LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 08/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.july08.16.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
‘Every kingdom
divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house/Whoever is not
with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11/14-23:"Now he was casting
out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been
mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, ‘He casts out
demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’Others, to test him, kept
demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and
said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house
falls on house.If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom
stand? for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out
the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they
will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the
demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed,
guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks
him and overpowers him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides
his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather
with me scatters."
It was necessary for the
Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead
Acts of the Apostles 17/01-12:"After Paul and Silas had passed through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue
of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days
argued with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was
necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This
is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.’ Some of them were persuaded
and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a
few of the leading women. But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some
ruffians in the market-places they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar.
While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly,
they attacked Jason’s house. When they could not find them, they dragged Jason
and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These people who have
been turning the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has
entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the
emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.’ The people and the city
officials were disturbed when they heard this, and after they had taken bail
from Jason and the others, they let them go. That very night the believers sent
Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish
synagogue. These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they
welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see
whether these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, including not a
few Greek women and men of high standing."
Pope Francis's Tweet For Today
During this month my audiences are suspended, but I do not stop praying for you,
while I ask that you please pray for me!
Mes audiences sont suspendues ce mois-ci, mais je ne cesse de prier pour vous.
Et vous, s’il vous plait, priez pour moi !
إن مقابلاتي ستُعلّق خلال هذا الشهر، ولكنني لن أتوقّف عن الصلاة من أجلكم ومن
فضلكم صلّوا أنتم أيضًا من أجلي.
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials
from miscellaneous sources published on July 07-08/16
A sin called ISIS/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al
Arabiya/July 07/16
Chilcot judged the past but failed the future/Chris Doyle/Al Arabiya/July 07/16
What after the explosion at the Prophet’s Mosque/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/July
07/16
Is General Hifter becoming Putin's man in Libya/Yury Barmin/Al-Monitor/July
07/16
How this young Yazidi is bringing hope to IS victims/Brenda Stoter/Al-Monitor/July
07/16
Turkey: Victim of Its Own Enthusiasm for Jihad/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone
Institute/July 07/16
Sweden: Rampant Sexual Assaults Steam On/One Month of Islam and Multiculturalism
in Sweden: May 2016/Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/July 07/16
Christians in Iraqi Kurdistan complain about land seizure/Omar al-Jaffal/Al-Monitor/July
07/16
Beyond Brexit: Lessons for the Middle East/Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya/July
07/16
A turning point for Jordanian security/Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/July 07/16
Arab Columnist, Hussein Shobokshi: We Must Purge Our Sources Of Islamic
Extremism Like Post-WWII Germany Purged Its Sources Of Nazism/MEMRI/July 07/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on July 07-08/16
Makari Meets Geagea, Says Electoral Law 'Increasingly Crystallizing'
Hizbullah Denies Reports of Heavy Losses in Qalamoun
Dangerous' Terror Suspect Arrested at Sidon Palestinian Camp
Report: Franjieh Did Not Meet Mohammed bin Salman in Paris
Diplomatic Sources: Aoun's Dar al-Fatwa Visit Has 'Political, Presidential'
Significance
Qanso supports Frangieh for president and lauds historic Frangieh, Assad ties
Press Syndicate Dean from Me'rab: Geagea is strictly keen on holding
presidential elections
Larriera: Lebanon must strengthen its stability and elect a president
Jumblatt cables Hollande, Cambadelis expressing condolences on the passing away
of Brocard
Ariji optimistic about festival season despite security threats
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
July 07-08/16
No letup in Syrian fighting despite Eid truce
Putin and Obama ready to increase Syria coordination
Thousands of Iranians to descend on Paris in call for reform
Iran: fire blazes in petrochemical factory
Congresswoman Judy Chu: Free Iran rally is "important work"
Rep. Brad Sherman commends Maryam Rajavi for Iran rights advocacy
Congressman: "We must push back against brutal Iran" regime
Wes must counter to Iran’s regime's regional misconduct
Maryam Rajavi wins the hearts and minds of Iranians
Political prisoner writes to UN about mistreatment by Iran regime
Baghdad bombing death toll rises to 292
Italy extracts 217 bodies from hull of sunken migrant ship
Philippine military assaults kill 9 Abu Sayyaf extremists
Netanyahu denies reports of assassination attempt in Kenya
Human Rights Watch urges transparency over Fallujah abuses probe
Accused Al Qaeda supporter in US charged with seeking judge’s murder
Obama heads to Europe amid British referendum’s aftershocks
Two leading Republicans shy away from being Trump’s VP pick
Bangladesh blast, gunbattle kill four during Eid prayers
Synagogue, Church Members Named on New ISIS ‘Kill List’ Targeting 1,700
Individuals
Links From Jihad Watch Site for
July 07-08/16
Robert Spencer in PJ Media: Imam Invited To Open Presbyterian
Assembly Promptly Denigrates Christians
Renowned Islamic apologist Zakir Naik investigated for possibly inspiring
Bangladesh jihad terrorists
Algeria cancels soccer match with Ghana because coach is Israeli
Minneapolis: Muslims screaming “Jihad!” rampage through neighborhood, tell woman
“We can kidnap you and rape you”
Khamenei: “Intelligence services of the US, Israel and Britain” created “fake
Islam” of terrorists
Bangladesh: Jihadis bomb Eid prayers, hack policeman to death
Survey: Canadians regretting Muslim refugees, believe mainstream Islam promotes
violence
Toronto schoolteacher calls a jihadist who crushed the skull of a four-year-old
girl a hero and martyr
Scotland: Muslim murdered shopkeeper because he “disrespected the message of the
Prophet Muhammad”
ISIS tightens grip on Yazidi captives held as sex slaves
Minnesota: Muslim ‘refugees’ threaten community with rape, mainstream media
covers up incident
North Carolina: Two Muslims imprisoned for plotting to go to
Syria or Yemen to murder non-Muslims
July 07-08/16
Makari Meets Geagea, Says Electoral
Law 'Increasingly Crystallizing'
Naharnet/July 07/16/Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari announced Thursday
that the nature of the new electoral law is “increasingly crystallizing.”“We
discussed a lot of issues, including the electoral law, the presidency and
issues related to Koura and the country in general,” said Makari after talks
with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Maarab. Asked about the new
electoral law, Makari said “the issue consumed a lengthy part of my meeting with
Dr. Geagea,” adding that “the concept of the hybrid law is increasingly
crystallizing.” “It needs some final touches and we hope everyone will agree on
them, because we are in a critical need for finalizing this issue, seeing as the
electoral law is something essential in the political life in Lebanon,” Makari,
who is close to al-Mustaqbal Movement, added. He was referring to a hybrid
electoral law that mixes the proportional representation and winner-takes-all
systems. The draft law has been submitted by Mustaqbal, the LF and the
Progressive Socialist Party. Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc has recently called
for approving an electoral law “fully” based on the proportional representation
system in order to ensure what it called “fair representation.”The party has
repeatedly called for proportional representation but other political parties,
especially Mustaqbal, have rejected the proposal and argued that the party's
controversial arsenal of arms would prevent serious competition in regions where
the Iran-backed party is influential. Speaker Nabih Berri warned the national
dialogue parties last month against even “thinking” of holding the next
parliamentary elections under the 1960 electoral law, cautioning that citizens
would “take to the streets” to reject such a move . The country has not voted
for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending its
own mandate. The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the 1960
electoral law. The national dialogue parties have announced that they will
tackle the electoral law in three consecutive sessions that will be held on
August 2, 3 and 4.
Hizbullah Denies Reports of
Heavy Losses in Qalamoun
Naharnet/July 07/16/Hizbullah denied Thursday media reports about heavy losses
for the group in the Syrian border region of Qalamoun near Lebanon's frontier.
“The armed groups' claims about the death and capture of resistance fighters in
Qalamoun are totally baseless,” a Hizbullah military commander told al-Mayadeen
television. “It is an attempt to cover up for their setbacks,” he added. Earlier
in the day, Sky News Arabia had quoted Syrian opposition sources as saying that
“twenty-seven Hizbullah fighters were killed and 14 others were captured in
Qalamoun.” For its part, the pro-opposition Orient News TV said “rebels launched
a fierce attack on the posts of Hizbullah and the regime forces in the
countryside of Western Qalamoun at dawn Thursday, during which they managed to
liberate the al-Safa checkpoint and inflict heavy casualties on Hizbullah and
the regime forces.”Al-Safa checkpoint separates between Rankous' western
outskirts and the peripheries of the Barada Valley, according to Orient News.
“The rebels also seized control of a 57mm howitzer, two tanks, two cars, heavy-
and medium-caliber weapons and a quantity of ammunition,” the TV network added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the clashes, saying they
started when Islamist rebels and jihadists from the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front
seized control of the al-Safa checkpoint and captured armored vehicles and
ammunition belonging to the regime forces and Hizbullah. “There are confirmed
reports of casualties on both sides amid airstrikes on the area of the clashes,”
the Observatory said. It later reported the death of four Islamist rebels and
jihadists in the fighting, including the “al-Nusra emir of the Sirghaya region”
and “the commander of a rebel brigade.” Hizbullah's intervention in the Syrian
conflict alongside regime forces has helped Damascus achieve several military
victories and allowed the party to clear most of the Lebanese-Syrian border
region from rebels and jihadists. Since 2013, the Lebanese, Iran-backed party
has sent thousands of combatants -- between 5,000 and 6,000, according to the
expert on Hizbullah Waddah Sharara -- to help the regime fight both rebels and
jihadists. They send 2,000 fighters at a time in rotation, Sharara says. Experts
say Hizbullah has lost 1,000 to 2,000 fighters in the conflict, including senior
commanders.
Dangerous' Terror Suspect
Arrested at Sidon Palestinian Camp
Naharnet/July 07/16/A “dangerous fugitive” was arrested Thursday at the Mieh
Mieh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern city of Sidon, media reports said.
“In collaboration with the Joint Palestinian Security Force and after a
surveillance operation, army intelligence agents arrested the fugitive Ahmed A.
at the Mieh Mieh camp,” MTV reported. “The detainee is a Palestinian who was
born in Syria and is accused of belonging to a terrorist organization,” it said.
“He and another suspect were injured around two weeks ago when a bomb they were
preparing accidentally exploded in the Hitteen neighborhood of the Ain el-Hilweh
camp,” the TV network added. The suspect then went into hiding and managed to
flee Ain el-Hilweh to Mieh Mieh, it said. “The army intelligence directorate is
now interrogating him to know his affiliations, who he wanted to target with the
bomb, and whether the target was inside or outside the camp,” MTV added. The
second suspect, who reportedly lost a leg in the explosion, is still being
pursued, the TV network noted. The country has been on high alert since the
unprecedented suicide bombings that hit the Christian border town of al-Qaa in
late June. Scores of people have been arrested in a major crackdown on Syrian
refugee encampments and gatherings that followed the attacks. Al-Qaa's blasts
occurred after the arrest of several Islamic State-linked cells plotting
bombings in the country and amid a flurry of media reports about possible
attacks during the holy month of Ramadan.
Report: Franjieh Did Not Meet Mohammed bin Salman in Paris
Naharnet/July 07/16/Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh did not meet
with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his latest trip to
Paris, a media report said on Thursday. “The two men's visits to the French
capital happened during the same period and they stayed at the same hotel, the
Four Seasons Hotel George V, which gave credibility to the reports about the
alleged meeting,” the Kuwaiti al-Jarida newspaper quoted diplomatic sources as
saying. “The deputy crown prince and Franjieh did not even meet by chance at the
hotel and any claims about a meeting are baseless,” the sources added. “Franjieh
headed to Paris with his daughter and wife for a leisure trip aimed at visiting
the famous Disneyland Paris resort and the trip had no political motives,” the
sources explained. The sources also noted that “Lebanese businessman Gilbert
Chagoury was with Franjieh and his family” and that the mogul “threw a banquet
in honor of the Marada chief a day after his arrival in the presence of a number
of common Lebanese friends.”Franjieh had emerged as a leading presidential
candidate after a meeting last year in Paris with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader
ex-PM Saad Hariri. Media reports said Chagoury had played a role in preparing
for the meeting. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel
Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, the Free Patriotic Movement and some
of their allies have been boycotting the electoral sessions at parliament,
stripping them of the needed quorum. The initiative of Hariri -- who is close to
Saudi Arabia -- to nominate Franjieh for the presidency was met with
reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. FPM
founder MP Michel Aoun has refused to withdraw from the presidential race and
the supporters of his nomination argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to
become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger
influence in the Christian community.
Diplomatic Sources: Aoun's
Dar al-Fatwa Visit Has 'Political, Presidential' Significance
Naharnet/July 07/16/Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun's visit to
Dar al-Fatwa on the first day of Eid al-Fitr on Wednesday was not a merely
courtesy visit, a media report said on Thursday. Sources close to Dar al-Fatwa
told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper that the visit was aimed at offering Eid al-Fitr
greeting seeing as Aoun is a former prime minister, but diplomatic sources said
that “the visit cannot be stripped of its political meaning, or even its
significance regarding the presidency, despite al-Mustaqbal Movement's ongoing
rejection of Aoun's election as president.”Aoun also visited Speaker Nabih Berri
on Wednesday and held phone talks with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh
Asiri. After the Dar al-Fatwa talks with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan,
Aoun announced that “communication with al-Mustaqbal Movement is still ongoing,”
stressing the importance of “reaching an understanding among the various
Lebanese political forces over all issues.”There has been speculation that the
latest rapprochement between Aoun and Berri could lead to an agreement over the
stalled presidential election or the parliamentary polls. Lebanon has been
without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and
Hizbullah, the FPM and some of their allies have been boycotting the electoral
sessions at parliament, stripping them of the needed quorum. Mustaqbal leader
ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late
2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency
but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian
parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue
that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of
his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.
Qanso supports Frangieh for
president and lauds historic Frangieh, Assad ties
Thu 07 Jul 2016/NNA - Head of Marada Movement, MP Sleiman Frangieh, convened on
Thursday at his office with a delegation from Baath Party, headed by MP Assem
Qanso, who confirmed to the press that the political path of both parties is
one, and that he fully supports Frangieh for president. Qanso declared that the
relation between Frangieh and Bashar Assad's Syria continued to be tight, just
as it was between Frangieh's grandfather and Hafez Assad. "We are here today to
confirm that this communication between us and Sleiman Bek continues on the same
path of supporting the Resistance and the situation in Syria," said Qanso,
adding that the meeting also cemented the strong trinity of Iran, Syria and
Hezbollah in its fight against terrorism."And today, Russia is on our side."
Qanso blamed all terrorist attacks spilling over from the violence in Syria on
the "foolish policy of self-dissociation" adopted by the Lebanese state. "Had
there been coordination between Lebanon and Syria, the Syrian Air Forces would
have ended all terrorism in Lebanon in one hour."As for the presidential
conundrum, Qanso asserted that the only solution was in the election of Frangieh.
"There is a path that unites us, and this is the guarantor for Lebanon, rather
than sharing oil [profit] and other things that I do not want to talk about."
Press Syndicate Dean from
Me'rab: Geagea is strictly keen on holding presidential elections
Thu 07 Jul 2016/NNA - "Lebanese Forces Party Head, Samir Geagea, is greatly
eager towards holding the presidential elections," said Press Syndicate Head
Aouni Kaaki, following his visit to Me'rab on Thursday. "I have sensed that
Geagea is optimistic at this level in wake of some positive indications, God
willing, but is a bit reserved nevertheless," said Kaaki on emerging from the
meeting. He added: "There are no other choices but conducting the presidential
elections under any circumstances, since it is unacceptable that any organ would
thrive headless!""Geagea is exerting extensive efforts regarding the
presidential elections' dossier, for he is well-aware of the lurking dangers,"
Kaaki indicated.
Larriera: Lebanon must
strengthen its stability and elect a president
Thu 07 Jul 2016 /NNA - "The Argentine authorities want Lebanon to strengthen
stability in the Middle East, elect a president as soon as possible and
establish lasting peace," said the Ambassador of Argentina Ricardo Larriera. The
diplomat held a reception at the Intercontinental Phoenicia hotel on the
occasion of the Independence Day of Argentina, in the presence of
representatives of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Tammam
Salam, MP Elie Aoun and Minister Sejaan Azzi, Information Minister, Ramzi Jreige,
Deputies Gilberte Zouein, Nehmtallah Abi Nasr and a host of personalities,
representatives and diplomats. "After the presidential elections of 2015, a new
democratic government was formed. The Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra
visited Lebanon in May 2016 and met a large number of officials. She also
granted humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees and Lebanese who have welcomed
them," he said, noting the good relationship between Lebanon and Argentina.
Larriera finally thanked "the thousands of Lebanese who emigrated to Argentina
in 1870 and their constructive and fruitful contribution in the development of
the country."
Jumblatt cables Hollande, Cambadelis expressing condolences on the passing away
of Brocard
Thu 07 Jul 2016/NNA - Democratic Gathering Head, MP Walid Jumblatt, sent a cable
of condolences on Thursday to French President Francois Hollande and French
Socialist Party Secretary General Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, following the
passing away of former French Prime Minister Michel Brocard.
Ariji optimistic about
festival season despite security threats
Thu 07 Jul 2016/NNA - Minister of Culture, Raymond Ariji, said that from the
moment he assumed office he has taken the motto of "cultural resistance" in the
face of all the horrors taking place worldwide, noting that the summer festival
season is going to be "superb" despite security threats. The Minister made his
comments after attending the dress rehearsal of Antar W Abla opera in Casino Du
Liban, the first opera sung in the Arabic language in accordance with a
recognized academic music method. "Organizing this show is proof that Lebanese
creativity cannot stop or be tampered down...which is a feature of Lebanon."
Ariji praised the courage of the Lebanese in the face of adversity, noting that
they were used to resistance. "They threaten us with violence, and despite that
we go to [festivals in] Baalbek, Beit Eddine, Ihden, Batroun, Jbeil, and we come
to Casino Du Liban to watch opera."On a different note, the Minister confirmed
that serious negotiations were taking place with the Chinese to build a
conservatoire that included a grand theater that accommodated opera work. Casino
Du Liban showcases Antar W Abla on the eighth and ninth of July.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on July 07-08/16
No letup in Syrian fighting despite
Eid truce
By AP Beirut Thursday, 7 July 2016/In a multi-pronged offensive, Syrian
government forces and their allies pushed into an area north of the city of
Aleppo on Thursday, threatening a key supply line for the city’s opposition-held
quarters and setting off intense clashes with rebels, activists said. The
advance came despite of and in violation of the government’s own cease-fire,
which the authorities announced the day before to coincide with the Muslim
holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan. Also Thursday, the
international relief organization Mercy Corps warned its food stocks in the
opposition-held half of the contested city of Aleppo could run out in a month.
It said it provides food aid to 75,000 people there, among an estimated
population of 300,000-400,000 in the rebel-held sections. The entire city, which
is also the capital of Aleppo province, has about 2 million people. “Unless we
are able to resupply, it’s going to be very difficult if not impossible to
continue support beyond that,” said Dominic Graham, who directs the
organization’s Syria efforts. Fierce fighting also broke out in the eastern and
southern suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus, activists and rebel fighters
reported.
Islam Alloush, a spokesman for the Jaish al-Islam fighting group, said
government forces moved in on the suburb of Mayda, seeking to block a rebel
supply line, while the opposition fought back to regain a number of areas
previously captured. Government advances were also reported in Daraya, a
besieged opposition-held town overlooking Damascus airport, the
opposition-operated Facebook account of the Local Council of Daraya reported. On
Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government announced the 72-hour
truce, ending on midnight Friday, an announcement welcomed by US Secretary of
State John Kerry and others. Kerry said efforts were underway to extend it. On
Thursday, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, noted “initial reports of
potential violations” but urged all parties to abide by the truce. The rebel
supply line to Aleppo is known as the Castello road and government forces and
their allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, have been mounting
repeated attacks on it. The government has so far secured control over the
surrounding Mallah farms, leaving Syrian forces less than a mile (1.3 kilometers)
away from Castello road, Hezbollah’s media arm said, describing it as
retaliation for violations of the truce by armed groups. Syrian State TV
declared that, “terrorists are violating the truce.”Rebel Nour al-Din Zinky
group said on its Facebook page that government warplanes and artillery shelled
the Mallah farms close to the road. It said the rebels were trying to regain
control of the farms. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an
activist group that tracks Syria’s civil war, now in its sixth year, reported
clashes west and east of Castello road. Syria's state-run news agency said
rebels shelled a government neighborhood of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing three
people, while the anti-government Aleppo Media Center reported that at least two
people were killed in government airstrikes and shelling on rebel-held
neighborhoods of the contested city. Mercy Corp’s Graham said a previous,
US-Russia-brokered cease-fire, which started in February but eventually fell
apart, had not helped the group’s aid deliveries. ISIS and Al-Qaeda’s Syria
affiliate were excluded from that truce. Ahmed Ramadan, an exiled Syrian
political opposition member, wrote on his Twitter page that the Assad
government's truce was a “hoax.”
Putin and Obama ready to
increase Syria coordination
Reuters, Moscow Thursday, 7 July 2016/Russia said on Wednesday that President
Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama confirmed in a phone call that both
countries were ready to increase coordination of military action in Syria.
Relations between Russia and the United States have been strained by
disagreements over the conflict in Syria, where Moscow and Washington are
backing opposing sides in the civil war. The Kremlin said in a statement that
Putin had used the call to urge Obama to aid the separation of the "moderate"
opposition in Syria from the Nusra Front and other "extremist" groups. It said
the phone call took place on the initiative of Russia and that both sides had
also stressed the importance of United Nations-brokered peace talks restarting.
Aside from Syria, the Kremlin statement said Putin and Obama discussed the
Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine conflicts. Putin reiterated the Minsk peace
agreements on Ukraine must be fulfilled by Kiev and said Russia wanted a peace
process over Nagorno-Karabakh to progress. There was no immediate comment from
Washington on the Putin-Obama phone call.
Thousands of Iranians to
descend on Paris in call for reform
By Staff Writer Al Arabiya English Thursday, 7 July 2016/Thousands of Iranian
opposition members are expected in Paris this weekend for the annual conference
of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The event, which is aimed
at promoting human rights and democracy in Iran, is expected to be attended by
tens of thousands of Iranians who say the current regime is not moderate ‘in any
way’, despite claims to the contrary, according to the main opposition party’s
website. The NCRI believes the situation in Iran is actually worsening, with a
deterioration in human rights and the regime becoming more ‘closed and
introverted’. This weekend’s event in Paris is expected to be joined by a
selection of international supporters, they include from the Arab world the
former Algerian prime minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali; former Jordanian information
minister Salah Gualleb; former Egyptian FM Mohammed Orabi and Palestinian Fateh
movement’s member Azzam Al Ahmad. From Europe and the US attendees include
former French FM Bernard Kouchner; former Spanish prime minister Joze Luis
Zapatero; former US Congress Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani.
This weekend’s conference has been widely promoted under the hashtag #FreeIran,
and its attendees widely support regime change. The conference - which forms
part of the Free Iran gathering – supports the 10-point plan proposed by Maryam
Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI which called for the introduction of full
democracy, equality for men and women, the abolition of the death penalty and
the separation of religion and state. According to the NCRI the number of
executions is at its highest in the last 25 years. While it also states that
“the Iranian regime is institutionally sowing discord in the region especially
in Syria and is continuing to export Islamic fundamentalism”. It states that
Tehran is still testing ballistic missiles, violating UN Security Council
Resolution 2231. Meanwhile it states that the country is itself unstable, with
no sign of improvement in its economic situation and that “the infighting among
the ruling factions have reached unprecedented levels and intensity”. The NCRI
website goes on to criticize the legitimacy of elections under the current
regime, following the election of Ahmad Jannati, 90 - “who already headed the
Guardian Council and is a staunch loyalist of the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei - as the head of the Assembly of Experts”. They say that “he now heads
two key bodies, which shows that elections under this regime are meaningless and
the regime’s choices are evermore limited”. “The big question is what is the
direction of the turbulent situation in Iran and where is Iran heading?” the
statement adds. “The outcome of these developments and the future of the Iranian
regime will have a huge strategic impact on the entire region - a fact that has
triggered serious debate in the West.”
Iran: fire blazes in
petrochemical factory
The Associated Press, Tehran Thursday, 7 July 2016/Iran's official IRNA news
agency is reporting that firefighters have extinguished a fire at a
petrochemical factory in the southwestern oil-rich province of Khuzestan. IRNA
said Thursday it took hours to put out the fire, which began Wednesday in Bou
Ali Sina petrochemical factory in the southern port of Mahshahr. It says there
were no casualties and that neighboring factories were evacuated as a
precaution. IRNA says investigations are still underway to determine the cause
of the fire. The factory, which is affiliated to Iran's state-owned National
Petrochemical Company, opened in 1998. The area is home to dozens of small and
large petrochemical factories, and fires are occasionally reported.
Petrochemical products are among Iran's top exports.
Congresswoman Judy Chu: Free Iran rally is "important work"
Thursday, 07 July 2016/NCRI – U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu expressed her
solidarity with those who will be championing democracy at the mass Free Iran
rally, on July 9 in Paris. Contrasting the "peaceful and open" principles of
those who will be at the rally with the actions of "Iran’s theocratic rulers,"
Congresswoman Chu thanked those attending for co-operating in the "important
work to promote human rights and a more free Iran."A free Iran was also a safe
Iran; one that ceased to "threaten others," she said. Calling attention to those
in "Camp Liberty who struggle to survive in an increasingly perilous situation,
vulnerable to the aggression of the Iranian government and their proxies,"
Congresswoman Chu said that House Resolution 650, approved unanimously by the
House Foreign Affairs Committee, and one which she had co-sponsored, would
"provide for the safety and security of the people living in Camp Liberty."
Members of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of
Iran (PMOI or MEK) are based at Camp Liberty in Iraq. The “Free Iran” rally in
Paris on Saturday will show support for the democratic aspirations of the
Iranian people and the 10-point plan for a future free and democratic Iran
advocated by Iranian Resistance President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.
Rep. Brad Sherman commends Maryam Rajavi for Iran rights advocacy
Thursday, 07 July 2016/NCRI - United States Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) who
serves in the Foreign Affairs Committee sent a message of solidarity to the
Paris-held Iranian resistance rally, called “Free Iran”, scheduled for July 9.
He commended Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of
Resistance of Iran (NCRI) for her “advocacy of democracy, human and women’s
rights in Iran.”“Only when ballot box determines who holds power, when both
women and men can speak freely and Parties can debate, will the Iranian people
be able to govern the country for the benefit of all,” stated Sherman in his
video message.Congressman Sherman also emphasized in his message that the
Iranian regime remains an existential threat to the US allies in the Middle East
as well as peace in the world. He expressed his concerns that the mullahs are
defying proliferators of terrorism and extremism.
The following is the complete text of Congressman Brad Sherman’s message to the
Iranian “Free Iran” rally in Paris. Hello to my fellow parliamentarians, people
of Paris and Madam Rajavi, I am United States Congressman Brad Sherman from
California's best named City Sherman Oaks, for 20 years I have served on the
Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, for the past 20 years
I focused on preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon and on implementing an
American foreign policy that reflects our values and our dedication to Human
Rights.
I want to commend the MEK for the critical role it played in exposing the
Iranian regime's nuclear weapons program. Following the attack on Camp Liberty
last year, my colleagues on the House Foreign Affairs committee and I, passed a
resolution about demanding the safety of the MEK residents of Camp Liberty, we
did this to make it clear to the government of Iraq how serious this issue is
and it's need to fulfill its obligations under international law.
The current Iranian regime is not only an existential threat to the US allies in
the Middle East and the Peace of the world, but is also a defiant proliferator
of terrorism and extremism, I have introduced a bill in the United States
Congress, the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps Sanctions Act to require the U.S.
President to block and prohibit all transactions in property and property
interests of anyone who knowingly does business with the IRGC, the world must
challenge the Iranian regime intensified support for terrorism across the Middle
East including Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
I remain committed to ensuring that Iran does not get nuclear weapons that's why
I broke with my own political party and opposed the recent Iran nuclear deal, I
am sure that the Iranian regime will cheat on that deal and we will then move
forward with new sanctions which will force a new policy and hopefully a new
regime in Tehran. I also want to commend Madame Rajavi for her advocacy of
democracy, human and women's rights in Iran, only when The Ballot Box determines
who holds power, when both women and men can speak freely and Parties can
debate, will the Iranian people be able to govern the country for the benefit of
all, that is why the commitment of the National Council of resistance of Iran to
secular pluralist efforts that respect Liberties, that's why it's just so
important, I hope you all enjoy this year's convention. I wish I could be there
with you in Paris, I am Congressman Brad Sherman.
Congressman: "We must push
back against brutal Iran" regime
Thursday, 07 July 2016/NCRI - Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the U.S. House
of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, citing the Iranian regime's
"brutal" human rights abuses at home and abroad, has declared, "We must continue
to push back against the Iranian government." Appalled that the current regime
should have put Iran "in reverse" when the people have an ancient tradition of
respect for human rights stretching back to the Persian Constitutional
Revolution of 1905-07, and, beyond that, even to Cyrus the Great, Congressman
Royce outlined the scale of abuses under the regime’s President Hassan Rouhani,
particularly the number of executions, widespread use of torture, and a complete
absence of due process in the judicial system. As such, he and his colleagues
continued "to press for sanctions on senior Iranian officials involved in these
human rights abuses," Congressman Royce said in a message of solidarity to the
“Free Iran” gathering that will be held in Paris on July 9. Speaking of his
dismay that "the world has given the government of Iran...a free pass to attack
the residents of Camp Ashraf," Congressman Royce reported that the Foreign
Affairs Committee had passed House Resolution 650, which, he said, "publicly
pushes back against the Iraqi government's failure to effectively protect the
residents of Camp Liberty and calls for their immediate resettlement."Members of
the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI
or MEK) are based at Camp Liberty in Iraq. The House Foreign Affairs Committee,
Congressman Royce said, "remains focused on the threat posed by the radical
regime in Tehran." . The “Free Iran” rally in Paris on Saturday will show
support for the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people and the 10-point
plan for a future free and democratic Iran advocated by Iranian Resistance
President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.
Wes must counter to Iran’s
regime's regional misconduct
Thursday, 07 July 2016/NCRI/Three years after the emergence of Hassan Rouhani as
President of the Iranian regime, it is ever more evident that finding
“moderates” among the theocratic dictatorship is mere wishful thinking, argues
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass.
Lord Maginnis, an independent member of the UK House of Lords and member of the
British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF), wrote on Thursday for
the Huffington Post:
As we approach the first anniversary of the Iranian nuclear deal, tens of
thousands of activists and Iranian dissidents are set to rally this Saturday in
Paris, calling for Tehran’s nefarious conduct at home and in the region to be
tackled. One of the primary messages at this rally will be to condemn Iran’s
role in the massacre of the Syrian people and to demand an end to its assistance
to the Assad government.
Little attention has been paid to Iran’s role in not only propping up a
dictatorship in Syria, but in fuelling a sectarian strife there and in Iraq that
has created and sustains groups like Daesh. Iran’s behaviour has been nothing
short of criminal, and its ongoing involvement in the spread of terror has to be
confronted in order to obtain a durable peace in the region.
Iran’s policy of aggressive expansion has not slowed down after the nuclear
deal, but has in fact intensified during the Presidency of that over-rated and
so-called “moderate” Hassan Rouhani. Besides the continuing military and
logistical involvement in support of the Syrian dictatorship, there is support
of Shiite militias in Iraq, and ongoing support for armed groups in Yemen.
Behind each of these conflicts is a callous strategy by Tehran designed to
expand its sphere of influence and gain a stronger foothold throughout the
Middle East.
In Iraq, Tehran has taken advantage of the calamity created by Daesh in order to
reassert its hegemony in the country. Despite the removal of its chief ally in
Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, the rampant sectarian repression inflicted by his
government continues and Iran continues to pour its military and logistical
strength into the conflict. This includes armed forces, and the presence of IRGC
commanders to lead Shiite militias, many of whom should clearly be deemed guilty
of war crimes.
It’s fairly obvious that, had Iran not propped up the dictatorship of Assad, the
chaos from that country would not have spilled over into Iraq and Daesh would be
virtually non-existent. Instead, we are left with a bloodbath in Syria, genocide
in Iraq, and a crisis in Yemen, as Iranian backed rebels march across the
country.
Iran’s policy of “exporting the revolution” is intended to re-energise a
demoralised base, to maximise whatever is left out of its legitimacy abroad and
to cover up its failures at home. The regime has sought to create icons out of
its war heroes by popularising their exploits abroad, as evidenced by the
fervour surrounding its General Qassem Soleimani. The regime recognises its
diminishing appeal at home, particularly among Iran’s youth. It uses, therefore,
an aggressive foreign policy in order to maintain a perpetual state of crisis
internally - a strategy it employed to prolong the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980’s,
and to excuse its crack-down on dissent and opposition internally.
Long past is the time to end the West’s policy of appeasement towards the
mullahs in Tehran. It only emboldens their lust for power and expansion. The
international community must meet its responsibility to effect an end to
Tehran’s inflammatory actions in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. The U.S., with the U.K.,
has surely some obligation to identify with the Iranian people and with their
organized resistance, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Its President, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, has for decades been unwavering in her
promotion of NCRI’s 10 point plan for a democratic Iranian future. As common
dissent grows within Iran, the ayatollahs would become more vulnerable to
domestic pressure if that were able to display more evidence of international
sympathy. Their extreme sensitivity to the activities of the Resistance in
general and Mrs. Rajavi in particular points toward Tehran’s Achilles heel.
Three years after the emergence of the Rouhani front it is ever more evident
that finding “moderates” in his ruling theocracy is mere wishful thinking - a
dangerous delusion. Confronting Iran for its egregious conduct at home and its
belligerence in the region is an essential first step to avoiding further
sectarian bloodshed and future warfare. The Western governments should surely
recognise this reality.
Maryam Rajavi wins the hearts
and minds of Iranians
Thursday, 07 July 2016/NCRI/Written by Elaheh Azimfar
Elaheh Azimfar is a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the
NCRI’s representative for international organizations In two days' time, the
world will witness the largest annual gathering of Iranian exiles in Le Bourget,
Paris, with Maryam Rajavi as the keynote speaker. Iranians of all walks of life
as well as hundreds of politicians and personalities from five continents will
converge in Le Bourget to declare their support for Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian
Resistance and their struggle to overthrow the regime ruling Iran and establish
freedom and democracy in their country. But who is Maryam Rajavi?
Maryam Rajavi, a devout Muslim woman, has led the opposition to Tehran's
fundamentalist regime for the past three decades. Maryam Rajavi espouses a
tolerant and democratic interpretation of Islam and calls for unity of all
democratic forces to confront terrorism and extremism emanating from the
clerical regime in Iran, as the most dangerous threat of our time to global
peace and security. Maryam Rajavi's ten-point plan offers a democratic
alternative to the ongoing savagery of the ruling regime in Iran. Maryam Rajavi
calls for abolition of the death penalty, separation of the Mosque and State,
and equal participation of women in political leadership. Maryam Rajavi also
calls for a non-nuclear Iran that lives in peaceful coexistence with its
neighbors. Maryam Rajavi believes that women's equality is essential to
democratic progress in today's world, in any country and in any organization.
So, it was all the more essential to the struggle against the misogynous
fundamentalist extremists ruling Iran.One of the major achievements of Maryam
Rajavi has been the involvement of the Resistance's women in the most crucial
positions of responsibility in the movement. The idea of women's equal
participation in political leadership, economic and management roles, has been
realized in Maryam Rajavi's movement. This is especially important because this
phenomenon is not limited to a few talented and intelligent women, but embraces
a generation of women with diverse backgrounds. Maryam Rajavi's achievement was
made possible by rejection of all forms of discrimination against women in her
movement and providing a just and equal opportunity for everyone, proving the
fact that any human being can exercise her/his talents and intelligence once
given an equal opportunity for education and occupation.
Maryam Rajavi is recognized for her strength, resolve and leadership qualities.
Maryam Rajavi is admired for her tireless leadership and struggle against the
ruthless mullahs of Iran. Maryam Rajavi has demonstrated amazing strength in the
face of numerous difficulties facing her movement. Maryam Rajavi's motto is we
can and we must. Maryam Rajavi believes that by being realistic, devoting enough
energy and time to any task, human beings can decide their own fate and break
through any impasse. That is how Maryam Rajavi has succeeded in leading her
movement through a tortuous path over the years, towards imminent victory.
Iranians believe that with Maryam Rajavi pledging regime change in Iran, they
would enjoy their inalienable, equal human rights in a free Iran.
Looking forward to a inspirational gathering this Saturday.
Political prisoner writes to
UN about mistreatment by Iran regime
Thursday, 07 July 2016/NCRI - Iranian political prisoner Hassan Sadeqi has sent
a letter from prison to Ahmed Shaheed who is the United Nations special
rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran. It reads as follows:
June 30, 2016
My name is Hassan Sadeqi. I am a political prisoner at the Gohardasht Prison. I
was also a political prisoner at Evin Prison during the years of 1982 to 1988.
While in Evin Prison, I was beaten by cables while being interrogated. Because
of the beatings, I was diagnosed for cataract disease (Katrkt) in my right eye.
No one came to my rescue till my release in 1988. I sought medical help for my
eye, but it was too late. I underwent an operation by Dr. Jahromi at the Royal
Hospital in Tehran.
I was again arrested in 2012. I was imprisoned in solitary confinement in
section 240. I was beaten by the interrogators. I suffered head injuries because
of the beatings. In one of these beating sessions, I went into coma. When I
regained consciousness, I found that I’d lost half of the sight in my right eye.
I was released on bail. I decided to go to Labaffi Nejad Hospital to see an eye
surgeon. The doctors diagnosed my eye problem as glaucoma (glaucoma) and advised
me to be monitored by a clinician. I am now in Gohardasht Prison, where I am
sentenced to 15 years of unjust imprisonment. I have asked to see a doctor
several times, but the prison authorities, including Haji Loo, the Judiciary
representative, have rejected my request.
My right eye is on the verge of losing its sight completely. I am writing you
this letter to bring the violation of the most basic rights of the prisoners in
Iran. This is a corrupt regime, incapable of being moderate. Even if the court
or the law allows me to be referred to a hospital for surgery, the Prison chief
could block that order. This is a common practice in the prison.
Political Prisoner, Hassan Sadeqi
Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison, Karaj
CC: Doctors Without Borders
This letter demonstrates the dreadful human rights situation in Iran. Things
have only deteriorated under the current regime of the mullahs’ President Hassan
Rouhani, and the plight of political prisoners like Hassan Sadeqi has worsened.
Grisly public hangings, floggings, and forcible removal of limbs have become
common-place punishments.
Hundreds of senior political dignitaries, parliamentarians, human rights and
women's rights activists, as well as religious leaders from the United States,
Europe, and Islamic countries, will all come together on July 9, for “Free
Iran”, in Paris. This major gathering of Iranians and their international
supporters, under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi, will be held to emphasize the
cause for democracy and freedom in Iran, and to highlight the plight of Iran’s
political prisoners, like Hassan Sadeqi, who continue to suffer at the hands of
the mullahs’ regime.
Baghdad bombing death toll
rises to 292
Reuters, Baghdad Thursday, 7 July 2016/The death toll from a suicide bombing in
Baghdad this weekend has reached 292, Iraq's Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The attack, claimed by the militant group ISIS, which the government is battling
in the north and west, was the deadliest of the many car bombings in Baghdad
since the 2003 US-led invasion. The truck bomb went off in a busy shopping
street in a mainly Shiite Karrada district of central Baghdad. More than 200
people were wounded in the attack in a busy shopping street in the mainly Shiite
Karrada district of central Baghdad. About 23 of the wounded were still in
hospital, health ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Rudaini told Reuters. Earlier on
Thursday, the ministry had put the toll at 281 and it rose as more people,
registered as missing, were identified as dead, Rudaini said. Iraq Body Count, a
volunteer-led organization that has been counting deaths since 2003, estimates
civilian deaths since then at between 160,000 and 180,000, and the toll for
violent deaths including combatants at more than 250,000.
Italy extracts 217 bodies
from hull of sunken migrant ship
The Associated Press, Rome Thursday, 7 July 2016/Italian navy officials say they
have recovered 217 bodies from the hull of a migrant ship that sank off Libya
last year in a tragedy that sparked the EU to beef up Mediterranean rescue
operations. Italian authorities raised the ship from the seabed last week and
have been working to remove and identify the bodies ever since. In a statement
Thursday, the navy said 52 autopsies had been performed on the 217 bodies pulled
out so far. Some of the 28 survivors of the April 18, 2015 wreck had said as
many as 700-800 people were aboard, leading officials to label it one of the
worst known tragedies of the Mediterranean migrant crisis. Around 200 bodies
were initially recovered; after officials saw the ship’s dimensions, they
suggested about 300 remained. The wreck of a fishing boat that sank in April
2015, drowning hundreds of migrants packed on board, is seen after being raised
in the Sicilian harbour of Augusta, Italy, July 1, 2016. (Reuters)
Philippine military assaults
kill 9 Abu Sayyaf extremists
The Associated Press, Manila Thursday, 7 July 2016/Philippine troops, backed by
rocket-firing helicopters and artillery fire, killed up to nine Abu Sayyaf
extremists in fighting Thursday after the new military chief warned of a "shock
and awe" offensive to wipe out the militant group known for its brutality. One
soldier was killed and six wounded as government troops battled about 130 Abu
Sayyaf fighters in the jungles of mountainous Patikul town in Sulu province,
said regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan. In addition to the Abu Sayyaf
deaths, 13 of the militants were wounded, he said. The militants were led by
one-armed Abu Sayyaf commander Radulan Sahiron but it was not immediately clear
what happened to him. The United States and the Philippines have offered
separate bounties for the capture and prosecution of Sahiron, who has been
blamed for bomb attacks and kidnappings for ransom. In nearby Basilan province,
troops fought about 200 Abu Sayyaf gunmen for five hours late Wednesday. The
clashes resumed Thursday but there were no immediate reports of casualties, Tan
said. President Rodrigo Duterte has warned the Abu Sayyaf to stop a wave of
ransom kidnappings, adding he would eventually confront the militants. Military
chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya said early this week a looming offensive would
"shock and awe" the extremists, suggesting the use of overwhelming firepower
against the resilient militants, who have survived more than a decade of
on-and-off offensives. Additional troops have been deployed to Basilan and Sulu,
predominantly Muslim provinces where the militants have kept hostages in jungle
encampments. Two Canadians were successively beheaded by the militants in Sulu
after ransom deadlines lapsed, sparking condemnation from Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. A Norwegian, a Dutch bird watcher and a group of seven
newly kidnapped Indonesian tugboat crewmen remain in Abu Sayyaf custody. The
United States and the Philippines have blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist
organization for bombings, kidnappings for ransom and beheadings.
Netanyahu denies reports of
assassination attempt in Kenya
The Associated Press, Addis Ababa Thursday, 7 July 2016/Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday denied reports of an attempt on his life in Kenya
during his heavily guarded African tour this week, saying he knew "nothing" of
it. Netanyahu said he was learning about the reports of an assassination attempt
for the first time during a press conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister
Hailemariam Desalegn in Addis Ababa. "The answer is we know nothing about it
because there is nothing in it," Netanyahu said. He made the remarks in response
to a reporter's question following an anonymously sourced report in the Kuwaiti
newspaper al-Jarida. Kenyan officials also denied there was an effort to kill
Netanyahu. An attempted assassination can't be secret. It has to be something
visible, and to my knowledge there was absolutely nothing of the sort," Kenya's
Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka told The Associated Press. "I'm not
aware, and there was no such thing at all. Those are lies," Inspector General of
Police Joseph Boinnet said. Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon
said a report that the motorcade changed its route because of an explosives
threat was "simply not true."The Israeli prime minister is protected by heavy
security in Israel and abroad, given high threats against Israeli targets around
the world. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish
extremist in Tel Aviv in 1995. Netanyahu's four-nation Africa visit is the first
to sub-Saharan Africa by a sitting Israeli prime minister in nearly three
decades. He has visited Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda while pursuing closer security
and other ties with African nations, which cut or limited their relationships
with Israel in the 1970s under pressure from Arab countries. African states were
also opposed to Israel's close ties to South Africa's apartheid government.
Israel also wants African states to support it at the United Nations, where the
Palestinians were recognized as a non-member observer state in 2012. Netanyahu
and Desalegn said Thursday they would renew cooperation in the fight against
extremism, a theme that Netanyahu has repeated often during his African tour,
and they signed agreements to increase ties in technology, agriculture and
more.Netanyahu also pledged to allow Ethiopian Jews remaining in Ethiopia to
move to Israel. "We have a commitment and we are keeping it on a humanitarian
basis and on the basis of family reunifications. It will take place in the
current budget," Netanyahu said. Desalegn invited Ethiopian Jews living in
Israel to come to Ethiopia and invest. Ethiopian Jews have complained of
discrimination in Israeli society, and hundreds recently demonstrated against
what they called Israeli police brutality. Netanyahu also asked for the
Ethiopian prime minister's help in pressing for Hamas to release an
Ethiopian-Israeli citizen being held in Gaza.
Human Rights Watch urges
transparency over Fallujah abuses probe
By AFP, Baghdad Thursday, 7 July 2016/Human Rights Watch called Thursday for
transparency from Iraq over its promised investigation of alleged abuses,
including executions of civilians, by its forces during the recapture of
Fallujah from ISIS militants. The New York-based watchdog said that since
mid-June it had asked repeatedly for information from Baghdad over what it was
doing to investigate the allegations, but not even basic details were provided
and the inquiry was “mired in secrecy.”“Failing to hold fighters and commanders
accountable for grave abuses bodes very badly for the looming battle for Mosul,”
HRW’s deputy Middle East director, Joe Stork, said in a statement, referring to
the last ISIS-held city in Iraq. “Serious investigations and prosecutions are
essential to provide justice to victims and their families, and to deter
atrocities by government forces,” Stork said. At the end of last month, Iraqi
forces recaptured Fallujah, a city 50 kilometres west of Baghdad, in a major
setback for ISIS. But the United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al
Hussein said earlier this week that there was strong evidence that Ketaeb
Hezbollah, one of the main militias that fought alongside security forces in the
operation, carried out atrocities. The Iran-backed militia may have executed
dozens of civilians and kidnapped hundreds more, the UN said, citing witness
testimony. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi responded to allegations of abuses
during the operation by promising to investigate and prosecute all such cases.
But HRW said neither his office nor other officials “could provide any
information about the purported investigations, including whether anyone has
been arrested and charged.”
Accused Al Qaeda supporter in
US charged with seeking judge’s murder
By Reuters Thursday, 7 July 2016/A man already awaiting trial on charges of
conspiring to aid the late US-born Al Qaeda preacher Anwar al Awlaki and an Al
Qaeda affiliate in Yemen was indicted on Wednesday over accusations he plotted
to have the federal judge presiding over the case murdered. Yahya Farooq
Mohammad, 37, was accused in the three-count indictment handed down by a federal
grand jury in Toledo, Ohio, with attempting to pay an undercover FBI agent
$15,000 to have the judge killed. “Conspiring to have a judge killed is not the
way to avoid being prosecuted - now Mohammad will be held accountable for
additional serious federal charges,” Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of
the FBI’s office in Cleveland, said in a written statement released with the
indictment. Prosecutors say Mohammad was introduced to the undercover agent by
another prisoner at the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo after telling
that inmate that he was willing to hire someone to kill US District Judge Jack
Zouhary. Mohammad told the undercover agent that he would pay him $15,000 for
the job and arranged to have his wife, identified only by the initials “N.T.”,
hand over a $1,000 cash down payment at a post office in Bolingbrook, Illinois,
according to prosecutors. Mohammad told the inmate that the rest of the money
would be coming from Dubai and would be routed to his wife through Texas and
Chicago, prosecutors said. After the undercover agent showed N.T. a supposed
photo of Zouhary’s dead body and asked for the rest of the money, she agreed to
contact Mohammad, according to prosecutors. Mohammad was charged in the
indictment with attempted first degree murder of a federal officer, solicitation
to commit a crime of violence and use of interstate commerce facilities in
commission of murder for hire. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in
federal prison if convicted at trial. Mohammad and three co-defendants were
charged last November with conspiring to funnel money to Anwar al Awlaki and a
Yemen-based affiliate of al Qaeda to which he belonged in support of attacks on
US forces. Awlaki, a cleric, was killed by a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011.
US intelligence had identified him as the head of external operations for al
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot of the militant group. The charges
allege that from January 2005 through January 2012 the four men conspired to
provide money, equipment and other aid to Awlaki.
Obama heads to Europe amid
British referendum’s aftershocks
The Associated Press, Washington Thursday, 7 July 2016/President Barack Obama is
slated to embark on a five-day, two-country mission to buck up a beleaguered
Europe and brush back an aggressive Moscow on what is expected to be his last
presidential visit to the continent. Obama is due to attend a summit of NATO
allies in Warsaw, before moving on to Seville and Madrid for his first
presidential visit to Spain. In both corners of the continent, he’ll be
surrounded by leaders still reeling from Britain’s decision to pull out of the
European Union and sorting through uncertainty about the future of the
decades-old experiment in international cooperation. The White House says Obama
will arrive with words of reassurance that the departure - whenever it occurs -
won’t disrupt the decades-old trans-Atlantic ties that bind. He’ll emphasize
that Britain’s exit, which does not affect its membership in NATO, only makes
the 28-member military alliance more essential and its cooperation with the
European Union more important. And amid leaders’ anxiety about whether his
possible successor, Republican Donald Trump, would retrench from Europe, Obama
will make case for stronger alliances and the benefits of globalization. Obama
plans to emphasize America’s “continued, very strong support for the European
project which has been at the center of so much security and prosperity” around
the world, said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser. The president’s
arrival early Friday will be his first chance to deliver that message in person,
both to the European leaders tasked with smoothly navigating the tricky divorce
and British Prime Minister David Cameron, whom Obama personally tried but failed
to save from the wave of anti-European sentiment that fueled the vote. Obama’s
first stop is a sit-down with Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, presidents of
the European Council and European Commission, respectively. White House
officials said Obama plans to discuss the fallout from the referendum and weigh
in on how he thinks negotiations should proceed.
Obama’s agenda goes far beyond the so-called Brexit fallout. NATO plans to tout
new efforts to send signals to Russia. The alliance recently agreed to bolster
its presence in the east by deploying four multinational battalions on a
rotational basis to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Obama also will meet
Saturday with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the status of the
stalled 2015 Minsk peace deal, which was intended to ease tensions after
Russia’s incursion into eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has accused Russia of failing
to fulfill its obligations by not withdrawing its troops, although the Kremlin
disputes that claim. NATO leaders will also discuss the rising threat of ISIS
attacks in Europe, the effort to address the migrant crisis caused by violence
in the Middle East and North Africa and continued commitments to the mission in
Afghanistan, where Obama acknowledged Wednesday the security situation was too
fragile to stick to the planned timetable for drawing down troops. The
unsettling mix of issues presents a striking contrast to the Europe that Obama
met eight years ago, when he bounded on the world stage with a massive campaign
speech in Berlin and was embraced by a European public eagerly seeking
leadership in Washington. In his first visit as president, Obama spoke hopefully
of dealing with Moscow on nuclear weapons and looked ahead to new era of firmer
alliances. “This is our generation. This is our time,” he said during a visit to
Strasbourg, Germany for a NATO summit in 2009. Obama recently has presented a
more wary, defensive case for global cooperation. White House officials say
he’ll repeat his case against isolationism in remarks in Spain, where he is due
to meet with both Interim President Mariano Rajoy and King Don Felipe VI and
hold a town hall with young people. Some are hoping Obama will put forward an
updated vision for US relations with the new Europe. “The White House has yet to
fully acknowledge the shift in Europe today and the challenges that it faces,”
said Heather Conley, a Europe expert at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. “The European project has been placed into fundamental
question.”
Two leading Republicans shy away
from being Trump’s VP pick
Reuters, Washington Thursday, 7 July 2016/Republican Donald Trump’s list of
potential vice presidential running mates got a little shorter on Wednesday when
one prominent US senator withdrew from consideration and a second said she
wanted to focus on her home state. The moves by Bob Corker of Tennessee and Joni
Ernst of Iowa could complicate Trump’s efforts to rally establishment
Republicans behind his presidential bid. With Trump looking at a self-imposed
deadline of July 15 to announce his pick, there was no indication that the
wealthy businessman was anywhere close to reaching what is perhaps the most
important decision he will make as the presumptive Republican nominee. Trump is
looking to announce his running mate just ahead of the Republican National
Convention, to be held July 18-21 in Cleveland, where he is expected to become
the party’s official nominee. In Cincinnati, Ohio, on Wednesday, Trump
campaigned with potential vice presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, a former
speaker of the House of Representatives who is popular in conservative circles.
Introducing Trump, Gingrich tried out the role of the No. 2 with a robust attack
on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her email practices, on
the same day the Justice Department decided not to levy criminal charges over
what the Federal Bureau of Investigation called her “extremely careless”
handling of classified information when she was secretary of state. “There are
two Americas. There’s the corrupt Washington of the old order. And there’s all
the rest of us. I say to you, Enough!” Gingrich said. Trump liked what he heard.
“I’m not saying it’s Newt, but if it’s Newt, nobody is going to be beating him
in those debates,” Trump said. Trump told Fox News he has 10 candidates on his
vice presidential list, including two generals. One source said Indiana Governor
Mike Pence is being pushed internally by some members of Trump’s inner circle. A
former congressman, Pence met with Trump on Saturday. Corker, from Tennessee,
who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had wrestled
privately over whether to be a contender for the No. 2 position, telling friends
he had never been a surrogate for another politician. Corker spent eight hours
at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday, then campaigned with Trump in Raleigh,
North Carolina. He told reporters he withdrew because “I just felt like I was
far more suited for other types of service.”“You know, it’s a highly political
role for the next four months,” he said. “I view myself as deep in substance and
policy, and I just think there are better ways for me to serve in the public
arena.”His withdrawal eliminates an important party establishment figure as
Trump tries to broaden his appeal with plans to visit Republicans in the Senate
and House on Capitol Hill on Thursday. “Corker’s withdrawal could be considered
a canary in the coal mine with establishment Republicans who are convinced that
Trump cannot stay on message and can’t stay focused on attacking Hillary Clinton
without doing some type of damage to his campaign,” said Republican strategist
Ron Bonjean. Some Republicans felt Trump erred by not taking full political
advantage of FBI Director James Comey’s statement on Tuesday that Clinton
mishandled classified emails. In Raleigh, Trump sharply attacked Clinton but
strayed from the message by saying the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had done
a good job cracking down on militants. Ernst, a rising figure in the Republican
Party, spent part of the Fourth of July holiday on Monday meeting with Trump.
She seemed to be leaning against the vice presidential position, and told
Politico, “I made that very clear to him that I’m focused on Iowa. I feel that I
have a lot more to do in the United States Senate. And Iowa is where my heart
is.”
Bangladesh blast, gunbattle kill
four during Eid prayers
Agencies Thursday, 7 July 2016/Extremists in Bangladesh hurled homemade bombs
and engaged in a gunbattle with police guarding a large Eid prayer on Thursday
morning. Two officers, a woman and one suspected militant were killed, while at
least 12 other people were injured, officials said. At least one of the bombs
exploded during the prayer attended by hundreds of thousands of people at the
sprawling Sholakia grounds in the district of Kishoreganj, about 90 kilometers
north of Dhaka. The grounds hold the country’s largest open-air gatherings for
Eid-al-Fitr. After the blast killed two officers, police fired on the attackers
and killed one of them, Assistant Superintendent Tofazzal Hossain said. A female
bystander was also killed in the crossfire. More than a dozen other people were
injured with gunshot or bomb shrapnel wounds, including two in critical
condition, he said.
Police cordoned off the area and searched the devotees as well as nearby houses
for suspects in hiding, said resident Shafiqul Islam, who was among those
offering Eid prayers. The violence comes just days after a deadly hostage crisis
in which 28 people were killed, including 20 hostages, two police and six of the
attackers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday’s attack,
but the government insisted it was carried out by domestic militants fighting to
destabilize Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government. The country’s information
minister said the target of the attack was the police convoy patrolling the
religious gathering. “It is a totally political move. They are out to
destabilize the government. It is a political attack to oust and topple the
secular government of Sheikh Hasina,” Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told Indian
broadcaster CNN-News 18. Hasina government accuses her political opponents of
backing the militant agenda in Bangladesh, an allegation the opposition parties
vehemently deny. Many Bangladeshis have said they were horrified by the attacks,
but determined to stand against them. “The rise of such a minuscule militancy
can be rooted out very soon,” said Dhaka resident Mohammad Nizam Uddin Jitu
after participating in Eid prayers on Thursday at the Baitul Mukarram National
Mosque in the capital. “The people of this country are united,” he said. “The
people of this country are peace loving. The people of this country never
support militancy.”
Synagogue, Church Members Named on New ISIS ‘Kill List’ Targeting 1,700
Individuals
Lea Speyer/ Algemeiner/July 06/16/The notoriously bloodthirsty terror group ISIS has released a new “kill list”
naming over 1,700 targets — specifically members of synagogues and churches —
for attack across the US, the International Business Times reported on
Wednesday.
The list was released online by ISIS’s cyber hacking arm the United Cyber
Caliphate (UCC) and first uncovered by intelligence analyst group SITE. The
terror group called on its supporters to carry out lone-wolf terror attacks, and
urged: “kill them all,” “slay them.”
According to SITE, the list was first published on July 3 but was then quickly
deleted. A new list was uploaded on July 5 with additional links and
information. The notice doesn’t explain why specific religious organizations are
being singled out by the terror group.
US security officials appear to be taking the most recent target list seriously.
As reported by Nashville’s WSMV, the FBI has begun warning residents in the area
of their inclusion.
FBI assistant special agent-in charge Matthew Espenshade told the news station,
“When we find information like this, we’re always doing our best to contact the
public, let them know, even if we don’t understand why necessarily that
information was out there or compromised.”The use of kill lists by ISIS and its affiliates has evolved into a common
terror tactic. According to a report by SITE, “These lists, with targets
spanning drone operators to random civilians, appear to have achieved at least
part of their presumed intentions: heightened alert by government workers, FBI
visits to startled civilians, and significant media attention.”Over the last year alone, kill lists by pro-ISIS hacking groups have “not only
become more abundant, but have also expanded in terms of target selection.”
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on
July 07-08/16
A sin called
ISIS
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/July 07/16
The murderers of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have turned the last
10 days of the holy month of Ramadan into a season for brutality. We must link
the recent deadly incidents to one another, as we are confronting one crime. The
murderers are the same. An evil mind is managing them all, or receiving
applications from the world’s madmen requesting to commit crimes. One of these
madmen was Omar Mateen, the US citizen of Afghan descent who opened fire on
people in a nightclub in Orlando on the 19th day of Ramadan. He presented the
operation as a gift to ISIS. It turned out that Mateen was a troublemaker his
entire life, and had decided to show his criminality in a religious context with
the Orlando attack. A few days later, the ISIS operation at Istanbul airport
killed dozens from different nationalities, including a Palestinian woman and
three Saudi men. Then Kuwait announced the arrest of an ISIS cell planning to
target a Shiite mosque and an Interior Ministry building. Among the arrested
cell members are a mother and son. They were arrested in Syria in
ISIS-controlled Raqqah and brought back to Kuwait. Then ISIS committed the
horrific crime at the crowded shopping area in the Karada district in Baghdad.
The attack killed more than 200 Iraqi civilians and injured more than 300. The
operations in Kuwait, Baghdad, Saudi Arabia and even Orlando come within the
context of ISIS concerns about attacks against it in Syria and Iraq, and about
the increased international alliances against it
Targeting Saudi Arabia
The Iraqi interior minister submitted his resignation following the explosions.
The Justice Ministry executed five ISIS convicts, according to Iraqi officials.
The last of these bad developments was in Saudi Arabia. ISIS first targeted
Qatif in the east, then Jeddah in the west, then the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.
The mosque explosion was carried out by an ISIS suicide bomber, killing four
members of the security forces and injuring others. In Jeddah, Abdullah Qalzar
Khan – a 36-year-old Pakistani who worked in the kingdom as a driver – blew
himself up near the US consulate and the parking lot of Fakeeh Hospital.
The operations in Kuwait, Baghdad, Saudi Arabia and even Orlando come within the
context of ISIS concerns about attacks against it in Syria and Iraq, and about
the increased international alliances against it. According to the author of
“Management of Savagery,” ISIS’s bible, Saudi Arabia is the most desired target
of all “apostates and tyrants.”Unfortunately, ISIS’s crimes will last for some
time, until the reasons behind them and their prosperity end. One of the most
significant reasons behind its emergence, as well as that of al-Qaeda and the
Muslim Brotherhood previously, is educational and ideological corruption. This
is the responsibility of all Muslims.
This article was first published by Asharq al-Awsat on July 6, 2016.
Chilcot judged the past but
failed the future
Chris Doyle/Al Arabiya/July 07/16
This may not have been shock and awe but it was not the whitewash many feared.
The findings of the Iraq inquiry, or the Chilcot report, may not have met the
aspirations of Stop the War demonstrators outside the inquiry hoping to dispatch
the former British prime minister, Tony Blair off to the Hague, but it laid bare
a total strategic failure of government on the core issue of going to war. It
was a searing indictment of how Britain, and indeed the United States, undertook
a war that was not necessary, not the option of last resort, based on faulty
intelligence that was not challenged, on legal advice that was far from
satisfactory, and with preparations that were “wholly inadequate.” Blair played
the pied piper and too many MPs, diplomats, journalists and others were happy to
follow him. Blair too had decided to follow Bush informing him as early as July
2002, eight months before the invasion that “I will be with you whatever.” A
blank cheque? For those surviving in the horror that is Iraq today Chilcot
offers no answers and no hope of relief. That was perhaps beyond the inquiry’s
remit
Standout findings
Now I have not poured through all 2.6 million words but these findings stand
out.
First of all, the inquiry found that all peaceful options were not exhausted so
war might have been avoidable. Contrary to the thousands of speeches from US and
UK leaders, there was “no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein.” This is a very
British-centric position of course as Iraqis were threatened but that was not
the argument for war. Secondly that the war was based on “flawed intelligence
and assessments. They were not challenged, and should have been.” This echoes
previous findings. But Chilcot is critical of the oversight that intelligence
was not challenged and not tested. The longer term implications are clear. In
future politicians and the public will not accept a leader’s word on
intelligence matters, a breach of trust tough to repair with incalculable
consequences. Blair highlights the report does not accuse him of lying, no
sexing up here, but the report did find that the judgments about Iraq’s
capabilities made by Blair to parliament and in the September 2002 dossier “were
presented with a certainty that was not justified.”Thirdly, the legal basis for
going to war was not watertight. The Attorney-General changed his advice and
legal uncertainties were not disclosed to cabinet ministers, and there was no
proper discussion of the legal issues. Chilcot is clear that ultimately the
legal approval was dependent on an assurance from Blair that Iraq was guilty of
“further material breaches”. But even if there had been a second UN Security
Council Resolution, would Iraq’s fate been any different? Fourthly, the
preparation for war was “wholly” inadequate. Once again this is well covered
territory but Chilcot does not answer whether an effective occupation of Iraq
might have been more likely with better planning and resourcing, perhaps with
greater international support. The alternate view is the very presence of US and
UK forces was the issue not matter how well plans were executed. Finally, Blair
“had been warned that military action would increase the threat from al-Qaeda to
the UK and UK interests”. This crushes his spin that he could not have known
that outside forces would derail the occupation. Simply, Blair did not listen
and worse, did not want to listen.
Worth the wait?
So was the seven year wait worth it? Much of the above is not startling even if
it was expressed in clear and unequivocal terms with little hesitancy in
language. The objective of the inquiry was not to pass judgement on Tony Blair
but to determine what lessons need to be learnt. Perhaps here is where the
inquiry limped across the line perhaps reflecting the caution of a career civil
servant like Sir John Chilcot. There is a fair assessment of how Britain got it
wrong but not how Britain could have got it right.As ever criticism is the easy
part. It does not provide an answer to the gargantuan issue that has plagued
western foreign policy for decades. What should be done when a dictator, a
regime or extremist group brutalises civilians and commits crimes against
humanity? The is the Bashar al-Assad question, the Rwanda question as well as
the Iraq question. Certainly Bush and Blair failed dismally but it does not
follow that the anti-war movement has the answers either. Leaving such dictators
in place has consequences as Syria shows. In what ways can the international
community improve its conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms, bring about
change without resorting to catastrophic military force? Can we develop
strategies to deal with ISIS beyond relying on dropping bombs? All this is
relevant to Iraq. The Chilcot report has lessons about the past, perhaps the
present but few for the future beyond promoting better procedures. The Iraq
crisis did not begin in 2003 and it has not ended yet in 2016. For those
surviving in the horror that is Iraq today Chilcot offers no answers and no hope
of relief. That was perhaps beyond the inquiry’s remit. The furious arguments
about when to go to war and take military action are far from settled.
What after the explosion at
the Prophet’s Mosque?
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/July 07/16
Terrorism entered its bloodiest and most brutal phase following the recent
bombing at the Prophet’s Mosque in the city of Medina. The terrorist operation
was carried out a few meters away from the tomb of Prophet Mohammad. The
explosion targeted security guards, visitors, passers-by and those seeking
refuge at the holy site of the Prophet’s Mosque. When we first witnessed
terrorist operations in the late 1990s, some people believed the justifications
behind them. These operations first targeted Americans then Christians. They
later began to target policemen and government employees, and to besiege and
blow up diplomatic institutions. They went as far as murdering mothers and
targeting the Prophet’s Mosque. If they could, they would bomb the prophet’s
tomb and blow up the Kaaba.
Common goals
If they could, they would bomb the prophet’s tomb and blow up the Kaaba. This
escalating terrorism carries the same seeds that some justified a quarter of a
century ago by resorting to excuses, such as US interference and Israel’s
occupation of Palestine. Extremist organizations – al-Qaeda, the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Hezbollah, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) – all
serve the purpose of murder. They aim to crush people, kill them and deprive
them of their dignity regardless of who they are. The explosion at the Prophet’s
Mosque was the last fig leaf as it exposed all verbal fabrications. To those
offering justifications and describing ISIS as brothers who have wronged us, we
ask them whether they have decisive stances regarding this recent dangerous
escalation. Or has this tragedy against Muslims and humanity not elicited a
shred of mercy or dismay in them?
This article was first published in Okaz on July 7, 2016.
Is General Hifter becoming
Putin's man in Libya?
Yury Barmin/Al-Monitor/July 07/16
When Gen. Khalifa Hifter arrived in Moscow on an unannounced visit in late June,
experts interpreted it as yet another attempt to secure an arms-transfer deal
with the Kremlin. However, the Russian ambassador to Libya was quick to dismiss
the speculation. “Unless the Security Council lifts or at least eases the
embargo, there can be no talk of Russian weapons deliveries to Libya,”
Ambassador Ivan Molotov told Russian journalists. Hifter's reception in Russia
was unusually high profile for such a controversial and divisive figure. He was
received by the foreign affairs and defense ministers, but most importantly by
Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Security Council, a key decision-making
body close to the president. In other words, the message that Hifter received in
Moscow likely came from Vladimir Putin himself. Interpreting Russian interests
in Libya purely in terms of the profit it could make from arms trade there would
be simplistic. The diplomatic efforts that Moscow has been making on the Libyan
front lately are far-reaching for a power that simply wants to sell its weapons.
It may in fact be the case that the Kremlin is playing a long game in Libya,
seeking a place in its post-conflict political reconstruction. Unlike in Syria,
where Russia has had a solid alliance with the Assad family for decades, after
Moammar Gadhafi, Moscow did not succeed in finding a loyal political ally in
Libya. Many in Moscow believe that Hifter's vast network of supporters and
military power could make him Putin’s point man in Libya.
Russia’s political intentions toward Libya are no secret to foreign diplomats in
Moscow. As a result of a shake-up within the Russian Foreign Ministry late last
year, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who had spearheaded the
Kremlin’s push for diplomatic talks over Syria (the Moscow I and II
conferences), was put in charge of the Libya file. By the Kremlin’s rules of the
game, this appointment means that it is getting serious about diplomacy in
Libya, in which case Russia needs a stable and loyal ally there. Hifter seems an
ideal candidate for that role because of his military background that helps him
share a language with the officials in the Kremlin, most of whom, like Hifter,
received Soviet military training.
Putin himself finds it convenient to deal with soldiers-turned-politicians.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a case in point: Ever since he
visited Moscow in the capacity of Egypt’s defense minister and later became
president, the bilateral relationship has returned to levels unseen since the
rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Similarly, Russia has an amicable
relationship with Jordan, and despite King Abdullah’s Western military training,
he and Putin have hit it off. Despite the two decades that he spent in the
United States and his role in Gadhafi’s ouster, Hifter could prove to be the
loyal and controllable politician that Moscow is looking for. He found himself
in a position where he has more opponents than allies both inside and outside
Libya. In fact some in the West believe that Hifter, who opposes the unity
government, does all he can to prevent the House of Representatives (HoR) from
granting the Tripoli government a vote of confidence.
With all its sway over Hifter, so far Moscow has not felt compelled to demand
that he not impede the HoR from attaining the necessary quorum to vote on the
proposed Cabinet. The Russian ambassador to Libya recently said, “The parliament
in Tobruk is the legitimately elected legislative body,” while the government of
Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj is also “in principle legitimate.” Seeing the
legitimacy of a government as an adjustable construct, Russia may have Hifter
use his authority to delay the HoR vote for as long as it needs for him to
mature as a political figure. Following Hifter’s visit to Moscow, the Russian
press quoted a diplomatic source as saying that Aguila Saleh Issa, the HoR
chairman, would soon come to Russia to meet with the Russian leadership as well.
If this meeting is indeed in the cards, Hifter has a key role to play in
arranging it and would act as an intermediary. More importantly, however, Issa’s
trip to Moscow would signify the emergence of a solid political alliance between
the Kremlin and the Tobruk political elite. The question arises, then, why has
the Kremlin become so active on the Libyan diplomatic front all of a sudden,
when there is nothing for it to gain or lose in this crisis at the moment?
Unlike Syria, Libya should be perceived as a more long-term arena for Russia.
Financially Moscow did lose billions of dollars in failed oil and arms-transfer
deals following the fall of the Gadhafi regime, but even this is not the key
calculation that guides policy-makers in Russia. The Syrian crisis and Moscow’s
diplomatic and military involvement in it may have been a costly affair, but it
has allowed Russia to emerge as a key player in the Middle East in just a few
months and back its geopolitical ambitions with hard arguments. The military
campaign, coupled with Moscow’s clout over President Bashar al-Assad, had a
far-reaching effect: The Kremlin’s point of view on Middle Eastern issues that
do not necessarily pertain to Syria is now being taken seriously while more and
more local politicians are abandoning Washington and flocking to Moscow in a bid
for Putin’s support. The Russian ambassador to Libya probably put it best when
he said, “It is not Libya’s opposing sides but the whole of Libya that seeks
Russia’s support. They understand that without us it would be very difficult to
overcome the existing crisis. It is therefore quite natural that different
parties want to meet with us and ask us for moral and material
support.”Molotov’s statement gives a hint about the Kremlin’s intentions in the
region: For it, Libya is not the end game but a tool to help it stay relevant in
Middle Eastern affairs. Contributing to the resolution of the political crisis
in Libya, one that is increasingly becoming a contributing factor to the spread
of the Islamic State in this country, may benefit Russia’s image of a champion
in the global fight against terrorism and put it on par with the United States
in this region.
*Yury Barmin, an analyst of Russia’s foreign policy in the Middle East, is a
MENA expert at the Russian International Affairs Council. Yury holds a master's
degree in international relations from the University of Cambridge. On Twitter:
@yurybarmin
How this young Yazidi is
bringing hope to IS victims
Brenda Stoter/Al-Monitor/July 07/16
AMSTERDAM — Pari Ibrahim, 27, was a regular law student in the Netherlands who
had a job in a library until she received a phone call at 5 a.m. in August 2014
that would change her life forever. A family member from northern Iraq called to
inform her that the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) had invaded Sinjar and
had killed the men and kidnapped the women and children. “We are being
massacred, we are heading for the mountains,” the family member said.Ibrahim,
who belongs to the Yazidi community, had fled Iraq with her parents in the 1990s
and now lives in the Netherlands. After receiving the phone call, she
frantically started searching the internet for information, but was not able to
find news. Slowly it became clear what had happened in Sinjar. Thousands of
Yazidi men had been killed or disappeared and 6,000 women and children had been
enslaved by IS, including 19 females and 21 males who are Ibrahim’s relatives.
The women and girls, some as young as 9, were traded and sold as sex slaves, the
boys were forcibly converted to Islam and were brainwashed to serve as fighters.
The men were massacred and dumped in dozens of mass graves. To separate the boys
from the men, IS militants looked at their armpits — if they had hair, they were
killed, Ibrahim explained to Al-Monitor.
From that moment onward, Ibrahim decided to fully dedicate herself to the plight
of the Yazidis.
“When they suffer, I suffer,” said Ibrahim, who immediately quit her job. “My
parents gave me 300 euros [$332] to start an organization, and I managed to
collect 1,500 euros [$1,664] as well. A friend donated 8,000 euros [$8,875] to
help me tell the world what had happened.”
That was the moment the Free Yezidi Foundation was born. She added, “At some
point, Gucci found out about our initiative and donated $120,000. This came as a
gift from heaven as it allowed us to start various projects, such as opening
women and children's centers.”
The Free Yezidi Foundation is one of the two leading foundations (the other is
called Yazda) founded by the Yazidi diaspora. In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,
the group opened centers for Yazidi women and children and flew in a trauma
specialist to assess future provision of mental health care. The organization
also lobbies with governments to raise awareness for the plight of the Yazidis
and to lobby for an intervention to save the more than 3,200 women still
enslaved by IS. Ibrahim travels the world to tell people what happened to the
Yazidis. She spoke at the UN Security Council and the House of Lords and has
been interviewed by many media outlets, including the BBC.
“Recently, we heard that 19 girls were locked in cages and burned alive for
refusing to have sex with IS fighters. We heard this from some locals who phoned
their relatives in northern Iraq, although still we do not have the details
confirmed,” Ibrahim said. She added, “It was a well-planned and well-coordinated
attack against the Yazidi people, not against the Kurds. People do not
understand that Yazidis are not Kurds, and that Yazidis were murdered and
enslaved for simply being Yazidi.”Shortly after the massacre and enslavement, IS
released an issue of its online magazine Dabiq in which it explained the
enslavement of the Yazidis, whom they call “devil worshippers.” Enslavement is
the appropriate treatment of “pagan” women, according to Sharia, IS argued. In a
chilling passage, it said, “Enslaving the families of the kuffar [unbelievers]
and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the
Sharia that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the
verses of the Quran and the narrations of the Prophet, and thereby apostatizing
from Islam.”Together with Yazda, the Free Yezidi Foundation started a mission to
ensure justice is served on behalf of the Yazidi community. In September 2015,
the organizations delivered a report to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
in The Hague on the involvement of foreign fighters in war crimes and crimes
against humanity, such as genocide, sexual slavery and other crimes. Their goal
is to prosecute IS, in particular foreign fighters.
Around 6,000 jihadis from Europe have joined IS in Iraq and Syria. A substantial
number of them have returned, of whom many have not been prosecuted and are
still freely walking the streets. Prosecutors in Europe often face difficulties
finding legal evidence that fighters have been involved in war crimes and thus
found it difficult to bring cases against them.
According to Ibrahim, there is evidence that foreign fighters have been involved
in the crimes of genocide and sexual slavery, as many victims have testified.
The Free Yezidi Foundation would like to link testimonies of Yazidi survivors to
individual cases of foreign fighters to make prosecution possible. Also, the
organizations are working on decoding the IS hierarchy as fighters from the West
occupy lower, middle and higher ranks within the terrorist organization.
Ibrahim gave an example: “We were able to prove the involvement of three foreign
fighters in war crimes, but all three were killed. However, we know that many
more have been involved, such as German and French jihadis. And it is a fact
that many foreign fighters have returned to the West.”
Recently, she was informed that some countries in the West are trying to start a
case against their foreign fighters as well. “I can’t give you the details right
now. We will hear more about this in the future,” she said. One of the reasons
why it is also important to have suspects prosecuted by the ICC instead of
national courts is because the Yazidis have little faith in the Iraqi justice
system, which, according to Ibrahim, is chronically corrupt. Also, she hasn’t
heard anything from the Iraqi government yet when it comes to prosecuting
foreign IS fighters.
“You can buy your way out of jail in Iraq if you know the right people,” she
added. “Yazidis do not trust anyone anymore.” Seeking justice for the Yazidis
through the ICC is going to be a long and complicated process, which will
probably take years. So far, the ICC has not even opened a preliminary
investigation, which is needed to open the case. However, the Yazidi community
has hope that this will happen. “Even if we manage to convict one person, it
will be worth the effort. We want recognition and justice,” Ibrahim said. She
added that only two females from her family managed to escape the terror group.
The rest of her relatives are still missing. “The women have been sold and
traded as sex slaves. We don’t know what happened to the men. Maybe they have
been killed and dumped in mass graves, or maybe IS took them,” she said.
**Brenda Stoter is a Dutch journalist who writes about the Middle East, with
special attention to Syrian women and Western jihad brides. Her articles have
been published by Al Jazeera as well as featured in Dutch and Belgium national
newspapers and magazines, including Algemeen Dagblad, De Tijd, Het Parool and De
Groene Amsterdammer.
Turkey: Victim of Its Own
Enthusiasm for Jihad
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/July 07/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8406/turkey-victim-jihad
"Infidels who were enemies of Islam thought they buried Islam in the depths of
history when they abolished the caliphate on March 3, 1924 ... We are shouting
out that we will re-establish the caliphate, here, right next to the
parliament." — Mahmut Kar, media bureau chief of Hizb ut-Tahrir Turkey.
"The magazine [Dabiq] creates propaganda for [ISIS]. It has an open address. Why
does no one raid its offices?" — Opposition MP Turkey's Parliament. The
government big guns in Ankara just shrugged it off when on June 5, 2015, only
two days before general elections in the country, homegrown jihadist militants
for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syia (ISIS, or ISIL or IS) detonated bombs,
killing four people and injuring over 100, at a pro-Kurdish political rally.
Again, when IS, on July 20, 2015, bombed a meeting of pro-Kurdish peace
activists in a small town on Turkey's Syrian border, killing 33 people and
injuring over 100, the government behaved as if it had never happened. After
all, a bunch of "wild boys" from the ranks of jihad -- which the ruling party in
Ankara not-so-secretly aspires to -- were killing the common enemy: Kurds.
Then when IS jihadists, in October, killed over 100 people in the heart of
Ankara, while targeting, once again, a public rally of pro-peace activists
(including many Kurds), the Turkish government put the blame on "a cocktail of
terror groups" -- meaning the attack may have been a product of Islamists,
far-leftist and Kurdish militants. "IS, Kurdish or far-leftist militants could
have carried out the bombing," the prime minister at the time, Ahmet Davutoglu,
said. It was the worst single terror attack in Turkey's history, and the Ankara
government was too demure even to name the perpetrators. An indictment against
36 suspects, completed nearly nine months after the attack, identified all
defendants as Islamic State members. So there was no "cocktail of terror." It
was just the jihadists. In the last year, there had been further jihadist acts
of terror, targeting Turks and foreign tourists, but with relatively few
casualties up to now. At an Istanbul airport, however, a mysterious explosion,
which the authorities hastily attempted to cover up, was probably the precursor
of the latest mega-attack in Istanbul. The management at Istanbul's Sabiha
Gokcen Airport said on Dec. 23, 2015 that: "There was an explosion at the apron
and investigation regarding its cause is progressing ... Fights have resumed."
That unidentified explosion consisted of three or four mortars fired at a
passenger plane parked at the apron. The attack killed one unfortunate cleaner.
The incident was quickly "disappeared" from the public memory. One person dying
in a mysterious explosion was too minor for a collective Turkish memory that had
grown used to casualties coming in the dozens. It was, in fact, a powerful
message from the terrorists: We will target your lifeline -- air traffic.
Every year about 60 million travelers pass through Istanbul's main airport,
Ataturk. Turkey is now building an even bigger airport that will host 150
million passengers a year. Completing the mission from December's "minor and
unresolved" attack at the Sabiha Gokcen Airport, the terrorists visited Ataturk
Airport on June 28, killing at least 45 and injuring hundreds of people.
Turkish prime minister, Binali Yildirim, said that it was "probably" an attack
by IS. Days later, the suicide bombers were identified as jihadists of Central
Asian origin. In a state of perpetual denial, Turkey's Islamist rulers are still
too bashful to admit any linkage between political Islam and violence.
Ironically, their denial exposes their country to the risk of even more Islamic
terror. Worse, the political Islam they fuel in their own country is growing
millions of potential jihadists at home. In November, a Pew Research Center
study found that 27% of Turks (more than 20 million) did not have an unfavorable
opinion of IS -- compared to, say, 16% in the Palestinian territories. In March,
only three months before the latest jihadist attack in Istanbul, thousands of
supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir -- a global Islamist group, viewed by Russia and
Kazakhstan as a terrorist group but that defines itself as a political
organization aiming to "lead the ummah" [Islamic community] to the
re-establishment of the caliphate and rule with sharia law -- gathered at a
public sports hall in Ankara, courtesy of the Turkish government, to discuss the
re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate. In his speech, Mahmut Kar, the media
bureau chief of Hizb-ut Tahrir Turkey said:
"Infidels who were enemies of Islam thought they buried Islam in the depths of
history when they abolished the caliphate on March 3, 1924 ... We are hopeful,
enthusiastic and happy. Some 92 years later... we are shouting out that we will
re-establish the caliphate, here, right next to the parliament."
It was not a coincidence that an opposition MP on July 1 took the speaker's
point at the Turkish parliament, showed a copy of a magazine, Dabiq, largely
viewed as IS's press organ, to an audience and said: "This is [IS's] official
magazine. It is published in Turkey. Its fifth issue is out now. The magazine
creates propaganda for [IS]. It has an open address. Why does no one raid its
offices?"
That question will probably remain unanswered.
**Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily
and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Sweden: Rampant Sexual
Assaults Steam On/One Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Sweden: May 2016
Ingrid Carlqvist/Gatestone Institute/July 07/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8375/sweden-rampant-sexual-assaults
The police released a report noting that Sweden is at the top of the EU's
statistics on physical and sexual violence against women, sexual harassment and
stalking. The report stated unequivocally that it is "asylum-seeker boys" and
"foreign men" who commit the vast majority of the reported crimes.
As far as the widespread sexual assaults at public pools are concerned, the
police said that in four out of five cases, the perpetrators have been
"unaccompanied refugee children".
A survey by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) suggested
that as many as 38,000 women in Sweden may have been subjected to female genital
mutilation (FGM). Yet health care services rarely help women with the
complications associated with FGM.
A Swedish father was told that he and his two children are being thrown out of
the house they are renting from the municipality -- to make room for an
immigrant family.
May 4: The terrorist who turned out not to be a terrorist, but was chased by the
police all over Sweden in November 2015, Mutar Muthanna Majid, demanded 1
million kronor (about $110,000) in damages from the Swedish government. However,
the Chancellor of Justice decided that the standard sum for those wrongly
incarcerated was enough compensation. Majid was held in custody for four days,
which means he gets 12,000 kronor ($1,300).
May 4: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to the defense of Sweden's
Muslim Minister of Housing Mehmet Kaplan, who was forced to resign after his
connections to Islamists and neo-Fascists were revealed, as was his defamatory
comparison of Israel to Nazi Germany. According to Erdogan, however, the forced
resignation of Kaplan was symptomatic for how Muslims are treated in the West:
"Just look at what Sweden has done to a Muslim who reached a position in
Cabinet," Erdogan indignantly said.
May 4: It is now up to Sweden's Supreme Court to decide if an Algerian, Karim
Ageri, should be deported from Sweden after knifing a 16-year-old girl because
she refused to have sex with him. November 10, 2015, two teenage Swedish girls
visited an asylum house for "unaccompanied refugee children" in the Stockholm
metropolitan area. Karim Ageri, who claimed to be 16 years old, groped one of
the girls, who climbed out a window to get away from him. Ageri then followed
her, and slashed her face twice with a knife. The prosecutor in the case argued
that Ageri is at least 21 years old, and should therefore be tried as an adult
and, after serving his sentence, deported. However, the Municipal Court did not
agree, and sentenced the Algerian to juvenile detention. The Court of Appeals
increased the sentence to 18 months in prison, followed by deportation.
Prosecutor My Hedström says she is now looking forward to having the case tried
by the Supreme Court, to get a precedent on how "refugee children" who commit
serious crimes should be handled legally.
May 4: The National Board of Health and Welfare reported that the large number
of asylum seekers who arrived in Sweden in 2015 has put a huge strain on Swedish
healthcare services, especially primary care, dental care and psychiatry.
Language barriers, combined with a shortage of interpreters, exacerbates the
problem. Many asylum seekers have bad teeth, and 20-30% are thought to have
psychiatric problems. Increased pressure on the health service has led to a
shortage of hospital beds, limited availability and longer waits.
May 5: Five "unaccompanied refugee children" suspected of gross sexual coercion
were apprehended, and remanded into custody. The suspects, who claim to be in
their mid-teens, allegedly assaulted a young man at the asylum house where all
of them were staying. The crime was initially classified as rape, but later
changed to gross sexual coercion, aggravated assault and unlawful threats.
May 5: Khalid Salim Tarabeih, 20, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for child
rape. According to the indictment, Tarabeih promised to buy alcohol for a
14-year-old girl, but once they were alone in a wooded area, he demanded sex in
return. He told the girl he had served time for violent crimes, which scared her
to the point of not daring to resist him as he raped her. Since Tarabeih is a
Swedish citizen, he cannot be deported.
May 8: The Swedish media almost never reports on the violence and misogyny in
immigrant-heavy areas of Sweden, but the Norwegian television channel NRK aired
a story on the infamous Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, and showed how their own
reporters had been attacked there. In the segment, a police officer talked about
how the police are losing control of the Swedish "no-go zones," a point that was
proven by Norwegian journalists being attacked and subjected to stone throwing.
May 9: An Iraqi citizen, Hosar Mahmood, 22, has once again been convicted of
rape -- this time of a hospitalized woman. In 2013, he broke into an apartment,
severely beat its owner, and then raped his teenage daughter. That time, Mahmood
was sentenced to four years in prison for aggravated rape -- but was freed after
serving two-thirds of the time, as is the legal practice in Sweden. This time,
the sentence was more lenient -- two years and two months. He will not be
deported because, the court said, he was granted permanent residency status
prior to the age of 15.
May 9: The fear that Sweden is being Islamized was evident when the news broke
that a new mosque is planned in Halmstad. The municipality received many angry
e-mails, such as: "Building mosques in Sweden means you are welcoming the
murderers into your own nation."
"Armed Muslims will gather in the mosques."
"People will ignore the weapon laws and arm themselves if you do not stop the
Muslim invasion."
A representative of the Muslim group that wants to build the mosque told Swedish
public radio: "There are many Muslims in Halmstad, and I think it is only fair
they should have a mosque to go to".
May 9: A report from the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning
concluded that there is a shortage of housing in four out of five Swedish
municipalities. Young people and the elderly are the worst off. The reason is
the rapid population growth due to third-world asylum immigration, which is
expected to continue and aggravate the problem.
May 9: A mother of three from the village of Höör opened up her home to two
"unaccompanied refugee children", and let them move into her 10-year-old
daughter's room. One of the men, Isak Andai from Eritrea, who claims he is 15
years old, then snuck into the daughter's bed one night and started molesting
her. Andai, who is believed to be significantly older than 15, was sentenced to
juvenile detention and will not be deported.
May 9: A 25-year-old asylum seeker from the Congo, was remanded into custody,
suspected of setting a waste bin on fire in the cottage where he was staying in
Pite havsbad. The fire was extinguished, but according to the prosecution there
was a great risk of it spreading. Pite havsbad is one of Europe's largest
seaside resorts, nicknamed "The Swedish Riviera." In January 2016, its owner
made a deal with the Immigration Service to house 1,000-2,000 asylum seekers,
mainly in the winter months.
May 11: One of the many "unaccompanied refugee children" who have lately amused
themselves by sexually attacking others at public swimming pools, was found
guilty of sexually molesting three girls, aged 8-10, at a pool in Överkalix. The
man, who claims he is 16 years old, was sentenced to 35 hours of community
service and 16,000 kronor (about $1,800) in damages.
May 11: Södertörn Municipal Court recently sentenced a Syrian man to five years
in prison, followed by deportation, for aggravated battery in Syria in 2012 and
crimes against international law. Among the evidence against him was a film,
where he could be seen severely beating a tied-up man. The verdict was appealed
to the Court of Appeals. Once there, however, the victim emerged and said he
wanted to testify, and the case was sent back to the lower court for a new
trial. According to the victim, the perpetrator and he belonged to the same
rebel group, and the reason for the abuse was a conflict between the men. The
Municipal Court therefore rejected the charges on the crimes against
international law, and convicted the Syrian only of aggravated battery. Still,
the victim's description of how he was bound and tortured for days led the court
to sharpen the sentence to seven years imprisonment, deportation and damages of
268,000 kronor ($30,000).
May 13: Sweden and Morocco signed an agreement regarding the many Moroccan
street children who roam the streets of Stockholm and Gothenburg -- they are to
be deported back to their homeland. Negotiations have been ongoing for quite
some time, but did not move forward until Sweden a few months ago abruptly
abandoned its plans to recognize the independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic
Republic in Western Sahara, a region occupied by Morocco. Interior Minister
Anders Ygeman, who has been responsible for the negotiations, denies that this
decision had any influence on Morocco's newfound desire to welcome back its
young citizens.
May 14: Two robbers dressed in black burqas targeted a phone shop in the
Stockholm suburb of Nacka, forcing the staff to hand over cell phones worth
about 500,000 kronor ($55,000). The police released surveillance film from the
robbery, which was not much help in identifying the robbers, as they were
completely covered by the burqas.
May 16: The Stockholm District Court convicted another "Swede" of genocide in
Rwanda. The 61-year-old man, now a Swedish citizen, claimed he was innocent of
the charges and that the evidence against him had been fabricated. The
indictment concerned five different massacres, in which around 800,000 people
were murdered. The man was sentenced to life in prison. In 2013, another
Rwandan, Stanislas Mbanenande, who had claimed to be a refugee but was also was
sentenced to life in prison for a similar crime, was able to become a Swedish
citizen.
May 16: An Eritrean man was arrested, suspected of committing a rape in a
restaurant in central Stockholm. The man had previously been suspected of
assaulting a woman at an Eritrean party. Those charges, however, were dropped
when it became clear that it was actually the woman who had assaulted the man,
injuring them both.
May 16: Green Party representative Yasri Khan, now known for refusing to shake a
female television reporter's hand, turned out to have close connections to the
Islamic terror group Pulo in Thailand. Khan's father, Samsudine Khan, also a
resident of Sweden, is vice chairman for the group, which has carried out
bombings and shootings against civilians and other targets deemed "legitimate."
After 13 people were killed by a bomb in March 2013, Yasri Khan commented on the
deed in the Bangkok Post. He warned that the violence would continue unless the
government solved the "root problems" that have created the separatist
movements.
May 16: Two Roma were remanded into custody for 60 cases of theft against the
elderly. The men would call senior citizens on the phone, and introduce
themselves as craftsmen sent to check something in the residence. Once inside,
one of the men would distract the victim, while the other would steal money and
valuables. Those hesitant to let the Roma in would be threatened with hefty
"fines" of several thousand kronor. The crimes were committed in a number of
different cities; the Malmö police put considerable resources into tracking down
the men.
May 17: A 30-year-old Arab asylum seeker was convicted of battery after flogging
his wife with a belt in front of their six-year-old son. The abuse took place at
an asylum house on the island of Öland, and was stopped when the staff
intervened. The man was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
May 17: Osbecksgymnasiet high school in Laholm was forced to hire extra staff to
protect female students from daily inappropriate sexual advances. In a letter to
the school, the girls' parents wrote that "there is catcalling, shouting and
screaming in other languages, and photographs being stealthily taken."
Hosar Mahmood (left), 22, was convicted in May of raping a hospitalized woman,
and sentenced to two years and two months. He previously served a short prison
sentence for another crime in 2013, when he broke into an apartment, severely
beat its owner, and then raped his teenage daughter. Right: Osbecksgymnasiet
high school in Laholm was forced to hire extra staff to protect female students
from daily inappropriate sexual advances, mainly by immigrant students.
May 18: The police released a report -- "The current situation regarding sexual
assault and proposals for action" ("Lägesbild över sexuella ofredanden samt
förslag till åtgärder"), which noted that Sweden is at the top of the EU's
statistics on physical and sexual violence against women, sexual harassment and
stalking. The report stated unequivocally that it is "asylum-seeker boys" and
"foreign men" who commit the vast majority of the reported crimes. As far as the
widespread sexual assaults at public pools are concerned, the police said that
in four out of five cases, the perpetrators have been "unaccompanied refugee
children". However, in an appendix to the report, alternative theories blaming
"the Nordic alcohol culture" and Sweden's "non-traditional gender roles" are set
forth.
May 18: The LLT public transport company in Luleå announced that it will be
teaching classes for newly arrived migrants -- on the art of riding a bus. The
idea came about after some 20 Afghan "unaccompanied refugee children" ended up
having a heated argument with a Somali bus driver. In other parts of Sweden,
courses exist on how to take out the garbage, how to use a light switch, unlock
the front door, and so on. The bus class will teach the new arrivals what bus
passes and bus stops are, how they work, and other useful things.
May 18: Two brothers were sentenced respectively to three, and three-and-a-half,
years in prison -- as well as deportation -- for people-smuggling. The brothers
apparently transported five disabled people from Bulgaria to Sweden, forced them
to beg on the street for up to twelve hours a day, and then took their money.
During a period of five months, the brothers made at least 300,000 kronor
($33,000) from the beggars.
May 18: A study released by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brottsförebyggande
rådet, BRÅ) showed that only one in five foreign nationals convicted of rape are
sentenced to deportation. The reason given is that they are registered residents
and thus thought to have a connection to Sweden. The study does not mention how
the victims feel about that.
May 19: Another gang rape, this time of a minor girl, was revealed in Växjö.
Four teenagers of non-Western descent were arrested for raping the girl sometime
during the weekend May 7-8. No other details were given.
May 20: Four of the many Moroccan street children staying illegally in Sweden
committed a particularly brutal robbery against an 87-year-old woman. The four
broke into the woman's house, held her in a stranglehold until she passed out,
hitting her head hard as she fell. They then ripped rings from her fingers,
severely bruising her in the process. The young men were caught and subsequently
convicted, thanks to surveillance footage from a nearby subway station which
tied them to the scene. One man was sentenced to five years in prison and
deportation, another to juvenile detention for a year and four months. The other
two claimed to be under 15, and therefore could not be tried.
May 21: A survey by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen)
suggested that as many as 38,000 women in Sweden may have been subjected to
female genital mutilation (FGM). Yet health care services rarely help women with
the complications associated with FGM. Hayat Bihi from Somalia told the Swedish
public radio, Sveriges Radio:
"When I had my health examination, no one asked me if I had been subjected to
genital mutilation. It reminds me somewhat of Somalia, where nobody asks or
cares about women's health. I would wish all girls and women were asked about
this."
May 23: Youssaf Khaliif, the Somali "unaccompanied refugee child" who stabbed to
death a young social worker, Alexandra Mezher, on January 25, was indicted. Ms.
Mezher was working alone at the asylum house for unaccompanied children where
Khaliif lived at the time of the murder. According to the prosecution, he
stabbed her three times with a knife -- in the back, thigh and hand. The stab in
the thigh severed an artery, which caused Ms. Mezher to bleed to death before
the ambulance could arrive. Youssaf Khaliif still claims he is 15 years old, but
according to age tests ordered by prosecutor Linda Wiking, he is at least 18,
and will therefore stand trial as an adult.
May 23: A group of Arab men who are asylum seekers have, according to witnesses,
systematically sexually assaulted women traveling on a late-night bus in Umeå.
One witness claims that the police initially refused to file a report on the
matter, but after a large number of people complained, the police are now
working actively to restore order on the buses.
May 24: A 24-year-old Palestinian, Omar Ali Abdalsalam was sentenced to life in
prison and deportation for strangling his girlfriend to death in a park in
Oskarshamn, in December 2015. Abdalsalam, who had previous convictions for
violence against women with whom he had relationships, admitted that he had been
violent to his girlfriend, but denied any intent to kill. He was also sentenced
to pay damages of 350,000 kronor ($39,000) to the woman's family.
May 24: Police officer Hanif Azizi told the daily Metro that stone throwing
against police has more or less become an everyday occurrence:
"This weekend I was out working with my colleagues. On three occasions, we were
subjected to stone throwing. On Friday we got a call to go to central Rinkeby,
where the emergency service was trying to put out a car on fire. When the police
arrived, we had stones thrown at us at two separate times."
In Landskrona, individual police officers and the police station have received
so many serious threats that the police have applied for permission to have
closed-circuit television installed at the police station.
May 25: The Swedish Labor Court sentenced an Arab, Samy Makram Buchra Tawadrous,
to pay 50,000 kronor ($5,500) in damages to a 19-year-old woman, who was made to
sit on his lap while negotiating her salary. The woman was reluctant, but her
boss insisted. He then wanted hugs and kisses, and promised to make sure that
she got a raise. After the incident, the woman was afraid to go back to work,
and reported her boss to the Labor Court. The man admitted what had happened,
but did not feel he had done anything wrong.
May 25: Abo Raad, imam of the Gävle mosque, which is known for its hate speech
and close connections to terrorists, was invited to a seminar in the Swedish
Parliament. The seminar was organized by the parliamentary intergroup network
against discrimination and honor violence. Parliamentarian Jonas Lundgren
defended Raad's involvement: "We invited him because, unfortunately, he is a
person with certain sway over Muslims in Sweden. Also, he is a very
controversial person, to say the least."
May 26: Khurshed Karimov, a 26-year-old Muslim immigrant from Tajikistan, was
indicted for the murder of his boss. According to the indictment, Karimov
admitted to stabbing his employer 60 times allegedly for being an "Islamophobe."
The murderer lived in a trailer on his employer's property, and helped him with
a wide range of chores. Karimov told the police that he was in the house on
January 27, when he heard his boss utter the words "f**king Muslim" and "f**king
idiot," and saying that he was going to "f**k Muslims." After the murder,
Karimov scribbled messages on the walls -- "Allahu Akbar," "France," and
"Charlie," the latter an apparent reference to the terror attack against the
satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015.
May 27: After a quick investigation, the government decided that newly arrived
migrant children will be allowed to bypass the waiting lists for independent
schools. This rule will be even more strictly imposed on schools with a large
number of applicants, and means that Swedish children who have waited for a long
time will be bypassed. Mattias Karlsson, group leader for the Sweden Democrats
in the Parliament, raged against the idea:
"This says something of the state of the nation, when the responsible minister
actually brags about being efficient when it comes to working out a law that
discriminates against the country's own citizens in relation to non-citizens,
and when the so-called right-wing 'opposition' says they are happy with this.
Everyone should resign!"
May 31: The Immigration Service warned that there might be some turmoil in
asylum houses when the law changes on June 1. From that date, migrants who have
had their asylum applications rejected will no longer be allowed free housing,
nor receive any allowances. At present, this applies to 1,700 people.
May 31: The Swedish public television station Sveriges Television aired a story
on the living conditions for women at asylum houses. Women only make up about a
third of the residents in the country's asylum houses; the women interviewed
talked about widespread sexual abuse. One woman said: "I am afraid, and when I
wake up in the morning, my heart beats so fast. I go outside, but it feels as if
everyone is watching me. Eyes staring at me up and down."
May 31: A Swedish father was told that he and his two children are being thrown
out of the house they are renting from the municipality -- to make room for an
immigrant family. The father, Uffe Rustan, told the local paper, Mitti: "It
feels as if I am worth less, even though I pay taxes and my children go to
school here. If only it had been a day care center moving in or something, but
you cannot put one family on the street for the benefit of another family."
**Ingrid Carlqvist is a journalist and author based in Sweden, and a
Distinguished Senior Fellow of Gatestone Institute.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Christians in Iraqi Kurdistan
complain about land seizure
Omar al-Jaffal/Al-Monitor/July 07/16
BAGHDAD — Christian citizens in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq issued complaints
in court June 15 that Kurdish residents are attacking and seizing their villages
in the provinces of Dahuk and Erbil. They also accused the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) of neglecting the crisis and failing to take serious action to
resolve an issue that has been going on for some time.On April 13, the KRG had
prohibited residents from eight Christian villages in the Nahla area in Dahuk
province from accessing the KRG's headquarters to protest and demand that an end
be put to the encroachment upon their land on the part of Kurdish individuals
and populations. However, some of them managed to make it to the sit-in location
and stage a protest as they held a banner that reflected the deep sorrow
plaguing Christians in the region. “Our [Christian] people’s lands are
encroached upon across the Kurdistan Region,” the banner read.
On April 22, a Human Rights Watch report highlighted the hardships facing
Christian citizens in the Kurdistan Region amid restrictions by the Kurdish
authorities preventing them from peacefully claiming their right to restore
these territories.
Kurdish individuals and tribes have been seizing lands and properties belonging
to Christians since the 1980s. In 1986, Saddam Hussein's regime demolished these
villages, leading to the displacement of the residents. However, as soon as the
military operations of the former regime had finished, the Kurds returned to
these villages and many seized Christian territory, taking advantage of the
residents' forced absence, as per the testimonies of Christian residents of
those villages.
What prompted residents of the villages of the Nahla area to protest is a set of
new encroachments made by Kurdish citizens on their land. Earlier this year,
several houses were built on these lands in the Nahla area.
The director of the Ninevah Studies Center, Michael Benjamin, told Al-Monitor
that the KRG is seemingly aware of the problem, as it has put forward several
initiatives between 2001 and 2010 to resolve the crisis, “but nothing has
changed.”
Benjamin is an activist interested in the issues of minorities and indigenous
peoples, and he relentlessly examines and follows up on the issue of Christian
lands in the Kurdistan Region. Benjamin said the seized Christian lands in the
various regions, towns and villages of the provinces of Dahuk and Erbil are
estimated to measure “thousands of acres.”
He said, “In the Dahuk governorate alone, there is a list of 56 villages where
the area of seized land is estimated at 47,000 acres. This list only includes
villages whose residents have filed complaints with the relevant courts.”
He added, “There are villages whose residents were forced to abandon them from
the early 1930s onward due to instability, persecution and infringement upon
their rights.” These lands include “agricultural fields, pastures, springs and
real estate properties.”
Yonadam Kanna, the chairman of the Rafidain Christian parliamentary bloc in the
federal parliament, told Al-Monitor, “The seizure of Christian lands is part of
the process of demographic change.”
He said, “There are more than 60 Christian villages inhabited by non-Christians
across the Kurdistan Region, and this is part of the demographic change. We
stressed the need to restore those villages and properties, but the KRG measures
were not serious, which delayed the issue."
In this vein, Benjamin pointed to the role of “partisan and tribal relations,”
saying, “The rights of small groups and minorities will be undoubtedly violated
as they are the weakest link and lack any strong partisan, political or tribal
support.”
However, Kanna pointed out that “a Christian delegation recently met with Iraqi
Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, who asked for details about the issue and
promised to restore the Christian lands.”
Benjamin said, "The ongoing violation of Chaldeo-Assyrian and Christian property
rights for nearly 25 years since the founding of the Kurdistan Region is one of
the prime reasons that leads indigenous citizens to feel abused and lose
confidence in the government, and this forces them to opt for migration.”
Mariwan Naqshbandi, the Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) spokesperson in the
Kurdistan Region, attributed the crisis to migration. He told Al-Monitor, “When
Saddam bombed areas of the region with chemicals in the 1980s, Christian
families fled from their villages and homes. While Muslims returned to the
devastated areas, Christians traveled abroad.”
Naqshbandi said that even after the change of regime under the US occupation in
April 2003 “only few Christians returned, thus allowing Muslim families to
cultivate and build homes on Christian lands.”
He added that Christians returned in the past few years “and reclaimed their
villages and houses. But Muslims said they would not leave unless they are
compensated for their cultivation and development of those lands.”
Consequently, after Kurdish citizens clung to the lands they seized, the
Ministry of Awqaf was forced to issue a fatwa prohibiting such practices,”
Naqshbandi said.
However, Mikhail responded to the fatwa by saying, “I do not think that this
fatwa has helped or will help Christians restore their lands. There are many
complicated issues related to several sides and ministries that date back many
years. With all due respect, we believe that the fatwa will not be implemented
unless the highest authorities have a real political and legal will to enforce
the law, bring about justice and ensure the rights of minorities in the region.”
The seizing of territories, especially when accompanied by the tribal force that
governs social relations in the Kurdistan Region — particularly in the provinces
of Dahuk and Erbil, where the population is known to hold on to tribal
traditions — may lead Christians to migrate, as occurred in Baghdad and other
provinces in Iraq.
*-*Omar al-Jaffal is an Iraqi writer and poet. He is an editor of Bayt and Nathr,
two intellectual magazines that are published in Iraq. He is also the chief
editor of Al-Aalam al-Jadid, an electronic newspaper.
Beyond Brexit: Lessons for
the Middle East
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya/July 07/16
My political risk consulting firm, alone among its major competitors, called the
stunning British decision to leave the European Union (EU) correctly. What did
we know that our rivals did not? There are many technical answers to that
question: a real understanding of the ruling Conservative Party helped, as did a
recognition of the hidden schisms dividing British political life, between
London and the rest, old versus young, metropolitanism versus provincialism. All
that is true, but at a philosophical level we were spurred on to be analytically
correct by a further understanding. The new multipolar world simply does not
work as Western elites believe and hope that it will, precisely because their
analysis has been distorted by their inability to intellectually separate belief
from hope. Because they so want the world to be a certain way: post-national,
transnational, and supranational, they have deluded themselves into thinking
that modern politics simply works like this. As the Brexit vote illustrates, and
in these very poor analysts heated response to it, this world view is heading
for the dust bin of history, whether Davos man likes it or not. There are
invaluable lessons for the Arab world to learn from this collective western
analytical failure, but it will take fundamentally looking at the world a very
different way to benefit.
The Brexit vote is an intellectual watershed, precisely because what western
elites have been telling themselves for many years about how the world works has
been proven to be definitively wrong
Lesson 1: One size does not fit all
One of the things that has always made me skeptical about the EU project is that
it attempts to homogenize the most heterogeneous place on the planet. The reason
so many of us love Europe is that you can travel – unlike in the US, Russia or
China – one hundred miles in any direction and find yourself in a very different
and very distinct thousand-year-old culture. The beauty of Europe is these
differences, not the EU trying to regulate a common size for pint glasses, or
anything else for that matter. Europe is simply too big and its component parts
are too different for the centralizing EU project to ever really succeed. Think
of it this way. The US started with a common language, a common colonial
experience with a common mother country, and a common economic system, and it
still took a ghastly Civil War with 600,000 casualties to make it a nation
eighty-plus years on from its founding. Europe has a cacophony of languages, a
common history only of killing each other and – as the euro crisis has plainly
shown – very different sorts of economies within it. This one-size-fits-all
approach is simply never going to work well.
For the Arab world the lesson must be clear. Just as Pan-Europeanism has failed,
the Arab world must give up its flirtations with Pan-Arabism, Caliphates
encompassing the whole variegated region, or indeed any political philosophy or
movement that seeks to ignore the very different histories of the very different
parts of the Middle East. Instead, smaller units of politics that actually
reflect these difference are what could lead the region to more stable political
outcomes.
Lesson 2: Organic units of politics will always win out
In the case of a post-Brexit Europe, it is clear to all but devoted cheerleaders
that the supranational impulse of Europe’s elites has met its Waterloo. Instead,
and despite analytically being ignored for decades, nationalism is alive and
well and animating European politics, precisely because unlike the EU, it is
grounded in the organic political realities of people’s lives and how they still
see themselves. There are precious few Europeans, compared with people who
identify themselves as British, French, and Germans. Beyond Britain decisively
spurning the EU, Germany, the dominant power in Brussels, precisely because it
is the country (that is what ultimately matters) paying the bills to keep things
going, also seems to have had enough of EU Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker’s supranational delusions of grandeur. The Brexit negotiations will be
conducted by the European Council (that is, the countries) and not the
Commission, the repository of Europe’s collective will. When push comes to
shove, it is the nation-state that remains the organic unit of European
politics. For the Middle East, as is true in the case of Iraq, even the country
level is often not where real organic legitimacy can be found. For Iraq it is a
further ethno-religious level down: with the Sunnis, the Shiite, and the Kurds,
that organic political legitimacy and true political power resides. Analytically
recognizing this allows for some hope of political and policy success. Ignoring
this reality means there can only be further hard years ahead of chaos and
failure.
Lesson 3: Regional groups should do less and do it better
The EU, in constantly wanting to expand its dominion over ever more of the
policy world, has ended up in a classic case of mission creep: It has failed at
everything – from the euro to refugees to Brexit – because it has tried to do
everything. An EU centred around making the Single Market work and one that
negotiates global free trade deals would be a daunting enough task without
creating a common foreign service, dreaming of a common army, and meddling in
practically everything. The lesson for the Arab world is that regional
institutions that do less are likely to do it better. In my view, the Arab
League, rather than ineffectively pronouncing on almost everything that happens
in the world, can be made an effective multilateral tool for the region if it
were to focus on specific policy problems that all the member states wish to
solve, and to do no more than that, but do it better. The Brexit vote is an
intellectual watershed, precisely because what western elites have been telling
themselves for many years about how the world works has been proven to be
definitively wrong. It is up to the rest of us, including the Arab world, to
live by political philosopher Edmund Burke’s adage, and see the world as it
really is, and then make it better.
A turning point for Jordanian
security
Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/July 07/16
On June 6, the first day of Ramadan, Jordanians woke up to tragic news about an
attack on an intelligence office by a radicalized young man that left five
personnel dead. On June 21, in the middle of the holy month, a suicide attack
against a military unit on the Syrian border killed seven Jordanian troops and
injured 10. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility.
Following the first attack, the government faced domestic accusations of doing
next to nothing to curb homegrown radicalization and terrorism. Citing the 2015
report on terrorism by the US State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and
Countering Violent Extremism, some local media outlets went further, accusing
Jordan’s government of having no plan against violent extremism. Homegrown
radicalization is a complicated phenomenon that needs a 10-year, multi-pronged
plan to at least significantly weaken if not eradicate it. Jordan is not alone
in this regard – homegrown terrorism is today the biggest threat to many
countries worldwide. ISIS’s attacks have enabled the government to be more
strident in resisting international calls to take in more Syrian refugees.
Security is now Jordan’s top priority
Policy change
The ISIS attack on border guards left a deep impact on Jordan’s open-border
policy, which it had maintained since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in March
2011. The kingdom announced that it was sealing off the part of the border where
the attack occurred. NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without
Borders, called on Jordan to reconsider the closure in light of the impact it
would have on Syrian refugees. However, they also expressed understanding of its
security concerns. Although ISIS’s attacks have increased Jordanians’ fear that
their country is not immune to terrorism, they have enabled the government to be
more strident in resisting international calls to take in more Syrian refugees.
Security is now Jordan’s top priority, with an emphasis on protecting its
borders and tackling sleeper cells.
Arab Columnist, Hussein Shobokshi: We Must Purge Our Sources Of Islamic
Extremism Like Post-WWII Germany Purged Its Sources Of Nazism
MEMRI/July 07/16
In his July 5, 2016 column for the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat,
under the headline "Uprooting Extremism," Hussein Shobokshi called on the Muslim
world to do what Germany did to combat Nazism after World War II, in order to
purge itself of its own sources of extremism.
Following are excerpts from his column:[1]
"When the Nazi regime fell, and Adolf Hitler was defeated at the end of World
War II... Germany decided to comprehensively, deeply, and seriously put its
house in order. It examined itself in depth, objectively, and gravely, and found
that the primary solution to its problem was uprooting the Nazi ideology.
"Thus began a decisive campaign to uproot the direct and indirect influence of
Nazi ideology on anything related to Germany's heritage, culture, ideology,
arts, and politics. They dug through the ideas of Goethe, Nietzsche, and Kant,
sifting through their writings with a fine-toothed comb, for fear that they had
played a part in influencing others and paving a clear path to extremism and,
later, to Nazism. Moreover, they also turned to [Germany's] musical heritage,
and banned performances of music by the renowned German musician and composer
Wagner, to which Hitler had listened regularly. They banned his music, fearing
that it would be a factor influencing people's ideology and encouraging
extremism.[2]
"Germany realized that it was facing a critical challenge that would obligate it
to decide, in all seriousness, whether to be or not to be. In light of the
gravity of this situation, it had to face the complex problems of Nazism
unceremoniously and with an iron fist.
"This is precisely the crisis that the Muslim world is facing – its ability to
deal with the extremism hidden in the pages of some writers, that are used by
extremists to legitimize and ingrain their positions, acts, and crimes.
"Today we witness the repeated murders and terror [attacks] by the organizations
of blood and death, such as Al-Qaeda, Hizbullah, and ISIS; they murder and
destroy based on fatwas [against] Western opinions. So long as this matter is
presented and handled with kid gloves, we will never obtain results that are
serious, helpful, influential, or vital. We must realize fully that we need to
take a number of steps to uproot the ideology of terrorism, and that the road
will be wearisome. We must be convinced that we are not doing this in order to
please the West or anyone else, but rather to protect the religion and Islamic
societies against this danger, since they will suffer its heaviest damages and
the most victims.
"This issue is crucial and very grave. Ramadan has passed; the terrorist
organizations' attacks have not ceased; and blood is running in the streets in
almost every Islamic country. It is our duty to purge and purify the sources of
extremism – and if we do not, there will, sadly, be no end to the ordeal of
blood[shed]...
"The eyes tear up at the sights of murder and blood."
[1] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 5, 2016.
[2] The author may have conflated the temporary cessation of Bayreuth Festival
when Germany was under occupation and Bayreuth was in the American zone. In any
case, the Wagner festival resumed in Bayreuth in 1951 and Wagner is played
throughout Germany.