and always bounces back," she added. Tourism accounts for at least 10 percent of Thailand's economy, which the military government has struggled to invigorate since its 2014 power grab. "This will have a significant impact on the tourist season in the south this year and into early 2017," said Anthony Davis, a security analyst at IHS Jane's. He said southern insurgents were the only group capable of carrying out the coordinated attack, dismissing theories that the junta's other political foes were responsible. "They have the operational infrastructure and the manpower -- arguably extending the campaign in a striking manner was only a matter of time," he said. Thailand's reputation as a holiday-maker’s paradise has in recent years weathered a string of fatal bus and boat accidents, bouts of political unrest and high-profile crimes against foreigners. After the latest bombings, two Swiss travel companies, Hotelplan Suisse and Kuoni Suisse, said clients with trips to Thailand before August 15 could change or cancel their plans for free, according to Swiss public broadcaster RTS. The industry has shown previously that it can quickly rebound. An August 2015 bombing at a Bangkok shrine killed 20 people -- mostly tourists -- and triggered a drop in visitors. But the Kingdom still welcomed a record some 30 million travelers that year.

Victories against IS Leave Iraq's Sunni Heartland Shattered
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 13/16/As Iraqi political and military attention shifts north in the fight against the Islamic State group, the military victories that have put Iraqi forces on Mosul's doorstep have left behind shattered cities, towns and communities in Iraq's Sunni heartland. Anbar has witnessed the most successful military phase of the ground fight against IS to date. But rather than restore government order, services and security, liberation at the hands of Iraqi forces closely backed by the U.S.-led coalition has merely moved many Anbaris from one waiting room into another. For Ali Athab, his most painful memory of IS rule in Fallujah was watching his daughter's health deteriorate. Born with a rare neurological disorder, his daughter Zeina had been receiving treatment at a Fallujah hospital that helped control her seizures, but once IS solidified its grip on the city less than an hour's drive from Baghdad, almost all the doctors fled. "She was starting to get better, but now she's stopped speaking," he said, explaining that the few doctors who stayed behind were only allowed to treat IS fighters. First the cost of medicine skyrocketed, then specialized medicine wasn't available in Fallujah at all. Athab, 34 said he prayed for liberation, hoping once his city was retaken by Iraqi government forces his daughter would again be able to see a doctor. But more than a month after IS was pushed out of Fallujah, the city remains a ghost town and Athab and his family are stuck in a camp on the edge of Anbar province.This year, Athab's family joined the more than 1 million other Anbaris who have been forced from their homes since 2014. Zeina, age 8, sits politely in a corner of the family's tent, occasionally fidgeting and making sounds that don't form words. In the small, hurriedly constructed camp on the outskirts of Amiriyah al-Fallujah, a single mobile clinic only had antibiotics and mild painkillers on hand. In Baghdad — just over 40 kilometers (25 miles) away, Zeina could have access to the care she needs, but her family — as Anbar residents — lack the legal paperwork required to cross over into Baghdad Province. "There's an assumption that after Daesh is defeated you can put the nation back together and in essence create a new nation, but that's not what we're seeing in Anbar," said a western diplomat based in Baghdad, referring to the Islamic State group by its Arabic acronym. Instead, industry and agriculture have ground to a halt, schools are closed, electrical grids are down and many roads remain unusable. In that vacuum, tribal politics are becoming more powerful and families are adopting more conservative habits, said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authorization to release information to the media. While Iraqi government security forces administer databases of information to identify possible IS fighters among civilians, much of the screening process is handed over to local Anbari officials and communities. At one of the larger displacement camps in Amiriyah al-Fallujah, a crowd of women gathered around a humanitarian convoy calling for help, they all had sons who were detained while fleeing Fallujah. Two weeks after they were taken, the women didn't know where they were or who was holding them. Detainees say that tribes and powerful families are accusing rivals of being IS sympathizers to settle blood feuds, unpaid debts and grievances that go back generations.
"Anyone who has a problem with someone can just accuse him of being with Daesh," said Hussein, a middle-aged man just released from a detention center, speaking on condition that only his first name is used for fear of his own security. Anbar's residents describe feeling increasingly alienated from the central government, adrift in camps for the displaced or sharing close quarters with extended family. The vast majority of assistance that they are growing increasingly dependent on comes not from the central government, but from local political, tribal and religious leaders.
For Ahmed Fahel, 30, the fight against IS in Hit plunged his family into poverty. Living in a desolate camp further west in Anbar in the desert that lies between Hit and Ramadi, Fahel is now his extended family's only breadwinner. His brother was executed by IS fighters just days before the town was retaken by Iraqi forces and his body was dumped in the street. Fahel only had time to quickly bury his brother in the garden before they fled."I have nothing and I also need to provide for my sister-in-law and her children," he said, explaining he has since heard his house back in Hit was completely destroyed.
Nearly 1.3 million Anbaris are estimated to have been forced from their homes since early 2014 when IS first began to grow in power in the province, ferrying fighters and munitions through the lawless desserts along the border with neighboring Syria. A decade ago, when the predecessor to IS had torn Anbar apart, a U.S.-led effort to stabilize the province built support against al-Qaeda by pouring enormous amounts of resources into existing local tribal leadership networks. Today, Iraq's central government — due in part to budget shortfalls sparked by the plunge in the price of oil — doesn't have the resources and the U.S.-led coalition doesn't have the appetite for such an ambitious undertaking. Without similarly large amounts of money, putting Anbar back together again will be impossible, said Ahmed al-Dara, a religious sheikh from Fallujah. And beyond the issue of resources, he said, the fight against IS in his home province is fundamentally different from the fight against al-Qaeda after the overthrow of Saddam in 2003. "This idea of reconciliation is not possible with Iraqis who joined Daesh," said al-Dara, explaining that recovering from this insurgency would not only drive a greater wedge between Iraq's Sunni and Shiites, but has also begun to fracture Iraq's Sunni community. "I know the people of Fallujah and Ramadi, they will never let a single Daesh supporter return to their cities," he said. "This conflict has taken Iraq's Sunnis back 50 years."Athab, the Fallujah resident stuck in the tented camp on Anbar's edge, describes the past 13 years of cyclical violence as exhausting. "This is the third time this has happened to Fallujah," he said referencing the two U.S.-led offensives against al-Qaeda insurgents in his home town in the mid-2000s. The battle against IS this year was the first to force him to flee his home and Athab vows it will be the last. "I don't want to live in Anbar anymore," he said sucking at his front teeth. "Fallujah is finished, you can take it."
 

ISIS frees hundreds of abducted civilians in north Syria
AFP, Beirut Saturday, 13 August 2016/ISIS has freed hundreds of civilians used by the extremists as human shields while retreating in northern Syria, US-backed forces and a monitor said Saturday. A source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, which pushed ISIS out of the city of Manbij this week with the aid of US-led air strikes, told AFP that some of the civilians were able to escape while “others were freed”.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, said that several hundred of the civilians taken were no longer held by ISIS.The SDF, an Arab-Kurdish alliance, launched an assault in May on Manbij, on a key extremist supply route between the Turkish border and IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqqa. ISIS fighters seized around 2,000 civilians as they fled Manbij on Friday, using them as protection against air strikes en route to the militant-held town of Jarabulus, on the Turkish-Syrian border. “Among the civilians taken by ISIS there were people used as human shields but also many who chose voluntarily to leave the town due to fear of reprisals” by the SDF, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. The extremists, who have suffered a string of losses in Syria and Iraq, have often staged mass abductions when they come under pressure to relinquish territory they hold. ISIS has also booby-trapped cars and carried out suicide bombings to slow advances by their opponents. According to the Observatory, 437 civilians, including more than 100 children, were killed in the battle for Manbij and surrounding territory. Around 300 SDF fighters died, along with more than 1,000 extremists, it said.

ISIS ‘on the ropes’ in northern Syria: Pentagon
AFP, Washington Saturday, 13 August 2016/Coalition-supported local forces fighting ISIS in northern Syria have recaptured large areas around the city of Manbij and put the extremists “on the ropes,” a Pentagon official said Friday. Since the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an operation to capture Manbij on May 21, they have wrested control of more than 1,000 square kilometers (385 square miles) of territory from ISIS. Manbij is a key town in the anti-ISIS struggle because the extremists were using it as a waypoint between the Turkish border and Raqqa, the extremists’ de facto capital.
SDF forces, backed by US-led coalition air power, have now retaken much of Manbij, though pockets of resistance remain in the city’s north. “Although fighting in Manbij continues, ISIS is clearly on the ropes. It has lost the center of Manbij, it has lost control of Manbij,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Gordon Trowbridge said. ISIS fighters fleeing the city on Friday seized around 2,000 civilians to use as “human shields,” the SDF and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. Trowbridge said US officials were aware of the reports but unable to confirm them. ISIS “has consistently shown a willingness to put innocent lives at risk, in blatant violation not only of the laws of armed conflict but of common human decency,” he said. Since fighting for Manbij began, US-led strikes have taken out more than 50 of ISIS’s heavy weapons and destroyed more than 600 fortified fighting positions, Trowbridge said. But the job of clearing the city will be complicated after the extremists left behind hundreds of mines and booby traps, he added.

Turkey: UN rights boss’ comments ‘unacceptable’
Reuters, Istanbul Saturday, 13 August 2016/Turkey on Saturday criticized a top UN human rights official for saying Ankara should stem its “thirst for revenge” after a failed coup attempt and denied people’s rights were being violated in a purge of officials and professional ranks. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called on Ankara this week to uphold the rights of detainees held since the July 15-16 abortive putsch. Authorities have suspended, detained or begun investigating tens of thousands of soldiers, police, judges, journalists and civil servants. Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic, in a statement, said Zeid’s comments were unacceptable. “It is at best an unfortunate statement for a UN official tasked with guarding human rights to say ‘he has no sympathy’ for coup plotters instead of condemning these terrorists who have attempted a bloody coup,” Bilgic said. Western allies worry that President Tayyip Erdogan is using the putsch and the purge that has followed to tighten his grip on power. But many Turks are angered by what they see as a lack of Western sympathy over a violent coup attempt by a rogue faction in the Turkish military using fighter jets, helicopters and tanks in which 240 people died. Erdogan vowed to rid Turkey of the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers in the security forces, judiciary and civil service he accuses of orchestrating the attempted power grab and of plotting to overthrow the state. Gulen denies these charges.
Bilgic said Turkey’s measures following the coup have been consistent with the fundamental principles of rule of law and human rights and repeated Ankara’s calls for the Commissioner to visit the country.

Saudi army foils massive Houthis infiltration
By Staff writer Al Arabiya News English Saturday, 13 August 2016/Joint Saudi forces foiled an infiltration attempt on Saturday carried out by the Houthi militias near the Najran district in the kingdom, according to security sources. Saudi forces managed to kill dozens of Houthi and deposed Ali Abdulla Salah militia elements, as well as destroying five of their military vehicles. Meanwhile, five residents were injured by two shells fired from inside Yemeni territory in the Samtah border province, in Jazan region on Saturday afternoon. The residents, four Yemenis and an Egyptian were in their house when the attack took place. Samtah has occasionally been a target of shelling from Yemeni territories. Saudi military carried out heavy bombardments of Houthi militia positions and hideouts on Friday off a village close to the border in Jazan, while Apache helicopters were conducting patrols along the border in Jazan region.

Yemen parliament meets under arms threat
By Staff writer Al Arabiya News English Saturday, 13 August 2016/Houthi and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s militias failed in a bid Saturday, to gain the legal recognition required to establish an insurgency-administered supreme political council, after too few members attended the session. The Houthis called the meeting in a bid to establish an insurgency-administered supreme political council which the militias announced the creation of a week ago. But under Yemeni law, the parliament requires a minimum attendance of 151 of the 301 members of parliament for the meeting to be determined quorate and therefore legally well enough attended to be able to press ahead and hold votes that are binding. According to Al Arabiya’s correspondent the number in attendance was significantly lower with members in attendance numbering between 80 and 85. Despite this, the militias continued in their attempt to hold the meeting and vote amid a heavy presence of armed men, despite the low attendance. Yasser Alraeini, the minister of state for the implementation of the Yemeni dialogue outputs, told Al Arabiya that Saturday’s session would have no legitimate effect. Alraeini added that the ousted Saleh was plotting to eliminate the rest of the parliament’s legitimacy. Several lawmakers have been exhausting all efforts in order to escape Sana’a, according to sources. The representatives have received death threats if they did not attend the parliamentary session scheduled for Saturday, which had been called on by ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In a statement carried on the state news agency Saba, Hadi called the parliament session illegal and warned that MPs attending could be prosecuted as criminals. In a statement released Friday UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh said occurring violations were intolerable and did not aid the peace process. He further reiterated that a comprehensive solution for Yemen could only be achieved by political means.

California man jailed for murder of Saudi student
Reuters Saturday, 13 August 2016/A Southern California man was sentenced on Friday to life in prison for fatally stabbing an engineering student from Saudi Arabia who the killer met after the victim posted an online ad to sell his car two years ago, prosecutors said. The remains of the victim, Abdullah Abdullatif Alkadi, 23, were found alongside a freeway in the desert town of Indio, about 125 miles (200 km) east of Los Angeles, in October 2014, about a month after he went missing. Alkadi, an international student at California State University, Northridge, had been last seen at his residence in the Los Angeles suburb of Reseda on Sept. 17. Authorities said the killer, Agustin Rosendo Fernandez, 30, stabbed Alkadi to death that day, when he showed up at the victim's home to pick up an Audi A5 convertible that Alkadi had agreed to sell him for $35,000 in an earlier meeting between the two men. Fernandez, who had found Alkadi's car-for-sale ad on Craigslist, kept the cash and then made off with the vehicle, disposing of Alkadi's body along the way. Prosecutors said the stolen car was later found parked at the killer's apartment in Long Beach. Fernandez in June was tried and found guilty of first-degree murder in Alkadi's death. The jury also found in favor of special circumstances of murdering during a robbery and murder during a carjacking, as well as personal use of a deadly weapon. Under the sentence handed down on Friday, Fernandez will serve a life term in state prison without the possibility of parole, according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Iran: Execution of a young prisoner in public
NCRI/Friday, 12 August 2016/On August 11, 2016, the antihuman clerical regime hanged Hossein Abdollahi, 33, in public in one of the main boulevards of the city of Ravansar in Kermanshah Province. He was charged with killing the head of the judiciary of Ravansar, one of the main agents of suppression and murder of the people of this region. From the night before, the clerical regime attempted to bring people to the streets to watch the execution in order to create an atmosphere of fear and terror. But the people of Ravansar expressed their anger and hatred of the mullahs’ regime and its inhumane punishments by refusing to go to the execution site. The Iranian Resistance stresses that resorting to street executions is a sign of fear by the faltering clerical regime of public uprisings, especially in areas where people suffer doubly from oppression, and it calls on the Iranian youth to confront the regime’s suppressive policy and show solidarity with the families of prisoners and victims of this regime. Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/August 12, 2016

Al-Arabiya: Iranian activist speaks out against regime’s mock courts, executions
Friday, 12 August 2016/NCRI - Hashem Khastar, a prominent Iranian activist, member of the teachers’ union and former political prisoner, has said human rights’ conditions have deteriorated drastically in Iran. Mr. Khastar, who resides in Mashhad in northwestern Iran, and who was imprisoned three times for his political and civil activities, told Al-Arabiya in an interview that executions in Iran are carried out in mock courts that resemble “dark rooms” amid the absence of minimum of legal standards. He called on the civil society to work to stop executions, massacres and daily violations against activists and people from different social categories. Mr. Khastar also condemned Tehran’s interference in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the region’s other countries and said “Arabs and Muslims must know that the Iranian people want to live with them in peace.”
The following are excerpts from the interview with Al-Arabiya:
Q: Mr. Khastar, as an activist and a member of the teachers’ union who has been arrested several times for your activities, how do you evaluate the human rights situation in Iran?
A: It’s deteriorating a lot. The government in our country does not care about human rights at all. For example, the regime does not allow free elections at the teachers’ union or at non-governmental organizations here in Khorasan and other provinces, although these organizations were established 13 years ago when president Mohammed Khatami was in power. There aren’t even the simplest forms of freedom in Iran and the government does not grant citizens any of their basic rights. You may get arrested and imprisoned for organizing a simple cultural activity.
If you see me free now, it’s because they don’t want to create an uproar like what happened previously when I was detained by the intelligence apparatus. They’ve reached the conclusion that they should release me because keeping me in prison would cause them trouble in the international arena and on the media front. But if they do decide to imprison me again, nothing can stop them from doing so.
Q: The recent mass executions of 25 imprisoned Sunni Kurdish activists coincided with the anniversary of the elimination of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. In your opinion, why did the regime go back to the policy of mass executions?
A: All dictatorships across the world resort to murder and assassination as a means to spread terror and fear so that people do not take to the streets demanding their rights. These governments practice terrorism to silence their citizens and our country is not an exception. The elimination of political prisoners in 1988 was an unprecedented crime in the last 200 years of Iran’s history. It was a horrific massacre that made people wonder and ask what is this hardship that has plagued our country?
I condemn these mass executions which happened against our brothers from the Sunni sect and everyone condemns these executions that happened in mock courts that resemble dark rooms.
Q: Activists and human rights organizations say the intelligence fabricated accusations against these Sunni activists. What do you think of that?
A: I have said several times that the authorities in our country do not respect basic human rights and that Iranian ethnic groups, particularly Kurds, have been greatly persecuted. If certain activities happen in Shiite areas in the country, judicial rulings against the perpetrators are lenient while in Sunni areas, such as Kurdish ones, the rulings are strict and can range from many years in prison and can go as far as execution.
I was imprisoned with 12 Sunni preachers in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad and I witnessed how they were tried and sentenced to between two years and 10 years in prison on flimsy charges. When I got to know them and learnt about their cases, I found out that they haven’t committed any crime to be punished.
Q: Why do authorities focus more on activists from religious minorities and ethnicities when carrying out executions?
A: There is a direct relation between the rise of awareness among ethnic groups in terms of their rights, and the increase in executions against them. Meaning, the more aware these Iranian ethnicities are, the more the regime restrains them because it wants to keep the situation under its control, through imprisonment and executions. This is the truth in Iran.
Q: How influential was your activity as well as other activists’ work in exposing violations against prisoners and others?
Primarily, I think we must work as per our moral duties. We are not asking our friends or the Iranian people to risk their lives but I have several times said that if it hadn’t been for these activities which exposed these violations, the regime would have skinned us and displayed our bodies in schools to set us as an example to others. The work done by human rights activists and political activists makes the government pay a high price for its suppression and so we are trying not to be an easy target for the government.
I have done everything I can to defend those who fight for the sake of freedom, democracy and promotion of human rights in Iran so that the government does not easily crush them. When an activist is detained, we spread this news in media outlets so that the government cannot do whatever it wants against them, like what happened with the Sunni preachers. Silence and not spreading the news about their cases allowed security forces to persecute them, away from the public eye.
Q: How do you see the future of popular protests against poverty, unemployment and corruption and what about the regime’s negligence of people’s problems while being preoccupied with its interference in the countries in the region?
A: Civil activity among Iranians has become very strong. They do not harbor ill will towards others and want to be friends with the people in the region. We condemn our rulers' interferences in Syria and their support of the Assad regime and we condemn their interferences in Yemen and Iraq.
The civil society in Iran has become strong and it will strengthen democracy. We want to build our country and also want to have ties of brotherhood and friendliness with neighboring countries.
Q: Are international condemnations enough to stop violations and executions in Iran? As a human rights’ activist, what’s your message to the international community?
A: There’s no doubt that condemning these executions is a very good thing but it’s not enough. The world must help the Iranian people. We don’t want to tell the outside world what to do but at the same time, we want the international community to choose the path which does not harm the people of Iran.
The Iranian people have reached a high degree of political awareness and they know the path they should take. They no longer buy the ruling regime’s tricks. They reject all these executions and detentions. For example, people held a massive reception for the families of the two teachers imprisoned on political charges but we did not spread any news about this out of fear the security forces will harass them. However, this courageous move by the people was greatly welcomed inside and outside Iran.
The Iranian people will choose paths that lead them to democracy and freedom at the lowest costs. We call on the world to support the demands of the people and to support them via the means they deem appropriate without any harm befalling the people. This will certainly be in the interest of stability in the region and the world.  **The article first appeared in the Arabic-language Al Arabiya website on August 9, 2016.

Washington Post: An audio file reveals new aspects of political massacre in Iran in 1988
Saturday, 13 August 2016/NCRI - An audio file that surfaced this week — posted on a website maintained by supporters of Hossein Ali Montazeri, the hand-picked successor to Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the clerical regime, purports to offer a new glimpse into his last, desperate attempt to limit the killings of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, reported The Washington Post on August 12. According to the Washington Post, “Montazeri was dumped as the hand-picked successor to Khomenei. Subsequently He would be declared a foe of the state and placed under house arrest for six years.”
“A full accounting of what's called the ‘death commission’ created by Khomeini has yet to be carried out. But thousands died — by hanging or firing squad or in places such as Tehran’s Evin prison,” reported the Washington Post. Some 30,000 political prisoners who were serving their terms, the overwhelming majority of whom were activists of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), were executed within a few months. The Washington Post added: “In my opinion, the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you,” Montazeri is recorded as saying on the July 1988 tape to a group of senior judicial and intelligence figures, including a domestic spymaster, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who now serves as justice minister in the government of President Hassan Rouhani.“Beware of 50 years from now, when people will pass judgment on the leader [Khomeini] and will say he was a bloodthirsty, brutal and murderous leader. ... I do not want history to remember him like that,” added Montazeri, who was one of Khomeini’s most trusted allies for decades before they parted ways.
A translation of the 40-minute recording was provided by an opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which has offices in Washington and other cities. Similar translations were made by various outlets, including the BBC’s Persian Service.
The Washington Post further wrote: Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran opposition group, urged international prosecutors to use the tape as further evidence that can be used to press charges for the political slayings of the late 1980s. She noted that some of the officials who helped carry out the purges — such as Pourmohammadi and the others who met with Montazeri -- “have, from the beginning of this regime to the present day, held posts at the highest levels of the judicial, political and intelligence apparatuses." According to The Washington Post, Montazeri’s son, Ahmad, said Iranian intelligence officials ordered him Wednesday to remove the audio from the website, but the news of the tape and its revelations has sent political shock waves into Iranian political landscape and has revived extensive discussions on the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. The massacre of political prisoners in 1988, a crime against humanity has gone very much unnoticed over the past three decades. It remains to be one of the darkest stains on the recent history of mankind, as one of the least exposed and discussed.

Iranian political prisoner Arzhang Davoodi on Day 28 of hunger strike
Saturday, 13 August 2016/NCRI - Iranian political prisoner Arzhang Davoodi is on Day 28 of a hunger strike in Iran’s notorious Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran.
His is reported to be a frail condition.
On July 17, Mr. Davoodi went on hunger strike and stopped taking his medications in Gohardasht Prison in protest to the deplorable situation of fellow inmates.
Having announced his hunger strike, Arzhang Davoodi wrote a statement about the inhumane conditions of the prisoners and the widespread corruption by the regime: "I will not stop my hunger strike unless the prisoners' condition improves. The prisoners' condition must come under the spotlight by the international human rights bodies. The special rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council must insist on being allowed to visit the prisons in Iran and to inquire about the abnormal and inhuman conditions. The mullahs' fabrications and accusations, the lawsuits and the spread of corruption, addiction and other serious issues such as incurable illnesses must be revealed.”
He addresses Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, and all lovers of human rights in all international forums:
"After years of imprisonment and illegal charges made by the mullahs, with this action I just want to raise the consciences of all human beings to the inhuman conditions of the prisoners. The brutal prison guards in different prisons such as Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) have made the prisons as a cemetery and slaughterhouse for our youths by importing goods and contrabands, including drugs. These drugs are the main sources of income for them in the prison system and I am ashamed to express the consequences of such crimes and the circumstances that now prevail on the prisoners."
Arzhang Davoudi added at the end of his statement: "from Sunday July 17, 2016 I will go on medication strike and hunger strike so that the world devotes attention to the current situation. I anticipate that I will be threatened and transferred to solitary confinement by the head of the prison, Mohammad Mardani."
Mr. Davoodi was arrested in 2003 and held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods during which he was tortured and denied access to a lawyer and his family.
He was sentenced, in March 2005, to 25 years’ imprisonment, reduced to 10 years on appeal, on charges of “spreading propaganda against the system” and “establishing and directing an organization opposed to the government” for his peaceful activities, including directing a cultural education center, according to Amnesty International. In May 2014, he was sentenced to an additional two years’ imprisonment, on the charge of “insulting the Supreme Leader.”Arzhang Davoodi was also sentenced to death for his political opinions and peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression. He is believed to have been accused of having ties with the opposition People’s Mojahedin, or PMOI (MEK), merely because in prison he insisted on calling the PMOI by its official name, Mojahedin, rather than by the term used by the Iranian authorities, Monafeghin (hypocrites), according to a 2014 urgent action appeal by Amnesty International.

Day 3 of hunger strike in Sweden to draw attention to massacre of political prisoners in Iran
Saturday, 13 August 2016/NCRI - Iranians residing in Sweden are today on Day 3 of a three-day hunger strike in Stockholm in solidarity with the victims of the recent mass executions in Iran. They are calling on the Swedish government to make respect for human rights in Iran a key priority before upgrading ties with the mullahs' regime. Members of the Swedish-Iranian community began a three day sit-in on Thursday at Mynttorget, Stockholm, to highlight the alarming human rights situation in Iran and to condemn the recent mass executions of Sunni political prisoners in the country. A number of the protesters are on a three-day hunger strike in solidarity with Iranian political prisoners who are under heavy pressure by the regime and are denied access to medical treatment as a means to torture them. The Swedish-Iranian supporters of the main Iranian opposition group People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) also commemorated the 28th anniversary of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 in Iran. The political prisoners were mainly affiliated to the PMOI (MEK). The protesters in Stockholm are urging the Swedish government to recognize this 1988 massacre as a crime against humanity and to act in both the European Union and United Nations to demand those responsible for this heinous crime be brought to justice at the International Criminal Court. The Swedish-Iranian community called on the Swedish government and Foreign Minister Margot Wallström to condemn the recent mass execution of Sunni political prisoners and increase pressure on the mullahs' regime for an immediate halt to executions, torture and arbitrary arrests in Iran. On August 2, the regime mass executed at least 25 Sunni political prisoners. On August 9 it hanged another political prisoner Mohammad Abdollahi.
Last week, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described the mass execution of Sunni political prisoners in Gohardasht Prison, carried out on the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, an appalling crime against humanity. The regime is trying in vain to contain the volatile social atmosphere and popular protests by terrorizing the public, she said. The time has come for the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to end their silence and bring the record of the Iranian regime's crimes before the International Criminal Court. Ali Khamenei and other leaders of the regime as well as direct perpetrators of these crimes must be brought to justice, Maryam Rajavi reiterated.
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on August 13-14/16

What to Tell Would-be Jihadis
Mark Durie/Cross-posted from Markdurie.com/August/13/16
http://www.meforum.org/blog/2016/08/what-to-tell-would-be-jihadis
Malcolm Turnbull has warned Australians fighting with the Islamic State that they face "almost certain death." He needn't encourage them. The Australian Prime Minister has apparently not yet learned that jihadis seek death and despise those who don't (Sura 2:94-96).
Instead of inciting jihadis in their mission to attain paradise through martyrdom, Malcolm Turnbull might try discouraging them.
They might be told that their leaders have deceived them, and the Islamic State has done great damage to the Muslim cause.
They might be told that many Muslims who know more than they do consider their jihad to be null and void, so they risk being condemned as hypocrites and relegated to the lowest place in hell (Sura 4:145).
They might be told that with so many jihadi groups fighting each other to attain paradise, they have no sure way of knowing which group is on Allah's side, and they are playing Russian roulette with their eternal destiny. Not Smart.
They might be told that they can expect to be captured and banished to some desolate place for the rest of their long lives, without friend or family to comfort them.
They might be told that they are dragging themselves down the path to failure and disgrace in the eyes of their own community. (To be fair Malcolm Turnbull did almost say something like this, if accidentally.)
Whatever we say, let's not tell them they face certain death.
** Mark Durie is the pastor of an Anglican church, a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and Founder of the Institute for Spiritual Awareness.

New audio file sheds light on 1980s executions in Iran
Arash Karami/Al-Monitor/August 13/16
An audio file recently released by the website of the late Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri — the onetime deputy supreme leader of Iran who was a leading Shiite cleric — has shed light on the cleric’s objections to a string of executions in the late 1980s and his eventual falling out with the ruling establishment.In the final months of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, the Iranian group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) launched an attack from inside Iraq against western Iran. While the attack was quickly countered, it led to perhaps the last fateful decision of the Islamic Republic under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini shortly before his death in which thousands of mostly MEK members who had been imprisoned in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution were executed.
Montazeri, who had been groomed to replace Khomeini and was one of the most well-known figures of the revolution, objected so adamantly to the order that he quickly lost his place within the government. His objection to the executions has been previously published in his autobiography. But the release of the audio file has brought this news to the surface once again and has revealed the harshness in which he dealt with the individuals involved.
In the audio file, Montazeri is heard speaking to Hussein Ali Nayeri, a judge at the time and a current deputy at the Supreme Court of Iran; Morteza Eshraghi, public prosecutor at the time; Ebrahim Raeisi, public prosecutor at the time and currently the head of the Astan Quds Razavi, one of the wealthiest institutions in Iran; and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the Intelligence Ministry’s representative to Evin prison at the time and current justice minister.
In the 40-minute audio file, Montazeri says to them, “The biggest crime in the history of the Islamic Republic, which will be condemned by history, happened by your hands.” He said that a number of people and the Ministry of Intelligence had sought and waited for the opportunity to execute the MEK members and, after their attack on Iran, pushed the issue on Khomeini once again. In their coverage of the audio file, Fars News wrote that Montazeri believed that in the final years of his life, Khomeini was ill and those around him, especially his son Ahmed, was running his affairs. The Fars article, however, defended the executions and criticized the release of the audio file and Montazeri’s objections.
Many people have suggested if Montazeri would have kept his silence, he could have replaced Khomeini and been able to pursue his own policies and vision. Montazeri, however, rejected this reasoning, saying that if he was silent he would "not have an answer on Judgment Day and I saw it as my duty to warn Imam [Khomeini].” Montazeri was also worried about what he would say to the families of those executed. According to Montazeri’s autobiography, somewhere between 2,800 and 3,800 people were executed.
Montazeri also said that executing people for a crime when they are already serving time for other sentences undermines Iran’s judiciary. Many MEK members were in prison at the time because after the 1979 Islamic Revolution the group's leaders had a falling out with the supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic. In response, the MEK waged a campaign of bombings and assassinations and its leaders quickly went into exile in Iraq.
Montazeri’s son, Ahmad, told BBC Persian that they published the audio file because some people have attempted to distort Montazeri’s image. He said that the audio file confirms Montazeri’s autobiography in which he writes about his objections to the executions.
Montazeri died in 2009, while the country was in the middle of the Green Movement protests against the presidential election results of that year. Completely sidelined from the government, he remained a fierce critic until his final days, publishing letters and statements against many government policies and leaders.

How do Egypt's official religious authorities view Shiites?
Ahmed Hidji/Al-Monitor/August 13/16
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights issued a report July 21 showing that there were 70 incidents of assault against Egyptian Shiites during the period from January 2011 to May 2016.
The report also highlighted the killing of Shite cleric Hassan Shehata and three of his students in June 2013.
The report indicated that these violations arise in the context of incitement to hatred, violence and discrimination against Shiites. In addition, the report accused many parties of supporting this anti-Shiite attitude such as the official religious institutions and state-run media outlets, in addition to the Islamist political currents such as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafist Call and some private media outlets. According to the report, some media outlets provided unbalanced coverage that incited hatred and discrimination against this minority in Egypt. While there are no confirmed statistics on their numbers, estimates range from the thousands to 3 million out of Egypt’s total population of about 90 million.
Shiite intellectual Ahmad Rasim al-Nafis said that regular citizens, under the oversight of the regime, systematically practice violations against Shiites. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Nafis accused security forces of failing to counter such violations and of clamping down on Shiites, especially when they want to visit the sacred shrines of Prophet Muhammad’s family members or travel abroad.
Nafis said Saudi Arabia and some of the Gulf countries have spent billions of dollars on media campaigns to demonize Shiites and turn the conflict in the region from being Arab-Israeli to Sunni-Shiite. He also indicated that such campaigns had influenced the Arab people who now believe that Shiism is more dangerous to the Arab nations than Zionism.
“Al-Azhar is schizophrenic when it comes to Shiism,” Nafis said. He said statements made by the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar accusing Shiism of impugning the Sunni creed contradict Al-Azhar’s leniency toward the Jaafari school of Shiism and the study of the Shiite traditions in its institutions. He added that there are master’s and doctorate dissertations on Shiite figures under the supervision of senior professors at Al-Azhar University.
It is worth mentioning that there is a document attributed to Mahmud Shaltut, former grand sheikh of Al-Azhar, stating that the Jaafari school of theology is legitimate under Islam. In 2013, Ahmad al-Tayyib, the current grand sheikh of Al-Azhar, said in a television interview that Jaafari is the fifth Islamic school of theology, indicating that it is occasionally used as a source for religious edicts, especially those concerning family affairs.
Nafis believes that the current Egyptian government is too weak to build a state where the concepts of citizenship, freedom of thought and coexistence prevail. He also asserted that Article 98 of Egypt’s Penal Code, under which presenter Islam al-Behairy and author Fatimah Naoot were sentenced to imprisonment for contempt of religion, is a wonderful victory for what he described as the theocracy.
Leading Shiite figure Al-Tahir al-Hashimi agreed with Nafis on the systematic violations against Shiites, indicating that the report observed only a part of what the Shiites actually suffer in Egypt. He said that most Shiites don’t reveal their religious affiliation for fear of being harmed either by the citizens or security apparatuses, asserting that Wahhabism has been strongly prevalent in the Egyptian community since the 1970s, and it stands behind the hostile stance espoused by most Egyptians against Shiites.
Hashimi stressed that Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Endowments adopt a discourse that fuels hatred against Shiites. He said some individuals affiliated with security apparatuses are personally hostile against the Shiites, which negatively affects the nature of the relationship between the two parties, asserting that the religious persecution against any sect harms the reputation of Egypt in the first place.
Hashimi did not rule out that the current rapprochement between the Egyptian and Saudi regimes is behind Egypt’s silent attitude toward the violations against Shiites. However, he believes that the harm of this silence is greater than its good, asserting that any violation against Shiites harms the reputation of Egypt internationally and deepens the split in the Egyptian community. Hashimi said that any economic or strategic gains achieved from the Egyptian-Saudi rapprochement will be useless if the Egyptian community is split.
Sheikh Nasser Radwan, founder of the Salafist Ahfad al-Sahaba coalition and a vocal opponent of Shiism in Egypt, accused Egyptian Shiites of exaggerating the number of attacks against them. Radwan told Al-Monitor that he has observed — during his participation in book fairs in various Arab countries — several Shiite-affiliated individuals trying to attract young people and influence their beliefs through offering free books that falsify Islamic belief and history.
“I do not support violence. I believe that thoughts should only be encountered by thoughts,” Radwan said. Although he accused Shiites of standing behind many of the violent attacks perpetuated in the Arab world, he stressed that violence is not the ideal way to deal with what he described as the scheme of disseminating Shiism, indicating that violence is counterproductive and distorts the message of those who encounter the dissemination of the Shiite tradition. Moreover, Radwan asserted that the killing of Hasan Shehata, in addition to other incidents where Egyptian Shiites were attacked, are not systematic and were not incited by any of those who take on the responsibility of encountering Shiite thoughts.
In the same context, Radwan believes that teaching Shiism in Al-Azhar does not mean that the latter deems it valid, indicating that Al-Azhar and its sheikhs have adopted clear stances where they condemned the terrorist attacks perpetuated by what he called “Shiite militias” in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.
On the other side, Muhammad Abd al-Aty, head of the Faculty of Education’s Islamic Studies Department at Al-Azhar University, told Al-Monitor that there is an intellectual crisis between the Sunnis and Shiites. He said there is a radical Sunni opinion that accuses Shiites of nonbelief and looks at them as more dangerous than any other enemy, while some Shiites consider themselves as the only representatives of Islam and deem their imams infallible. Abd al-Aty emphasized that Al-Azhar stands in a neutral zone between the two views and accepts all within a framework void of radicalism.
Abd al-Aty said that Al-Azhar does not turn a blind eye to the moderate Shiites such as those who are affiliated with the Jaafari and Zaydi doctrines, indicating that students at Al-Azhar University study these two doctrines and the institution views them as “moderate.”
 

Sweden: Summer Inferno of Sexual Assaults
Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/August 13/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8579/sweden-sexual-assaults

Almost all the perpetrators of sexual assaults who attacked in groups and who have been apprehended, are citizens of Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia -- three of the four largest immigrant groups in Sweden who fall into the category of "unaccompanied refugee children."
A few days later, it turned out that many of the perpetrators who sexually assaulted women at the "Putte i parken" music festival in Karlstad wore the "Don't grope" bracelet.
Many people were therefore aghast to learn that the organizers of the Trästocksfestivalen music festival in Skellefteå had decided to arrange free bus rides to the festival for the local "unaccompanied refugee children." They claimed they were "proud to be the first music festival in Sweden that encourages a significant increase of newly arrived migrants in the audience." By the time the Trästocksfestivalen ended, the police counted twelve reported sexual assaults.
Apparently, Swedish girls and women should learn to live with being groped and raped -- or leave the public space altogether. The latter seems quite in line with what Islamic sharia law prescribes.
In the wake of the New Year's Eve attacks in Cologne, Germany, news broke in Sweden that a large number of sexual assaults against girls and women had occurred at the music festival "We Are Sthlm" [short for Stockholm] in both 2014 and 2015, but had been covered up by both the police and the media. The National Police Commissioner, Dan Eliasson, immediately launched an investigation to find out the scope of the problem.
The results were presented in May, in a report, "The current situation regarding sexual assault and proposals for action" -- and the conclusions are frightening. Almost all the perpetrators who attacked in groups and who have been apprehended, are citizens of Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia -- three of the four largest immigrant groups in Sweden who fall into the category of "unaccompanied refugee children."
Scenes from a Malmö music festival in summer of 2015... Left: Four young men surround and sexually assault a young woman. Right: Police arrest a suspect, as sexual assault victims cry in the background. The photographer reported that Swedish girls were sexually assaulted by groups of young men "of foreign background."
The Police's Department of National Operations (NOA) began their report by going through all the sexual assaults at music festivals, street carnivals or New Year's Eve celebrations that have been reported to the police:
"The complaints filed in 2015 and 2016 showed that girls aged 14-15 were the most vulnerable. The attacks have been perceived differently, depending on the [offender's] modus operandi, but information given in the complaints clearly shows that several of the girls attacked have understandably been devastated and very 'shaky after the incident took place.' Especially shocking and frightening were those attacks carried out by a group, where the victim was not just held down and 'groped', but where the attackers also tried to rip the girl's clothes off.
"Most of the attacks were carried out by single perpetrators. In most cases, the attack was carried out in crowded places, from behind, and the perpetrator put his hands under the victim's trousers or under her blouse/sweatshirt and tried to kiss her and hold her down. Due to the struggle to get loose or because the attack happened from behind, it has often been difficult to get a good enough physical description of the suspect to get a positive identification later. In many cases, the victims were standing in an audience in front of a stage, making their way to their friends through a crowd, or standing around with one or more friends when they were attacked."
At least ten cases pertain to so-called taharrush gamea [Arabic for "collective harassment"] -- where men in groups choose a victim and attack her together. The report quotes Senni Jyrkiäinen, a scholar at the University of Helsinki, who studies gender relations in Egypt: "Taharrush is Arabic for harassment. If you add 'el-ginsy' (or just ginsy) that means sexual harassment and the word 'gamea' means 'group'."
The police report describes the phenomenon like this:
"In at least ten cases, a lone girl, sometimes around 14-16 years old, sometimes 25-30, was surrounded by several men (from 5-6 up to a large number). In these cases, some of the men held the girl down, while others groped her breasts and body, and in one case some of the men photographed the attack. In some cases, the perpetrators unbuttoned the girl's pants and tried -- in some cases succeeded -- to pull them down before help arrived. There were also cases where several girls who were part of a group were attacked at the same time by a large gang.
"A few suspects have been identified. Those identified are citizens of Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia. All investigations into cases in Stockholm and Kalmar from 2014 and 2015 were dropped due to lack of evidence or problems with identifying suspects."
The police quote from several of the complaints filed:
A 16-year-old girl was attacked by a large number of males described as "foreign and speaking bad Swedish", who tried to rip her clothes off. Some of the attackers photographed the incident. The girl was on her way home from a party together with her boyfriend when she was attacked. The boyfriend witnessed the incident.
Two girls were attacked by a gang of 10-20 men of "African descent", aged 15-20.
An attack against a girl in a park went from sexual harassment to a full-fledged rape, committed by a group of men. The men and the girl had attended the same party, and the perpetrators followed her when she left.
A 12-year-old girl was attacked, and the following description of the attackers was given: "Four men aged 20-25, who looked Arabic and spoke a foreign language, possibly Arabic, between themselves." A young man passing by intervened and was beaten up.
A girl stated that she went into the bushes to urinate, and was sexually attacked by 12 perpetrators. The suspects also stole the victim's wallet. "The sexual assault consisted of an unknown assailant grabbing the victim's buttocks, among other things."
A 17-year-old girl left a mall, and was stalked and stopped by three "African guys" who attacked her by squeezing her buttocks so hard her pants ripped.
A 13-year-old girl who is in a special education class was approached by "4-5 foreign guys" who spoke Swedish with an accent. The grabbed her one at a time "in places she did not like, such as her buttocks and her breasts."
When a girl was waiting for a train, she was surrounded by six youths aged about 15-17, of "foreign descent." They poked her and spoke obscenely and threatened her in Swedish. When the train came, they discontinued the attack.
A girl encountered a group of about 10 men aged around 18-20. Four of the men grabbed her sweater and held her by the arm, while three others touched her body and breasts. She screamed for help and tried to resist them, begging them to stop, to no avail. She finally managed to break free.
A girl was harassed with foul language on a train, by a group of nine men, around 25 years old, who tried to block her way when she got off the train. None of the men spoke Swedish, the victim said in her complaint, "They may have been from Afghanistan."
A girl was surrounded on a train by eight men who had gotten on at the same time. Two of the men started touching her thighs and groping her private parts. She finally took out a can of pepper spray, and the attackers moved away. All the attackers were over 25 years old and of foreign descent.
When it comes to sexual assaults at public swimming pools, the report states that there were 123 reports of such incidents in 2015. 86% of the suspects were younger than 20 years old; most were around 15-16:
"In 80% of the reported cases from public pools, the perpetrators claimed to be or were found to be of foreign descent. Most had no Swedish social security number and the complaints stated that they belonged to groups of boys seeking asylum."
The clear and frightening facts stated by the police report, however, have not left even the tiniest impression on Swedish public debate. Feminists still talk about "men" committing sexual assaults. In January, for example, Karen Austin, former head of a government work group on young men and violence, wrote an article on Swedish public television's debate website on why culture and religion have (almost) no significance when it comes to sexual assaults.
"Do Swedish men have a better set of chromosomes than the rest of the world's men?", she asked rhetorically.
Barbro Sörman, chairperson for the Left Party in Stockholm, wrote on Twitter in early July that it is actually worse when Swedish men rape than when foreign men do:
"The Swedish men who rape do it despite having grown up with gender equality. They make an active choice. That is worse IMO [in my opinion]."
Sörman later regretted her tweet, but maintained that Swedish men must be scrutinized equally:
"You need to look at what makes you choose not to be equal and commit abuse in our society, despite us being equal."
After National Police Commissioner Dan Eliasson read the report he had ordered, , on June 28 he came up with a "solution" that made Swedes gasp: a bracelet with the words "Don't grope" printed on it. Eliasson explained the initiative, saying:
"The police take sexual assaults very seriously, especially when young people are involved. This crime is of course extremely offensive, and all of society needs to work against it. [With the bracelets] we can turn a spotlight on this issue and encourage those affected to report the crime."
A few days later, it turned out that many of the perpetrators who sexually assaulted women at the "Putte i parken" music festival in Karlstad wore the "Don't grope" bracelet. It was the same story at the Bråvalla festival. Lisen Andréasson Florman, operations manager for the non-profit organization, Night Shift (Nattskiftet), had 50 volunteers patrolling the grounds of the Bråvalla festival every night. Despite this, Florman herself was attacked. She told the Swedish news agency, TT, that she was surrounded by three men who acted "totally disgusting."
"And these three men had those 'don't grope' bracelets on. It was completely surreal."
And so it goes. The sexual assaults at this summer's music festivals have come one after another. Many people were therefore aghast to learn that the organizers of the Trästocksfestivalen music festival in Skellefteå had decided to arrange free bus rides to the festival for the local "unaccompanied refugee children."
However, festival chief Nils Andrén could not understand the criticism against the free buses at all, and stated that the festival's motto is "accessibility", and that it might seem expensive to new arrivals to pay for a bus ride to the festival themselves. Apart from offering free bus rides, the organizers also printed up posters advertising the festival in Persian, Arabic and Tigrinya. They claimed they were "proud to be the first music festival in Sweden that encourages a significant increase of newly arrived migrants in the audience."
By the time the Trästocksfestivalen ended, the police counted twelve reported sexual assaults.
The police concluded the report by suggesting various measures to prevent and investigate sexual assaults involving young people at public gatherings. The suggestions are painted in broad strokes:
Preventive work through situational crime prevention.

Build a strong foundation for cooperation between municipalities/organizers. 

Implement a recurring model for cooperation regarding the delegation of actions and responsibility. 

Direct measures according to cause-analysis. 

Establishing "joint contact centers" during public events.
Make a correct analysis of the situation in time.
Take the first steps towards bringing responsible parties to justice by having investigators on the scene.
Legal investigation to establish if new criminal modes of operation constitute aggravating circumstances.
Nowhere in the report do the investigators suggest that politicians should take steps to ensure that Sweden accepts fewer asylum seekers from the countries where taharrush gamea is commonplace. Apparently, Swedish girls and women should learn to live with being groped and raped -- or leave the public space altogether. The latter seems quite in line with what Islamic sharia law prescribes.
**Ingrid Carlqvist is a journalist and author based in Sweden, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow of Gatestone Institute.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Era of impunity in Syria must end
Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
Two children, a five-year-old little girl and a 12-year-old boy, suffocated to death after Bashar al-Assad’s regime executed a chlorine barrel bombing attack in their neighborhood of Zubaidia, located in embattled Aleppo, on Wednesday night. Their mother died along with them. Two days later on Friday, air strikes bombarded a hospital servicing children and women in Kafr Hamra, killing at least two people. Who will be held responsible for carrying out the latest massacre of a Syrian mother and her children? Which cowards will be tried for bombing yet another hospital from the air?
Each day brings a new horror in Syria but the international community must not let the sheer volume of deadly attacks numb them to the situation, which is worsening by the day. A number of important voices have called on the United States to act to protect Syrian civilians in the recent term, including more recently 15 doctors in eastern Aleppo. In a powerful letter to President Obama, the doctors said that every 17 hours a medical facility is targeted in an attack. They pleaded with the US to create a “permanent lifeline to Aleppo.” Referring perhaps to the tenuous gains made by a coalition of rebels – including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham – that allowed them to break the government’s siege of eastern Aleppo on August 6 - the doctors noted it is “only a matter of time until we are again surrounded by regime troops, hunger takes hold and hospitals’ supplies run completely dry.”
At the same time, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) launched a campaign they’ve titled #SaveSyria, urging the international community to do precisely that. In a video showing a number of interviews with Syrian doctors, the museum noted that the regime continues to carry out crimes against humanity, indicating that the “spread and continuation of these crimes could amount to genocide.”The region cannot afford to see what the result of ignoring Syrian civilians’ needs – as well as the Assad regime’s humiliating abuses – looks like in the years to come
Saving lives
Such calls underscore the consensus among many that the US must lead in saving Syrians from death and aid a population that has now been terrorized – first by the regime, then by ISIS and al-Qaeda – for years. While the fight against ISIS continues, the US must also begin holding the Assad regime and Russia accountable for every single brutal, illegal attack they carry out; the era of impunity in Syria – where nearly half a million people have been killed, health facilities and hospitals repeatedly targeted from the air, and where chlorine attacks continue unabated – must end. It is despicable that the US cites the chemical weapons deal it brokered as a success when civilians are still being gassed to death. And it is not acceptable to note the complex geopolitics of the conflict as justification for not acting to protect civilians. The same excuse was used in 2012 prior to the massive Sarin attack in Eastern Ghouta and long before Russia directly intervened. Protecting Syrian civilians must become a key part of the US strategy and quickly. The region cannot afford to see what the result of ignoring Syrian civilians’ needs – as well as the Assad regime’s humiliating abuses – looks like in the years to come.

Does the Western business drive trigger more terrorism?
Mohammed Nosseir/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
“The West wants to take our money,” is a widespread conviction among many Arabs. Most Westerners who do business in the Arab world probably believe that their activities are undertaken on a mutually fair basis, in which the West often offers its products and expertise in exchange for Arab money. A large segment of Arab society, however, does not share this view, especially when they observe the decline of their countries’ wealth while they continue to live as developing nations. I am struck by the lack of morality in the relationship between Arab and Western governments. The West, which abides by advanced moral values, tends not to extend them to its relationship with the Arab world. The outcome of being completely business-driven is that Arabs end up acquiring many products that their societies do not need (military equipment in particular), and receiving know-how and expertise that is never applied, leading them to blame their inadequacies on the West. Many government business transactions are contracted to please Arab rulers at the expense of their societies. Western business people who are active in the Arab world justify their behavior with the phrase: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” In other words, do not be concerned with corruption and lack of morality in the Middle East as long as business is good. During Egypt’s 2011 revolution, British newspaper The Guardian reported that former President Hosni Mubarak’s family fortune could amount to $70 billion, deposited in Western banks. Hi six-decade-long career was spent serving in the military prior to being appointed vice president and eventually becoming president. He should therefore never have been allowed to open a foreign bank account in which to accumulate his wealth in the first place. Yet it was only when he was about to be ousted that the West released this information. By promoting and sharing positive values, the West might experience a temporary reduction in the size of its business in the Arab world, but such a course of action will eventually bring Western countries peace
Cause and effect
Furthermore, terrorism in the Arab world did not emerge from a vacuum. There are fundamental pillars that trigger and motivate terrorists: the absence of democracy, the spread of violence in society, government deficiency (including corruption) and misperceptions of Islam. The combination of these factors contributes to the emergence of terrorists who realize that Western interference in the Arab world, and the West’s continued support of autocratic Arab leaders, compound the region’s deficiencies. Unfortunately, the attacks that took place in Western countries have not opened minds and eyes to the core problem of terrorism. On the contrary, by offering strong support to authoritarian leaders to enable them to continue their repressive policies with the (false) aim of eradicating terrorism, the West’s reaction to the attacks has led to the neglect of the real cause of the terrorism that initially emerged in the Arab world. I once told a Dutch acquaintance that The Netherlands appears to have a large number of handicapped citizens (often seen on the streets). My acquaintance replied that there are probably many more disabled people in Egypt; the difference is that in The Netherlands the disabled are integrated into society, whereas in Egypt they are physically and mentally marginalized. Thinking about this story made me realize the scope and magnitude of our problems, concerning not only our handicapped citizens but our numerous other challenges. We need to work on integrating citizens who perceive violence to be a tool, by establishing a constructive dialogue with them and applying true democracy. By promoting and sharing positive values, the West might experience a temporary reduction in the size of its business in the Arab world, but such a course of action will eventually bring Western countries peace. The expansion of security measures will not be of much help since the symptoms of terrorism will continue to exist and flourish. As long as large numbers of potential terrorists who are ready to commit their lives to a false cause exist, the West will continue to be vulnerable. The sympathy expressed by world leaders in the wake of terrorist acts will not prevent further crimes. The only valid solution is to address the core of our terrorism problems.

Accusing Zewail of apostasy means accusing us all
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
Many were shocked after the death of Egyptian Nobel laureate Dr Ahmed Zewail, because some advocates of extremism were bold enough to publicly accuse him of apostasy. What was his crime? Is he not an enlightening figure for Egyptians, Arabs and Muslims because he contributed to human progress and the development of chemistry? Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood member Wajdy Ghoneim, who lives in Turkey, condemned Egyptian journalists also residing in Turkey because they were sorry for Zewail’s death. This was a sin to Ghoneim. The killer is a blind tool who is most probably ignorant, as we have seen with the killers of Egyptian writer Farag Foda, or the stabber of Nobel prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz. However, people like Ghoneim are the real perpetrators of the crime. Abdulrahman al-Rashed, former general manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, drew our attention to the tragedy of the brave Yazidi girl Nadia Murad. He made a very important point in his article regarding Ghoneim’s accusation against Zewail of apostasy. What was his crime? Is he not an enlightening figure for Egyptians, Arabs and Muslims because he contributed to human progress and the development of chemistry? “This is a new crime committed in public, and no one is doing anything about it,” Rashed wrote. “Ghoneim cites extremist scholar Nasir al-Fahd, who is like him. The only difference is that Fahd is detained in Saudi Arabia while Ghoneim is free, saying whatever he wants without being held accountable, and inciting people through his TV appearances and social media accounts. There are many like him.”
Saudi society
Since we have mentioned Fahd, we should remind people of what Saudi society has reaped from statements and religious edicts promoting hatred, incitement and sedition, and supporting them via misinterpretations. Figures such as Fahd, Hammoud Aqla, Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak and Suleiman al-Alwan were models for extremist advocacy, hatred and strife in Saudi society. Many intellectuals were targeted by their accusations. Some deluded themselves into thinking they would be spared accusations of apostasy, and that what was happening was just a quarrel between two movements rather than something that affects everyone. Provocation and incitement are not a viewpoint, but active participation in the crime.
**This article was first published by Asharq al-Awsat on August 12, 2016.

The brittle world the Arabs built, then destroyed
Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
Much has been written about the Arab uprisings, and the great unraveling of states and societies that ensued in their wake. Scholars looked for precedents in other regions and epochs to compare and contrast. Historians focused on the nature of the fractured modern Arab states and their inherently questionable political legitimacy. Sociologists and demographers searched for long term trends to gauge the changing dynamics between urban and rural communities, the persistence of ethnic, sectarian and tribal loyalties, as well as modes of mobility, social and cultural empowerment and marginalization of certain social strata either because of poor education or subtle and unsubtle discrimination. And economists analyzed the structural deficiencies of the rentier state, and the impact of income disparity, rampant corruption and stagnation. When the definitive history or histories of these turbulent times of unwinding and disintegration are written, they will likely avoid using one Meta narrative to explain the colossal collapse of whole societies in real time into total anarchy and unfathomable violence and wanton destruction, that many a times were live-streamed and captured in high definition videos documenting how the Arabs and other communities that lived among them, with a helping hand from their neighbors and powers beyond the seas, were destroying the brittle world they have built. But much of what was written by scholars was reductionist, bland or lacking in insights as to what makes individuals and groups behave the way they do in seemingly apocalyptic times. And somehow in these narratives the economic data and charts, the nature of the despotic state and the changing demographic and societal dynamics, failed to go beyond providing a superficial, incomplete explanation. Years from now, we will most likely get a better insight into what the Arabs did to themselves, or what happened to them during their collective fateful crossing into a purgatory like universe from which there is no return
Six chronicles of a death foretold
Years from now, we will most likely get a better insight into what the Arabs did to themselves, or what happened to them during their collective fateful crossing into a purgatory like universe from which there is no return, by reading the great novels chronicling the journey, or by the first accounts of the witnesses watching the tragedy and the actors living in it, as conveyed to us by insightful journalists, whose front row seats allow them to smell the stench of death, to hear the cries of victims and to observe real men and women oscillating between hope and despair. In the current issue of the New York Times Magazine, the gifted journalist Scott Anderson gives us a heart wrenching account of the unraveling through the piercing eyes of six disparate characters from Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, who went through the upheavals, and were scarred by them but lived to tell their tales of woes, despair and hope that they experienced during their physical and psychological crossings. In the long article, (I almost said novella) titled “Fractured lands: how the Arab world came apart”, Anderson’s characters, like all complex and tragic characters that inhabit the truly great novels of the 19th and 20th centuries convey in various degrees of eloquence and bluntness a tragic and visceral sense of their worlds, and they ended up giving us six narratives that complement each other’s, even though the characters never met personally.
Two warriors and two activists
We first meet the gruff Dr. Azar Mirkhan, a Kurdish medical doctor and a Peshmerga warrior who is obsessed with Kurdish independence and total separation from the Arabs of Iraq whom he sees as the implacable enemies of the Kurds. Dr. Mirkhan fought the Iraqi army as well as ISIS. He conveys a sense of guilt because he did not arrive on time to help the Yezidi Kurds living on mount Sinjar who were massacred by ISIS in the summer of 2014. Then we are introduced to Professor of mathematics, Laila Soueif, the strong wiled matriarch of a prominent Egyptian dissident family,whose struggle for democracy and dignity mirrors that of Egypt. Laila Soueif’s husband Ahmed, her son Alaa, and daughter Sanaa were imprisoned and tortured under the various autocratic regimes that ruled Egypt in recent years. In one of the most poignant passages in the article, Ahmed the famed human rights lawyer told his defendant son in court, “I wanted you to inherit a democratic society that guards your rights, my son, but instead I passed on the prison cell that held me, and now holds you.” In Libya, we encounter a young military cadet named Majdi el-Mangoush who fought in the rebellion against Muammar el-Qaddafi and lost dear friends, but refused to lose hope even while Libya continues its descent to chaos. He continues his studies, while cherishing his solitude as a former warrior in a Pine ‘forest’ he planted in the desert. We then witness the incredible evolution of a young shy Iraqi women Khulood al-Zaidi, into a determined advocate for women’s rights in the provincial city of Kut, before the Shiite extremists drove her out of town and into exile in Jordan. From Jordan her journey led her to temporary residence in California, then back to Jordan to save her family, and finally, through the torturous watery passage across the Mediterranean to Greece before settling first in Germany then Austria. For Anderson, Khulood exemplify “the extraordinary power of the individual to bring change” to chaotic societies. But, alas there is a painful paradox here ”It is people like Khulood who must see to the mending of these fractured lands. Yet, it is those very people, the best their nations have to offer, who are leaving in search of a better life elsewhere. Today, Austria’s gain is Iraq’s loss.”
The Syrian exile and the condemned Iraqi
Through the eyes of a young Syrian student Majd Ibrahim, we see the gradual destruction of one of Syria’s ancient cities, Homs, and the depredations of both the Assad regime and some of the opposition groups. Ibrahim also went through his psychological and physical passages and ironically ended up living in Dresden, Germany, the city that was destroyed by the Allies during WWII, the same city that comes to mind when one is confronted by the destruction that has been visited on Homs. Finally, Anderson bring us to meet an unlikely character, Wakaz Hassan, a young Iraqi, who already crossed into the heart of darkness when he joined ISIS, before escaping their clutches to end up in a crowded jail in Iraqi Kurdistan. Wakaz, matter-of-factly described how he executed six blindfolded and handcuffed men, as he was ordered by ISIS. Wakaz’s life maybe the most precarious, because when he loses his usefulness as a source of intelligence on ISIS to his Kurdish captors, he will be handed to Iraqi authorities for execution.
The beginning of the unraveling
Anderson correctly traces the beginning of the unraveling to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. (One can even go back to 1980 when the calamitous Iraqi invasion of Iran began and lasted 8 years, then lead to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, which in turn hastened the American invasion of Iraq). Anderson, rarely speaks directly, leaving that mission to his characters, but when he does, his observations are profound and jarring. “In my professional travels over the decades, I had found no other region to rival the Arab world in its utter stagnation.” He then focuses on the entrenched culture of grievances. “One of the Arab world’s most prominent and debilitating features, I had long felt, was a culture of grievance that was defined less by what people aspired to than by what they opposed. They were anti-Zionist, anti-West, anti-imperialist.” In his attempt to answer what went wrong, Anderson avoids providing “a single answer.” But he observes that the three countries that have disintegrated the most, “as to raise doubt that they will ever again exist as functioning states — Iraq, Syria and Libya — are all members of that small list of Arab countries created by Western imperial powers in the early 20th century.” While the lack of “national coherence” is a factor in the unraveling, one could say that if good, accountable governance was created, the outcome might have been different. In other words, the problem was not necessarily or exclusively in the artificial boundaries and weak national coherence, but precisely in what happened and did not happen within these boundaries that led to the great unraveling.

Judge Olympians on their achievements, not their hijabs
Peter Harrison/Al Arabiya/August 13/16
When Doaa Elghobashy stepped out onto the Olympic beach volleyball court this week, was it her skill the world noticed, or her technique that was critiqued?No, it was the fact that she was dressed in a hijab and full body suit, while her German opponents wore bikinis, that made the headlines. Meanwhile US fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad made history this week - why? Again it wasn’t her stride or some new technology she was bringing to the sport of fencing. Apparently she was the first hijab-wearing Muslim American woman to take part in the Olympics. I’m not going to bog myself down with the debate surrounding the rights and wrongs of whether women should cover. Nor will I dwell on if the hijab in some way represents the oppression of women – not yet. Suffice to say that none of the female competitors in the Olympics seem particularly oppressed to me. The Olympic games - I thought - was supposed to be a multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-faith and apolitical competition, in which people joined with a common purpose.
The Olympic games - I thought - was supposed to be a multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-faith and apolitical competition, in which people joined with a common purpose. It seems sad then that the focus of these women was not on their efforts in their chosen disciplines, but the fact that they were veiled. British newspaper the Daily Mail devoted an entire article to the Egyptian women’s beach volleyball team and their attire under the headline “The cover-ups versus the cover-nots” and referred to a ‘massive cultural divide between Western and Islamic women's teams’. Even the more moderate Independent website, when reporting on Egyptian weightlifter, Sara Ahmed as the first Arab woman to win an Olympic medal, eventually referred to her outfit. The article read: “Ahmed competed wearing a full-length unitard and sport’s hijab”. It added that this followed a ruling in 2011 allowing women to wear longer garments.
Is hijab coverage really a surprise?
But should we really be surprised at the amount of attention given to these women’s clothes over their achievements? Probably not. In 2011 just moments before the Iranian women’s football team were about to play Jordan in a London 2012 qualifier, they were told by FIFA officials that their hijabs were not permitted. They of course did not remove their headscarves, and as a result had to forfeit the match. The following year FIFA decided to lift the ban, and allow veiled women to compete. Society seems to have got itself torn between the notion that Muslims are either terrorists or oppressed - no one has considered the majority that are in fact simply moderates
Women have been judged for centuries based on their looks and what they wear, that is indisputable. But being Muslim seems to add fuel to that already towering inferno when they wear certain items of clothing. It seems quite ironic then that those who decry the hijab as a sign of oppression to women, are surely oppressing the very same women they seek to protect by failing to establish whether those people have made a personal choice to cover up. Society seems to have got itself torn between the notion that Muslims are either terrorists or oppressed - no one has considered the majority that are in fact simply moderates.
Just an article of clothing or a symbol?
Away from the sporting arena this week David Lisnard , the mayor of Cannes banned full body swimsuits known as ‘burkinis’ from the southern French town’s beach citing public order concerns. Mayor Lisnard said the outfits were a ‘symbol of Islamic extremism’ which might cause public unrest.It is worth asking yourself if, in the unlikely event that an Amish family arrived in Cannes and started bathing fully covered - as they do - would they attract so much attention? Or indeed find themselves being escorted off the beach? Last year European Muslim journalist Hanna Yusuf discussed the issue of why the headscarf was seen as the epitome of oppression. She raised the issue that the value of a woman was reduced to their ‘sexual allure’ and she said their empowerment could therefore best be gained by covering up. Yusuf also suggested the hijab was a ‘simple piece of clothing’ - this is something I don’t agree with. But that does not negate her argument that women who wear it through choice are not being oppressed. I have known several women who chose to cover and are no more oppressed or threat to society than I would consider myself to be. They are news editors at radio stations, website editors, MBA students and owners of highly successful websites, to mention just a few. I know other women who are not covered who are also highly successful. Their achievements lay not with what they wear, but the hard work and determination they have shown to succeed.
Surely these are qualities we should recognize in everyone, irrespective of whether they are male or female, covered or not? And when that’s someone who has made it into the Olympics – the world’s biggest sporting arena - then shouldn’t we be in awe, congratulating them for this achievement, rather than focusing on the clothes they wear?

The US Retreats, Russia Advances in Crises Square – Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey
Middle East Briefing/August 13/16
Things are happening very fast in the rectangle of Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. Rapid events in this geographic rectangle reveal the complexity of the situation there. The US, Russia, regional players, conflicting ideologies and interests, violence, haunting images, war, terrorism, destruction, are all only the surface manifestations of a very bloody and deeper multilateral confrontation.
Just a quick round up of the most recent events in this crisis quartet and their implications in regard to the regional positions of both the US and Russia:
* Syria:
The armed opposition in and around Aleppo achieved what everyone thought to be unachievable: Not only did they break the siege of the eastern part of the city, which was originally under their control, but they cordoned off the western part, repelled the Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah-Assad attack, recaptured the positions they had lost and took additional ones that were previously under the control of Assad and his allies.
The opposition succeeded in connecting with its fighters in eastern Aleppo. The following mission is to secure a supply route to provide them with the necessary means to carry on.
But the consequences of the battle for Aleppo will be far-reaching. The main question raised by the recent development around the old city could be framed as follows: If Jabhet Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as Nusra Front, is fighting in Aleppo now as an indistinguishable part of a multi-group force, and if the grounds of the Kerry-Lavrov deal is to fight Nusra and ISIL, wouldn’t it be a great service to Assad to bomb Nusra forces side by side with President Putin?
When the issue of coordination between the US and Russia is raised the immediate question to follow is: Cooperation on what grounds? To achieve what? Aleppo has made it clear once more that a military solution is no solution. This cooperation should be restricted to the area of finding a political solution through pressure, each on his side.
The US-Russia Plan B, which is the partition of Syria, will not work. We have just seen that Assad does not have enough muscle to take Aleppo back. How can anyone assume he will have the muscle to keep the entire western portion of Syria stable?
Also in Syria, the US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters has seized Manbij from ISIL. The next stop will be Raqqa, ISIL’s “capital”. Strong speculations are spreading among Syrians that the battle of Raqqa will start before the US presidential elections.
* Iraq:
The Iranian Quds Force Commander, Qassem Soleimani, arrived in Iraq on August 1 through a border crossing in Diyala Province, and then headed directly to Nineveh Province to inspect the terrain around Mosul. A spokesman for the Shia militias of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), or al-Hashd al-Shaabi as it is called in Arabic, Ahmed al-Assadi said that Soleimani is in Iraq “to command the forces that will liberate Mosul”.
Soleimani’s CV must be really impressive. This man led the forces which were killing American soldiers only ten years ago and now he sees yesterday’s enemies paving the way for him to conquer Mosul after its fall to a group of killers.
But Soleimani’s CV also tells a more ironic story. The US seems to have settled with Kurdistan at the condition of letting the Iranians do what they do in the rest of Iraq. Now, as ties between Washington and Ankara are tense, Washington is pondering moving its forces out of Incirlik base and building an alternative airbase close to Erbil.
Of course Soleimani will not go to Kurdistan. ISIL gave him the opportunity to pressure the world to help him control central Iraq. As for the south, it is already under control.
Russia has no tracks in Iraq. It does not need to. As long as the Iranians are clearing central Iraq from Islamists and south of Iraq from Americans, Russia will just have to wait.
While the US seems to be fighting to control a place just to give it up shortly after, it is now a rejected force in all of Iraq except Kurdistan, all of Syria except pockets here and there, and Iran and Turkey. Furthermore, its ties with the Arab Gulf States are problematic. So what Washington did is to knock on Moscow’s door as we have seen in the last few months.
There is no question that ISIL, as a “state”, will be defeated. The question is to whom will the US offer the victory. The obvious answer is: the Kurds. But this will mean that the US settles for a small patch of land after it had been the major power in the whole region. It is a lot of squandered capital to recuperate in a short period of time, if it is not lost forever.
* Turkey:
As mentioned in previous issues of Middle East Briefing, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has emerged more powerful from the failed coup attempt of July 15. Turkish relations with the West were among the main casualties of the coup attempt. We have already seen Erdoğan and Putin dancing together in Moscow. Each provides the other some space to breathe away from Western pressures.
It is possible that Turkish-US relations have now passed the line of no return. The damage done is great, starting from the utter failure to coordinate in Syria, to contradicting policies in Iraq, and then the Turkish suspicions that the US stands behind the failed coup.
One of the consequences of the failed coup may be a rapprochement between Ankara and Tehran. We will deal with this potential development in one of our future issues of MEB. But for the moment, it suffices to say that a stronger link between Iran and Turkey would lead to far-reaching changes on the strategic map of the Middle East. Washington may face an unfriendly, to say the least, camp forming quickly in the region and enhanced by Russian patronage. This will have an impact on the energy map as well and may place Russia in a privileged position in that part of the world.
* Iran:
While the US believes it has achieved a major success by achieving the nuclear deal with Tehran, it difficult to see how this deal represents a strategic success. Ending the 35-year enmity with Iran did not result in gaining a friend there. Rather, it resulted in losing many friends around the region.
Iran is closer to Moscow than to Washington. Admittedly, the Iranians and the Russians see things differently. But if Washington pressures Tehran for any reason, the Iranians know that they have a friend in Moscow. They will never shake the bridges with President Putin.
The clearer the picture becomes, the more we see how the US has lost the Middle East and how Russia is emerging as the key regional powerbroker there.

US-Saudi Relations: Where to?
Middle East Briefing/August 13/16
The last few years have been a watershed in the ties of the two close allies: Saudi Arabia and the United States. The question now is: Are there structural reasons in the future course of the two countries, defined by their interests and outlooks, which may end the tension between them? Is it simply a glitch caused by subjective views and policies in the two countries?
To locate the answer it is worthwhile to examine three particular moments in the Middle East during the last few years: The Arab Spring, the rise of political Islam and terrorism, and the Iranian nuclear deal.
In all three moments, Saudi Arabia and the US took divergent paths. Even in their joint fight against ISIL, Riyadh, which is indeed threatened by the terrorist group, has differed from Washington on how it sees this fight and how it links it to the internal situation in both Syria and Iraq. And even in the case of Iran’s nuclear deal, which Saudi Arabia endorsed half-heartedly, the two countries seem to have differed in the overall context in which the deal should be placed.
In these cases, where differences may look “partial” or like technicalities, the views of Saudi Arabia and the US reflect the fact that the two countries see things from totally different perspectives.
The chain of events in the region has torn the gloves off for disputes between the two governments. The restraint of each was already weakened by the end of the Cold War era and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The fact that those differences have burst out into the public theatre was distended to happen anyway. However, the spectacular way in which those disputes have manifested themselves was exacerbated by lack of sensitivity on both sides and by the blunder of invading Iraq.
In the case of extremism, the priority for Riyadh was to confront Iranian expansion through whatever force that can fight it. But it became obvious later that without finding a political solution in both Iraq and Syria, the problems of violent radicalism will not go away. In fact, placing the issue of the rise of Jihadism in a political context in both cases proved to be a reasonable point of view. The experience of Iraq supported this view, as al-Qaeda was replaced by ISIL as a result of the absence of a political solution in Baghdad. However, the Saudi approach could have been tempered by playing a more proactive and realistic role in the efforts to reach a political solution in the two countries.
The area of compromise between the US and Saudi Arabia could have been to agree to work together towards a political solution. Riyadh, however, saw the situation as a zero sum game, while Washington ended up with its “ISIL First” tactical approach.
For those who criticize Saudi Arabia as a “Wahhabi” country, it should be understood that this is the way it is. We cannot remake a country according to our own taste and preferences. The central issue is how to integrate a culture within the diversity of the global mosaic and how to resist any external imposition by this culture on the external world or vice versa. Gradual socio-economic reform moved Europe from the dark ages when religion was abused to modernity.
The same “disconnect” between Washington and its allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, occurred in the case of the nuclear talks with Iran. The Obama administration did not consult with regional powers transparently enough while engaging in the secret talks with Iran. It did not heed Saudi concerns relating to Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising. Prior to that, the Bush administration did not heed Saudi advice not to invade Iraq.
Briefly, what we have already seen was a deterioration of relations between two allies induced both by objective shifts on the ground, related to the content of their relations, and by subjective decisions made expressed through policies. This deterioration was not inevitable. It could have been mitigated through deliberate efforts from both sides.
The issue now is where is this old alliance heading? And here again, we see clearly that this question cannot be answered in the laboratories of “pure thought”. Rather, the answer will be shaped by the hammers of events occurring on the ground where the ties between the two allies are constructed, and by the recent history of their regional moves and differences of perspectives and the search of both to find grounds to compromise.
On the first plane, which is how things will evolve in Saudi Arabia and in the Middle East, we clearly see that the Kingdom is heading toward a totally different terrain in terms of its revenues and economy. The technology of shale oil and gas is in fact creating a structural shift in the global energy market. It more or less puts the brakes on pricing energy through its increasing participation in supplies.
While the price of crude now is almost half what it was in the spring of 1974 (inflation adjusted), the needs of the Saudi government have tripled. In mid-1974, oil prices hovered around the $11 level. Now crude is sold at $7.5 (in 1974 dollars).
The reform process should have started in the Kingdom in the early 80s, particularly as the Iranian revolution appeared to represent a profound change in the region’s strategic map. But it did not. It was not necessary to wait for a young Prince with a vision to do what should have been done decades ago.
But this reform will have a far-reaching social impact, which may lead to incidents that could impose themselves on the picture of the US-Saudi alliance. Habits are addictive. Dismantling an old social contract is way more difficult than establishing a new one.
Moreover, as regional events have subjected US-Saudi relations to their harshest test ever, the surprises in the Middle East are not over yet. The most obvious dimension of the regional transformation process that we currently see is the question of governance. Wherever there are troubles, there is either no governance structure or a weak central government with limited reach. But the issue of governance is just one face of a more profound and expansive malaise in the cultural, economic, and social lives of most of the regional countries.
The case of Syria or even Egypt has already proven that strong and oppressive central governments are not solutions to the issues of stability and development. So long as the cultural, economic, and social roots of the regional crisis are not tackled upfront, the convulsions we saw will continue and may very well be channeled into radical religious networks and sectarian conflicts, if only for lack of other ideological frameworks.
Both countries see the whole transformation process differently. The US set itself up for one disappointment after another, as it saw the whole process of regional transformation from the perspective of its own way of thinking and values. The Saudis also set themselves up for disappointments, since they saw the process from their own strategic obsession with the Iranian threat.
On the side of the US, lack of consistency seems to present the ties between Riyadh and Washington with another major test. From the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which was followed by Iran’s intervention there to kill Americans and then to de facto control the country, until signing the nuclear deal with that same Iran, which considers the US an unwanted power in the Middle East, one can lose track between the many zigzags of US Middle East policies.
In between, the US considered Mubarak a close ally then asked him to step down; considered Assad a reformer, then asked him to step down, before changing its mind and working with the Russians to preserve him on top of Syria; turned the page with Qaddafi, promising a new start after the settlement of the Lockerbie bomber case, and then it bombed him to death; considered Iraq’s former PM Nouri al-Maliki the “best option we have”, as VP Biden said, then worked to get him to step down; and imposed severe sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program, before signing a deal that allows Tehran to continue the very same nuclear program at the condition of only refraining from taking the final step towards making the bomb.
Naturally, the US has its own calculations to serve its proper interests. But it will remain a puzzle to many that Washington can change directions this fast, all the while preserving a fixed set of the same interests, or that it can sacrifice its net of alliances this easily.
For better or worse, the US has to determine clearly where it stands, and not try to have the cake and eat it too. Predictability in international relations is as important as trust. If a country is not predictable, how could it be trusted? Furthermore, changes within any given country happen according to actions by indigenous forces and not according to any wishful thinking in Washington or anywhere else.
What is needed now, urgently in fact, is that the US specifies to its allies in the Middle East, in the clearest terms possible, where it stands on the many pressing regional issues. In the particular case of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh has had its share of reactive steps and even mistakes sometimes. A candid dialogue between the two sides should start once the new administration assumes power in Washington.
This dialogue should clarify the exact position of the new administration on pressing regional issues as they currently exist and as they may evolve. There is no room for deception or double talk between allies. The limits of the two countries’ divergences and convergences should be laid out in advance, and each has to act accordingly. An alliance does not mean always having identical views; it is also a mechanism to manage differences in a way that does not cause damage to the main interests of either of its parties.
US-Saudi relations are either going to improve or deteriorate even more. The turmoil in the region and the importance of the two countries does not support any assumption that these relations will remain static while standing on shifting sands. It is now that a foundation for the future of the two countries’ ties should be established in a flexible way to accommodate for differences as well as for agreements.

Obama Re-enters the Libya War
Middle East Briefing/August 13/16
On August 1, the US Air Force conducted targeted bombings of Sirte, Libya, flying out of the Naval Air Station at Sigonella, Sicily. President Obama personally announced the beginning of the bombing campaign, which was requested by the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), the United Nations-backed regime, which was installed in Tripoli earlier this year, but which is virtually powerless and dependent on the support of rival militias. President Obama claimed authority to order the bombings without prior Congressional authorization, under the Authorization of the Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters that the bombing campaign was open-ended: “We don’t have an end point at this particular moment in time.”
President Obama’s decision to approve the bombing campaign came at the recommendation of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford. They made the recommendation based on the assessment that, while the Islamic State (ISIL) had been weakened in Libya, the ground offensive, led by the Misrata militia Libyan Dawn and the Petroleum Facilities Guards, to drive ISIL totally out of Sirte, had grounded to a halt.
Global Risk Insights, a London-based risk assessments firm, noted that the invitation to the US to launch the bombing campaign would be widely unpopular, and this was a sign of growing strength and confidence on the part of the GNA, that they were willing to make such a decision, regardless of the backlash. President Obama was persuaded of the need to conduct the open-ended bombing operations against ISIL, partly on the grounds that there was a growing risk of a new wave of refugees flooding into Southern Europe, if ISIL were able to establish a strong operational base in North Africa.
Pentagon officials made clear that the bombing runs will be “regular, but infrequent,” and are the most visible feature of a broader US engagement in Libya that is largely covert. The US, in league with Egypt, is continuing to provide military support to General Khalifa Haftar, who is conducting a war against militias in eastern Libya, which have been linked to the September 11, 2012 attack on the US compound in Benghazi, in which US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American officials were killed.
The current US policy towards Libya is based on the overtly optimistic assessment that, while the GNA is today virtually powerless, with outside support it can gradually build a national military out of the warring militias over the next several years, and ultimately establish a central government over a loosely confederated Libya. In the near-term, the complete defeat of the Islamic State is crucial to that long-term objective.
The Obama administration and Pentagon planners acknowledge that the policy will take a decade or more to realize, and they are hoping that some lessons learned from the long war experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria can be applied successfully to the Libyan situation, which has been chaotic since the US-backed overthrow of Qaddafi nearly five years ago. But they cite the recent release from house arrest of Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the once-powerful son of the deposed dictator, as evidence that Libya has not degenerated into revenge killings. The US hopes that negotiations among rival tribal groupings can lead to a gradual broadening of the areas under GNA control—without the need for foreign ground troops. The US will not repeat the fatal error it made in Iraq, of dismantling the entire Baathist governing apparatus, as well as the armed forces.
Achieving any measure of stability in Libya, whether or not ISIL is decisively defeated and driven out of the country, is a very tall order. ISIL has recruited from the veterans of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), including from Afghan mujahideen veterans who next fought in Syria against Bashar al-Assad’s government, before returning home to Libya. They were joined by Tunisians who were also affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
There is growing concern that, if the US bombing operations do lead to the defeat of ISIL in Sirte, the fighters will regroup across the border in Tunisia and continue to destabilize the region. There have been recent border clashes between the Tunisian Army and ISIL fighters at Ben Guerdane, just inside Tunisia.
In eastern Libya, despite the US and Egyptian covert support for General Haftar’s self-described Libyan National Army, the situation has by no means been stabilized. After bombing raids against Benghazi, a series of car bombings took place in the Guwarsha and Ganfouda neighborhoods of the city.
When the GNA was first installed earlier this year, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj issued Decree No. 1, declaring that all of the militias would be under civilian government command. However, both the Libyan National Army of General Haftar and the Petroleum Facilities Guards led by Ibrahim Jadhran were exempted from that order, making it almost meaningless. The Misrata militias under Salah Badi have aligned with the GNA, but the al-Sarraj government is more a captive to than the master of that arrangement. In the Tripoli area, there continue to be periodic conflicts between the Haitham Tajouri militia and the forces under former LIFG leader Abdelhakim Belhaj. Recently, militias entered the Ain Zara Prison south of Tripoli and murdered 12 prisoners who had been pardoned by the GNA before they could be released.
As uncertain and dangerous as the Libya situation remains, some US intelligence officials are becoming even more worried about the ISIL expansion in the Sinai Desert in Egypt, than they are about ISIL’s resilience in Libya and other parts of the Maghreb.
With limited resources, and with uncertainty about the policies of the next US administration, the Obama administration’s efforts are being driven by near-term tactical developments—despite the lofty and perhaps overly-optimistic formulations presented by the US President and his inner circle. As one critic warned, “Obama is all about personal legacy at this time, and that can lead to some grave errors in judgment.”

The Future of the GCC: Some Preliminary Thoughts
Middle East Briefing/August 13/16
The rise of Iran, just a stone’s throw from the Arab Gulf countries, combined with the fall of oil prices which pressures those countries to diversify their economies, and the threats of regional instability, all this together is destined to leave an impact on the cohesion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Recently, the Foreign Minister of Oman, Yusuf bin Alawi, criticized a country he did not name when he said to the Russia Today TV station last month that “It is unacceptable that an Arab country engages in problems and crises then asks us to help to get it out of its impasse.” While the Minister gave the example of Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, social media commentary insists he meant Saudi Arabia.
What is needed is a structural analysis not only of the principal challenges facing the GCC in the next few years, but also the effects of the fact that those challenges are emerging simultaneously to enhance and reinforce each other.
The current security environment in that part of the world is threatening in and of itself, just as it is threatening in its consequences within the GCC. It is known that not all members of the GCC see eye to eye in all the twists and turns that confront the group today. To what extent could that also be a dangerous security and political challenge? And how are internal differences likely to evolve in the new unstable regional environment?
The combination of Iran’s breaking out of its isolation and the need for economic and political reform seem to be the main aspects that will define the course of the GCC in the next couple of decades. The effects of regional instability are ultimately an auxiliary factor that depends in effect on the internal cohesion of the GCC. In other words, while regional stability enhances the GCC immune system, this system is primarily a function of the stability and strength of the GCC itself.
In the first challenge, which is Iran’s rise as regional power, the consequences could be seriously divisive if looked at from the various views within the GCC. Some countries in the group have had thriving traditional trade relations with Iran for decades. Iran does not see unity within the GCC as a particularly positive feature. It is expected that Tehran will not pull any trick to spread disunity with the Arab group.
The problem here is that no one in the region trusts the Iranians, and in fact, no one should. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has a long record in tactics used to erode the national unity of any country it targets, let alone the unity of a group of countries. The choice would be to either engage in wider trade relations with a sanctions-free Tehran or keep a distance from Iran.
But any collective approach to deal with Iran should be structured in a way that accommodates the views of all members of the GCC. It is not only Iran that may play a divisive role, it is also any attempt from within the GCC to impose a policy devised from the perspective of one member and offered as a de facto collective policy. Imposing one point of view on all members is an easy road to weakening the GCC from within.
This choice should always be concluded by strengthening the GCC as a prior step before anything else. A stronger GCC is different than preserving the GCC. For it is difficult to conceive of a break in this group. But just preserving it in appearance is different than giving it a vibrant and dynamic quality. The group should move towards consolidating its unity productively with more vigor in regard to the potential threats faced by all members and by wide scaled internal talks to define an area of compromise and build a joint policy accepted by all members.
Even if it is certain that a detente with Iran is bound to happen at some point in the future, it is clear that this point will be reached sooner if the Iranians face a solid unity on the other shore of the Gulf.
Therefore, strengthening the GCC is a precondition not only for enjoying an independent trade policy with Iran but also for seeking a regional security arrangement that puts all regional governments on the same page in terms of preserving stability and security and achieving the economic development required.
An Iran free of sanctions will represent a temptation to reduce progress towards economic integration among GCC countries. This should be avoided. The goal of economic reform transcends any other issue if looked at from the point of view of future GCC stability.
The most reasonable agenda for the GCC members in the current delicate juncture, as one hopes to see, may include the following points:
Individual economic reform carefully measured not to cause any security risks or social backlash. A phased–out welfare state is possible if based on long–term (two to three decades) calculated steps. Economic reform must also be structured with an eye on inter-GCC trade.
Enhancing GCC economic integration not only to facilitate economic reform but also as a strengthening factor for the unity of the group.
In cases of differences in policies, which is natural and sometimes even healthy, transparency is the order of the day.
No country should imagine that the others are less important. The GCC is like a puzzle board made of several pieces. Without any, the puzzle is not solved.
Approaching Iran, whatever the selected approach, must always be a collective and jointly agreed-upon step. The policy towards Iran in particular must be collective. It should be debated within the GCC and possibly with global allies. But at the end of the day, it must be signed by all members.
Collective defense is already there, but there is still room for many instrumental improvements.
The GCC can turn into the locomotive of economic development in the Middle East if it transforms its economies to self-sustaining economies regardless of oil prices or with minimal ties to the ups and downs of energy markets. The UAE has already gone a long distance on that road and the Saudis are heading the same way.
But at all moments no one should forget that the GCC is like a boat. None of the group’s members can claim his corner as his own property and pierce a hole in it while saying that he is free to do whatever he pleases in his own sphere. For if the boat sinks, all passengers will perish one after the other, starting with whoever sank the boat in the first place.
The GCC is faced with a tough juncture and mounting challenges. Either the members let it weaken in content (as it is unlikely that we shall ever hear that it has ceased to exist), or strengthen it even more. The prudent policy is to reinforce the cohesion of the forum. This will enhance the security of all members and affirm the leading role of the group in a region passing through one of its most critical moments for decades.