LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 03/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

Bible Quotations For Today
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him. Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 02/,36-41: "There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him. Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover."

I hope you will understand until the end. as you have already understood us in part that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.
Second Letter to the 01/08-14: "We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted to us through the prayers of many. Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with frankness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God and all the more towards you. For we write to you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end. as you have already understood us in part that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 03/16
Lebanon holds breath for deal to export trash abroad/Florence Massena/Al-Monitor/February 02/16
Hamas: The "Merchants of War" Who Seek to Destroy Israel/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/February 02/16
Breaking the silence in Yemen/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
Is ISIS making itself heard in Geneva/Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
Covering the statues is not all about ‘modesty’/Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
The Saudi labor ‘shop’ should close, undergo reforms/Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
Clinton’s road to power is paved with email scandal/Caitlin Miller/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
Kuwaiti Columnist, Dr. Ibtihal Al-Khatib: State Schools In Arab Countries Should Abolish Religious Studies/MIMRI/February 02/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on February 03/16
Aoun’s bloc slams alleged exclusion of Christians
Sami Gemayel Not Seeking 'Understanding Paper' with Hizbullah, Says Alliances among March 14 Parties Have Collapsed
U.S. arrests Hezbollah members on charges of sending drug money to Syria
Five Czechs missing in Lebanon since July have been found
U.S.: Hizbullah Members Arrested in Drug Money-Weapons Plot
Amnesty: Syria Refugee Women in Lebanon Face Abuse, Exploitation
Cabinet Approves Funding for Municipal Elections, to Address Samaha Case Next Week
Mustaqbal Slams Nasrallah's Stance on Presidency as Part of Iran's 'Regional Agenda'
Berri Accuses Geagea of Manipulation after Aoun's Endorsement
Change and Reform Threatens 'Massive Popular Rejection' over 'Injustice' in State Institutions
Officials Highlight Need to Conduct Municipal Elections on Time
Report: Russia Assures Israel No Arms Transferred to Hizbullah
Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanese Presidential Elections are “Frozen”
Lebanon holds breath for deal to export trash abroad

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 03/16
Iran ex-president criticizes disqualification of candidates
Syrian army, allies gain more ground north of Aleppo
Syria peace talks falter as army presses Aleppo
Syrian Refugee Teachers Help Fill the Education Gap in Lebanon
Canada condemns latest Boko Haram attack on civilians
Clinton Campaign Claims Iowa Caucus Victory
Israeli military reopens Ramallah after closure
Report: 9 migrants, including 2 children, drown off Turkey
Pentagon chief unveils extra funds to counter Russia, fight ISIS
Jordan needs international help over refugee crisis: King Abdullah
Nations discuss how to snuff out ISIS in Libya
Israel demolishes buildings in southern West Bank
Tunisia police and militants clash leaving two dead

Links From Jihad Watch Site for February 03/16
France: 6 converts to Islam plotted jihad mass murder at swingers clubs
Sweden: Memorial for murdered social worker banned to avoid upsetting Muslim migrants
Egypt: Christian students on trial for insulting Islam — for mocking the Islamic State
In Egypt, officials incite — and then cite — Muslim violence as reason not to renovate or build churches
Raymond Ibrahim: U.S. Military Denies ISIS Targets Christians
Muslims in the UK top 3 million, some parts of London almost 50% Muslim

Aoun’s bloc slams alleged exclusion of Christians
Feb. 03, 2016/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform parliamentary bloc Tuesday decried alleged exclusion of Christians from key posts in the civil service – including the Finance Ministry and some security agencies – and a lack of development projects in Christian areas, saying it is contrary to the country’s National Pact. The bloc’s stance came days after Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil was reported to have replaced a Maronite Christian with a Shiite at a top post at his ministry. “We are feeling with our hands and seeing with our eyes the inequality [against Christians] taking place in development [projects] and the administration, which has reached a point where no citizen can tolerate this spiteful and arbitrary behavior in some ministries,” former Minister Salim Jreissati of the Free Patriotic Movement told reporters following the bloc’s weekly meeting chaired by Aoun at his residence in Rabieh, north of Beirut. “It’s enough to turn to the administration to find inequality in some departments and some security agencies,” he said, adding: “It’s enough, for instance, to mention the reported appointments at the Finance Ministry and what’s going on at the Directorate General of State Security.” Khalil was reported to have endorsed appointments at the ministry, appointing Mohammad Sleiman, a Shiite, as the head of the senior taxpayers section, replacing Bassema Antonious, a Maronite. Responding to the Finance Ministry’s appointments, the Maronite Church warned Sunday against attempts to marginalize Christians from key civil service posts, saying this amounted to a breach of the 1943 National Pact’s rules regarding distribution of public jobs between Muslims and Christians.
Khalil later Tuesday responded to the statement issued by Aoun’s bloc by accusing its ministers of “fabricating stories to cover up its ministers’ irregularities.” He said he was surprised that the bloc was basing its position on “what was said” in the media regarding the appointments without verifying it.
“Preserving the balance in favor of the Christians is a trust and a responsibility we hold in our movement. So enough [political] outbidding,” said Khalil, who belongs to the Amal Movement, headed by Speaker Nabih Berri. Khalil neither confirmed nor denied the personnel change.
In his statement, Jreissati warned of nationwide public protests over the absence of balanced development projects. “Everyone knows that our [Christian] areas are reeling under a financial and development blockade, making balanced development far-fetched,” he said. “This matter infringes on the National Pact and the Constitution’s preamble, something which we will not accept.”Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai has also denounced what he termed the “persistent violation” of the National Pact’s requirements with regard to the distribution of key civil service jobs, and urged Prime Minister Tammam Salam to intervene to protect unity and coexistence. Father Tony Khadra, head of Labora, a Lebanese nonprofit affiliated with the Maronite Church that follows the key posts allotted to Christians in the civil service, said his institute would raise the issue of sectarian balance at the ministries. He said the problem was not with the finance minister, but rather with the post, previously held by a Maronite, which was allotted to a Shiite. “The promotion of Bassema Antonious to a second-category job and the appointment of Mohammad Sleiman in her place is a loss for a new Christian post in state departments, whereby a Christian should have been appointed instead of a Shiite,” Khadra told MTV.

Sami Gemayel Not Seeking 'Understanding Paper' with Hizbullah, Says Alliances among March 14 Parties Have Collapsed
Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel announced Tuesday that his party is not seeking a so-called "paper of understanding" with Hizbullah, downplaying recent media reports about the ties between the two parties. "We're not seeking an understanding paper with Hizbullah," Gemayel said during a meeting with a group of reporters that he invited to Kataeb's headquarters in Saifi. “The communication started three years ago and we do not sever ties with anyone,” Gemayel noted. He also described the media reports about Kataeb's relation with Hizbullah as a “media campaign against Kataeb's stance on the presidential issue.”“It aims to tarnish Kataeb's image and give the impression that it has a hidden agenda that contradicts with its public statements,” Gemayel added.
“We meet every now and then with Hizbullah to explore whether they have something new. We are waiting for Hizbullah to become convinced of the need to Lebanonize the political situation,” Kataeb's chief went on to say. “There is a structural problem and the party is still not ready to discuss us it but we are waiting,” Gemayel added, noting that there is no “systematic dialogue” with Hizbullah. Turning to Kataeb's stance on the presidential nominations of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh, Gemayel said Kataeb has not received any answers from the FPM and Marada to the questions it has asked and accordingly it cannot back any of them in the presidential race. “Consensus cannot happen according to the equation 'either a March 8 candidate or no president at all.' This is not democracy but rather dictatorship and (Hizbullah chief) Sayyed (Hassan) Nasrallah's remarks contained something that is against democracy,” Gemayel added, referring to Nasrallah's latest stance on the presidential issue.
Nasrallah had underlined during a televised speech on Friday that Hizbullah and Aoun's Change and Reform bloc will not end their boycott of electoral sessions unless Aoun's election as president becomes guaranteed. Dismissing the suggestion that the country needs a so-called “strong president,” Gemayel added: “If a strong president wants to lead you into a mass suicide, would you endorse such a strong president?” “Who said that a strong president must necessarily belong to March 8 or March 14? Can't he be a strong consensual president? For example, isn't ex-president Amin Gemayel both consensual and strong?” Gemayel asked. “Bkirki's remarks are not true and the statements never mentioned that the president must be one of the four,” Gemayel added, referring to the country's top four Maronite leaders – Aoun, Franjieh, Amin Gemayel and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of successor. Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Franjieh as president.His initiative was met with reservations and objections from the country's main Christian parties as well as insistence from Hizbullah on supporting Aoun's presidential bid. Geagea, Hariri's ally in the March 14 camp, was himself a presidential candidate when Hariri made his proposal and some observers have said that the LF leader has recently nominated Aoun for the presidency as a “reaction” to Hariri's proposal -- a claim Geagea has denied. Asked about the March 14 coalition on Tuesday, Gemayel said “what's left of March 14 are the principles, whereas the alliances have all 'exploded.'” “No one has a strategy anymore, the alliances have suffered a lot and there is a confidence crisis among all parties,” he explained.“Each political party now has its own independent policies and March 14 has surrendered to the blackmail that the Lebanese are being subjected to,” Gemayel added.

U.S. arrests Hezbollah members on charges of sending drug money to Syria
Reuters, Washington Tuesday, 2 February 2016/Members of the Hezbollah militant group were arrested on charges they used millions of dollars from the sale of cocaine in the United States and Europe to purchase weapons in Syria, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said on Monday. Hezbollah has sent fighters to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s almost five-year-old civil war. It is designated a terrorist organization by the United States. Those arrested include leaders of the network’s European cell, who were taken into custody last week, the DEA statement said. Among them was Mohamad Noureddine, who the DEA accuses of being a Lebanese money launderer for Hezbollah’s financial arm. The United States has labeled Noureddine a specially designated global terrorist, it said. The DEA did not give the total number of those arrested or say where they were apprehended. The investigation “once again highlights the dangerous global nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism,” the statement said. Seven countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, were involved in the investigation that began in February 2015 and is ongoing. The U.S. Treasury Department last week imposed sanctions against Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine, another alleged Hezbollah money launderer. Noureddine’s Trade Point International also was placed under sanctions.

Five Czechs missing in Lebanon since July have been found
Reuters, Prague/Beirut Tuesday, 2 February 2016/ Five Czech citizens who went missing in Lebanon in July are now with the Lebanese security services, a security source told Reuters on Monday. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the five, who went missing in eastern Lebanon last year, were found late on Monday. “We will send a plane for them as soon as possible,” the Czech foreign minister, Lubomir Zaoralek, on a visit to Oman, said on his Twitter account. The disappearance, which Czech authorities treated as a possible kidnapping, may have been related to organized crime and the drugs and arms trade, Lebanon's interior minister said in July. One of the missing Czechs was an attorney to Ali Fayad, a man of Lebanese origin who was in custody in the Czech Republic awaiting a decision on a U.S. extradition request. The United States has accused Fayad of trying to sell arms and drugs to the Colombian guerrilla group FARC. His Czech lawyer has travelled to Lebanon several times in relation to the case, according to his office. The abandoned vehicle of the five Czech nationals and one Lebanese man who went missing was found near Kefraya, in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, in July. This incident was near to where seven Estonian cyclists were kidnapped in 2011 and held for four months. Neither the security source nor the Czech ministry said if the Lebanese driver had also been found.

U.S.: Hizbullah Members Arrested in Drug Money-Weapons Plot
Naharnet/February 02/16/The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced on Monday the arrest of Hizbullah members on charges of using millions of dollars from the sale of cocaine in the U.S. and Europe to purchase weapons in Syria. The arrests targeted a Hizbullah network that provides "a revenue and weapons stream ... responsible for devastating terror attacks around the world," DEA Acting Deputy Administrator Jack Riley said in a statement. Seven countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, were involved in the operation, which apprehended four individuals. The investigation began last February, with the DEA saying that additional arrests were likely. This investigation is a result of leads developed during the probe into the Lebanese Canadian Bank, it said. The Lebanese subsidiary of Societe Generale (SGBL) acquired the assets of the Lebanese Canadian Bank in 2011, after the latter was accused by Washington of money laundering and ties to Hizbullah. Hizbullah has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support the regime of President Bashar Assad against rebels seeking to topple him.The party is officially labeled a terrorist group by the U.S.

Amnesty: Syria Refugee Women in Lebanon Face Abuse, Exploitation
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 02/16/Tightened restrictions and plummeting international aid have left Syrian refugee women in Lebanon more vulnerable to exploitation including sexual harassment, rights group Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday. Released ahead of a key donor conference for Syria in London this week, the report urges greater financial support and more resettlement opportunities for Syrian refugees from the international community. Amnesty said 70 percent of the more than one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon were living well below the local poverty line.
Those refugees who receive assistance have faced cuts as donor funds to the United Nations have consistently fallen short of its needs.Amnesty said women refugees in particular faced exploitation. It said many reported being paid pitiful wages, charged exorbitant rents, and facing sexual harassment at the hands of bosses and even the police. "Whether they are underpaid at work or living in dirty, rat-infested, leaking homes, the lack of financial stability causes immense difficulties for women refugees and encourages people in positions of power to take advantage of them," said Amnesty gender researcher Kathryn Ramsay. Tightened restrictions have left many refugees unable to renew their residency permits and mean they are living in Lebanon illegally, making them reluctant to report abuses, the group said. Lebanon has struggled to deal with an influx of refugees that now represents a quarter of its four-million-strong population, and last year began making it harder for Syrian refugees to stay. The rights group acknowledged the pressures the refugee crisis has created in Lebanon, but urged the government to ease the restrictions. "Instead of contributing to the climate of fear and intimidation, the Lebanese authorities must urgently amend their policies to ensure women refugees are protected," Ramsay said. Amnesty also called on the international community to do more, saying the shortfall in international funding was contributing directly to the exploitation that many face. "The world's wealthiest countries... all need to do much more to alleviate this crisis," Ramsay said. As well as boosting humanitarian support to those in Syria and refugees in the region they must also offer to share responsibility for the crisis by resettling more refugees."The group urged nations attending Thursday's donor conference to pledge enough to meet the U.N.'s funding needs for refugees over the next year. More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. The war has displaced over half of the country's population, including more than four million who have fled abroad, becoming refugees.

Cabinet Approves Funding for Municipal Elections, to Address Samaha Case Next Week
Naharnet/February 02/16/The government approved on Tuesday the funding of the upcoming municipal elections, announced Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq. This decision also includes the staging of the parliamentary by-elections in the southern region of Jezzine, he said in a statement. The by-elections are aimed at electing a replacement for MP Michel Helou, who passed away in 2014. The cabinet, which had convened at the Grand Serail on Tuesday morning, failed however to adopt the full-time employment of the Civil Defense volunteers. Members of the Civil Defense consequently blocked roads in several regions, including Beirut, to protest the government's inaction in their case. The cabinet also failed to refer the case of former Minister Michel Samaha to Judicial Council as demanded by Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi. Telecommunications Ministry Butros Harb said after the cabinet meeting that the issue will be referred to the Judicial Council during the next government session. Information Minister Ramzi Jreij explained that the cabinet “did not have enough time” to address the Samaha case, but it will be tackled next week. The government will meet again on February 10 and 11, he told reporters. Samaha was released from jail in early January, sparking outrage in the country after he was caught red-handed in 2012 while transporting explosives from Syria for the purpose of carrying out attacks in Lebanon. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. Rifi had vowed that he will take necessary measures to ensure that justice is met in this affair.

Mustaqbal Slams Nasrallah's Stance on Presidency as Part of Iran's 'Regional Agenda'
Naharnet/February 02/16/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday deplored Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest stance on the presidential issue, blasting it as part of an Iranian “regional agenda.”In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said Nasrallah's remarks indicate that “Hizbullah wants to continue usurping the Lebanese parliament's will through preventing it from electing a president.”“He is asking the Lebanese to choose between appointing (Change and Reform bloc chief) General Michel Aoun as president or facing continued presidential vacuum,” Mustaqbal added.
It accused Hizbullah of “using Lebanon's presidential void to serve Iran's regional agenda and interests.”Mustaqbal's stance comes a few days after Nasrallah stressed that Iran “has not and will not interfere” in Lebanon's presidential elections. Nasrallah also underlined during a televised speech on Friday that Hizbullah and the Change and Reform bloc will not end their boycott of electoral sessions unless Aoun's election as president becomes guaranteed. On Tuesday, al-Mustaqbal bloc reiterated its call for electing a president “without any procrastination and according to the mechanism stipulated by the Constitution.”
“The upcoming electoral session on February 8 is the real test for everyone's credibility and it will show who truly wants the election of a new president,” Mustaqbal added. It stressed that “Hizbullah's control over the state's role and institutions and its totalitarian practices and methods will inevitably fail” seeing as Lebanon is “a democratic, pluralistic country.” Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of successor. Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh as president. His initiative was met with reservations and objections from the country's main Christian parties as well as insistence from Hizbullah on supporting Aoun's presidential bid. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Hariri's ally in the March 14 camp, was himself a presidential candidate when Hariri made his proposal and some observers have said that the LF leader has recently nominated Aoun for the presidency as a “reaction” to Hariri's proposal -- a claim Geagea has denied.

Berri Accuses Geagea of Manipulation after Aoun's Endorsement
Naharnet/February 02/16/Speaker Nabih Berri has accused Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea of manipulating politicians after he became incapacitated to launch verbal attacks on his long-time rival Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun. “Geagea is sitting up there and manipulating us,” he said about the LF chief's residence in the mountainous town of Maarab. “He is no longer capable of attacking Aoun as he used to do,” Berri told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Tuesday. Last week, Geagea's support for the candidacy of Aoun sparked a war of words between the LF chief and the Speaker. Berri reiterated that the presidential polls have been “put in the freezer,” ruling out the election of a new head of state at the February 8 session following the divisions that emerged after Geagea's endorsement of Aoun. The speaker, who is backing Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh along with al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri for the country’s top Christian post, denied that the lawmaker's nomination was made by Lebanon's Muslims. “This claim is baseless,” said Berri.“From the beginning, we had limited choices.”The only candidates were Aoun, Franjieh, Geagea and former Kataeb chief Amin Gemayel, he said, calling the situation as “undemocratic.”“Lawmakers should head to the parliament and vote for their candidate. Whoever wins becomes president,” Berri told the newspaper. Following Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's announcement last week of his party's “ethical and political commitment” to Aoun, the presidential race became limited between the Change and Reform chief and Franjieh, said Berri.

Change and Reform Threatens 'Massive Popular Rejection' over 'Injustice' in State Institutions
Naharnet/February 02/16/The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc warned Tuesday that it might resort to popular protests to address perceived discrimination against Christians in state institutions and in the implementation of developmental projects. “The injustice in development and administration has reached an extent that no citizen can tolerate and this is a malicious approach,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. “There is also unfairness in the ministries, including a ministry that deals with security,” it said. “The reported appointments at the Ministry of Finance despite the finance minister's promises and what is happening at the General Directorate of State Security are rejected practices that indicate the presence of marginalization,” the bloc lamented. It added: “Our regions are under a developmental and financial siege and we will not tolerate this violation against the National Pact and the Constitution's preamble.”“We're on the verge of massive popular rejection through the available democratic means,” the bloc warned. Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil was quick to hit back at Change and Reform's accusations about the appointments of Christian employees at the ministry. “I'm surprised that a parliamentary bloc has based its stance on reports and that it is fabricating stories to cover up for its ministers' violations and their evasion of direct debate in cabinet,” he said.“Preserving balance for the sake of Christians is a responsibility that we have been shouldering in our (AMAL) Movement,” he stressed.

Officials Highlight Need to Conduct Municipal Elections on Time
Naharnet/February 02/16/Politicians have asserted the need to hold the municipal elections which are slated for later this year on time over concerns that they would face the same fate as the parliamentary elections. Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq had therefore assured that the elections will be held on time and that the term of the current councils will not be extended. “All political factions have publicly approved the need to have the elections held on time. Some have even been enthusiastic about the idea,” he told As Safir daily on Tuesday. He stressed that the ministry is ready for the polls and that “the terms of the current municipal councils will not extended.” Mashnouq called on everyone to “be prepared and to act on the basis of the fact that the elections are inevitable.”For his part, Speaker Nabih Berri told al-Joumhouria daily: “Amal movement and Hizbullah have started readying for the elections three weeks ago.”He slammed media reports claiming that Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal oppose the elections, stating: “It was said that two major parties are the ones opposing the elections, and they meant Hizbullah and Mustaqbal. But according to the information we have, these two parties want the elections to take place.”Education Minister Elias Bou Saad had warned against paralyzing the elections: “We will face a state of vacuum at the municipal councils if anyone wishes to postpone them.” As Safir stated that ambassadors of Britain, France, U.S., Germany, representatives of the European Union and the Secretary General of the United Nations had insisted during meetings with Lebanese officials the need to conduct the elections. “It is not permissible for the exercise of democracy including, the municipal elections, to be absent from the ancient traditions of a country like Lebanon known for its democracy,” they said. Allocating the necessary funds for the said elections will be discussed during the cabinet session slated on Tuesday. The first stage of the polls will kick off early in May.

Report: Russia Assures Israel No Arms Transferred to Hizbullah
Naharnet/February 02/16/Russia has assured Israel that it has not transferred arms to Hizbullah as part of its military operations in Syria, Israel’s ambassador to Moscow said. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Ambassador Zvi Heifetz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that Moscow’s claim was sparked by an international media report asserting that Russia was supplying arms to Hizbullah. Last month, The Daily Beast quoted Hizbullah field commanders as saying that they are receiving heavy weapons directly from Russia. The commanders reportedly claimed there was full coordination between the Assad regime in Damascus, Iran, Hizbullah, and Russia. But the Russian Ambassador in Tel Aviv stressed that the authorities in Moscow conducted an internal investigation of the issue and verified that no arms were passed from Russian troops in Syria to Hizbullah, Haaretz quoted a unnamed lawmaker as saying. Since Russia began an air campaign in Syria four months ago backing President Bashar Assad's troops, government forces have taken dozens of towns and villages under cover of Russian airstrikes.

Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanese Presidential Elections are “Frozen”
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 02/16
Beirut- Lebanese Speaker of the Parliament, Nabih Berri, ruled out the possibility of any positive developments on the suit of presidency, despite the presence of two prime candidates for the elections. Berri, in declarations made to Asharq Al-Awsat, considered that the suit on Lebanese presidential elections is short to being “frozen” in the meantime. Especially after the latest announcement of the head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, naming the Free Patriotic Movement’s founder Michel Aoun for presidency, after the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Al-Hariri, who also is a major role player in the March 14 coalition, had named Suleiman Frangieh for candidacy. On the case of regional developments, especially those evolving in Syria, Berri refused to link them to the Lebanese presidency file. Speaker of Parliament Berri answered those who considered Frangieh’s candidacy as set on behalf of the Muslims of Lebanon, saying that such assumptions are not valid and completely driven out of context. The Muslims of Lebanon were faced with a specific bracket comprising four Christian representative candidates to choose from, that which conflicts with the bases of democracy and the role of Parliament, Berri explained.Parliament is supposed to function via deputies attending a session in which they elect a president. However, Berri’s proclamations referred to the fact that the Lebanese presidential candidacy already had to function within the limits subjected by the four deep-seated Maronite party leaders. When the question of the presidential elections being strung out on the assemblage Hezbollah was looking for to proceed, Berri stated that Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, has abandoned the initiative in whole. Nonetheless, Berri said that he is still within its frame of work, and will continue to present it at the sessions for discussions. He also pointed out that he is working hard to put governmental work into effect for its re-launch. In the ball park, Berri was astounded at the paradigmatic campaign being carried out suggesting that Amal Movement, which he heads, is a tool in the hands of Hezbollah, which in turn is using it to cover their disinclination for Aoun running for President. After Geagea’s withdrawal to his arch enemy Aoun, Berri’s cynicism pointed out that Geagea, residing now in his HQ in the mountainous town of Merab, would be enjoying the show, after he rendered inept to proceed with his habit of attacking Aoun.

Lebanon holds breath for deal to export trash abroad
Florence Massena/Al-Monitor/February 02/16
It has been six months since Lebanon's garbage crisis began in July, after the closure of the Naameh landfill and the end of the Lebanese state's contract with Sukleen, the company in charge of transporting the garbage. Still no garbage treatment and storage solution has been found by the Chehayeb Commission, led by Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb since September to address the garbage piling up in the streets.
Instead, the Cabinet announced on Dec. 21 that Lebanon would export the garbage as a temporary solution. But since then, waste still lies in dumps and public fields everywhere in Lebanon, rotting on the ground and being swept about by the winter rains. Although the Council for Development and Reconstruction announced Jan. 11 that Lebanon would export its waste over the next 18 months, nothing certain can be said right now about the details of the deal. Nabil Abou Ghanem, adviser to the Agriculture Minister, told Al-Monitor, “The export of garbage is an alternative.” He added, “We found the solution of sending it away by boat because the municipalities and civil society refused the opening of new public landfills.” This measure doesn't please everyone, and concerns remain regarding the nature of the deal, the cost of the entire process and the condition of the garbage that would be exported.
“The whole deal is quite blurry right now,” Ziad Abi Chaker, engineer and CEO of Cedar Environmental, told Al-Monitor. “I know for sure that maritime transport costs $125 per ton. And that is not the only cost; you have to add collection, transportation, sorting and wrapping of waste to a local facility, the transportation from this facility to the port, the loading on the ship, port fees and maritime transport fees. Also think of the unloading at the port of arrival and local port fees, as well as the transport and the gate fees of the local facility that would accept them,” Abi Chaker added.
According to his calculation, the whole process would cost between $250 and $300 per ton, whereas the Agriculture Ministry's office communicated to Al-Monitor an estimate of $193 per ton. Abou Ghanem said, “Port fees are not going to be applied to waste; only transportation fees from the trucks to the ships, and it is the company exporting the garbage that will take care of it.”
He added, “The rest of the cost will be supported by the municipalities at the same cost they were paying for Sukleen's services. In case of a general problem to finance this process, the government will find an alternative.” Another issue remains at the heart of the waste being exported: will it be the new trash, still easy to sort, or the old piles still lingering from last summer and already decomposing? “The whole idea was to get rid of the old, to sort the new locally,” Abi Chaker pointed out. He added, “If the old [garbage] stays, it is an expensive measure that will be useless. Plus, it depends of the destination. If a country takes the old, it means it is a place where the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal is not applied.” It means that Lebanon might export toxic and dangerous garbage that could bring disease to another country.
Although the Agriculture Ministry declared that it was acting “according to the Basel Convention,” nothing is certain concerning the waste that would be exported, especially its destination. As-Safir reported Jan. 9 that it would be exported to Sierra Leone, but the African country denied this information soon after, creating a diplomatic incident with Lebanon, according to Abou Ghanem.
“We still don't know where the garbage is going,” he said, adding that “45-day-old and less waste will be sorted out locally. The French company Coral will do it in Beirut, but we still don’t know what to do about the older waste, including the waste that has been burnt. A French company and the British company Chinook will try to solve this issue.”Chinook is the final company chosen by the Lebanese government after six international companies bid on the project, including the Dutch company Howa. Al-Monitor called both companies, but they refused to comment about the deal. Howa said it is not in the running.
On that matter, Abou Ghanem said, “We asked the companies to give a deposit of $2.5 million each, which the government would [keep] if they did not fulfill their part of the contract. Howa did not agree that the government would touch their deposit.” He went on, “Chinook agreed to pay $5 million and that this money would be [kept] by the government in case of violation of the contract.”
The contract between Chinook and the Lebanese government is still not signed after the agreement was delayed twice in January. According to a report published by Magazine Jan. 22, a falsification by Howa is the cause of this current blockage. The company, the report alleges, provided a fake document stating that Sierra Leone had agreed to accept Lebanese waste.The Agriculture Ministry has not confirmed this aspect of the prospective deal so far, but the head of the Council for Development and Reconstruction, Nabil al-Jisr, confirmed Jan. 29 that Chinook had obtained Russia's agreement to accept Lebanon's trash, although no official comment was made from Russia.
But this 18-month solution would be a way for the government to push the municipalities to find their own solutions to treat their waste and reduce transportation costs. “Our goal is to have zero waste through better management of the issue,” Abou Ghanem said, adding, “We have to go through this crisis in order to start recycling … and use resources that could be obtained from the sorting of our garbage,” such as energy. He declared that the Agriculture Ministry was already using organic waste to make compost, but that it had been sorted after being collected, leaving it contaminated and useless for this purpose. He is confident that within a few months, pure compost will be available for local farmers for free, if the deal is applied and sorting solutions are found.

Iran ex-president criticizes disqualification of candidates
Associated Press, Tehran Tuesday, 2 February 2016/Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has sharply criticized the country’s constitutional watchdog for barring moderate candidates from running in elections for a top clerical body - including Hassan Khomeini, a grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder. The Guardian Council barred Khomeini from running in the Feb. 26 election for the Assembly of Experts. The council screens candidates before allowing them to run. It has disqualified thousands of candidates from standing in both the Assembly elections and parliamentary elections scheduled for the same day. Many candidates have been disqualified because they were not seen to be sufficiently loyal to the ruling system in the eyes of the Guardian Council members. Rafsanjani spoke out against the council’s decisions in comments posted on his website Monday.

Syrian army, allies gain more ground north of Aleppo
Reuters, Amman Tuesday, 2 February 2016/The Syrian army and allied militia aided by heavy Russian air support made further advances on Tuesday in a major offensive that could cut insurgents’ supply lines from Turkey to Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian state media also reported advances that appear aimed at breaking through rebel-held territory north of Aleppo to reach the Shi’ite villages of Nubul and al-Zahraa, which are loyal to Damascus. The city of Aleppo is divided into areas held separately by the government and the opposition. It is the first major offensive north of Aleppo since Russia began an air campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad on Sept. 30.

Syria peace talks falter as army presses Aleppo
By Tom Perry, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and John Irish Reuters, Beirut/Amman/Geneva Tuesday, 2 February 2016/A Syrian military offensive threatened critical rebel supply lines into the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday and Damascus echoed its opponents in contradicting a U.N. envoy's assertion peace talks had begun. U.N. envoy Staffan De Mistura announced the formal start on Monday of the first attempt in two years to negotiate an end to a war that has killed 250,000 people, caused a refugee crisis in the region and Europe and empowered Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants. But both opposition and government representatives have since said the talks have not in fact begun and fighting on the ground raged on without constraint. A rebel commander told Reuters he was deploying reinforcements including U.S.-made anti-tank missiles to the Aleppo frontline for what he described as a "decisive battle". The main Syrian opposition council said after meeting De Mistura on Monday it had not and would not negotiate unless the government stopped bombarding civilian areas, lifted blockades and released detainees. The head of the Syrian government delegation also denied talks had started after discussions with De Mistura on Tuesday. Bashar al-Ja'afari said after two and a half hours of talks that the envoy had yet to provide an agenda or list of opposition participants. "The formalities are not yet ready," he told reporters at the United Nations office in Geneva. He also said that if the opposition "really cared" about the lives of Syrians it should condemn the killing of more than 60 people on Sunday by ISIS bombers in a neighborhood that is home to the country's holiest Shiite shrine. A U.N. source said de Mistura had promised to present an opposition delegation list by Wednesday. Its makeup is subject to fierce disagreements among the regional and global powers that have been drawn into the conflict. The refugee crisis and spread of ISIS through large areas of Syria, and from there to Iraq, has injected a new urgency to resolve the five-year-old Syria war. But the chances of success, always very slim, appear to be receding ever more as the government, supported by Russian air strikes, advances against rebels, some of them U.S.-backed, in several parts of western Syria where the country's main cities are located.
"Decisive battle"
The attack north of Aleppo that began in recent days is the first major government offensive there since the start of Russian air strikes on Sept. 30. The area is strategic to both sides. Its safeguards a rebel supply route from Turkey into opposition-held parts of the city and stands between government-held parts of western Aleppo and the Shiite villages of Nubul and al-Zahraa which are loyal to Damascus.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports the war using a network of sources on the ground, said the army and allied fighters captured more areas to the northwest of Aleppo on Tuesday. Advancing government forces seized the village of Hardatnin some 10 km northwest of Aleppo, the Observatory said, building on gains the previous day. Syrian state media also reported the advance. Aleppo, once Syria's biggest city and commercial center, is divided between areas controlled separately by the government and opposition. The rebel commander said the Russian air force was mounting heavy air strikes in the area. "We sent new fighters this morning, we sent heavier equipment there. It seems it will be a decisive battle in the north God willing," said Ahmed al Seoud, head of a Free Syrian Army group known as Division 13. "We sent TOW missile platforms. We sent everything there," he told Reuters. U.S.-made TOW missiles, or guided anti-tank missiles, are the most potent weapon in the rebel arsenal and have been supplied to vetted rebel groups as part of a programme of military support overseen by the Central Intelligence Agency. A correspondent with the pro-government Al Mayadeen TV embedded with the army said there had been 150 air strikes in the last two days. A tank and armored vehicle were shown driving through a road in a largely destroyed village. The sound of jets and crackle of automatic gunfire could be heard during a broadcast by the pro-opposition Orient TV.
The Russian intervention has reversed the course of the war for Damascus, which suffered a series of major defeats to rebels in western Syria last year before Moscow deployed its air force as part of an alliance with Iran.In an interview with Reuters, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Russian President Vladimir Putin was undermining international efforts to end the war by bombing opponents of ISIS in an attempt to bolster Assad.
Opposition wary of envoy
"The Russians say let's talk, and then they talk and they talk and they talk. The problem with the Russians is while they are talking they are bombing, and they are supporting Assad," Hammond said. Russia's Foreign Ministry said Hammond was spreading "dangerous disinformation", while the Kremlin said his statements could not be taken seriously. Western states opposed to Assad, including the United States and Britain, piled pressure on the opposition to attend the Geneva talks which have been beset by problems including a row over who should be invited to negotiate with Damascus. In the latest downbeat opposition assessment, lead opposition negotiator Mohamad Alloush said he was not optimistic. "Nothing has changed in the situation on the ground so as long as the situation is like this we are not optimistic," he told reporters. "There are no good intentions from the regime's side to reach a solution."
He was speaking minutes before the government delegation arrived at U.N. headquarters in Geneva to meet De Mistura to discuss a proposal on humanitarian issues. De Mistura said on Monday the responsibility of agreeing ceasefires across Syria lay with major powers and that his remit was only to hold talks on a U.N. resolution on elections, governance and a new constitution. All previous diplomatic efforts have failed to stop the war. Complicating the efforts, opposition mistrust of de Mistura is running deep: "The fact is the opposition have a lot of distrust in de Mistura. They have become extremely wary," a Western diplomat said.

Syrian Refugee Teachers Help Fill the Education Gap in Lebanon
Associated Press/Naharnet/February 02/16/ In the refugee camp in eastern Lebanon's Qab Elias where Fatima Khaled lives with her two daughters, only three children found a spot in the local school. So when parents found out that Khaled was an educator, they begged her to teach their children. An unemployed teacher who fled Damascus three years ago, Khaled could not find work in Lebanon. "I came here and tried to find a job, but no one would hire me," she said. "Parents here suggested the idea. They told me I could teach and help the children."Khaled, 30, has been teaching literacy and basic arithmetic for over a year, first out of her living room, and now out of a shed built by her husband. While humanitarian actors meet in London on Thursday to fund the education of Syrian refugees, Khaled's is one of a multitude of anonymous shoestring initiatives filling the gap on the ground. With local schools overwhelmed and aid money so far falling short, only 59 percent of Lebanon's 338,000 school-age Syrian refugees receive an education, according to the UNHCR. Some 238 public schools offer a second shift to accommodate more refugees, yet the United Nations estimates that twice as many second shifts are needed to accommodate them all.Such teaching initiatives help fill more than an educational void for refugees. Ahmed Shareef's teaching career nearly came to an end when a Tunisian fighter from the Islamic State group summoned him, in his village of West Atchan outside the Syrian city of Aleppo. As principal of the local school, Shareef had ordered a teenage student to trim his beard and the militant wanted to know why. "I didn't ask him to shave it, just trim it," Shareef told him. The fighter told him to scrap philosophy and history from the curriculum because those courses were "blasphemy" and demanded that girls leave school after the 6th grade. When Shareef asked why, he says the man replied: "When you grow a beard I will tell you why."Not long afterward, 38-year-old Shareef packed his bags and fled to Lebanon with his wife and children. Two years later, Shareef teaches Syrian children how to read and write out of a plywood and tarp-covered tent in Qab Elias, a village in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon where most of his fellow villagers had resettled to flee the fighting.Since none of the camp's approximately 100 children found a spot at the local school and Shareef couldn't find a teaching job, he gives free lessons to children aged 5 to 12 who have had their education disrupted by the conflict. On a normal day, over 30 rowdy students sit on the floor. The class schedule is determined by the weather; when rain floods the tent, class is dismissed. Like Khaled, Shareef does not earn a salary. He lives on the $100 a month the UNHCR allocates his family. But Khaled admits that money is hardly a motivation for her. The work, even if unpaid, is as much a lifeline for herself as it is for her students. "I cannot not teach," she says smiling. "I've been teaching since I was 18 and when I arrived here I couldn't stand doing nothing."

Canada condemns latest Boko Haram attack on civilians
February 1, 2016 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:
“I strongly condemn the latest attack by Boko Haram on Dalori, a village on the outskirts of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria, on January 31.
“On behalf of all Canadians, I offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
“Canada will continue to work closely with the international community to help Nigeria put an end to the actions of Boko Haram in the region.”
Boko Haram is on Canada’s list of terrorist organizations. The Criminal Code of Canada criminalizes membership in Boko Haram, as well as the transfer of money to support this entity.
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Clinton Campaign Claims Iowa Caucus Victory
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 02/16/Hillary Clinton's campaign has claimed victory in the Iowa caucus against Bernie Sanders with official final results still outstanding in the extremely close presidential nominations contest. "Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa Caucus. After thorough reporting – and analysis – of results, there is no uncertainty and Secretary Clinton has clearly won the most national and state delegates," Hillary for America's Iowa State Director Matt Paul said in a statement. "Statistically, there is no outstanding information that could change the results and no way that Senator Sanders can overcome Secretary Clinton's advantage." The Iowa Democratic Party, however, declined to rule in the race, placing Clinton slightly ahead of Sanders but saying there were still outstanding results in one precinct. Party chair Andy McGuire said Clinton has been awarded 699.57 state delegate equivalents and that Sanders had been awarded 695.49. But "we still have outstanding results in one precinct (Des Moines—42), which is worth 2.28 state delegate equivalents. We will report that final precinct when we have confirmed those results with the chair," he added. "The results tonight are the closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history," McGuire said.

Israeli military reopens Ramallah after closure
The Associated Press, Ramallah Tuesday, 2 February 2016/The Israeli military reopened the main Palestinian city in the West Bank late Monday after imposing a rare, day-long partial closure of surrounding roads following a Palestinian shooting attack on Israeli soldiers the day before. Citing a “situation assessment,” the military said crossings to and from Ramallah have returned to normal. Ramallah is the seat of the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority and is a commercial center, drawing workers from around the West Bank. “Internal closures” were common during the Palestinian uprising that ended a decade ago, but have been rarely used in recent years. Early on Monday, the military blocked access to Ramallah to all but city residents, and only residents of other towns and humanitarian cases were allowed to leave. The move came a day after a Palestinian policeman who served as a bodyguard for the Palestinian attorney general opened fire at a checkpoint near the city, wounding three soldiers. Despite the measure, a row of about 100 cars queued at a checkpoint that was closed in the morning could be seen streaming through, and a main road out of the city, which had earlier been closed, was later opened. Palestinians said the partial closure was collective punishment for the act of one individual. “They shouldn’t punish the entire governorate of Ramallah for a policeman who carried out an attack,” said Palestinian police spokesman Adnan Damiri.

Report: 9 migrants, including 2 children, drown off Turkey
The Associated Press, Ankara Tuesday, 2 February 2016/A Turkish news agency says at least nine migrants - two of them children - have drowned in a new boat sinking accident off the Turkish coast. The private Dogan news agency says the migrants drowned Tuesday near the Aegean coastal town of Seferihisar, which is close to the Greek island of Samos. Two migrants were rescued while 11 others had apparently managed to reach the shore, the report said. Officials could not immediately be reached for confirmation. On Saturday, at least 37 migrants, among them several babies and children, drowned after their boat struck rocks and capsized while attempting the short sea journey from the town of Ayvacik, north of Seferihisar, to the island of Lesbos.

Pentagon chief unveils extra funds to counter Russia, fight ISIS
By AFP Washington Tuesday, 2 February 2016/U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday announced a big boost in military spending to counter Russia and raise the U.S. presence in eastern Europe, while also stepping up the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group. The total budget for fiscal year 2017 will be $583 billion, Carter said, far surpassing that of any other country and exceeding the combined defense spending of the next eight biggest militaries in the world. The budget includes $3.4 billion - quadruple the amount spent last year - for operations in Europe to deter Russian “aggression,” Carter said. “We’re reinforcing our posture in Europe to support our NATO allies in the face of Russia’s aggression,” Carter said.“That’ll fund a lot of things. More rotational U.S. forces in Europe, more training and exercises with our allies, more prepositioned warfighting gear, and infrastructure improvements to support it.” Additionally, the United States will spend $7.5 billion - a 50 percent increase from last year - to fund the fight against ISIS group. He noted that the 18-month U.S.-led air campaign against the militants in Iraq and Syria has depleted U.S. bomb stocks.“We’ve recently been hitting ISIL with so many GPS-guided smart bombs and laser-guided rockets that we're starting to run low on the ones we use against terrorists the most,” Carter said, using an acronym for ISIS. “So we’re investing $1.8 billion dollars in 2017 to buy over 45,000 more of them.” He also said America would continue to invest in futuristic technologies such as the rail-gun, which can shoot projectiles at a massive velocity, and swarming micro-drones.

Jordan needs international help over refugee crisis: King Abdullah
Reuters | London Tuesday, 2 February 2016/Jordan’s King Abdullah says his country needs long-term aid from the international community to cope with a huge influx of Syrian refugees, warning that unless it received support the “dam is going to burst”. In an interview with the BBC aired on Tuesday, King Abdullah said the refugee crisis was overloading Jordan’s social services and threatening regional stability. Jordan has already accepted more than 600,000 U.N.-registered Syrian refugees. “Jordanians are suffering from trying to find jobs, the pressure on infrastructure and for the government, it has hurt us when it comes to the educational system, our healthcare. Sooner or later I think the dam is going to burst,” he said. Last Thursday, officials said the European Union would promise some 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) at an international donor conference to be held in London this week to aid Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. British Prime Minister David Cameron said last month he would press the EU to relax export rules for Jordan, to help spur economic growth. “This week is going to be very important for Jordanians to see is there going to be help not only for Syrian refugees but for their own future as well,” King Abdullah told the BBC. Part of the U.S.-led coalition that is bombing Syria, Jordan has long been praised for helping refugees and been a big beneficiary of foreign aid as a result. However, it has drawn criticism from western allies and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees over the situation near its border with Syria, where thousands of refugees are being kept far from any aid. The situation has deteriorated since Russia started air strikes last September to support President Bashar al-Assad.King Abdullah said if Jordan was not helped, the refugee crisis would worsen. “The international community, we’ve always stood shoulder to shoulder by your side. We’re now asking for your help, you can’t say no this time,” he said.

Nations discuss how to snuff out ISIS in Libya
AP | Rome Tuesday, 2 February 2016/Nations fighting ISIS discussed Tuesday how to prevent the extremist group from gaining a stranglehold in resource-rich Libya, though no one appeared resolved just yet to launch a second military intervention in the North African country this decade. Speaking at a 23-nation conference in Rome, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the last thing anyone wants “is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars in oil revenue.” He said the U.S. and its European and Arab partners should increase security training and help Libya’s military “not just to clear territory, but to create a safe environment for the government to stand up and operate.”More than four years after a U.S.-led military effort helped topple dictator Muammar Qadhafi, Libya is mired in chaos. Since 2014, it has been split between two rival authorities. A new unity government still doesn’t have parliamentary approval. Amid the chaos, an ISIS affiliate has carved out territory in the center of the country and fighters, wearied by coalition air strikes in Iraq and Libya, are flocking to the new front. Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned that ISIS militants were trying to “consolidate their own footprint” in Libya by setting up training sites, drawing in foreign recruits and using the levers of economic power to raise money through taxes. The U.S. won’t allow the group to “sink roots” in Libya, he said, but provided no indication of any U.S. military campaign was imminent. European countries, too, are weighing options. Italy, whose southernmost territory is less than 300 miles from Libya, has indicated it would participate in a U.N.-authorized peacekeeping or stabilization mission. It has moved aircraft to a base in Sicily, but insists that any action first requires a stable Libyan government and other international assistance. The instability has led to hundreds of thousands of migrants using Libya-based smugglers to reach Italy. “We cannot imagine spring passing with the situation in Libya still stalled,” Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti told Italy’s Corriere della Sera paper last week. Britain and France also are considering military possibilities, with similar caveats. A senior U.S. official attending the talks stressed that “when we see a threat to the United States or external plotting, we will not hesitate to act upon that threat.” He cited a November airstrike that that killed Abu Nabil, a top ISIS leader in Libya. But any broader campaign would require talks with coalition partners and the Libyans, said the official, who briefed reporters on the discussions on condition he not be quoted by name. He said President Barack Obama convened a National Security Council meeting last week “focused on the Libya question.”

Israel demolishes buildings in southern West Bank
AFP | Jerusalem Tuesday, 2 February 2016/Israeli forces demolished at least a dozen buildings in a disputed military zone in the southern West Bank Tuesday, leaving a number of families homeless, authorities and residents said. Soldiers destroyed 24 structures in and around the village of Khirbet Jenbah south of Hebron, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said. Israeli officials said the structures were illegal. Forces arrived at around 7:00 am and carried out the demolitions, leaving 12 families temporarily homeless, Nidal Younes, head of a local village council, told AFP. “In total it is around 80 people,” he said. Israel has carried out a long campaign to relocate the residents of the area, which was declared a military zone by the Israeli government in the 1970s. Human rights groups have repeatedly challenged Israel’s claim to the land, arguing it is illegal to establish a military zone in occupied territory, Sarit Michaeli from the B’Tselem NGO told AFP. The families, many of whom are cave dwellers, argue their ancestors have lived on the land since long before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. A statement from COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit that administers civilian affairs in the West Bank, confirmed “enforcement measures were taken against illegal structures and solar panels built within a military zone.” A High Court injunction later in the day ordered a halt to all demolitions until at least February 9, Michaeli said. The residents of the region had been undergoing a process of arbitration with Israeli authorities after a High Court ruling, Michaeli said. However talks broke down in recent days. “This basically means we are back to square one. The government want to remove them. The residents object,” Michaeli said. COGAT said the negotiations failed as “the building owners showed no willingness to get the situation in order and illegal construction did not stop.”As such, “measures were taken in accordance with the law,” it said. In total, more than 1,000 people could be affected, Michaeli explained, as there are around 10 other villages that could face similar action. The villages are represented by a number of different legal teams, so Tuesday’s demolitions concerned only one of the claims.

Tunisia police and militants clash leaving two dead
Reuters, Tunis Tuesday, 2 February 2016/Tunisian police have clashed with gunmen in a remote mountainous area in the southern region of Gabes, killing at least two militants, the interior ministry said on Monday. Tunisia’s security forces are on a campaign against militants who have targeted military checkpoints and patrols in outlying areas. ISIS has also claimed three deadly urban attacks last year that hit Tunisia’s tourism industry. “During counter-terrorism operations, police exchanged fire with a group of terrorists. First indications are that two terrorists were killed and a policeman injured,” the ministry said in a statement. Tunisia has escaped major upheaval and violence suffered by other countries who ousted longstanding leaders in the 2011 Arab Spring revolts. It has been held up as a model for democratic transition since the uprising against Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. But its young democracy and economy were tested by three major attacks last year, including Islamic State shootings targeting foreigners at a Sousse beach hotel and a Tunis museum, and also a suicide bombing in the capital.

Hamas: The "Merchants of War" Who Seek to Destroy Israel
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/February 2, 2016
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7352/hamas-tunnels-war
In the words of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the tunnels are being dug not only to "defend the Gaza Strip, but to serve as a launching pad to reach all of Palestine." As one can see from any map of Palestine, "all of Palestine" does not mean living in peace alongside Israel; it means supplanting Israel.
To its credit, Hamas has been refreshingly transparent about its ambition, the elimination of Israel. Hamas wants the Palestinians to continue living in misery and bitterness. It is fertile soil for jihad recruitment.
A Palestinian Authority-Hamas unity government would mean tunnels not only along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, but also from the West Bank into Israel.
Forever looming, of course, is the illusion that Abbas will be able to persuade Hamas to abandon its aim to destroy Israel.
The myth that Hamas uses tunnels to smuggle food and other necessities to the "besieged" Gaza Strip has been buried under the rubble of the tunnel that collapsed last week east of Gaza City.
The incident, in which seven members of Hamas's armed wing, Ezaddin Al-Qassam, were killed when the tunnel they were working in collapsed, provides further proof that the Islamist movement has stayed true to its charter, which calls for the total destruction of Israel.
The Hamas men who were killed in the tunnel collapse belonged to the movement's elite "Tunnel Unit." According to Ezaddin Al-Qassam, the men were busy repairing one of the tunnels (damaged during the 2014 war with Israel) when it collapsed due to severe weather conditions.
Contrary to popular belief, the tunnel was not being renovated to allow Palestinians to smuggle basic goods from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. This was one of many tunnels that Hamas has dug over the past few years to infiltrate Israel and carry out terror attacks.
Hamas makes no secret of the goal of its renovations. Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar readily admits that the tunnels are being rebuilt to target Israel.
Indeed, clarity seems to be the name of the game with Hamas. Senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayeh explained that his organization would continue to dig tunnels for use in future confrontations with Israel. "We have enough mujahideen [jihad warriors] to replace their brothers who were martyred [in the tunnel collapse]," he said during the funeral of the seven Hamas members.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh went a step further: the tunnels were not only designed to launch terror attacks against Israelis, but to "liberate all of Palestine." In the words of Haniyeh, the tunnels are being dug not only to "defend the Gaza Strip, but to serve as a launching pad to reach all of Palestine." As one can see from any map of Palestine, "all of Palestine" does not mean living in peace alongside Israel; it means supplanting Israel.
In the words of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (left), the tunnels Hamas digs from Gaza into Israel (right) are not only to "defend the Gaza Strip, but to serve as a launching pad to reach all of Palestine."
For Haniyeh, the tunnels are a "strategic weapon" in Hamas's jihad to destroy Israel. Hamas's military wing dug the tunnels around the Gaza Strip "to defend our people and liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem," the Hamas leader stated.
Hamas, it is argued, has changed it colors. It is now ready, the theory goes, to reject its own charter and accept a two-state solution.
So much for a Hamas change of heart.
To its credit, Hamas has been refreshingly transparent about its ambition, the elimination of Israel. Yet Hamas has few ambitions for those now clasped in its grip. Nearly a decade after its violent seizure of Gaza, the movement and its leaders have offered the 1.9 million Palestinians stranded there precious little but destruction and death.
Oh, and tunnels. Hamas has tunnels -- two types. The tunnels running under the border with Egypt are designed as conduits for weapons. The tunnels running under the border with Israel are reserved for Israel's destruction.
Hamas's Palestinian political rivals have pointed out in the past few days that the tunnels have turned the leaders of the Islamist movement into "merchants of war." These "merchants," according to the Palestinians, have long been using the smuggling tunnels to increase their personal wealth at the expense of dozens of underpaid workers who work as diggers around the clock.
As Al-Hayeh has made evident, Hamas is prepared to sacrifice as many Palestinians as it takes to advance its deadly goals. Between 2006 and 2011, 188 Palestinians were killed while working in Hamas's tunnels throughout the Gaza Strip, according to figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Moreover, child-labor legislation seems not to have made many inroads in Hamas-run Gaza. Children under the age of 18 constitute at least 10% of the dead in the tunnel-digging industry.
And while the economy of Gaza is in tatters, Hamas has invested millions of dollars into its tunnel-building projects.
Unemployment in the Gaza Strip during the year 2015 topped 40%, while more than 65% of the population live under the poverty line. More than half of its population is now almost entirely dependent on aid from different relief and humanitarian organizations. Economic experts predict a gloomier scenario for the Gaza Strip during 2016.
Despite its claims to the contrary, however, the last thing Hamas cares about is the welfare of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In fact, Hamas wants the Palestinians to continue living in misery and bitterness. It is fertile soil for jihad recruitment.
The collapse of the tunnel last week and renewed Hamas threats to pursue the fight against Israel coincide with reports that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to resume his efforts to achieve "national reconciliation" and "unity" with the Islamist movement.
According to the reports, representatives of the two sides are scheduled to meet in Qatar next week in yet another bid to end their dispute and pave the way for a new Palestinian unity government and elections.
Forever looming, of course, is the illusion that Abbas will be able to persuade Hamas to abandon its aim to destroy Israel.
Hamas will never exchange its attack tunnels for PA cabinet portfolios. Abbas recently announced an interest in resuming peace talks with Israel. His interest, however, has been for some time taken up by reaching out to Hamas. A PA-Hamas unity government would mean tunnels not only along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, but also from the West Bank into Israel. It was not only seven men, then, who were buried beneath the rubble of the collapsed attack tunnel last week. Along with them was buried the persistent but utterly naïve hope that Hamas will somehow transform itself into a "peace partner" for Israel, the Palestinian Authority or even the Palestinian people.
**Khaled Abu Toameh is an award winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. 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.

Breaking the silence in Yemen
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
Ten months after the war began in Yemen, there are three powers now stationed in the country: the government and the Arab alliance in one front, Houthis and ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh in another front while al-Qaeda is the third front. What has changed since then is the failure of the Houthis and Saleh to take over the authority in the country as the legitimate government has returned to Yemen after it had lost every inch of it. Ten months may not seem long in the duration of wars. However, they are enough to conclude that Yemen will not be left for the Iranians to control via its proxy, the Houthis, and will not be left to submit to Saleh’s personal ambitions of seizing power. Practically speaking, the war changed the map of power on ground just enough to give us a glimpse of Yemen’s future. Exhausted rebellious groups may have to raise their white flags later.
The time may be appropriate now to test the Yemeni powers’ desire to reach a peaceful solution outside Swiss hotels
The time may be appropriate now to test the Yemeni powers’ desire to reach a peaceful solution outside Swiss hotels, which are now occupied with receiving delegations from other conflict zones. What got me thinking about this is what my colleague Mustapha al-Noman, also a former Yemeni ambassador, wrote in the Okaz newspaper about what he called “the third Yemeni party.”
Noman, whom I met during the recent Davos forum in Switzerland, thinks that there is a number of respectable Yemeni figures who are not part of the conflict and who can play a positive role in limiting the crisis via mediating to end it.
His diagnosis of the Yemeni crisis is that warring groups, in general, may not have the political skills required to communicate and reach an understanding over a solution that takes everyone to safety and helps devise an acceptable political plan.
‘Third party’
“The third Yemeni party” consists of Yemeni leaders who’ve stayed out of the crisis and who can form a bridge between the different parties. They are people like Major General and former chief of staff, Hussein al-Masori, former deputy prime minister, Ahmad Sofan, former minister, Mohammad al-Tayyeb, Noman himself and others. Can such a party succeed at creating dialog and carrying messages that may produce a political solution before the war completes its first year? It doesn’t harm to have active parallel, diplomatic, military and independent negotiating efforts.What matters is arriving at a solution which can be implemented whenever possible, regardless of how far the alliance has progressed in Yemen, in order to end the rebellion, implement U.N. Security Council decisions which achieve Yemen’s unity and stability and establish a viable system.
It’s not necessary to wait for raising the white flags when there’s a desire to achieve these aims. In the end, the purpose of the war is achieving peace via the return of legitimacy to power.
There’s no doubt that the war in Yemen, with all the pains it caused, has prevented the rebellious team consisting of the Houthis and Saleh forces from seizing power. They would have turned Yemen into an arena for revenge and tribal and sectarian struggles if they had succeeded at controlling the country.
If Gulf countries hadn’t intervened, Yemen may have ended up exactly like Somalia where failure to intervene led to civil wars and famine. The civil war there has been ongoing for about 20 years now.Yes, there’s a Saudi-Iranian war taking place in Yemen albeit of a different kind. For Iran, which nurtures the Houthis, its interest is to create chaos and use Yemen to target certain segments of Yemeni society and Saudi Arabia.
The only interest of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is to achieve stability in Yemen because this also ensures their own stability. This is something which Saleh could not comprehend a year ago. He thought if he topples the Yemeni government, Gulf countries will shut down their embassies in Sanaa, pack up their bags and go home. This is why he ventured with all the funds and weapons he looted and led the rebellion against the legitimate government by allying with Iran’s militias. He was taken by surprise when Saudi Arabia acted in support of the legitimate government and launched a huge war against him. Houthis, as a militia linked to Iran, have been assigned a difficult task, and if it hadn’t been for Saleh’s forces, they wouldn’t have made it past the city of Omran. The Houthis’ seizure of Omran tempted Saleh’s forces to rebel in the capital, Sanaa, and march towards Aden. This war has altered concepts as well as the map, and the rebels are now aware that the alliance has the determination and ammunition to resume the fight at a time when Saleh’s situation has taken a turn for the worse. This will force him and his leaders to go into hiding after a life of dignity he lived in his castle.

Is ISIS making itself heard in Geneva?
Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
It seems that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) feels “left out” of the Syrian peace process. Over the weekend, two ISIS attacks occurred in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and Damascus. Both attacks targeted Shiites. ISIS has made it clear that killing Shiites is part of the caliphate narrative and was one of the first comments from terror leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while announcing the Islamic State. The attacks are sending a strong message of the scope of deadly ISIS intent. Not only does ISIS want to antagonize Iran but also the entire international community at this critical juncture in Geneva.
While ISIS killed five and wounded 18 others at the Imam Reda Mosque in the Eastern province town of Mahasen, over 70 people were killed in Damascus’ Sayyda Zeinab suburb by at least three suicide bombers. Hundreds were wounded.
What ISIS wants to achieve is part of a larger plot to disrupt Geneva 3 talks as they begin. The messages to all parties involved is clear: We, ISIS, are not going anywhere.
To boot, ISIS is targeting not only the Hezbollah-Iran-Russia axis in the Damascus attack but also the Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC). The Committee is grouping together Ahrar al-Sham and the Army of Islam, two groups fighting to overthrow Assad and who are also in attendance at Geneva 3.
The ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham is not part of the team sent to Geneva, but the delegation has named Army of Islam official Mohammed Alloush as its chief negotiator. ISIS will have none of this HNC grouping so the deviants are continuing their targeting of Shiites in Saudi Arabia to cause sectarian discord in order to weaken the HNC and further challenge Saudi security requirements.
Talks the target?
As the talks begin with the bloody reminders over the weekend, ISIS continues to dominate the interior of Syria out to the Iraqi border in the east. The physical link between the Syrian and Iraqi parts of the so-called caliphate consists of crude roads across the Levant. Severing these links should be a priority for both the Russian and American led air campaigns. It would not take much to sever these links. However, that is not happening. There is literally no attempt to halt the internal situation in the caliphate except for occasional, temporary victories – such as in Deir Ezzor where 63 ISIS terrorists were killed and another 84 wounded by the Syrian Army – are not going to alter the ground situation. The same goes for Saudi Arabia where ISIS is still able to operate and target. ISIS is also keeping up its threatening messages to Europe in the run up and during the Geneva 3 talks. The deadly apocalyptic group is promising to attack UK and Spain for having crushed Muslim rule in Andalusia more than 500 years ago. But Britain will receive the “lion’s share” of the slaughter “in response to its declaration of war against the Muslims”, the group said in reference to last month’s UK Parliament vote on airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.
ISIS threatens an attack on Britain will be so severe, “that it will turn children’s hair to white”. With U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura planning six months of talks, ISIS certainly will have the first half of 2016 to further make its point. The question is whether ISIS can successfully interrupt the diplomatic process supported by the United States and Russia. The Geneva 3 talks are seeking a ceasefire and later working toward a political settlement to a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, driven more than 10 million from their homes and drawn in regional and global powers since it began nearly five years ago. It’s a true nexus. ISIS knows this point. The key issue remains a political transition and Assad’s own future – though how that will be addressed remains unclear.
Geneva 3 is an opportunity for ISIS to disrupt, degrade and destroy international resolve in finding a workable solution
Later this week, international attention will be focused on Syria again when world leaders meet in London for the Supporting Syria and the Region conference 2016. Efforts to mitigate the effects of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis look likely to proceed more rapidly than the Geneva talks. For ISIS, the London meeting will serve as another notable event in trying to tamper the Syrian disaster by exploiting the situation. Overall, after two meetings in Geneva in 2012 and 2014 had failed to come up with a solution to the prolonged Syrian crisis, a third round of talks in the Swiss capital is taking place now. But there is a sense of alarm in what ISIS is planning to do across the regions involved in the multiple sides present in the current round of discussions. It is highly probable that ISIS will try to continue to scuttle the talks to take strategic and tactical advantage through its own shock and awe. In other words, Geneva 3 is an opportunity for ISIS to disrupt, degrade and destroy international resolve in finding a workable solution. From ISIS’s point of view, attacking Shiite targets is a notable step in its plans for 2016. This past weekend represents the group’s own next step as part of the Geneva 3 “anti-process”. ISIS is known for its anti-social and anti-civilization approach to its brand of global politics.

Covering the statues is not all about ‘modesty’
Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
Italy’s decision to cover up ancient nude statues during Iranian President Hassan Rowhani’s visit to a museum in the country recently shocked many Italians and sparked a controversy. Critics argued as to how a country, which brags about its artistic and architectural heritage and ancient cities, can be ashamed of nude statues that are hundreds of years old. These statues, they insisted, made Italy an icon of global art. This sudden and unusual “decency”, reserved for Rowhani’s visit to the museum, didn’t go down too well in all quarters. In fact, Italian authorities probably regretted the move following a campaign launched to mock the decision. The aftermath was also felt in Paris, Rowhani’s second stop, where activists held protests. Some of them posed nude, took photos and registered protest against Rowhani and Iran’s practices.
Redefining ‘modesty’
It is difficult to ignore the fact that Rome did not display any regret whatsoever while signing 17 billion Euros worth of business deals with Tehran, the newcomer to the world’s greedy markets. It had no problem accommodating Iranian president’s feelings and “modesty” and decided to cover up nude art and hide sculptures in wooden boxes. What the Italian officials were keen to express was modesty of a different kind. However, this doesn’t resemble the regret one is supposed to feel towards the president of a country which suppresses opponents, incarcerates them and influences sectarian divisions and conflicts in other countries.
Hypocrisy lies in dealing with a regime that recruits children and sends them to fight in Syria
What happened in Italy, an important western country, is not just a passing incident. It points to the European intent with regard to its trade deals with Iran while overlooking the country’s human rights record and its interference in more countries than one. This doesn’t amount to respecting privacy or belief as much as it’s about apparent hypocrisy. Many western countries have done this earlier i.e. overlooked the injustice of authorities or regimes and made empty verbal condemnations while making financial deals. This has gone on for decades and even exposed on several occasions. The Iranian case just appears to be more audacious. We don’t know if a similar standard can be applied if ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi looks to seal profitable deals with Rome. We can mock the Italian authorities just like the thousands of sarcastic Twitter users in Italy and around the world.
Human rights
Ironically just as this controversy was about to recede, Human Rights Watch issued a report saying that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps has recruited thousands of undocumented Afghans to fight in Syria alongside the Assad regime. Shamefully, no remorse has been expressed over this. It is like giving two options to the refugees – either fight and die in Syria or return and die in Afghanistan. The report is based on testimonies and interviews with Afghan young men who have been forced to fight in Syria. The hypocrisy lies in dealing with a regime that recruits children and sends them to fight when all that matters to them is covering up statues and making financial gains. Our countries have been at the receiving end of these double standards. A society may allow disrespectful statements, drawings, movies or even personal choices and those angry may voice their condemnation. However, the same cannot be applied to an authority that humiliates its people, imprisons and oppresses its opponents and fails to use the same standard for a woman who dares to adopt a bold look or because a writer voices a free opinion. Italian officials’ decision has highlighted the double standards that are part of repressive regimes like the one in Iran. And yes, it is not at all about modesty.

The Saudi labor ‘shop’ should close, undergo reforms
Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
I have many friends in the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) who will not like the topic of this article, which came to mind a few days ago when I attended the Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF). This annual event is organized by SAGIA to promote local competitiveness and attract foreign investments to the kingdom by inviting heads of major companies, economists and foreign journalists to the country and meet with Saudi counterparts.  As a Saudi national, I felt proud seeing the kingdom’s multilingual youth - who graduated from the best universities in the world, some holding leadership positions in government or the private sector - talking enthusiastically with each other and with foreign guests about their visions of a more competitive Saudi Arabia. The private sector is addicted to foreign labor, and will provide multiple reasons to justify its addiction. The time has come to challenge this
I listened to the new Education Minister Ahmed al-Issa talk of his plan to transform education and enable it to produce competitive youth by launching “independent” public schools. He said children in private schools do not exceed 15 percent of the kingdom’s students, while 85 percent attend public schools. This surprised me as I used to think the rate of those in private schooling was higher, since that is the preference of all of my relatives and acquaintances. I discovered then that those of us at the GCF are a small minority in a much bigger community that was totally absent, despite being the target of the forum. This community is supposed to be the working class to whom ministers keep promising hundreds of thousands of jobs year after year. Although the organizers want the whole Saudi economy to be more competitive, most citizens who graduate or fall out of public schools and universities are unable to compete.
Competition
If we want King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) to be more appealing than Dubai or the free-trade zone in Ethiopia, for example, we must make our environment more competitive for business investments in terms of taxes, laws, ease of movement and export, facilitating the recruitment of foreign workers, and providing them with adequate visas. In this regard, Dubai is not better than us, but Ethiopia might be because it can provide local labor. Is it normal to keep bringing in more foreign investments and factories with their own workers who are not only getting more expensive, but also becoming more dominant – even in leadership positions – as revealed by last week’s report by the General Organization of Social Insurance? We have many reforms to implement before we open our doors to additional investments and foreign workers, otherwise the kingdom’s economy will remain in a closed cycle that will prevent Saudi nationals from entering the labor market and evolving in it. Such a cycle cannot be broken unless we close shop for several years and reorganize our internal affairs by developing a national project for the liberation of the market from foreign workers. We could reopen the market to foreign labor in five or 10 years, with a new concept based on the ability of the competitive individual to create a competitive economy. This would surely be more sustainable than our current economic situation, which is addicted to foreign workers. This idea contradicts everything sought by my friends in SAGIA, an organization that has not succeeded yet in fulfilling the million-job promise made by its directors and the ministers who have attended their events. SAGIA’s former governor, Amr al-Dabbagh, made this promise before being held accountable for it by Saudi columnists until the day he left the organization. This promise was reiterated by Aramco Chairman Khalid al-Falih during the GCF, when he said half a million jobs would soon be created in the eastern maritime service sector. He did not say whether they are intended for Saudis or foreigners, but no official would take pride in providing jobs for foreigners.
Reforms
Commerce and Industry Minister Toufic al-Rabiah has started tracking commercial cover-up crimes by closing companies, punishing those involved, and naming and shaming them. Labor Minister Mufarrej al-Haqbani has spoken of a plan to impose “Saudization” in the retail sector. These represent efforts to tackle the main problem - the presence of 10 million foreign workers in the kingdom, which deprives Saudi nationals of their ability to compete, as well as their ability to afford housing. Promises mean nothing without a real plan to tackle the problem. The private sector is addicted to foreign labor, and will provide multiple reasons to justify its addiction. The time has come to challenge this. The competitiveness of Saudi nationals is the only guarantee for our country and a competitive economy. Until then, let us close shop and adopt radical reforms.

Clinton’s road to power is paved with email scandal
Caitlin Miller/Al Arabiya/February 02/16
Iowans voted tonight in the first primary of the U.S. presidential election achieving historic results. Senator Ted Cruz won the republican Iowa caucus beating out businessman Donald Trump. Perhaps, the biggest surprise of the evening for republicans was Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s showing.
Rubio’s poll numbers surged beyond expectations today and he nearly beat Trump. Following Rubio’s triumph it is clear that the republican nomination is down to three candidates: Cruz, Rubio, and Trump.
As for the democrats, the winner is still unclear. The Iowa democratic caucus is a virtual tie between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. This is a catastrophic setback to the Clinton campaign because Sanders is a self- declared socialist and not considered a viable candidate in the general election. It appears Clinton’s email scandal is beginning to take its toll on her campaign.
‘Clinton indictment’
Since last summer, Clinton’s email scandal has gripped the American media and been the subject of a lengthy FBI investigation. For the first time this past week, the Obama administration confirmed that Clinton’s private unsecured email server did indeed contain ‘top-secret’ information. Clinton has repeatedly said that she did not send nor receive classified material on her private email server. Which begs the question, “How did the top-secret information get there?”Congressman Darryl Issa (R-CA), who led an investigation into Benghazi, indicated that FBI Director James Comey would like to indict both Clinton and longtime aide, Huma Abedin. The Espionage Act holds those entrusted with information related to national defense liable if “through gross negligence” they “permit” the information “to be removed from its proper place of custody.”Thirty-seven pages from seven email chains found on Clinton’s private server will not be released to the public at the request of the intelligence community because they are too sensitive in nature, even if redacted, to reveal. The FBI is currently leading the investigation into Clinton’s emails, and will soon likely make a recommendation to the Department of Justice whether or not to prosecute her.
If the Obama administration subverts the scales of justice, perhaps the next president will hold Clinton accountable
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told the American people that based on what the White House knows Clinton will not be indicted as she is not a target of the investigation. Obama weighed in regarding the FBI’s investigation in October, “This is not a situation in which America’s national security was endangered.” It is highly unusual for the White House to comment on an ongoing FBI investigation, so this rhetoric from the administration is certainly troubling. Even though the Obama administration has used the Espionage Act to prosecute more people than each of the previous administrations combined, it is not likely that Clinton will be indicted. If the Obama administration subverts the scales of justice, perhaps the next president will hold Clinton accountable for her behavior. Chris Christie, New Jersey Governor and former prosecutor, did say that he would be willing and ready to prosecute if he was in the White House, “There is no one on this stage better prepared to prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton than I am.”
Middle East policy
Clinton’s email scandal is not the only issue on the minds of the voters. According to Google, a co-host of the Republican debate on Thursday, ISIS was the most searched for foreign policy topic over the last year. With approximately 3,000 fighters, Libya is ISIS’s newest base of operations. On Friday, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, told reporters that military leadership is looking into taking action against ISIS in Libya. Clinton was not only a staunch advocate, but the architect, of U.S. intervention in Libya. Poignantly, she touted her policy in Libya during her time as Secretary of States as a success story. Since Muammar Gaddafi fell from power in 2011, Libya has spiraled into a failed state ripe for breeding terrorism. ISIS is using the same brutal tactics in Libya that they employ in Syria. The terrorist group intimidates local populations using a lethal combination of widespread fear and cultivating relationships with homegrown criminal organizations. Such strategies, allow ISIS to devastate communities and take territory at a rapid rate. In less than one year, the number of internally displaced persons in Libya has more than doubled, which leaves no shortage of potential recruits for ISIS. It is clear that Clinton’s greatest foreign policy “achievement” is a failure. The next U.S. president must be equipped to cope with the catastrophes emerging from a modern Middle East and North Africa. With Trump as a no-show and Cruz struggling, Florida Senator Marco Rubio was widely hailed as triumphant on Thursday night’s debate. Rubio’s poll numbers are surging because of his posture as the anti-establishment candidate, who may be the only person capable of defeating Clinton in a general election this fall. Rubio concluded Thursday’s debate, “we’ll defeat Hillary Clinton and we will turn this country around once and for all, after seven years of the disaster that is Barack Obama.” Here’s hoping.

Kuwaiti Columnist, Dr. Ibtihal Al-Khatib: State Schools In Arab Countries Should Abolish Religious Studies
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/02/02/kuwaiti-columnist-dr-ibtihal-al-khatib-state-schools-in-arab-countries-should-abolish-religious-studies/
MIMRI/February 2, 2016 Special Dispatch No.6289
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8986.htm
Kuwaiti liberal and secular activist Dr. Ibtihal Al-Khatib, whose bold views have frequently drawn fire from both Sunnis and Shi'ites in the Arab world,[1] advocated, in a November 30, 2015 article, to abolishing religion studies in schools and to replace them with lessons on the history of religion or on ethics and human rights. Al-Khatib, a lecturer at Kuwait University and a columnist for the daily Al-Jarida, argued that the state has no right to impose the religion of a particular stream or sect on students from diverse backgrounds, and therefore proposed to confine religious studies to elective frameworks such as afternoon or weekend classes, so that parents who wish to can enroll their children in a religion class of their choosing. Al-Khatib also criticized the teaching methods prevalent in Arab and Muslim societies, which, she said, are based on rote learning, ambiguity and the reinforcement of taboos rather than on fostering creative thinking. She argued that this is the root of the problems in the Arab and Muslim world, in particular the internal schism, racism and extremism.
It should be noted that 10 days prior to the appearance of this article, Al-Khatib made similar comments on Dr. Sulaiman Al-Hattlan's[2] show "Hadith Al-'Arab" on Sky News Arabia, provoking many angry responses on social media.
Below are translated excerpts from Al-Khatib's column:[3]
Curriculum Reform Will Not Help; All Religious Material Should Be Abolished
"I believe that nearly all our problems derive from the study methods and the quality of teaching to which our young children are exposed. I'm aware that this statement [seems] very simplistic and superficial, but in most cases the simplest and clearest [observations] in our lives are the most accurate.
"Our children grow up without much focus on critical thinking, because our curricula are based on rote learning rather than persuasion. They grow up relying almost exclusively on quoting and copying... because creativity and diligence are not part of the material or study method. They grow up evading many questions, resorting to ambiguity and avoiding many scientific and philosophical subjects, because the curricula surrounds [the students] with thousands of red lines, hobbles them with thousands of prohibitions and chains them with thousands of taboos.
"Many writers, myself included, have advocated amending the curricula, but I am not convinced that this will be enough to generate sufficient change. I called for such reform out of a belief that it was the minimum that had to be done, and might perhaps save what could [still] be saved and minimize the expressions of racism and extremism... [But] in my opinion, the real truth is that no modification [of the curriculum] will eradicate sectarianism or heal the [social] schism – for as long as the official curriculum presents religious material [from the perspective] of a particular school or sect, the schism will remain, and the rift and disagreement will be carved in stone, with the government's official blessing."
We Must 'See Ourselves As We Really Are, Or Else Perish While Playing The Role Of Victim To An Empty Theater'
"When I noted, in an interview with Dr. Sulaiman Al-Hattlan, that the real solution is to abolish all religious materials, of any kind, in state schools, I received a harsh but expected response, which derives from the victim mentality that Muslims employ against anybody who disputes their opinion or criticizes them. [They see] any criticism as a plot against Muslims, any raising of questions as a plan to destroy the religion, and any innovative suggestion as Westernization intended to destroy the foundations of faith. Why? Perhaps this is due to the harsh historical conditions and to the restrictions that currently prevail, or to the nature of the Arab-Islamic mentality, or to external political [influences], or to internal regional disputes. [And] perhaps all these factors together, or several of them, feed this perpetual sense of discrimination and prompt Arabs and Muslims to play this tedious role [of victim], [which they] embody so well that they [end up] believing in it wholeheartedly. However, the world, and we ourselves, have grown sick of this endless role [of victim], which no longer elicits any sympathy or tears. So either we [start] seeing ourselves as we really are, or perish while continuing to play the role of victim to a theater without an audience.
"Yes, the solution is to abolish religion classes in schools during the morning and replace them with lessons on the history of religions, so students come to know the world's diverse faiths, or else with lessons on human rights and ethics. This, providing that the state allows religious schools to offer afternoon or weekend classes, like the Sunday schools [operated] by the church, for those wishing to teach their children religion according to their [particular] sect and faith. Everyone has the right to provide his children with a religious education in a state-run school, but the state has no right to impose on all its citizens and residents... a single religious path from the perspective of one sect and one stream. The state should insist on equality for all in all the services it provides.
"I do not see how this proposal could [possibly] be regarded as an anti-religious plot, but, knowing the self-pitying Arab Islamic mentality, we understand why there are people who think that if you say 'good morning' instead of 'al-salaam alaikum' you are a Westernized [Muslim] plotting anti-religious schemes. This is how we always are, deliberately miserable."
Endnotes:
[1] See for example MEMRI clip No. 1720, Kuwaiti Columnist Ibtihal Al-Khatib Criticizes Hizbullah and Declares: A Secular State Is the Only Way to Protect Religious Rights in the Arab World, of a March 14, 2008 interview with Al-Khatib, following which she received death threats. On November 7, 2015, it was reported that Al-Khatib had said that coeducation was preferable to segregated schools because it produced better results, developed the students' personalities and made them more confident in relations with the opposite sex. Abohamdan.com, December 7, 2015.
[2] Dr. Sulaiman Al-Hattlan is a writer and Saudi media personality, and the former editor-in-chief of the American business magazine Forbes Arabia.
[3] Al-Jarida (Kuwait), November 30, 2015.