LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

November 03/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.november03.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today
Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22/15-22/:"The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away".

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ
First Letter to the Corinthians 12,12-27/:"Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 02-03/16
How Iran’s pet terrorists won Lebanon/By Benny Avni/New York Post/November 02/16
Israel cautious about new Lebanese president/Jerusalem Post/November 02/16
 Hizbollah's hand is still at work in Aoun's new era/Michael Young/The National/November 02/16
Foe to friend: Damascus welcomes Aoun victory in Lebanon/Sami Moubayed/Gulf News/November 02/2016
A dangerous new president in Lebanon/By Jason M. Brodsky/American Thinker/November 2, 2016
Election of Michel Aoun proves rallying point for Lebanon’s Christians/Josh Wood/The National/ November 02/16
How Aoun rose from '90s renegade to Lebanon's new president/Ali Hashem/Al Monitor/November 02/16
The will of the Lebanese people - has the nation spoken/Rima Maktabi/Al Arabiya/November 02/16
My message to Obama’s successor/Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/November 02/16
Will America and Russia clash over Raqqa/Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/November 02/16
UN Plan to Turn the World into an Islamic Colony/Maria Polizoidou/Gatestone Institute/November 02/16
Turkey: Erdogan's Galloping Despotism/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/November 02/16
Saudi Journalists, 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed The Mosul Campaign Is An Iranian Offensive Against Sunni Arabs/MEMRI/November 02/2016

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on November 02-03/16
How Iran’s pet terrorists won Lebanon
Israel cautious about new Lebanese president
Hizbollah's hand is still at work in Aoun's new era
Foe to friend: Damascus welcomes Aoun victory in Lebanon
Consultations to Appoint New PM Kick Off, Future Movement and Aoun Support Hariri
A dangerous new president in Lebanon
Election of Michel Aoun proves rallying point for Lebanon’s Christians
How Aoun rose from '90s renegade to Lebanon's new president
86 Votes for Hariri on 1st Day of Consultations as Baath, SSNP Abstain
Report: Hariri Upset with Fatfat Who Goes Alone to Binding Consultations
Berri to Go 'Hand in Hand' With Franjieh and Jumblat as For Naming the PM
Yazbek Urges Unity Govt. that 'Doesn't Exclude Anyone'
Maronite Bishops Call for Efficient Government and Fair Election Law
Jumblat: My Bloc to Nominate Hariri for the New Premiership
Saudi Crown Prince congratulates Aoun on his election as president
Emirates congratulates Aoun on his election as president of Lebanese Republic
SSNP bloc: We informed President of our stance regarding premiership
Solidarity bloc nominates Hariri to head government
Baath party from Baabda: We abstain from naming any person for premiership
Aoun Receives Congratulatory Cables from Putin, Gulf Leaders
Zahra Says LF to Object if 'Wooden Equation' Mentioned in Policy Statement
Syrian Abductee Freed for Ransom in Bekaa
General Security Busts Lebanese-Syrian Prostitution Ring in Maameltein

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on November 02-03/16
Merkel accuses Syrian government of ‘crimes against humanity’
US strike kills Qaeda ‘attack planner’ in Syria
Aid agencies in Iraq on high alert as families flee Mosul offensive
Russia Declares 10-Hour Aleppo 'Humanitarian Pause' on Friday
Lavrov: Russia Seeks 'Honest' Cooperation in Syria
Life in Syria's Douma Revolves around Rhythm of Bombs
Aid Workers Brace for 'Worst' as Mosul Battle Intensifies
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Aid workers are bracing for
Iraq PM Warns Turkey as Ankara Deploys Troops
Russian Authorities Seal Off Amnesty International Office
Iran Leader Slams 'Catastrophic' US Election
Fatah to Hold First Congress since 2009 This Month
Turkish Foreign Minister Says Iraq PM 'Weak'
2 U.S. Cops Killed in Iowa 'Ambush', Suspect Held
Qatar Population Tops 2.6 Million
Saudi in Rare Flogging of Prince
You Love Me? Vote for Her! Obama Hits Frontline for Clinton
Clinton, Trump Begin Final Pitch for American Votes
Iran: 17 Youths Were Arrested in Tehran on Charges of Dancing in a Halloween Party
Iran: Five Prisoners Executed in Orumiyeh and Salmas
Iran: Widespread Protests Outside the Regime's Parliament Simultaneous With Rouhani's Presence
The Inability of Iran Regime Against the Backdrop of Unemployment
Iran's Impunity Must End

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on November 02-03/16
Iranian military leader: Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps “will be in the U.S. and Europe very soon”
Germany: Muslim migrants committed 142,500 crimes in first six months of 2016 — 780 every day
UK Muslim spokesman Mohammed Shafiq: Louis Smith ban for “Islamophobia” fuels “Islamophobia”
“Journalist” Cathy Young, after repeatedly defaming foes of jihad terror, now enraged as SPLC does same thing
Robert Spencer in PJ Media: Feel Safe? Here Are 3 Times Hillary Apparently Took Bribes From Terror Funders
As Geert Wilders again goes on trial for “hate speech,” European media campaigns furiously against him
An ex-Muslim’s open letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center
US Ambassador to India Richard Verma denounces “unacceptable rhetoric” against Muslims
Switzerland: Police raid Islamic State-linked mosque, arrest imam who said Muslims should be killed for not praying
Hugh Fitzgerald: A Saudi Princess In Paris

Links From Christian Today Site for on November 02-03/16
Pope Francis Slams Door On Female Priests – For Ever
Justin Welby: Christianity Is Threatened As Never Before In Middle East
Shocking ISIS Pamphlets Detail Horrific Treatment Of Sex Slaves
The Pope Is A Catholic': Cardinal Nichols Reacts To Ban On Women Priests
Britain And France In 'Major Violations' Of Calais Children's Rights – UN
Val Kilmer: Michael Douglas Got It Wrong, I Haven't Got Cancer
Children Who Fled ISIS In Mosul 'Too Terrified To Speak'
Christian University Wins Legal Battle Over Ban On Sex Outside Heterosexual Marriage
Campaigners Challenge Ban On NHS Funding For Abortions For Northern Ireland Women
The Cross Is Back: Iraqi Priests Raise Symbol Of Hope In Shattered Christian Villages
Christian Nuns Describe Horrors Of ISIS: 'Even The Dead Did Not Survive Their Cruelty'
Cardinal Nichols Vows To Work With Government Over 'Scourge' Of Homelessness

Latest Lebanese Related News published on November 02-03/16

How Iran’s pet terrorists won Lebanon

By Benny Avni/New York Post/November 02/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/02/benny-avninew-york-post-how-irans-pet-terrorists-won-lebanon/

‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” sang Bob Dylan. And this week, the winds of change in the Middle East kept blowing Iran’s way.

The latest: Lebanon’s selection Monday of Michel Aoun as president ended a long impasse that left Beirut’s presidential palace vacant for 2 ¹/₂ years. The victory of the 81-year-old former general seals — via its proxy Hezbollah — Iran’s dominance over Lebanon.

It’s the latest outcome of 1) President Obama’s attempt to reorder the Middle East through Iran’s empowerment and 2) Russia’s reassertion of power through an alliance with the mullahs.

Meanwhile, Iran’s strongest foe, the Saudis, have bigger fish to fry than Lebanon. They’re involved in Yemen’s civil war (on the opposite side of the Iranians) and also financing Sunni foes of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. So the Saudis all but gave up on Lebanon, which once served as the region’s banker and a major cultural leader.

In those days, Gen. Aoun was a fierce enemy of Syria. So much so that he was forced to flee the country for fear of being assassinated by Assad’s father, Hafez. Much to everyone’s surprise, however, he returned home from Paris in 2005, this time as Damascus’ bestie.

In Lebanon, everyone in power has a regional patron — and that patron can change at a moment’s notice. Aoun switched allegiances to Iran, and it paid off.

Now he’s president.

Assad is elated. He owes much of his survival to Iran, which finances his bloody bid to hold onto power, and Hezbollah, whose Lebanese Shiite troops serve as Assad’s most effective foot soldiers and cannon fodder.

Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief, meanwhile is beaming like a groom on his wedding day. Some Lebanese, including Nasrallah’s own Shiite supporters, have questioned his decision to go all in for Assad in Syria, but he wasn’t swayed. Now Lebanon is his for the foreseeable future.

As Tony Badran, the astute Lebanon watcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, notes, in the past, Hezbollah may have had a say — and even veto power — over the selection of president. But Aoun became “the first president that Hezbollah [chose] directly,” Badran says.

Sure enough, while Aoun’s victory speech was peppered with high-minded talk of unity and Lebanese patriotism, he sent clear messages, most notably a promise to support the “resistance.” That’s a reference to Hezbollah’s unchallenged — and illegal — army.

As Iran’s ISNA news agency reports, when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called to congratulate him, Aoun promised him Lebanon “is ready to stand against any threat from terrorist groups or the Zionist Regime.”

Aoun is far from Nasrallah’s only power lever. Hezbollah is the most powerful faction in Parliament, where a Shiite is guaranteed the speaker’s role (long held by Nabih Berry). It has much sway over the Lebanese Armed Forces, the country’s legitimate army. And now, with a hand-picked president who’s also a former general with strong ties to the military, the Iran-backed terrorist powerhouse all but controls that national army.

Next for Lebanon is the selection of a national cabinet. Sunni politician Saad Hariri reportedly made a deal to support Aoun in return for Hariri becoming prime minister. But Hariri will be hamstrung in office by Hezbollah, which will continue to control the cabinet.

Lebanon, in other words, is now the fiefdom of Nasrallah and, by proxy, Iran.

And it’s but a symptom of the Mideast’s maladies. Lebanon won’t escape from Iran’s spell by itself. Too few Lebanese have the will or power to push back on Nasrallah. A reversal of Iran’s fortunes, if any, will come in Syria, Yemen, Iraq or elsewhere in the “Shiite Crescent” that now spreads from south Asia to the Mediterranean.

Should we care? Remember, Hezbollah remains one of the world’s most dangerous anti-American terror organizations. It fights on behalf of Iran in Syria and Yemen, and continues to justify its existence by calling to “liberate” lands controlled by Israel — which it threatens with 150,000 rockets, including sophisticated long-range guided missiles.

If the next American president wants to start reversing Hezbollah’s fortunes, he or she must end our dangerous tilt toward the mullahs. And if the mullahs lose some of their current sheen, who knows — maybe even Lebanon’s politicians will seek sugar daddies elsewhere.

Israel cautious about new Lebanese president

Jerusalem Post/November 02/16

Lebanon’s new, pro-Hezbollah president has vowed to ‘release what is left of our lands from Israeli occupation.’

It took nearly two years, but Lebanon finally has a new President: Hezbollah-friendly Michel Aoun. A prominent but divisive figure with shifting alliances, the election of the 81-year old retired general is seen by many as a clear victory for the pro-Iranian axis in the Middle East.

One of the first congratulatory phone calls Aoun received after his election was from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who said that Aoun has been elected at “a time that the region faces the two threats of the growth of Takfiri [apostate] movements and terrorist groups as well as the indulgence of the Zionist regime of Israel,” adding that Iran is “confident” that “Lebanon’s resistance front will be strengthened.”

Aoun has not forgotten about his southerly neighbor, Israel, vowing to “release what is left of our lands from the Israeli occupation,” words directed towards the Shi’ite terror group with whom he entered into an alliance with in 2006 and has backed ever since.

But, according to Michael Horowitz, director of Intelligence at Prime Source, a Middle East based geopolitical consultancy, while Aoun’s win “is clearly in Hezbollah’s favor, Aoun is definitely not Nasrallah’s puppet” as he “is a relatively independent figure” whose base of support comes from Lebanese Christians. And while Aoun had ties to senior members in Israel’s security community in the 1990s, current government officials have greeted Aoun’s win with caution. Israeli opposition leader and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said that Israel “should worry when Lebanon elects a president backed by Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah is entangled in Syria, with thousands of their soldiers fighting and dying for the regime of Bashar Assad; some estimates put the number of dead at 1,500 with more than 5,000 others injured. While the IDF thinks the group is unlikely to attack Israel in the near future, the border remains explosive due in large part to the ongoing military buildup by Hezbollah. According to a senior Israeli intelligence official, Hezbollah has over 100,000 short-range rockets and several thousand more missiles that can reach central Israel, including Tel Aviv.

Those missiles, Horowitz told The Jerusalem Post, “could keep Israel under pressure and economic distress for months, while waging a defensive war in Lebanon that requires a lower number of fighters than the one [Hezbollah] is fighting in Syria.”In addition to the massive arsenal of rockets and missiles, Hezbollah is able to mobilize close to 30,000 fighters and has flouted its tunnel system, complete with ventilation, electricity, and rocket launchers. Some 200 villages in south Lebanon have also been turned in “military strongholds” where Hezbollah fighters are able to watch Israeli soldiers at any moment. Another area where Hezbollah has a presence is the Israel- Syria border. And while they have not devoted as much to this border, Aymenn Tamimi, a fellow at the Middle East Forum and researcher at the IDC Herzliya, told the Post that if and when Hezbollah “secures the northern front in Syria, specifically around Aleppo, they could then focus more time and energy” to building up their forces in the Golan using “in particular native Syrian Shi’ite fighters who they have recruited.”

A statement echoed by Horowitz, who said that Hezbollah has “gained significant military experience in Syria and therefore Israel would be faced with a force that is capable of waging both guerrilla and asymmetric warfare, as well as more conventional offensives.”

Hizbollah's hand is still at work in Aoun's new era

Michael Young/The National/November 02/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/02/michael-youngthe-national-hizbollahs-hand-is-still-at-work-in-aouns-new-era/

The election on Monday of Michel Aoun as Lebanon’s president represents a new phase in Lebanese politics. The political alignments that had characterised the country since 2005 have effectively collapsed, while it’s still not clear what will follow.

A deeply polarising figure, Mr Aoun was chosen after two and a half years during which he and his allies perpetuated a presidential vacuum, in part to allow the political and economic situation in Lebanon to fester and raise the pressure on all parties to vote for Mr Aoun. His victory showed that political blackmail works.

However, two developments in particular finally broke the deadlock: the decision of Samir Geagea, the Maronite Christian rival of Mr Aoun, to rally to him and support his presidential bid and the decision of the main Sunni politician, Saad Hariri, to force his bloc to vote for Mr Aoun, giving him the majority he needed.

Mr Hariri and Mr Geagea had been allies in the March 14 coalition, which was formed in 2005 in the aftermath of the assassination of Rafiq Hariri to oppose a Syrian return to Lebanon. However, during the presidential void last year their relationship was strained, as Mr Hariri, facing tremendous financial difficulties, sought to break the political deadlock by supporting Sleiman Franjieh as president. This alienated Mr Geagea, and explained his shift to Mr Aoun.

Now, the two men, Mr Geagea and Mr Hariri, are together again, with a high likelihood that Mr Hariri will be appointed prime minister this week. How easily he forms a government is a different matter, however, since Hizbollah is wary of the possibility of an Aoun-Geagea-Hariri axis that could affect its fortunes in the state.

That’s not to say that Mr Aoun will abandon his alliance with Hizbollah. In fact it’s highly unlikely he will, but Hizbollah senses, rightly, that the new president has the possibility of leaning on different political forces at different times, therefore widening his own margin of action. Indeed, Mr Aoun, if he manoeuvres properly, can potentially stake out the middle ground, playing off the extremes.

However, that is why Hizbollah appears to have plans to neutralise this. When it was clear that Mr Aoun would triumph, the party gave a wide berth to its Shia ally, Nabih Berri, the powerful speaker of parliament, to declare his opposition to the presidential candidate. Mr Berri has not decided whether to join the government, stating, "If they show something that I like, I will go along with it."

Hizbollah reportedly tasked Mr Berri with negotiating the government line-up on behalf of what remains of the March 8 coalition, the rival of March 14. This suggested that the party, not to harm its relations with Mr Aoun, anticipated tough bargaining, and preferred the speaker to be in the front line rather than Hizbollah. Moreover, after Mr Aoun had won, Mr Berri took the unprecedented step of making a short speech reminding the new president of what (to him and Hizbollah) were priorities in the coming period.

What Hizbollah apparently seeks to do is create a situation whereby if Mr Aoun ever decides to align with Mr Geagea and Mr Hariri, this can be opposed by Mr Berri and his pro-Syrian allies, leaving the party to seize the middle ground and make political gains. In other words, even before Mr Aoun’s election, Hizbollah had it in mind to contain Mr Aoun’s ability to take actions with which it might disagree.

It’s uncertain what new ideas Mr Aoun himself brings to the table. His inauguration speech was lacklustre, mixing contradictory promises to all sides with boilerplate remarks on the need to address Lebanon’s crises. The president is over 80, and his energy is limited. It could be that Mr Aoun, having won the election, will sit back and do nothing, which, given the limited powers of the president, is hardly impossible.

Nor is it evident how Mr Aoun will address the most urgent problem Lebanon faces today, the ailing economy. The country is caught in a serious downturn, exacerbated by the presence of more than a million Syrian refugees, but also by the fact that it has been governed by a dysfunctional government since 2014. Important economic decisions have been delayed, and the country’s public debt was estimated by the finance ministry at 139 per cent of GDP at the end of 2015.

While Mr Aoun’s supporters believe he will bring positive change, there is a significant likelihood that, at best, his election will allow the state to function somewhat more efficiently, while Lebanon’s challenges continue to be addressed in a haphazard way. Because he is not a unifier, the new president will be buffeted by the political dynamics in the country, rather than driving them himself.

Mr Aoun built his career on causing resounding political bangs, but now that he’s president, it may all end with a whimper.

Michael Young is a writer and editor in Beirut

On Twitter: @BeirutCalling

Foe to friend: Damascus welcomes Aoun victory in Lebanon

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/02/sami-moubayedgulf-news-foe-to-friend-damascus-welcomes-aoun-victory-in-lebanon/

Sami Moubayed/Gulf News/November 02/2016

Once considered an outlaw and ‘agent’ of America, Aoun now seen by Damascus as a member of the ‘Axis of Resistance’

Beirut: The election of Syria’s enemy-turned-ally General Michel Aoun as president of Lebanon on October 31 was given rare front-page coverage in the Syrian press.

The semi-official daily Al Watan ran a full-page spread with an editorial entitled, “Lebanon’s stability means stability of Syria.”

Radio stations in Damascus broadcast the parliamentary session live on air, hailing Aoun as a welcomed newcomer to the “Axis of Resistance” that includes Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, Russian Preisdent Vladimir Putin, Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah, and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani.

On Syrian streets, however, news of Aoun’s election was received with mixed feelings.

Years back Syrians had been taught and indoctrinated to hate him at schools and in political rallies, and barely any mention was made of the Lebanese General in the Syrian press or on Syrian TV. When they did mention him he was always referred to as an outlaw and an agent of the United States. In the polarised world of Syrian politics today, the pro-government camp sees him as a friend, whereas opponents trash him as an arch enemy for his public ridicule of the Syrian opposition at numerous occasions since 2011.

During the final stages of the Lebanese civil war, General Aoun had declared a “War of Liberation” against the Syrian Army, with its 40,000 troops stationed in Lebanon at the time.

In March 1989 Aoun was serving as Army Commander and interim Prime Minister — a de facto head of state in the absence of a constitutional president. Aoun allied himself with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain — a sworn enemy of then-President Hafez Al Assad — and reportedly received arms from Iraq to fight the Syrians out of Beirut.

When Damascus and Riyadh called for an endgame conference to the Lebanon war in Taif, Saudi Arabia, in October 1989, Aoun refused to attend and dismissed all Lebanese participants as traitors. Ironically, upon his election this week, Aoun pledged to uphold and protect the Taif Accords, whose product is the current election law and political system that heralded his rise to the Lebanese presidency.

Saddam’s summer invasion of Kuwait in 1990 destroyed Michel Aoun’s ambitions of rule — Al Assad allied himself with the Americans and Saudis, who in turn, approved the Syrian Army’s attack on Baabda Palace for the final ejection of Aoun from the seat of power.

He was forcefully removed by the Syrians in October 1990, three months before the Syrian Army went to the Arabian Desert to take part in Operation Desert Storm.

Aoun was given political asylum in Paris and spent the years 1990-2005 leading the opposition-in-exile to Syrian hegemony in Lebanon.

His party was outlawed in Beirut, his followers harassed or exiled, and for years he was personally banned from appearing on Lebanese television by General Ghazi Kenaaan, the commander of Syrian troops in Lebanon. In 2004, Aoun boasted that he was behind the Syria Accountability Act in the US Congress, which led to UN Security Council Resolution 1559 that called on the Syrians to withdraw from Lebanon.

That resolution, topped with the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri led to Syria’s forced exit from Lebanon in April 2005 and the return of General Aoun just 11-days later.

He squarely positioned himself as a member of the anti-Syrian March 14 Coalition, led by Hariri’s son Saad, cheering the Syrian defeat, but parted ways with the anti-Syrian camp in early 2006, tactically allying himself with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Aoun wanted to become president of Lebanon at any cost.

He realised that given the heavy Christian presence in the 14 March Alliance, Saad Hariri had other obligations toward presidential hopefuls like ex-President Amin Gemayel and Samir Gagea, a former political prisoner and sworn Aoun enemy who was released from jail just after Syria’s exit. Hariri wanted a ceremonial Christian head of state to empower the Sunni premiership, and Aoun wanted full authority vested in the Maronite presidency — just like it had been before the Taif Accords.

Realising that Hezbollah was getting the upper hand in Lebanese politics due to its numbers, power base, foreign backing, and arms, Aoun repositioned himself as a staunch ally of Nasrallah, who promised to make him president of the republic one day.

In turn, Aoun pledged to support and protect Hezbollah’s arms and lived up to his promise during the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese War. Despite loud objections from mainstream Lebanese politicians about Hezbollah’s triggering of that deadly conflict, Aoun refused to budge in his support for Nasrallah. He also refused to criticise Nasrallah’s 2012 decision to send troops to Syria, arguing that it was vital to defeat Daesh.

In turn, Nasrallah crossed off every single presidential hopeful over the past two years, including ally Sulaiman Frangieh, saying the position will be occupied by Aoun or nobody else.

During the years 2006-2011, Aoun also became a frequent visitor of the Presidential Palace in Damascus, becoming a personal friend of Bashar Al Assad and receiving front-page coverage in the Syrian press, even appearing on talk-shows in official and semi-official television channels.

Hours after his election on Monday, Aoun received a congratulatory telephone call from Al Assad, his first from any Arab leader. Aoun also visited Tehran in 2008, prompting President Hassan Rouhani to express satisfaction with his election on Monday, saying that it is a victory for Hezbollah.

Surprisingly, Aoun’s Christian constituency followed him blindly during his roller-coaster career. When he commanded them to fight the Syrians back in the 1980s, they did so with zeal, and when he said that he was turning a new page with Damascus in 2008, they followed along obediently. He explained his U-turn saying that his war with Syria was “an old story now” and in return, Al Assad remarked that Aoun was an “honourable man in adversity and then honourable in reconciliation.”

Aoun remains indebted to Syria’s ally Hezbollah for his victory — in what seems to be a behind-the-scenes agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran or Syria. In exchange for making Aoun president, the 83-year old general will appoint Saad Hariri as premier — a position from which he was ousted by Hezbollah back in 2011.

This duo will undoubtedly lead to trouble, as the two men have never gotten along and they represent two opposites on the Lebanese political spectrum. Hariri remains fervently opposed to the regime in Damascus and actively involved in supporting its opponents and in welcoming Syrian refugees, whereas Aoun wants good relations with Damascus and when addressing Parliament on Monday, hinted that the refugees need to go home — although most would not dare given that they are namely from towns and villages currently in flames, which had risen in protest back in 2011. Hariri remains a Saudi favourite while Aoun is critical of the Saudis and remains very close to Iran’s allies.

Consultations to Appoint New PM Kick Off, Future Movement and Aoun Support Hariri

Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al Awsat/November 02/16

Beirut-The Presidential Palace in Baabda will open its doors on Wednesday for the binding parliamentary consultations to appoint a new premier, already settled to be former Prime Minister and head of the Future Movement MP Saad Hariri.

While most parties expect the path of consultations not to face any obstacles, the Lebanese are eying the cabinet lineup.

The Future Movement admits it would be cautious from obstacles that might be placed by the so-called Hezbollah if the party choses to return to the policy of disruption which it adopted when dealing with the presidential file in the past two and a half years, member of the Future parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Hajjar told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Also, member of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Alain Aoun did not rule out the possibility of facing some difficulties in the cabinet formation process.

“The appointment will not be difficult, however, some obstacles could emerge in the cabinet lineup,” Aoun said, adding that President Michel Aoun, who was elected on Monday, would exert efforts to include all parties in the new government.

Aoun told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hariri already guaranteed the 65 votes needed for his appointment as the country’s premier.

When asked whether the two Shi’ite parties, Hezbollah and Speaker Nabih Berri would obstruct the nomination of Hariri, Aoun said: “The issue would be treated If we ever reach that point. We ignore the final position of Hezbollah but even if the party does not endorse Hariri, its stance will not affect the nomination process.”

Last month, the secretary general of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said his party is not opposed to the nomination of Hariri as premier, a position stipulating that the party might facilitate the appointment of Hariri without voting for him.

However, Berri’s stand remains blurred, particularly that the speaker did not rule out moving to the opposition ranks during the new era.

A surprising development was also noticed when the program of the consultations was issued, placing Berri’s meeting with the President as the last date on Thursday, contrary to the normal rules according to which the president should hold the first round of consultations with the speaker.

“Parliament had placed the appointments, and I believe that Berri had asked that his meeting (with the president) be the last,” Aoun said.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the meeting set for Berri was not linked to politics but rather to the speaker’s security.

Hajjar told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Hezbollah has never nominated Hariri for the premiership,” expecting Berri to nominate Hariri during the two-day binding parliamentary consultations.

Meanwhile, the Future bloc announced its nomination of Hariri.

The bloc said it looked forward to positive results in the cooperation between President Michel Aoun and Hariri, in line with the provisions of the Constitution and the Taif Accord.

Also on Tuesday, the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc announced through head of the Free Patriotic Movement and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil its support for the nomination of Hariri, a stance also repeatedly expressed by the Lebanese Forces.

Following the weekly meeting of the bloc, Bassil said: “After nominating head of Future Movement Saad Hariri to the premiership by the Future Bloc, we agree on such nomination which is a normal stance. All our votes will be in favor of Hariri and we will remain by his side across throughout difficulties he faces. We accept whoever accepts us and reject the ones who reject us.”

A dangerous new president in Lebanon

By Jason M. Brodsky/American Thinker/November 2, 2016

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The ascendancy of Michel Aoun, a former Christian general who once served a disputed term as prime minister of Lebanon in the 1980s, to the Lebanese presidency marks a milestone in the country's long national electoral nightmare. There have been over 40 failed attempts alone at selecting a successor to the previous president, Michel Suleiman, since he stepped down in May 2014.

While Beirut may not be in the global headlines every day, regional trends indicate a potentially dangerous turn of events in Lebanon for three reasons: the new president's alliance with Hezb'allah, Lebanon's shared border with Israel, and the mainstreaming of Iran's political power in the neighborhood.

Aoun has been a longtime ally of Hezb'allah – a sanctioned, terrorist organization – for years. Back in 2012, when asked about Israel, he told Al Manar, a Hezb'allah media mouthpiece, "To Sayed Nasrallah, I say we are in the same path until securing victory in the end." In fact, Hezb'allah catapulted Aoun into the presidential palace. When Sunni leader and former prime minister Saad Hariri proposed another Christian leader and Hezb'allah ally for the position, Hezb'allah chief Hassan Nasrallah doubled down on Aoun, dubbing him "the obligatory path" to the presidency.

Despite the fact that Lebanon's president has traditionally been branded a figurehead alongside the other centers of power – the prime minister who is by law required to be a Sunni and the speaker of the parliament who must be Shiite – the office provides a powerful platform in maintaining the country's fragile political balance. In 2013, then President Michel Suleiman called on Hezb'allah to pull out of Syria because its actions were wreaking havoc in Lebanon, warning that a new Party of God-backed offensive to recapture Aleppo would lead to more tension at home. Fast-forward to today, given that Aoun made a vow on Monday to continue to support Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad – whom Hezb'allah is propping up – his election empowers the organization at a critical time, with Assad and his Iran-backed clients yet again trying to reclaim Aleppo.

Lebanon's shared border with Israel also makes Michel Aoun's new role all the more threatening. In his first public remarks upon assuming the post, Aounpledged to "release what is left of our lands from the Israeli occupation." The tenor of his comments stands in contrast to the tone once used by his predecessor, Michel Suleiman, who, in 2012, during talk of a pre-emptive Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear program, stated in reference to Hezb'allah, "Should Israel strike Iran, it will not be attacked with missiles from Lebanon[.] … No one has the right to act without the Lebanese government's authorization." Given his record, it may be unlikely that Aoun, who owes a great debt of gratitude to Hezb'allah for his political fortunes, would be ready to effectively buck his political patron when violence is rapidly spilling across national borders.

Aoun's appointment also comes on the heels of Hezb'allah targeting Israeli forces at the Lebanese border in January, bombing an Israeli military convoy near Shebaa Farms; an attempt in July of a Hezb'allah cell to plant bombs in the Haifa area; reports in September that a large contingent of Hezb'allah fighters have been preparing to move into southern Syria – particularly at the Quneitra passage – bordering Israel; and Jerusalem's alleged assassination of multiple Hezb'allah operatives – for example, the targeting of Samir Kantar in an airstrike in Damascus last December – as the mayhem in Syria has enflamed this old rivalry.

Lebanon represents the linchpin in the Iranian regime's designs to terrorize Israel. And Aoun's dependency on Hezb'allah in this regard should be deeply concerning to the international community.

Lastly, Aoun as president represents the effective mainstreaming of Iran as a political kingmaker. Not only will Aoun carry the Hezb'allah imprimatur, but Nabih Berri, the Shiite speaker of Lebanon's parliament, received the political party's endorsement to continue in his current position. Despite Berri's initial opposition to Aoun and his own tensions with Hezb'allah in the past, these developments demonstrate the power that Iran – vis-à-vis its proxy Hezb'allah – wields in the internal political dynamics of yet another country in the Middle East. With Saudi Arabia dramatically pulling out from Lebanon in April after cutting $3 billion in military aid and $1 billion in assistance to Lebanese security forces, the country has become yet another destination in an Iranian sphere of influence, comprising Baghdad, Damascus, Sanaa, and now Beirut.

Only time will tell if the violence enveloping Iraq, Syria, and Yemen will soon follow in Lebanon's Mediterranean enclave. But Beirut matters – politically and geographically – and the country's new power lineup is bound only to add to the regional powder keg.

**Jason M. Brodsky is the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran.

Election of Michel Aoun proves rallying point for Lebanon’s Christians

Josh Wood/The National/ November 02/16

BEIRUT // As thousands of Lebanese gathered in central Beirut to celebrate the election of General Michel Aoun as president, some of the flags waving above the crowds seemed out of place.

Supporters of Gen Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement were out in force on Monday night, waving flags and clutching photographs of the former warlord. Martyrs’ Square was a sea of orange – the trademark colour of the Mr Aoun’s party – with a smattering of canary yellow flags belonging to Hizbollah, an ally of the new president.

But also visible were flags belonging to the Lebanese Forces, another Christian party and former militia that Gen Aoun went to war with as a renegade military commander in the late 1980s during Lebanon’s civil war. Some supporters of the group held portraits of Samir Geagea, the Lebanese Forces leader who, until recently, was Gen Aoun’s chief rival.

The presence of Lebanese Forces supporters was even more surprising given that supporters of Hizbollah – a group Mr Geagea continues to oppose bitterly – were also in attendance.

While Mr Geagea initially competed for the presidency against Gen Aoun, he eventually backed down and in January gave his rival his support in an effort to end the electoral gridlock. But such political manoeuvring in Lebanon does not often translate into support on the street – particularly when a major concession is involved.

But here were the Lebanese Forces supporters dancing, singing and cheering into the night, even as a video message from the Shiite Hizbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was broadcast to the crowds over giant screens.

Many observers have painted Gen Aoun’s election as a victory for Iran and Syria in Lebanon, drawing on the new president’s alliance with Hizbollah, which is backed by Tehran. But the reality appears to be more complex.

Gen Aoun’s populist Christian rhetoric and his party’s constant accusations that other sects are working to marginalise Christians in the country has struck a chord.

Having been fed a steady diet of images of Christians fleeing ISIL in Iraq and Syria in recent years, while watching Lebanon’s demographics change dramatically with the addition of more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees, overwhelmingly Sunni, Lebanese Christians have increasingly felt outnumbered, creating pressure for them to unite.

While Lebanon’s parties are generally divided between those that are influenced by Syria and Iran and those that lean toward the Arabian Gulf and the West, a new order may be emerging – one that sees Christian parties drift away from the confines of those alliances.

Marwan Chaktoura, a 27-year-old Lebanese Forces supporter, said he viewed Gen Aoun’s election as a victory for all of Lebanon’s Christians, not just the Free Patriotic Movement.

"The region, the Middle East, is full of terrorists," he said. "We have to resist and unite to build a new Lebanon."

Asked about how it felt to be celebrating alongside Hizbollah supporters, he paused before answering.

"Hizbollah is here in Martyrs’ Square today without their weapons. They are here to support the president of the republic," he said.

Nearby, 16-year-old Lebanese Forces supporter Anthony Matta was celebrating Gen Aoun’s election with friends, most of whom were Free Patriotic Movement supporters. One, dressed in an orange shirt with an orange headband, held the flags of both Christian parties together in one hand. Another waved a flag bearing a provocative Lebanese Forces logo that was used during the civil war as well as a portrait of Mr Geagea taped to it.

"Christians are strong now because the president is strong," said Mr Matta.

The traditional political camps in Lebanon were dying and a new order was emerging, he added. Now there is "no problem" with Hizbollah, "now it is Hizbollah, Aoun and Geagea", he said.

But questions remain as to how far the new unity can go. Not only do the Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces continue to disagree on major issues like Syria and the role of Hizbollah in Lebanon, but another Christian Party remains out in the cold over the presidential election: Kataeb.

Kataeb, whose supporters were absent from the celebrations on Monday night, gave birth to the Lebanese Forces during the country’s civil war, but the two parties now disagree over supporting Gen Aoun.

Marwan Abdallah, the coordinator of Kataeb’s foreign affairs office, said that while he supports Christian unity and is glad the Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces have ended their animosity, he does not believe they can truly come closer together while still disagreeing on major issues like the role of Hizbollah and Syria.

"We think agreeing on these matters is more important for Christian unity than just signing papers and agreeing on small things that do not solve the real problems that Christians are facing in Lebanon," he said.

How Aoun rose from '90s renegade to Lebanon's new president

Ali Hashem/Al Monitor/November 02/16

Michel Aoun will never forget two Octobers in his life: one that saw him ousted, humiliated and sent into exile on Oct. 13, 1990, and one that came 26 years later when he was elected on Oct. 31, 2016, as Lebanon’s 13th president. The 81-year-old former military chief of staff sat inside the parliament’s main chamber while his fellow members of parliament voted for him.

The election of Gen. Michel Aoun as Lebanon’s president ends a 2½-year void in the office but also divides the Lebanese public, with some considering him the candidate of Hezbollah.

Watching from the 1934 building’s mezzanine was Aoun's family, including his daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren. Beside them sat famous Lebanese singer Julia Boutros, whose husband is Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, one of Aoun’s Cabinet members. At the same level sat former Lebanese presidents Michel Suleiman and Amin Gemayel, along with commanders of the army, internal security and general security officials, and journalists.

In the first round, Aoun received 84 votes out of 127, not enough to secure a win. He might have received more, as there were at least two write-in votes apparently cast in jest or protest against Aoun: one for the fictional novel and film character "Zorba the Greek," and another for risque Lebanese model Myriam Klink, who later retweeted a photo that had been altered to show her sitting in the presidential palace.

Klink's nomination drew amusement and consternation on Twitter: "Myriam Klink? Seriously? And we still think there's hope for this desperate country?" one tweet read. Another said, "The presidential voting is much more entertaining than Miss Lebanon elections!" Ahmed Al Omran, a Saudi correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, noted the vote for Klink on his Twitter page Oct. 31. One reader responded, "So? [Donald] Trump has a real shot at the US presidency."

Back in parliament, more votes failed to produce a winner, including two attempts in which the number of votes cast didn't match the number of parliamentarians. Aoun finally was elected, filling a 2½-year vacancy that had persisted through failed election attempts in 45 previous sessions of parliament.

As the session was wrapping up, former Lebanese Culture Minister Gaby Layoun told Al-Monitor, “I am speechless. Aoun is a man of passion. He loves people; he wants to help make this country great.” Layoun believes Aoun is not looking for power. “At his age he can live a better life ... but he has a commitment to serve this nation, and hopefully he is going to do so regardless of anything. Gen. Aoun is not someone who could be pressured, whatever the circumstances are.”

In the main chamber, parliament Speaker Nabih Berri — who staunchly refused to vote for Aoun — gave a speech at the end of the session and then called the newly elected president to take the oath. For the first time in years, Aoun seemed cautious while reading his speech. It seemed clear that Aoun the president is not the same as Aoun the party leader, as he was keen to reassure different political factions and address their concerns. While he stressed the importance of political stability, Aoun said his country is currently sitting amid landmines and surrounded by the fires raging in the region. He said his priority is to prevent any sparks from those fires from spreading to Lebanon.

Lebanon, he insisted, must stay out of regional conflicts and follow an independent foreign policy in accordance with its interests. Yet in the same speech, Aoun confirmed that Lebanon “will not spare any kind of resistance in the struggle with Israel to liberate occupied Lebanese territories” and “will resort to pre-emptive deterrence in dealing with terrorist threats.”

Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea, a long-time rival of Aoun who recently became an ally, saw the speech as “promising.” He added, “The most important part was that [Aoun] stressed building the state, the army and the economy, along with Lebanon’s commitment to the Arab League.”

Outside parliament, Suleiman Franjieh, once Aoun's ally and today a rival, told Al-Monitor and other media outlets that he will be part of the opposition. However, he said he regards Aoun’s election as a victory for the political alliance that brings them together. Franjieh, a former chief of numerous government ministries and current member of parliament, added, “We will go to the consultations, and then we will decide whether to take part in the [new] government or not.”

The threat of terrorism and concerns about Lebanese security were main priorities as Aoun was transported from parliament to the presidential palace. Helicopters covered the skies, streets were closed around the parliament and checkpoints could be seen in several areas. The trip from parliament to the presidential palace was literally a new president on the road to assume his power. But to Aoun, this was more.

This same presidential palace in Baabda was the venue of his 1990 defeat by the Syrian army, which was in control of Lebanon at that time. But on this day, he walked the red carpet while reviewing the presidential guards. “It is a rare moment in the history of Lebanon and the Middle East,” George Eid, an Aoun supporter, told Al-Monitor. "It is not easy to make such a comeback unless you are Michel Aoun."

While Aoun’s supporters see this as the Christian candidate's heroic return, there are those who voiced serious opposition to his election. Sami Gemayel, head of the Kataeb (Phalange) Party, and his parliamentary bloc all voted against the new president. Gemayel believes Aoun is Hezbollah’s candidate, and Aoun did receive Hezbollah backing.

Gemayel’s point is grounded in popular bases opposing Aoun’s presidency. These groups are concerned about possible growth in the influence of the Hezbollah political party and its Shiite Islamist militant group. Such concerns might have even intensified after they learned that the first calls Aoun received after arriving at the presidential palace were from Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

As formalities were taking place in the presidential palace, the streets of the Christian neighborhood of Achrafieh were getting crowded. Aoun supporters were celebrating their leader’s victory. Dozens of them sat in front of a huge screen watching, moment by moment, as the events took place on “Big Monday,” as it was called here in Beirut. They were, for the first time, having a full-fledged celebration. “He is the father of all Lebanese,” an Aoun supporter who only gave his name as Salam told Al-Monitor.

“A few years ago, it was a crime to say you supported Michel Aoun. We were beaten in the streets, jailed and humiliated, but today we are forgiving everyone, and we will remember our martyrs who fell on the path to freedom. But yes, it is time that they acknowledge we were right,” Salam said.

86 Votes for Hariri on 1st Day of Consultations as Baath, SSNP Abstain

Naharnet/November 02/16/The binding parliamentary consultations with elected President Michel Aoun for the designation of a new premier kicked off on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Baabda. Caretaker PM Tammam Salam arrived first at the palace signaling the start of the consultations. Several deputies named Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri for the post in the morning round of consultations, including Salam, ex-PMs Najib Miqati and Fouad Saniora, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari and the MPs Butros Harb, Michel el-Murr and Nayla Tueini.

The blocs that named Hariri were the Mustaqbal, Change and Reform and Lebanese Forces. “I told President Aoun that the constitution and the laws must be respected and I hoped the essential principles will return to political life, seeing as no political system can function without an opposition,” Harb said after the consultations with Aoun. He also hoped the ministerial policy statement of the government will be “clear.”In the second round of consultations, Hariri's nomination was endorsed by the blocs of the Kataeb Party, the Marada Movement, MP Walid Jumblat's Democratic Gathering and by the MPs Michel Pharaon, Talal Arslan and Ahmed Karami. “I nominated ex-PM Hariri for the premiership and called for facilitating the formation of the next cabinet in order to immunize unity,” Pharaon said after the consultations.

Kataeb chief MP Sami Gemayel meanwhile said the bloc nominated Hariri for the premiership “in light of the moderation he represents in a region that is witnessing extremism and bigotry.” Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh did not accompany his bloc to the consultations, in what some observers perceived as a protest move, although the constitution does not stipulate the presence of all members of a certain bloc during consultations. The two-member bloc of the Baath Party meanwhile abstained from nominating anyone for the premiership as the two-member bloc of the Syrian Social National Party said it “informed the president of its stance on the premiership.” It was not immediately clear how SSNP's move would be interpreted in terms of votes.

Several TV networks said Hariri had received 86 votes out of 126 possible ones by the end of Wednesday's consultations.

The consultations will continue on Thursday.

The daily An Nahar said that Speaker Nabih Berri will be the last person to name a candidate in the name of his bloc as per his request. This matter has been coordinated between the Protocol officer of the parliament and the relevant departments at the presidential palace. Berri requested to be the last so he won't have to visit the presidential palace three times -- first as a Speaker, another as head of the Development and Liberation bloc and lastly to be briefed by Aoun on the outcome of consultations, according to the daily. On Tuesday, al-Mustaqbal and the Change and Reform blocs had formally announced that they would nominate al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri. On Monday, Aoun was elected president of the republic. His election ended a presidential void that lasted around two and a half years. His chances were largely boosted by a key endorsement from Hariri in mid-October. Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country. Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."

Report: Hariri Upset with Fatfat Who Goes Alone to Binding Consultations

Naharnet/November 02/16/Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat has asked to go alone to the binding parliamentary consultations to name a premier, and will not accompany the Mustaqbal bloc MPs to the presidential palace, al-Akhbar daily reported on Wednesday. “Fatfat is taking this measure because he did not support the bloc's decision to nominate Aoun for the post of president,” sources close to Fatfat told the daily. Aoun was elected president on Monday after around two and a half years of presidential void. His presidential chances were largely boosted by a key endorsement from Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri in mid-October. The sources denied rumors alleging that Hariri has distanced Fatfat from the alliance for his failure to commit to a decision to vote for Aoun. They assured that the two men had a “friendly” telephone conversation on Tuesday. On the reason that made Fatfat leave the Mustaqbal ranks despite the fact that other Mustaqbal MPs including head of the bloc Fouad Saniora and MPs Mohammed Qabbani, Farid Makari, Ammar Houri and Samir al-Jisr have also refrained from voting in favor of Aoun, the sources preferred to keep the reason undisclosed. However, well-informed Mustaqbal sources told the daily that distancing Fatfat came after a “direct request from Hariri, who is very upset with the MPs actions, statements and his lack of commitment to the bloc's decision.”

In October, Hariri formally endorsed Aoun for the post of president in a speech that he delivered from the Center House which Fatfat failed to attend because he did not support Hariri's decision. The binding consultations with elected President Michel Aoun for the designation of a new premier kicked off on Wednesday and will continue on Thursday at the Baabda palace.

Berri to Go 'Hand in Hand' With Franjieh and Jumblat as For Naming the PM

Naharnet/November 02/16/Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that he will show cooperation at the governmental level, but stressed that he will go hand in hand with Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh and PSP leader Walid Jumblat with regard to nomination of the upcoming new Prime Minister, al-Akhbar daily reported. Well-informed sources told the daily “there is great positivity on Berri's part as he plans to name Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri for the post of premiership.” Berri had told his visitors on Tuesday, on the eve of the binding parliamentary consultations, that his bloc will meet Wednesday to discuss naming the premier designate, as he pointed out that Hizbullah has not taken a stance as yet. The binding parliamentary consultations with elected President Michel Aoun for the designation of a new premier kicked off on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Baabda and will continue until Thursday. Berri denied reports claiming that Hizbullah has authorized him to hold consultations with President Aoun on behalf of the party and AMAL movement, he said: “Our stance is always one. Maybe the reports circulating in that regard stem from the fact that we go to the binding consultations and the formation of the government with a united position.” Berri stressed: “ Let them know from the beginning that I will not continue without Jumblat and Franjieh.” Berri will meet with Aoun for the binding consultations on Thursday at the end of which the president shall brief the Speaker with the outcome of the consultations, a step that comes in accordance with the constitution. As for the newly elected President Michel Aoun, Berri praised the oath of office taken by Aoun, he said: “His speech was calm and has shown the Lebanese that he represents them all. May God protect President Aoun from those around him.” Hariri is tipped to be re-designated as premier in light of his key support for Aoun's nomination and Hizbullah's announcement that it is not opposed to his return to the premiership. On Monday, Aoun was elected president of the republic. His election ends a presidential void that lasted around two and a half years. His chances were largely boosted by a key endorsement from Hariri in mid-October. Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country. Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."

Yazbek Urges Unity Govt. that 'Doesn't Exclude Anyone'

Naharnet/November 02/16/Senior Hizbullah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek called Wednesday for the formation of a national unity government that “does not exclude anyone,” while stressing that “the entire world cannot break the ties that gather Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement.”“We support the formation of a national unity government that does not exclude anyone and does not endorse a spiteful approach,” said Yazbek, who is the head of Hizbullah's so-called Juristic Committee. “This way entire Lebanon would triumph rather than one group over another, and we on our part will do everything we can to relieve our community and people,” he added. Turning to the Hizbullah-AMAL alliance and the issue of participation in the new government, Yazbek emphasized that “the entire world cannot break the ties that gather Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement.”“Therefore we will work as one hand to facilitate things in order to form a national unity government, because this country must overcome the crises that it is going through, especially at the security, economic and social levels,” the Hizbullah official added. AMAL leader and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his bloc have not voted for Michel Aoun in Monday's presidential election session that made him Lebanon's 13 president and the speaker has voiced dismay over the horsetrading that preceded ex-PM Saad Hariri's endorsement of Aoun's nomination, hinting that he might “join the ranks of the opposition.”Hariri received 86 votes in the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier on Wednesday and a second round of consultations is scheduled for Thursday. Hariri played a key role in Aoun's election as president after he formally endorsed him in mid-October and the ex-PM is poised to be re-designated as premier. Aoun, an ex-army chief and the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement, also received crucial support for his presidential nomination from Hizbullah and the Lebanese Forces. Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country. Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."

Maronite Bishops Call for Efficient Government and Fair Election Law

Naharnet/November 02/16/The Maronite Bishops called on Wednesday for the formation of an efficient government and the stipulation of a fair election law after the election of a new president. They congratulated newly elected President Michel Aoun, highly appreciating the efforts exerted by all parties to end the presidential vacuum. “The new president included in his oath of office his eagerness for Lebanon's stability on the political, security, social, economic, and administrative levels,” the bishops said in a statement following their meeting under the chairmanship of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.They also urged for a “swift formation of a new capable and effective government,” as well as a new election law that would guarantee fair representations for all sides.

Jumblat: My Bloc to Nominate Hariri for the New Premiership

Naharnet/November 02/16/MP Walid Jumblat assured on Wednesday that his parliamentary bloc will nominate al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri for the premiership post, As Safir daily reported. “The Democratic Gathering bloc will name Hariri,” the Progressive Socialist Party leader told the daily, as he called for the formation of a “national unity government” that includes all political factions so that it is capable of confronting the challenges facing Lebanon. On Tuesday, the Change and Reform and al-Mustaqbal blocs announced formally that they nominate Hariri. The binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier will kick off today and are to continue until Thursday with the newly elected President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace. Aoun was elected president on Monday after around two and a half years of presidential void. His presidential chances were largely boosted by a key endorsement from Hariri in mid-October. Aoun's nomination also received crucial support from Hizbullah and the Lebanese Forces.

Saudi Crown Prince congratulates Aoun on his election as president

Wed 02 Nov 2016/NNA - Crown Prince Second Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, cabled on Wednesday President Michel Aoun and congratulated him on the occasion of becoming a new president.

Emirates congratulates Aoun on his election as president of Lebanese Republic

Wed 02 Nov 2016/NNA - President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, cabled on Wednesday President Michel Aoun and congratulated him on the occasion of becoming a new president of the Lebanese Republic.

He wished Aoun success in his new mission. Also, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, cabled Aoun for the same purpose.

SSNP bloc: We informed President of our stance regarding premiership

Wed 02 Nov 2016/NNA - After meeting with President of the Lebanese Republic, General Michel Aoun, head of Syrian Social Nationalist Party's parliamentary bloc, Assaad Hardan, said on Wednesday that his bloc informed President Aoun of its stance regarding the premiership.

Jumblatt nominates Hariri for heading government

Wed 02 Nov 2016/NNA - "Democratic Gathering" head MP Walid Jumblatt declared on Wednesday from Baabda that "we named Head of future Movement Saad Hariri as head of upcoming government.""We also told President of the Republic that we should narrow down the line of divisions and focus on building the interior," Jumblatt said.

SSNP bloc: We informed President of our stance regarding premiership

Wed 02 Nov 2016/NNA - After meeting with President of the Lebanese Republic, General Michel Aoun, head of Syrian Social Nationalist Party's parliamentary bloc, Assaad Hardan, said on Wednesday that his bloc informed President Aoun of its stance regarding the premiership.

Solidarity bloc nominates Hariri to head government

Wed 02 Nov 2016/NNA - MP Ahmad Karami announced on Wednesday from Baabda that Solidarity (Tadamon) bloc nominated Future leader Saad Hariri for Premiership, because "he is the man that quite fits the current circumstance."

Baath party from Baabda: We abstain from naming any person for premiership

Wed 02 Nov 2016/NNA - Lebanese Baath party, MP Assem Kanso, declared on Wednesday from Baabda that his party abstained from naming any person for premiership.

Aoun Receives Congratulatory Cables from Putin, Gulf Leaders

Naharnet/November 02/16/President Michel Aoun on Wednesday received congratulatory cables over his election from Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of Gulf leaders. I would like to stress that the Russian Federation stands by the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon as well as by domestic stability and peace among its religious communities,” Putin said in his cable. Saudi Arabia's powerful deputy crown prince and defense minister Mohammed bin Salman meanwhile congratulated Aoun on his election and wished “further development and prosperity for the brotherly Lebanese people.” Aoun also received congratulatory cables on Wednesday from UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Kuwait's emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah. Aoun was elected president on Monday after around two and a half years of presidential void. His presidential chances were largely boosted in mid-October by a key endorsement from al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is closed to Saudi Arabia. Aoun's nomination also received crucial support from Iran-backed Hizbullah and the Lebanese Forces. Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. n addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country. Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."

Zahra Says LF to Object if 'Wooden Equation' Mentioned in Policy Statement

Naharnet/November 02/16/Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra has announced that the LF would “voice reservations” should the policy statement of the new government include the controversial “army-people-resistance” equation. “What reassured us in the oath of office of (President Michel Aoun) were the remarks about resisting terrorism and Israel,” Zahra said in an interview with the privately-owned Akhbar al-Yawm news agency. “If Hizbullah sees a cover for it in this stance, we only see in it a role for the state and not for other parties. Should this format be endorsed in the policy statement, we will be very relieved and reassured,” Zahra added, noting that “some constructive ambiguity would satisfy all parties.”“But should there be a return to the wooden army-people-resistance equation, we will voice reservations, because the issue is nonnegotiable for the LF,” he went on to say. Aoun, an ex-army chief and the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement, was elected president on Monday after a key endorsement from ex-PM Saad Hariri. Aoun also received crucial support for his presidential nomination from Hizbullah and the LF. Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country. Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."

Syrian Abductee Freed for Ransom in Bekaa

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra has announced A Syrian abductee was released for ransom Wednesday in the Bekaa region, state-run National News Agency reported. “The captors of the Syrian Ali Abdul Fattah al-Hadidi have freed him in Brital's plain for an LBP 16 million ransom,” NNA said. He had been kidnapped outside his stores in Qsarnaba, west of Baalbek, on October 20, the agency noted.

General Security Busts Lebanese-Syrian Prostitution Ring in Maameltein

Naharnet/November 02/16/The General Security announced Wednesday that it has busted a Lebanese-Syrian prostitution ring in the Jounieh coastal area of Maameltein.“After obtaining information about an organized prostitution ring that was bringing Syrian women to Lebanon under the excuse of tourism and with the real aim of practicing prostitution as part of this ring, and following surveillance and investigations, General Security arrested a Lebanese man, five Syrian men and 11 Syrian women at a hotel in Maameltein,” it said in a statement. “During interrogation, they confessed to the charges, saying they constitute a prostitution ring led by Lebanese national A. J.,” it added. Negotiations with clients were being conducted over the phone, internet websites and social media and a number of cellphones and sums of money were seized in their possession. “Following investigations, they were referred to the relevant judicial authorities and efforts are underway to arrest the rest of the culprits,” General Security added. In late March, the Internal Security Forces announced busting what it called the “most dangerous” human trafficking and prostitution ring in Lebanon. Seventy-five women, mostly Syrian nationals, were rescued and around 20 Lebanese and Syrian suspects were arrested in connection with the case, which sent shockwaves across Lebanon at the time.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on November 02-03/16

Merkel accuses Syrian government of ‘crimes against humanity’

Reuters, Berlin Wednesday, 2 November 2016/German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday accused Syrian government troops of committing “crimes against humanity” that could not be overlooked. Human rights groups and Western countries have previously accused Syria’s army, backed by Russia’s air force, of targeting hospitals, bakeries and other civilian areas when bombarding rebel areas, including eastern Aleppo. “The use of barrel bombs and incendiary bombs, and even chemical weapons, is not being shied away from,” Merkel said as she received the Seoul Peace Prize in Berlin. “The civilian population is being starved, medical institutes are being attacked, doctors are dying and hospitals are being destroyed,” she said, adding that not even United Nations aid convoys were safe from bombardment. “These are serious crimes against humanity. We mustn’t overlook that,” Merkel said. On Tuesday, a UN human rights spokeswoman said all sides fighting over the Syrian city of Aleppo may be committing war crimes through indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas. The UN Human Rights Council said late last month it would identify the perpetrators of war crimes in Aleppo, and it launched a special inquiry into the use of starvation and air strikes there. Merkel also urged Europeans to think about crises further afield. On North Korea’s nuclear programme and tensions in the East and South China Sea, she said: “Everyone involved has a duty to stick to the internationally agreed rules and to cooperate.”

US strike kills Qaeda ‘attack planner’ in Syria

AFP, Washington Wednesday, 2 November 2016/A US drone strike in Syria last month killed an Al-Qaeda member with ties to the organization’s senior leadership, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Te October 17 strike near Idlib northwestern Syria killed Haydar Kirkan, who “was intent on plotting and carrying out attacks against the West,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said. “He was a long serving and experienced courier for Al-Qaeda in Syria. He had ties to Al-Qaeda’s senior leaders to include Osama bin Laden himself, and he was Al-Qaeda’s senior external terror attack planner in Syria,” Davis said, without describing any of the purported plots. In recent weeks, the Pentagon has targeted other Al-Qaeda members. On October 23, US drone strikes targeted two top Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. While officials have not confirmed any deaths, they are privately confident the strikes killed Farouq al-Qahtani, Al-Qaeda’s emir for northeastern Afghanistan, and his deputy Bilal al-Utabi. On October 21 in Yemen, five Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) members were killed in a US air strike, including local AQAP leader Abu Hadi al-Bayhani, Davis said. “Al-Qaeda doesn’t recognize borders when they conspire to commit terrorist attacks against the West, and we will continue to work with our partners and allies to find and destroy their leaders, their fighters and their cells that are planning attacks externally,” Davis said.

Aid agencies in Iraq on high alert as families flee Mosul offensive

By Magdalena Mis Thomson Reuters Foundation, London Wednesday, 2 November/16/Aid agencies said on Wednesday families who have fled Mosul and surrounding towns were starting to reach displacement camps away from the fighting, as Iraqi forces press on with an offensive to retake ISIS’s last major stronghold in Iraq. The battle that started on Oct. 17 with air and ground support from a US-led coalition is shaping up as the largest in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003. On Tuesday Iraqi forces battled ISIS fighters on the eastern edge of Mosul as the campaign entered a new phase of urban warfare. The United Nations has said the Mosul offensive could trigger a humanitarian crisis and a possible refugee exodus if the civilians inside in Mosul seek to escape, with up to one million people fleeing in a worst-case scenario.

“People are starting to arrive now from the small towns around Mosul,” Joe Cropp of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We’ve been aware that this has been coming up and the preparations have been going on for two months,” he said in a phone interview from northern Iraq. IFRC said many people were arriving with only the clothes they were wearing and those who reached Khazer camp, east of Mosul, said they had to walk through the night. “We were so worried the children would cry out during the night and we would be discovered,” IFRC quoted one of the mothers as saying. Thousands more people are expected to arrive in the coming days and weeks as fighting around Mosul intensifies, IFRC said. Throughout the country, some 10 million Iraqis are in need of aid.

“Local communities across the country are sharing the responsibility, taking in millions of displaced people. But even with the greatest will in the world they cannot accommodate a million more,” Gyula Kadar, IFRC operations manager, said in a statement. The International Organization for Migration said nearly 21,000 people have been displaced since the start of the campaign, excluding thousands of villagers taken into Mosul by retreating militants who used them as human shields. he UN said in October a total of six camps had been built that can accommodate 50,000 people. Efforts were underway to construct 11 more. Claire Mason, humanitarian policy and advocacy adviser at Save the Children said for security reasons the charity was unable to get too close to Mosul and was readying mobile child protection teams to assist people scattered outside the city.

Betsy Baldwin, Iraq response director from the charity Tearfund, said several hundred people arrived the previous night in one of the camps where the charity was helping. Bldwin said her organization had been on standby since summer, preparing tents, stoves and winter clothes which it was planning to distribute this week. “We are just hoping that we can safely access people in need, that the civilians can move safely out of the conflict zones,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Iraq. International Rescue Committee said in a statement on Wednesday it had heard of people inside Mosul buying cloth to use as white flags when the army arrives.

Russia Declares 10-Hour Aleppo 'Humanitarian Pause' on Friday

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/President Vladimir Putin has ordered a 10-hour truce on Friday in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, the Russian defense ministry said. "A decision was made to introduce a 'humanitarian pause' in Aleppo on November 4 from 9:00 am (0600 GMT) to 19:00," the chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov said in a statement on Wednesday. Gerasimov said the decision was approved by Syrian authorities and was meant to "prevent senseless casualties" by allowing civilians and armed combatants to quit rebel-held eastern Aleppo. He said eight corridors -- six for civilians and two for fighters -- could be used for this. Rebels launched a major assault Friday to break the siege of Aleppo but have been met this week by fierce resistance from regime forces.

Aleppo has been hit by some of the worst violence in Syria's five-year conflict, turning the once bustling economic hub into a divided and bombed-out city. Defense ministry Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that Russia had ceased air strikes on eastern Aleppo for 16 days, following criticism over a Russian-backed Syrian government assault that has killed hundreds of civilians and destroyed infrastructure, including hospitals. The halt in bombing was initially declared ahead of a short ceasefire that ended last month. Moscow at the time ruled out a truce extension. Shoigu accused the US-led coalition of failing to rein in hardline rebels and said that the chances of a political settlement to the crisis was now remote. The West has accused Moscow of committing possible war crimes in Aleppo through indiscriminate bombing to support a brutal Syrian government offensive. Moscow has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria in support of long-time ally Bashar Assad since September 2015. More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria's war devolved from a widespread protest movement against Assad's rule in March 2011 to a multi-front war between rebels, jihadists, Kurds and regime forces.

Lavrov: Russia Seeks 'Honest' Cooperation in Syria

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Russia seeks "honest cooperation" for a political solution in Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday as Moscow declared a brief truce in the war-ravaged city of Aleppo. "We hope our partners will draw (the) necessary conclusions (so that) we will all aim for honest cooperation... for a political process involving both the government and opposition forces," Lavrov said at the start of an official visit to Greece. However, he insisted that Washington help enforce a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning support for extremist groups in Syria. "When we adopted this resolution, I remember US Secretary of State John Kerry's words. He said: 'Whoever wants to be part of (the political) process must sever links to terrorists'," Lavrov said through a translator. "Almost a year has passed and we await these words to be carried out," he added. Russia has accused the US-led coalition of failing to rein in hardline Syrian rebels, warning that the chances of a political settlement to the crisis was now remote. In turn, the West has accused Moscow of committing possible war crimes in Aleppo through indiscriminate bombing to support a brutal Syrian government offensive. Moscow has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria in support of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad since September 2015. More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria's war devolved from a widespread protest movement against Assad's rule in March 2011 to a multi-front war between rebels, jihadists, Kurds and regime forces.

Life in Syria's Douma Revolves around Rhythm of Bombs

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Where you sleep. Whether your children go to school. When you can shop. The rhythm of bombardment dictates life in the besieged Syrian town of Douma, much of it spent underground. The rebel-held town, the largest in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus with more than 100,000 residents, is surrounded and heavily shelled daily by advancing Syrian regime forces. Residents say artillery fire and air strikes by Syrian warplanes determine when they can spend time above ground. Some essential elements of daily life in Douma have completely shifted to below the surface -- with basements turned into schools and playgrounds, and even subterranean bakeries and makeshift clinics. On days when skies are clear, Douma's residents live as normal a life as they can: gaggles of children walk to school across bombed-out streets and vegetable sellers peddle their goods in the open-air markets. But once shelling begins, families are forced to take refuge in bomb shelters, hiding out there overnight and into the early morning if the bombing does not stop. - 'No other place to hide' -Abu Omar's makeshift one-room shelter is about four metres (yards) deep, its dirt walls lit by a single fluorescent bulb and lined with rugs and household items. On mornings when the booms of air strikes can be heard, his nephews and nieces clamber down the rickety wooden ladder into the shelter instead of going to school. They spend up to four hours there daily, doing schoolwork in lined notepads or making up games to play together. "We dug for about 15 days to make this shelter because there's no other place for us to hide from the shelling," a gaunt Abu Omar told AFP. Thick floral carpets line the floor, where Abu Omar sets out a precious set of gold-rimmed cups for Arabic coffee. "We go to school, but these last few days we haven't been able to because of the shelling," said Abu Omar's nephew Mohammad, who is in second grade. - 'Tightening the noose' -Morning bombardment prevents farmers with land on Douma's outskirts from harvesting their fields, so vegetable sellers in turn have no produce to display in their stalls and families have nothing to cook. On such days, Douma's streets lie deserted -- except for the ambulances frantically transporting rescue workers and paramedics to the scene of an air strike. The air attacks are part of a six-month offensive by government forces that has chipped away at rebel-held villages and farmland across Eastern Ghouta, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Backed by allied militia, Syria's army has advanced to within two kilometres (less than two miles) north of Douma, "tightening the noose" around the town, the monitoring group has said. Douma has been under government siege since 2013 and is a bastion of the powerful Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel group. In June, aid agencies reached Douma for the first time in three years, bringing in desperately needed food and medical aid.

Aid Workers Brace for 'Worst' as Mosul Battle Intensifies

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Aid workers are bracing for a long-feared exodus of civilians from jihadist-held Mosul after Iraqi forces said they had entered the city, a relief group said on Wednesday. Thousands of people have already been displaced by fighting around Mosul since Iraq launched a massive operation on October 17 to retake the city from the Islamic State group. But the number could increase sharply in the coming days as fighting intensifies following the army's announcement that elite troops had penetrated the built-up area on Tuesday.

"We are now bracing ourselves for the worst. The lives of 1.2 million civilians are in grave danger, and the future of all of Iraq is now in the balance," the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq director, Wolfgang Gressmann, said in a statement. "People in and around Mosul have lived for almost two and a half years in a relentless, terrifying nightmare. We are now all responsible to put an end to it," Gressmann said. Conditions have already been dire for civilians since the drive on Mosul began. "In the last weeks since the final Mosul operation started, we've seen thousands forced to flee their homes, families separated, many civilians injured and others killed by snipers or by explosive devices," Gressmann said. More than 20,000 people have been displaced since the offensive began, the International Organisation for Migration said on Wednesday. The United Nations says it has received reports of IS seizing tens of thousands of civilians for possible use as human shields in areas it holds. There have also been reports of IS executing nearly 300 people in the Mosul area since October 25, the UN says.

Iraq PM Warns Turkey as Ankara Deploys Troops

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday warned Turkey against provoking a confrontation while saying he does not want war, after Ankara deployed tanks and artillery near the border. Turkey has insisted that it will play a role in the battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group, but Baghdad has rejected this assertion and repeatedly called on Ankara to withdraw troops it has deployed near the jihadist-held city. "The invasion of Iraq will lead to Turkey being dismantled," Abadi said at a televised news conference. "We do not want war with Turkey, and we do not want a confrontation with Turkey," he said. "But if a confrontation happens, we are ready for it. We will consider (Turkey) an enemy and we will deal with it as an enemy," Abadi said. Turkish military sources said Tuesday that it had deployed tanks and artillery to southeastern districts near the Iraqi border. The 30-vehicle convoy left Ankara for Silopi, the sources told AFP, adding that it was now close to Adana province in southern Turkey. Turkey's Defense Minister Fikri Isik said the deployment was part of Ankara's preparation for "important developments in the region", referring to Kurdish rebels inside the country and events in Iraq. "Turkey is preparing in advance for whatever happens (and) this is one element of that," he said, quoted by the official news agency Anadolu. It is the latest escalation in a protracted dispute between Baghdad and Ankara that has seen repeated calls from Baghdad for Turkish troops to be withdrawn, and increasingly belligerent and dismissive remarks from top Turkish officials. A military confrontation between the two countries would be a disaster for Iraq, whose forces are tied down in the battle for Mosul that it launched on October 17.

Russian Authorities Seal Off Amnesty International Office

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Amnesty International said Wednesday that Russian authorities had sealed off its office in Moscow and changed the locks with no warning or explanation. "Staff found the office was sealed around 10 am (0700 GMT). The organization had not received any warning and the premises was sealed in their absence," the rights group wrote on its website. The global human rights campaign group said that the locks had been changed and the alarm system switched off in the premises, which is its only office in Russia. Amnesty International regularly criticizes Russian authorities for overly harsh treatment of prisoners and urges the release of those jailed in cases it views as politically motivated. Most recently on Tuesday it urged the authorities to "end the pattern of impunity for torture and other ill treatment" after Russian activist Ildar Dadin, jailed for solo anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow, said he had been beaten and threatened in jail. John Dalhuisen, the group's Europe director, said in a statement: "We do not know what prompted Moscow authorities to prevent our staff from accessing our offices -- an unwelcome surprise for which we received no prior warning." He added that "given the current climate for civil society work in Russia, there are clearly any number of plausible explanations". But he said he was hopeful that there was a "simple administrative explanation."

Amnesty's office was apparently sealed off by municipal authorities, who left a piece of paper with an official stamp across the door, but Amnesty said it had been unable to reach anyone on the telephone number provided. "We've been trying to call for two hours in a row with so far no success," the head of the Russian branch of Amnesty, Sergei Nikitin, told RIA Novosti news agency. Nikitin said the group had been renting the premises for 20 years and had paid for the current month. The note left by the authorities said that the office is the property of the Russian state, as is the case with many buildings in Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists he did not know anything about the closure of the office.

Iran Leader Slams 'Catastrophic' US Election

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Iran's supreme leader said Wednesday that the level of debate between the US presidential election frontrunners showed the "catastrophe" of American politics and warned against any further negotiations with Washington. "These two candidates (Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump) show the catastrophic reality which goes beyond what even we were saying," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech reported on his website. "Their statements are proof of the destruction of human values in the United States," Khamenei said.

"The trampling of human values and human rights, racial discrimination and racism are the reality in American society."Khamenei's speech came as Iran marked the 37th anniversary of the storming of the US embassy in Tehran by radical students, who took more than 50 staff hostage for 444 days sparking a rupture of diplomatic relations that lasts to this day. He said Iran's continued exclusion from the global banking system despite the lifting of international sanctions under a nuclear deal with world powers showed the United States could not be trusted. "Some people try to develop this dangerous idea that if we compromise with the United States, the problems of our country will be solved," he said. "The nuclear deal and the attitude of the United States are an example that shows this is not correct." Although international sanctions were lifted in January, Washington has maintained its own sanctions related to human rights and Iran's missile program -- effectively preventing Iran's return to the banking system. Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran, said he saw no point in holding talks with Washington on the multiple conflicts gripping the region. "Some say we should negotiate and compromise with the United States with regard to Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and even our internal affairs. "Negotiating with the United States will not solve the problems. First, because they lie, they don't respect their commitments, trick others. And secondly, because the United States is itself in crisis."

Fatah to Hold First Congress since 2009 This Month

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that his Fatah party, which is facing internal divisions, will hold its first congress since 2009 at the end of November. A unanimous decision was taken by Fatah's senior most body, the central committee, to convene the congress on November 29 in the West Bank city of Ramallah, he said in a statement. The central committee chaired by Abbas is the backbone of Fatah, tasked with developing and implementing the party's strategy. The congress is expected to elect a new 23-member central committee as well a 132-strong revolutionary council, which is considered Fatah's parliament. Analysts have said plans to hold the long overdue congress is a bid by Abbas to stave off rivals, including Mohammad Dahlan, Fatah's former strongman in the Gaza Strip. Dahlan was expelled from the party in 2011 and now lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates. The congress is seen as an opportunity for Abbas to reshuffle key positions and sideline allies of Dahlan. Besides splits within the party, Abbas' secular Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas have been at loggerheads since the latter seized Gaza in a near civil war in 2007. Reconciliation attempts between them have repeatedly failed. The congress will be held as the 81-year-old Abbas is under heavy political pressure at home and from abroad. Arab states have reportedly pressured Abbas to bring Dahlan back from exile while opinions polls at home have suggested most Palestinians would like him to step down. The congress will be the seventh since Fatah -- the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization -- was founded nearly 60 years ago.

Turkish Foreign Minister Says Iraq PM 'Weak'

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denounced Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as "weak" on Wednesday, further escalating tensions after Baghdad warned Ankara about provoking a confrontation through deploying tanks near Iraq. Abadi's remarks were made on Tuesday after Turkey sent a 30-vehicle convoy including artillery to the southeastern district of Silopi, with the Iraqi leader warning that any Turkish "invasion" would prompt a fierce response. The two countries traded barbs last month over Ankara's military presence in Iraq's north and its insistence on playing a role in the offensive to retake second city Mosul from Islamic State (IS) extremists. "If you have the strength, why did you surrender Mosul to terror organizations? "If you are so strong, why has the PKK occupied your lands for years?" Cavusoglu jeered, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party which is waging an insurgency inside Turkey and has bases in northern Iraq."You cannot even fight against a terror organization, you are weak," he said in televised comments.

Turkey at risk Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus on Wednesday suggested Ankara had sent in the convoy as a precautionary measure because of the "fires raging (there)... and this neighboring fire can spread to us". President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was ready to take on more responsibility in the region even as it was facing threats from the ongoing volatility along its borders. "Some people give us lessons, they say 'do not get so involved in Iraq'... well, what are we going to do?" he asked in a speech to the Organization for Islamic Co-operation in Istanbul.

"It is us that has a 350-kilometer (220-mile) border with Iraq."The future was far from clear in Mosul, Kirkuk, Tal Afar and Sinjar, he said. "What happens next is unknown," he added, saying Turkey was preparing to deal with any situation. During the Mosul offensive, Kirkuk has been subject to diversionary attacks from IS while Tal Afar is a town near Mosul where Shiite militias advanced at the weekend. Erdogan previously warned the militias not to attack Turkmen residents in Tal Afar. Turkey also fears the district of Sinjar could become another base for the PKK which Erdogan has said he will not allow. Defence Minister Fikri Isik also said Turkey was ready for any developments in the region, and was continuing important work to prepare for this.

'Playing tough'

Ankara claims its artillery hit IS positions in Iraq during the Mosul operation but Baghdad denies any Turkish involvement and has called for Turkish troops training fighters near Mosul to be withdrawn. Iraqi forces fought their way into the northern city that has been held by IS since June 2014 in the third week of the operation. As the Turkish convoy moved in, Abadi said Iraq was "ready" for a confrontation with Ankara even though he insisted he did not want to go to war with Turkey. In response, Cavusoglu said it was "not right to make flippant remarks", accusing Iraq of trying to "play tough" with empty rhetoric. Cavusoglu's remarks were in stark contrast to those made during a visit to Doha on Tuesday in which he admitted Turkish troops' presence in northern Iraq had created "unnecessary tension."Erdogan says Turkey has nearly 700 soldiers at the camp training fighters who will assist Kurdish peshmerga forces retake Mosul. Relations between the two neighbors soured on October 1 after the Turkish parliament renewed a mandate for its troops to spend another year in Iraq and Syria.

2 U.S. Cops Killed in Iowa 'Ambush', Suspect Held

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Police quickly apprehended a 46-year-old white male in the shooting death of two police officers who were "ambushed" in separate attacks in the U.S. state of Iowa early Wednesday, authorities said. Scott Michael Greene from Urbandale -- a suburb of state capital Des Moines -- was captured less than two hours after police released his name and said they were searching for him. They had cautioned that Greene should be considered armed and dangerous. "We think he's got some information that's pretty critical to us closing this case out. We can't go into great detail right now. But, he's definitely somebody that we want to talk to," Des Moines Police Sergeant Paul Parizek said in an early morning news conference. Police said two officers were "ambushed" in the early morning hours Wednesday, with footage of one of their police cars showing bullet holes on the front passenger side door. "It doesn't look like there was any interaction between these officers, and whoever the coward is... shot them as they sat in their cars," Parizek said. Authorities said a member of the Urbandale police force was found dead just after 1:00 am (0600 GMT). Twenty minutes later, a second Des Moines police officer was discovered gunned down at an intersection around two miles away. U.S. media said the officer died after being taken to the hospital. Parizek told reporters police would be doubling up to patrol in pairs in the wake of the shootings. "There is a clear and present danger to police officers right now and we've doubled up our police officers" so that no one is working alone, he said. A series of tips and leads drew investigators to Greene, the officers said, although they declined to comment on a motive for the killings. "I think you know that oftentimes in these investigations we don't figure out what the motive is until we get done and then there's times we can't make sense of what their motive is, or they don't even share that with us," Parizek said. The incident marks the first time a Des Moines officer has been shot in the line of duty since two police were gunned down in 1977, The Des Moines Register said. The United States was on edge for weeks in July following the shooting in Dallas of five officers and a similar assault in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where three officers were shot dead by a former military veteran.Those killings were carried out in apparent retribution for a string of high-profile police shootings of black citizens which inflamed racial tensions in the United States.

Qatar Population Tops 2.6 Million

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Qatar's population has passed the 2.6 million mark as the emirate draws in thousands of workers to build the infrastructure for the 2022 football World Cup, official figures showed Wednesday. The tiny Gulf state has seen a more than four-fold increase in its population since 2000 as oil and gas revenues have fueled a rapid economic transformation. A total of 2,611,522 people were resident in the emirate in October, the figures released by the ministry of development planning and statistics showed.

The population passed the 2.5 million mark in February. The figures also revealed a huge gender imbalance, thought to be one of the highest in the world. Qatar counts almost two million male residents -- many of them migrant workers -- and just 637,866 women. The figures did not give a breakdown for the proportion of expatriate residents but estimates suggest they make up as much as 90 percent of the population. The population increase may not be sustained. A sharp fall in world energy prices since 2014 has created a major hole in public finances with deficits projected for the next three years. The government says all World Cup infrastructure will be completed but other projects have been put on hold, resulting in job losses for foreign workers.

Saudi in Rare Flogging of Prince

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Saudi Arabia has flogged a prince convicted in a criminal case, a newspaper reported Wednesday, two weeks after another was executed for murder in rare punishment of the country's royalty. The unnamed prince was lashed along with other convicts in a prison in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Monday, the Okaz daily reported. It said the prince had been sentenced to flogging and jail without specifying the charges. It was unclear how many lashes he received. Last month, Saudi authorities executed Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir in a highly unusual case involving one of the thousands of members of the royal family. He was condemned to death for shooting dead Adel al-Mahemid, a Saudi, during a brawl. Most people put to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific executioners and has a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death. Rights groups have also raised concerns about flogging sentences including those handed to Saudi rights activist Raif Badawi, convicted of insulting Islam, and Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayad, convicted of apostasy. Arrested in 2012, Badawi is serving a 10-year jail sentence and has received 50 lashes of a 1,000-lash sentence that caused international outrage.

A Saudi court in February commuted a death sentence against Fayad to eight years in jail, but maintained a punishment of 800 lashes in sessions of 50.

You Love Me? Vote for Her! Obama Hits Frontline for Clinton

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/How do you gift your popularity to someone else? As Barack Obama rolls up his sleeves to ensure Hillary Clinton succeeds him in the White House, his argument increasingly boils down to a simple message: Do it for me. With approval ratings almost unheard of for an outgoing leader -- 54 percent, according to the latest Gallup average -- the Democratic president is hitting the trail full-time to help Clinton lock in crucial battleground states in the final stretch of the race. Obama's time this week is devoted almost exclusively to drumming up the vote for his former secretary of state in a marathon that started Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio, heading Wednesday to Raleigh, North Carolina, on to Miami and Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday and finally back to North Carolina's Charlotte on Friday. His stump speech is well-rehearsed. It starts with an avalanche of compliments for Hillary, summed up thus: "There has never been a man or a woman -- not me, not Bill, nobody -- more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America." And it includes an arsenal of pointed attacks on her rival Donald Trump, in a nutshell: "The Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president."But Obama -- who is well aware that Clinton struggles to whip up passion in the electorate -- also regularly takes the conversation into more personal territory, linking her political future to his own legacy. "I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me," he urged supporters in his address to the Democratic National Convention in July. A few weeks later, America's first black president went further by urging African Americans to mobilize for Clinton -- telling them he would "consider it a personal insult" if they fail to rally this time around.

Turn out the black vote

Black voters traditionally lean heavily Democratic in the United States -- and more than 90 percent voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012. The crucial question facing the 69-year-old Clinton is whether she can draw anywhere near the historic turnout levels among black voters seen for Obama. And so the president is flooding the airwaves in the homestretch of the race, hammering home the point Wednesday morning on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, a radio program whose audience is largely African American. Obama cited the data coming in from early voting states, and issued a wake-up call: "I'm going to be honest with you," he said. "The Latino vote is up. Overall vote is up. But the African-American vote right now is not as solid as it needs to be."It is not unknown for a serving president to dive into the campaign for his succession, but the intensity of Obama's involvement has no equivalent in recent American history. "(Dwight) Eisenhower stressed continuity with (Richard) Nixon in 1960 and so did (Ronald) Reagan with (George H.W) Bush in 1988, but no other president has been quite so personal in his appeal before," said Larry Sabato, a political analyst from the University of Virginia. On Tuesday night, as he addressed a packed, youthful crowd at Capital University in Columbus, Obama urged the electorate that carried him to power to "work as hard for her as you worked for me." "She made me a better president and she didn't ask for credit," said the president, campaigning in shirt sleeves and plainly savoring the heady campaign atmosphere that will soon be behind him. "I am asking you just what I asked you eight years ago. I am asking to believe in your ability to bring about change," he said, urging the crowd, in an echo of his history-making 2008 campaign, to "Choose hope!"

Clinton, Trump Begin Final Pitch for American Votes

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 02/16/Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump sprinted from swing state to swing state in a fight for the last few unclaimed votes Wednesday, six days out from an election that has set the world on edge. Clinton is ahead in most polls, but a last-minute surge by the 70-year-old Trump has delighted U.S. foes, nauseated allies and winded global financial markets. In less than a week Americans will chose between a populist Republican who shattered political norms and a scandal-tormented Democrat vying to be America's first female president. The choice has left many U.S. voters cold and made the outcome difficult to predict. One ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll on Tuesday even gave Trump a narrow lead. The real estate mogul has been hit by scandal after scandal, accused of sexual assault, not paying taxes and having ties to Russia's Vladimir Putin and the mob. But renewed FBI scrutiny of Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state has excited Republicans and underlined public doubts about the Democrat's trustworthiness. "Investors are jittery," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer for the BMO Bank, "market volatility has spiked."Trump's pledge to scrap the North America Free Trade Agreement and build a wall on the southern border has made the Mexican peso a barometer for the market's unease. The unit has weakened against the dollar by almost four percent in the last week alone. Meanwhile stocks from New York to Tokyo swooned, wiping billions off investments and pensions. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- whose regime survives by painting America as a comic-book foe -- crowed that the "catastrophic reality" of the two candidates "goes beyond what even we were saying."In Britain, a giant effigy of Trump wielding the head of his rival Clinton was to be burned during traditional bonfire celebrations.

Narrowing path

The long and often unedifying 2016 White House race is now being fought in a few corners of a few states. Trump, Clinton and their most prized surrogates have virtually taken up residence in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina.The three states offer the best chance for both candidates to cross the winning threshold of 270 out of 538 electoral college votes. But the two White House hopefuls are also placing some final long-shot bets. Clinton will travel to Arizona, which Democrats haven't won since 1996 when her husband Bill claimed the presidency by a landslide. An Emerson poll on Wednesday had Clinton losing the state by four percentage points. But both of its Republican U.S. Senators have opposed Trump, offering the tantalizing prospect of a shock Clinton win. Meanwhile Trump has been campaigning in Wisconsin and Michigan, both traditionally Democrat states that polls show Clinton leading by six points or more. And the reality TV star will spend most of Wednesday in Florida, which is likely to make-or-break his presidential dreams. Pollster TargetSmart forecast that Clinton could win Florida -- and all but bar Trump any route to the White House -- by a massive eight point margin, 48 to 40 percent. The Florida poll, conducted with the College of William and Mary, used only a small sample of voters but targeted those who had already cast ballots under the state's early voting law. An average of earlier Florida polls by tracker RealClearPolitics gives Trump a narrow one point lead there, and TargetSmart's survey suggests many registered Republicans have switched camps.But the tumultuous race may have a few twists left.

Narrowing window

As they jet across the country, both candidates are also winding up to their final pitch to voters. Clinton has spent each day of the final stretch targeting specific groups of voters -- women, African-Americans, Latinos -- the same coalition that carried President Barack Obama to office. The popular outgoing president has told African-American fans that he would take it as a personal insult if they did not back Clinton. "The African-American vote right is not as solid as it needs to be," Obama told radio's Tom Joyner Morning Show, the first of a series of interviews he was giving Wednesday before heading to North Carolina to press the case. "I guarantee you he'll dig up Michelle's garden," Obama said, warning Trump may destroy the White House vegetable patch cultivated by his even-more popular wife. "You think I'm joking?"

Iran: 17 Youths Were Arrested in Tehran on Charges of Dancing in a Halloween Party

Wednesday, 02 November 2016/NCRI - On Wednesday, November 2, an Iranian news website called ‘Asre khabar’ reported: “Tehran's police on Sunday 30 October, after acquiring arrest warrants, stormed a house in Sadat Abad quarter in Tehran in which 8 girls and 9 boys wearing traditional Halloween costumes, were celebrating and dancing in a mixed gender party. Commenting on the recent spate of arrests, Shahin Gobadi of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said: “The clerical regime has never been so isolated at home and loathed by the Iranian people, in particular by the youth and women. As such, it is resorting to more and more repressive measures to confront this growing trend. This once again proves that the notion of moderation under Hassan Rouhani is a total myth. But it also indicates the vulnerable and shaky state of a regime that cannot even tolerate private festivities of the people, particularly the youth. It is becoming more evident that the mullahs are totally paranoid of any social gathering in fear of a popular uprising.”

Iran: Five Prisoners Executed in Orumiyeh and Salmas

NCRI/Wednesday, 02 November 2016/Call to save the lives of 7 prisoners on death row in Salmas Prison. Five prisoners were hanged in Orumiyeh and Salmas prisons. Three of them were executed at dawn on Wednesday, November 2, in Orumiyeh Prison. Two others, executed on November 1, were among nine prisoners who were taken to solitary confinement of Salmas Prison on October 29, 2016. The remaining seven prisoners are presently awaiting execution in the solitary cells of Salmas Prison. The families of these prisoners have staged a gathering outside Salmas Prison to have a last visit with their children and relatives. Prison authorities however have refused to grant them visits. The gathering turned into clashes with security forces. The mullahs' ruthless dictatorship has stepped up torture, executions and social clampdown in fear of mounting social protests and uprisings. The only way to confront the regime is solidarity and unity among all the people of Iran, particularly the youth and women, and their support for prisoners and their families. The Iranian Resistance calls for action to save the lives of seven prisoners on the verge of execution in Salmas Prison. The NCRI urges all human rights organizations and advocates on the international level to take urgent and effective measures to save these prisoners. The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/November 2, 2016

Iran: Widespread Protests Outside the Regime's Parliament Simultaneous With Rouhani's Presence

NCRI/Wednesday, 02 November 2016/On the morning of Tuesday November 1, simultaneous with Rouhani’s presence in the Parliament to defend his three new ministers, a large number of people from different cities staged a protest outside the parliament and protested the plundering of their meager assets by officials and state officials. Hundreds of teachers of the literacy movement, shareholders of "Shandiz Padideh", workers and employees of Telecom, business owners, etc. were among the demonstrators. The rally took place while security forces tried to prevent the formation of this protest by using all kinds of repressive methods. Since 7 a.m., in addition to plainclothes and the regime's intelligence agents, anti-riot police evacuated the area around the parliament and special unit motorized forces and a number of police cars were stationed in front of the main door and the northern and eastern sides of the mullahs' parliament. The demonstrators chanted: "Theft and corruption by the Ministry of Finance," "This much embezzlement has turned Iran into Karbala (a killing field)”, “Rouhani's cabinet was blind and did not see the theft", "O' Messiah, uproot this oppression", "shareholders of Padideh have only heard lies”, “Khorassan prosecutor set fire to our belongings", "Those who claim to have faith, have betrayed all the time", "The three branches of the government do nothing but red tape and whitewashing (their crimes)", "Today is a day of mourning, because the nation's life is insecure", "We will not leave until we get an answer." Protesters also held up a placard which read, "Building the country is the greatest crime in Iran, trusting the government is definitely a mistake."This was the third consecutive day that Telecom workers gathered outside the parliament from 10:30 a.m. A number of them brought along their families and young children despite the brutal cold. Members of the regime’s parliament tried to dissuade the protesters from continuing their rally by giving them promises. More than 700 owners of coffee shops from the provinces of Isfahan, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Lorestan, etc. participated in the rally in protest to the sealing of their businesses. They kept chanting in unison, "Heyhat Menna Zellah," indicating that they would not surrender to the oppression of the rulers and will continue to demand their rights at any cost . Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/November 1, 2016

The Inability of Iran Regime Against the Backdrop of Unemployment

Wednesday, 02 November 2016/NCRI - Following Rouhani's recent statements expressing inability to cope with the huge wave of unemployment as the biggest problem of the regime, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) stated that the unemployment crisis is a security threat. They have also established organizations in different provinces to deal with the issue of unemployment. Regarding this issue, the Political/Economic Analyst and member of NCRI, Yazdan Haj Hamzeh has been interviewed. The following is a part of his interview in which he stated: Having made a statement on 30th October 2016, the spokesman for the IRGC or public relations officer named Sharifnami announced that the Chief Commander of IRGC has sent a new official order to the commanders of the provincial capitals that IRGC will deal with the security threat of unemployment.

In this notice, the Chief Commander ordered to establish headquarters known as progress and prosperity. Nevertheless, it is not clear how and in what form they want to set them up. Sharifnami said that these headquarters are established to provide a sustainable security for people by using the local and governmental facilities and as well as the army's contribution to generating employment. Therefore, not only does IRGC meddle in the economic situation of Iran but it also takes measures for the unemployment and analyzes it as a security issue. The significant issue is to deal with the unemployment which requires an investment. The funding cannot be supplied from the internal resources and the insolvent banks. The banks have gone bust."Mr. Haj Hamzeh also discussed the consequences of IRGC's intervention on the problem of unemployment on the eve of regime's election and said: “as the IRGC entered the issue of unemployment, subsequently it has security aspect, hence the situation will be more complicated because any intervention made by IRGC with this nature in the past has always been destructive. When the Revolutionary Guards performs a crucial role in Iran's economy, there would not be any prospect for the Iran's regime to attract foreign investments and to take out loans from abroad. Therefore, we are on the eve of Iran's presidential election and the conflict among the society and Iran's government has increased and the partisan conflict will also rise over the increasing issue of unemployment. This is the perspective of our future."

Iran's Impunity Must End

NCRI /Wednesday, 02 November 2016/In an article in The Washington Times, Alex Carlile of Berriew - a Liberal Democrat member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords and co-chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, urged the UN to stop ignoring Iran’s terrorist activities. He said that just as parents do not reward a child’s bad behaviour, policymakers should do the same. Yet this does not happen with regards to the Iranian regime that has been carrying out human rights abuses for decades. Recently a British charity worker was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on made-up national security charges.Carlile mentioned that earlier this year an audio file was leaked proving that top-level regime members were complicit in the 1988 massacre which brought the deaths of 30,000 political prisoners.

Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the heir-apparent to then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, said in the recording that the death committee should not commit the executions. He said: “In my opinion, the greatest crime committed during the Islamic republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you.” Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri was subsequently placed under house arrest. During the 1988 massacre, the opposition movement People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, or MEK) was the main target, but people with a casual connection or family member in the PMOI were also executed. Carlile said: “Those executed were already serving — some had even finished serving — prison sentences, but the regime did not care. They were sentenced to death after a mockery of court trial, lasting a maximum of five minutes and generally consisting of just one question: ‘What is your political affiliation?’ When the families of the victims came looking for answers, they were merely handed a bag of their loved one’s possessions, denied information on the burial location, and warned against publicly mourning the victims.” The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has exposed the regime’s crimes over and over again. The NCRI’s president-elect, Maryam Rajavi, said about the audio tape: “The recording is irrefutable evidence that leaders of the mullahs’ regime are responsible for crimes against humanity and the unprecedented genocide.” The NCRI published a list of over 50 regime members who were involved in the 1988 massacre and still hold power today. Instead of being punished, they are being protected. The current justice minister, Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, was an Intelligence Ministry agent during the 1988 massacre. Only a few months ago he spoke about how proud he was to have played a role in the killing of political prisoners. Carlile said: “Lest you think that 1988 was the last time that the Iranian regime ruthlessly murdered its opponents, there have been near 1,000 executions in the last 12 months, according to the U.N. secretary-general and the special rapporteur on Iran.” He added that the Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor or terrorism and has the highest execution rate in the world. The Iranian regime carries out horrific punishments like limb amputation, flogging and blinding with acid. “These are medieval punishments that have no place in 2016.”He said: “The Iranian regime has evaded justice for far too long; it must be held accountable. The United Nations should launch an impartial investigation into the 1988 massacre, with a view to possible prosecutions in the International Criminal Court. This initiative could be included in the upcoming U.N. censure resolution on Iran’s human rights record during the current General Assembly session.”

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 02-03/16

The will of the Lebanese people - has the nation spoken?

Rima Maktabi/Al Arabiya/November 02/16

Numbers are among the many enigmas of Lebanon. Scrutinizing statistics and consensus is worse than scrutinizing corruption and criminality during the civil war, international relationships and dealing with foreign countries altogether.

It’s as if the Lebanese people are afraid of knowing, noting that they believe they are the cradle of all civilization and cultures.

How many Lebanese Christians are there? What about Sunni? How many Shiaa? How about Druze? What is the exact population of Lebanon? How many Lebanese are living abroad? What’s the mortality rate? Even the dead are not counted as they should be. We have grown accustomed to dead people voting in municipal and parliamentary elections because of the inaccuracy of electoral polls.

Forget about all that, here is an easier one, what’s the net worth of this leader or that? How much money did he invest in politics? Perhaps the biggest question is what’s the number of supporters of Samir Geagea, Michel Aoun, Nabih Berri, and Hassan Nasrallah, Walid Jumblatt or any other leader?

All these questions occurred to me as I watched General Michel Aoun take office after gaining the confidence and votes of the parliament after two years with no one holding the presidential office.

The new-old president entered the “people’s palace”, that is the presidential palace, having received the backing of the people of Lebanon – through the representation of the 128 deputies.

There 83 deputies that elected President Michel Aoun. But does that figure represent the majority of the population? Nobody knows.

The presidential election came at a time of great distress for the political leaders of the country. Some of them had grown old, others went bankrupt, either politically or financially.

Some lost their popularity because they simply didn’t do anything for Lebanon, and they didn’t deliver their promises in the last few years. Even if all the deputies of Future Movement/Tayyar Al-Mustaqbal voted for Aoun at the behest of their leader Saad Hariri, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all their constituents want Michel Aoun to be their president.

As a matter of fact, it is said that Hariri struggled to convince his own supporters. And even if Samir Geagea, along with his supporters were convinced that the victory of Aoun is a victory for the Lebanese forces too, the 26-year-old Christian conflict is bound to keep a large majority unsatisfied and not unconvinced.

And on the opposite side, the Shiite-Aoun love story has convinced the majority of the supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal movement that Michele Aoun is the only hope to get the country out of its predicament.

Thus, when the deputies from the Amal movement were reluctant to elect Aoun, they didn’t fully express the will of their constituents. Hence, it is difficult to frame the wants and demands of the Lebanese people or the Christian population.

Nevertheless, it is certain that the Lebanese people have many demands and aspirations that may start with electing a president and forming a viable government, but it doesn’t stop there.

The people want a president and a government that can provide the simplest of things like electricity, water, cleaning services to pick up the one-year-old garbage stacked on the streets, giving workers their full rights, creating job opportunities for Lebanon’s youth, developing the marginalized areas and helping the farmers prosper, providing security and peace for the citizens, reviving the tourism sector and developing the economy. The people want to see the implementation of modern and new laws, and then electing a parliament that reflects their demands, diversity, and opinion.

Many didn’t quite support the general in his presidential race, nevertheless, they were happy to witness a new era. The president made his dream come true. It’s up to him now to turn the dreams of the Lebanese people into a reality.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author of this article are their own and do not reflect Al Arabiya English’s point-of-view.

My message to Obama’s successor

Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/November 02/16

I am currently travelling around the US after spending a very enlightening few days in Washington DC where I was privileged to address delegates attending the 25th Annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference for the second year running.

This year, the event was titled “The Next US Presidency and US-Arab Relations, Probabilities, Possibilities, Potential Pitfalls”. Needless to say, the American capital is abuzz with speculation as to who will take the prize on 8 November.

I appreciate the opportunity to feel the pulse of the electorate up close and personal and also to exchange views with high profile individuals with close links to the Obama administration and its former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

Like almost everyone I spoke with, I believed that the contest was virtually over in light of the scandalous accusations surrounding her rival. However, subsequent to the FBI’s reopening of its investigation into Clinton’s private server, the race is turning out to be a nail biter. Nationwide polls now give Hilary a two percent lead but as Britons who voted whether to stay or quit the EU can attest, polls are often unreliable indicators. Moreover, the deciding factor has little to do with poll ratings. Indicating preferences to pollsters is one thing, which candidate’s supporters will be more inclined to vote with their feet quite another.

I have no intention of attempting to influence the will of the American people so close to the big day, and, in any case, I have made my personal preference clear in previous columns. I can only trust that our American friends choose wisely because not only are they voting for a president, they are also responsible for selecting the most influential person on the planet with the power to make war and peace.

Who the next incumbent of the Oval office will be and what he or she will do is not only of concern to Americans but has the potential of impacting us all in different ways.

I can only trust that our American friends choose wisely because not only are they voting for a president, they are also responsible for selecting the most influential person on the planet with the power to make war and peace

As you know, my part of the world is undergoing one of the most tumultuous eras in living history. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama failed to live up to his early promise to the extent senior member of the Nobel committee regret their decision to award him the coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

I do not wish to rehash his laundry list of bad judgments, which have contributed to making the region more dangerous than ever; they are well known. Yet it is incontestable that on his watch, parts of the Middle East have descended into chaos and bloodshed. Worse, he has abandoned America’s tried and true allies in favor of its number one enemy that is recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Path to the future

Mr Obama will soon be packing his bags. It is time to look to the future and in that regard I would urge his successor to make every effort to fix what successive administrations have either wilfully or unintentionally broken. To that end, here are a few of my own pointers, which are by no means a definitive indicator of the mammoth job at hand:

• Iraq is a basket case and has been ever since George W. Bush’s invasion and occupation of that stricken country, compounded by his dismantling of the Iraqi Army that bore ISIS and his support of corrupt, sectarian, pro-Iranian governments reportedly under the orders of Tehran. Handing this most important Arab country to Iran was America’s biggest crime, which should be rectified so that oppressed Sunnis and minorities can reclaim their Iraqi identity.

The Bush administration introduced the current political system falsely describing it as “democratic” and now America should bring the Iraqi people, all of them, the freedom they were promised in those heady days when they celebrated dipping their fingers in purple ink.

• Obama’s deal with Iran has resulted in a geopolitical game changer. Enriched, empowered and legitimized, Iran has emerged as a menacing entity threatening not only Israel but also America’s closest Arab allies including those within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The ayatollahs’ ambition is to place as many Arab countries under their boot as they can; Lebanon is one, Iraq is another, a third is Syria and if not for the resolve of Saudi Arabia, there’s a good chance that Yemen would have fallen under their sway. Their ultimate goal is to occupy Islam’s holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah.

I would implore the coming Leader of the Free World to a) cancel the nuclear deal that solely benefits Iran; b) emphasize that any sign of nuclear weapons activity would incur grave repercussions, and, c) re-establish anti-Iranian sanctions until such time as a new regime emerges, one that is sincere in its wish to rejoin the international community and shows respect to its neighbors in both words and deeds.

• It is my fervent hope that whoever takes the White House will understand that Lebanon has morphed into an Iranian satellite ruled by Iran’s armed proxy Hezbollah. Former US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is said to have confirmed that American funding of the Lebanese Army ends up in Hezbollah’s hands, so I would respectfully request that US military aid to Lebanon should be severed.

• The situation in Syria is the most heartbreaking of all. Mr Obama did not cause it but he has been ineffective in saving the Syrian people from regime bombs, shells and chemical attacks and he stood aside while President Vladimir Putin went into action to preserve the dictator Bashar al-Assad’s tenure. God willing the next president will have the courage to stand up to Russia, impose no-fly zones, create safe zones and then initiate a worldwide fund dedicated to Syria’s reconstruction.

Syrians never imagined that one day they would be refugees. They had homes, business and careers. They are doctors, engineers, artists and farmers. They are unwanted in Europe. They should not be offered citizenship, but rather a secure place to stay temporarily until they can return home and begin the rebuilding process. They are a proud people with a great love of country and I am certain this is what they want most of all.

• Last but not least on my wish list is for a US President to appreciate America’s oldest and most loyal friends, Saudi Arabia and Arabian Gulf states and to deal with them honestly and transparently.

I realize the above constitutes a tall order. But provided Mr or Madam President shows the right will and takes advice from genuine Middle East experts rather than amateurs or yes-men, putting the region on a better footing can be achieved over time. Re-establishing trust, eroded during the Obama years, is a crucial first step.

Will America and Russia clash over Raqqa?

Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/November 02/16

The ongoing battles for two major Levantine cities led by opposing international powers is ultimately going to play out in Raqqa. How these two urban battles unfold will not only test international and regional resolve to crush Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) but bring up the potential for a collision course between two opposing sides – United States and Russia.

To be sure, battles for Mosul and Aleppo feature the omnipresent multi-faceted confrontation between extremists, tribal, sectarian and ethnic leaders, and their backers on the one hand and the Iraqi and Syrian state, and their benefactors – against each other in urban operations. This ugly mess is supported by different countries who see the opportunity to reshape the Levant in their own respective, competing visions. An American-Russian confrontation is likely based on the current trajectory of events. Without a doubt, the US presidential elections result, on November 8, is going to set a new tone in the Levantine urban battles. With a new American administration, policy objectives are going to be reworked and upgraded.

Operation Inherent Resolve will be more assertive in a calculated manner. Regardless of the winner, the next American president will want to put their stamp quickly on the Levantine battlefield; there will be no choice to raise the operational tempo in the Mosul operation after President Obama leaves the presidency.

Moscow’s continued support for Syrian President Bashar Assad aided by Iran and its proxies namely Hezbollah is paying off. This constellation is driving the Kremlin’s current assault on Aleppo which is about to be more aggressive.

With the arrival of Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov; a nuclear-powered battle cruiser, Peter the Great; a destroyer; and anti-submarine ships off the coast of Syria, a volley of missiles is likely to augment the ongoing Russian campaign in Syria

The Aleppo battle is a kinetic nightmare. Last week extremists launched an offensive against government-held western Aleppo, more than a month into an operation by the Syrian army backed by Russia to retake the city’s rebel-held eastern neighborhoods. Syrian regime and Russian air strikes against hospitals, schools, market places, water facilities and bakeries are now commonplace. The humanitarian catastrophe puts America and Russia on a verbal collision course that is already highly visible.

With the arrival of Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov; a nuclear-powered battle cruiser, Peter the Great; a destroyer; and anti-submarine ships off the coast of Syria, a volley of missiles is likely to augment the ongoing Russian campaign in Syria. That potential reality increases the tension between Washington and Moscow.

The Euphrates Shield

Turkey’s Euphrates Shield is forcing Kurdish factions to turn on each other and testing alliances drawing very vocal complaints from Baghdad. Ankara feels emboldened enough to directly challenge the integrity of the Iraqi state as we know it. Speaking in the city of Bursa on October 23, President Recep Erdogan claimed that Mosul historically belongs to Turkey. Erdogan’s statements regarding the creating a new Ottoman Empire to include Northern Iraq is not going away.

“Turkey will take unilateral action if necessary which bodes ill for the future of Mosul and Iraq based on the Kurdish issue. There could be bloody confrontations,” according to a Jordanian security official. It is clear that Turkey knows it is playing a major role now between America and Russia and seeks to exploit the While House-Kremlin clash to forever kill a Kurdish national project.

Gulf Arab states, notably, Saudi Arabia, are flying out of Incirlik Airbase conducting sorties. Arab Coalition spokesman Major General Ahmed Al-Assiri stated that the Kingdom is ready to deploy its own forces in support of the coming Raqqa operations most likely via Turkey now that the two countries are aligned.

Russia knows that the US is facing pressure from Ankara over the July 2015 military coup attempt. Kremlin sees that Turkey’s moves can complicate America’s operations. This piece of the puzzle is still in play as Raqqa plans for all sides become clearer. Finally, the Shiite arc across the Levant appears to be nearing completion with Iran “capturing” Lebanon with Michel Aoun’s presidency. A GCC official lamented that “Saudi Arabia just lost Lebanon.” America also loses in Lebanon given that Washington is one of the main suppliers to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

These facts give a strategic and tactical victory to Tehran despite the US promises of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) tempering the Islamic Republic’s occupation of Arab lands. The “Iranian win” in Lebanon gives Russia another forward “step” in the Levant.

A US-Russian flashpoint

The two opposing approaches to Mosul and Aleppo are illustrative of opposing military doctrine and the use of kinetics. While the US-led forces are using airpower to augment small ground forces to assault Mosul, Russian forces are using a combination of massive air power and ground proxies to crush urban resistance. There will be a race to Raqqa for the claim of victory over ISIS.

The Russians see that Mosul will take the Americans and their allies time. Now Turkey wants the US to delay the Raqqa offensive until early next year so Turkey and Arab partners, and not Kurds, can spearhead the attack. Thus, Moscow is seeking to speed up Aleppo operation in order to take the lead on the road to Raqqa. Who claims victory over ISIS in Raqqa first will impact regional perceptions tremendously.

Overall, the next US administration is going to be challenged by Russia’s next moves in Syria against ISIS specifically in Raqqa. Although US Defense Secretary Ash Carter stated that the US-backed assault on Raqqa “starts in the next few weeks” there is likely to be delays because of many factors, especially the aftermath of the US presidential election, which is likely to impact the organizing, training, equipping of a Turk-Arab force on the ground supported by US-allied airpower. Russia and its allies may already be in the Raqqa theater.

America and Russia are heading to loggerheads on Raqqa, an unnecessary flash point that will help, rather than degrade and destroy, ISIS, and help the extremists to survive longer in the Levant.

UN Plan to Turn the World into an Islamic Colony?

Maria Polizoidou/Gatestone Institute/November 02/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/02/maria-polizoidougatestone-institute-n-plan-to-turn-the-world-into-an-islamic-colony/

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9242/un-islamic-colony

The UN is the mothership of injustice and radical global Islamization.

As the UN does not recognize the historical presence and continuity of the Jewish people in their land, the next people on the menu in UNESCO's food chain are most likely the Greeks and then the Italians. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan already said as much last week.

No one would be surprised if UNESCO, to institutionalize the Islamic presence in the international community, claims that Greeks have nothing to do with the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and that Italy has no historical ties to the Colosseum in Rome.

With the rate of admission of Muslims into Greece, by 2050 the Greeks will be a minority in their own country.

The Greek media chose not to inform the Greek people on the attitude of their politicians towards the Jewish nation because it would expose their preference for Islam over Israel, and the Greek people might not see this choice in a positive light.

How can Greece credibly ask for help from the global community on the issue of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, when the politicians themselves maintain a neutral attitude on the virtually identical issue of the Jerusalem's Temple Mount?

When the news arrived that UNESCO does not recognize the connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, it brought to mind that the UN is the mothership of injustice and radical global Islamization. Its members, which include the large bloc of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) -- 56 Islamic nations plus "Palestine" -- evidently believe that if they want to transform the Western world into an Islamic colony, first they must bring down the State of Israel. This resembles the suggestion in ancient Greece of the exiled Greek general, Demaratos, to the king of Persia, Xerxes: If you want Greece to fall, first you have to destroy the Spartans.

If Jerusalem falls into the hands of Islam, the rest of the world will presumably fall. UNESCO's decision is not only nonsensical from a historical perspective (Islam did not even exist at the time of ancient Jerusalem), basically it is also a strategic move against the cultural foundations of the West.

As the UN does not recognize the historical presence and continuity of the Jewish people in their land, the next people on the menu in UNESCO's food chain are most likely the Greeks and then the Italians. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan already said as much last week.

Greece hosts two million illegal immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. Research in Greece shows that with the aging of the native population and emigration of young people, due of Greece's economic crisis, by 2050 native Greeks will number only 8.3 million, which is 2.5 million fewer than today. With the rate of admission of Muslims into Greece, by 2050 the Greeks will be a minority in their own country.

No one would be surprised if, a few years from now, UNESCO, to institutionalize the Islamic presence in the international community, claims that Greeks have nothing to do with the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and that Italy has no historical ties to the Colosseum in Rome.

The recent UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem should particularly worry the political establishment not only in Greece but throughout Europe: such flamboyant injustice from the UN against the history of an ancient nation, such as the Jews', shows a blind partiality toward Islam, and could be committed against any of us.

Turkey's President already wants to turn the iconic Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul into a mosque, and has appointed a full-time imam who says daily Islamic prayers in this most sacred space of the Greek Orthodox. Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul is for Orthodox Christians what Mecca is for Muslims and the Western Wall is for Jews. It has been declared as a UNESCO world heritage monument, but the Turkish President nevertheless wants to turn it into a mosque.

Despite these threats to the entire Greek heritage, however, virtually all members of the Greek establishment submissively closed their eyes to the UN's rapacious injustice against the Jewish people, because this time it was not against them: they chose to abstain during the UNESCO vote. The Greek government, Alexis Tsipras and Panos Kammenos with the cooperation of the opposition of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, chose not to honor the strategic relationship that they otherwise claim our country has developed with the State of Israel. They insulted not only the Jewish people and the friendly feelings Greeks have for our neighbors in the Mediterranean, but the entire heritage of the West, which is seriously threatened.

The Greek media and 99% of news websites chose not to inform the Greek people about the attitude of their politicians towards the Jewish nation because it would expose their preference for Islam over Israel, and the Greek people might not see this choice in a positive light.

This dishonest attitude from the Greek political system against a friend and ally undermines Greece on the international stage, as it reveals Greece as an unreliable interlocutor. The Greek government jeopardizes Greece's security: no country will trust Greek politicians again. Our politicians are apparently preparing our country to be the next "snack" at the UN's and Turkey's breakfast, and they know it.

How can Greece credibly ask for help from the global community on the issue of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, when the politicians themselves maintain a neutral attitude on the virtually identical issue of the Jerusalem's Temple Mount?

How can Greece credibly ask for help from the global community on the issue of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (right), when its politicians maintain a neutral attitude on the virtually identical issue of the Jerusalem's Temple Mount (left)?

The Greek political system in its entirety does not honor the Greek nation's history, its values and its constancy toward its friends and allies. It is a system which has no political mandate from the Greek people. The political system's domestic and foreign actions do not have the approval of the Greeks.

In the polls that are not rigged, the entire establishment enjoys the approval of less than 50% of the electorate. Greeks have to choose between a government coalition that refers ideologically and politically the repressive wing of the U.S. Democratic Party, and the opposition, which refers ideologically and politically to German Chancellor Merkel and her party, the Christian Democrats Union (CDU).

Sadly, there are no alternative choices for the Greek electorate. It is a rigged system with corrupt politicians, a dishonest media and a manipulated judiciary.

The Greek political system is killing its own citizens. Greek politicians, by submitting to EU's economic "rescue" programs, have brought incredible poverty to the people; meanwhile, the country is being colonized and Islamized by illegal Muslim immigrants.

The "Persians" are here in the form of the OIC, the UN and a political system that seems weighted toward the politicians keeping their jobs instead of to the needs of their citizens. The Greek people and other Europeans people are looking for the political means to fight them back at the Thermopylae of the 21st century.

** Maria Polizoidou, a reporter, broadcast journalist, and consultant on international and foreign affairs, is based in Greece.

© 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.

Turkey: Erdogan's Galloping Despotism

Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/November 02/16

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9240/turkey-erdogan-despotism

Before Turks could digest so many undemocratic practices they had to face in one week, they woke up only to learn that scores of journalists at a newspaper critical of Erdogan had been detained. On October 31, police raided the homes of 11 people, including executives and journalists of Cumhuriyet newspaper, after prosecutors initiated a probe against them on "terrorism" charges.

"This is about ... abolishing all universal values... The most explicit indications of it are the growing pressure against the Turkish press and the policies to destroy it. This is the process of the destruction of free thought." — The Contemporary Journalists Association.

Both fascism and communism exercised a large influence on the Arab "Baathist" ideology -- "resurrection" in Arabic, and which started as a nationalist, Sunni Arab movement to combat Western colonial rule and to promote modernization. In Iraq, the despotic Baathist regime survived 35 years, largely under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. In Syria, it is still struggling under the tyranny of President Bashar al-Assad. These days a non-Arab, but Islamist version of the Baathist ideology is flourishing in an otherwise unlikely country: candidate for membership in the European Union (EU), Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasing authoritarianism is killing Turkey's already slim chances of finding itself a place in the world's more civilized clubs and turning the country more and more into a "Baathist" regime.

In 2004 Erdogan's government abolished the death penalty as part of his ambitions at the time to join the EU. Twelve years later, on Oct. 29, 2016, Erdogan addressed fans of his party, and said he would ratify a bill reinstating capital punishment once it passed in parliament despite objections it might spark in the West. He said: "Soon, our government will bring (the bill) to parliament ... It's what the people say that matters, not what the West thinks".

EU officials had warned in July that such a move would kill Turkey's accession process. If Turkey reintroduces the death penalty, said Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, it will not be joining the European Union. "Let me be very clear on one thing," she said, "... No country can become an EU member state if it introduces [the] death penalty."

On October 30, Europe once again warned Turkey. "Executing the death penalty is incompatible with membership of the Council of Europe," the 47-member organization, which includes Turkey, tweeted.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) wants to reintroduce the death penalty to Turkey. Federica Mogherini (left), the European Union foreign policy chief, says that will disqualify Turkey from joining the EU.

The potential re-introduction of the death penalty is not the only "Baathist" signal Erdogan's Turkey is making. A court in the predominantly Kurdish province of Diyarbakir arrested Gulten Kisanak and Firat Anli, the Kurdish co-mayors, following their detention, in the latest blow to political opposition in Turkey.

The co-mayors are being charged with "being a member of an armed terrorist group," while Anli is also charged with "trying to separate land under the state's sovereignty."

"Arrest is a legal term, but [in Turkey] there is no law," said Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of a pro-Kurdish opposition party. "This is abduction and kidnapping."

Erdogan could not care less. He is busy strengthening his one-man rule. A governmental state of emergency decree on October 29 gave Erdogan powers directly to appoint presidents to nearly 200 universities in the country. Before that decree, he had to choose from three candidates offered by a central board that oversees higher education, based on free elections at universities.

Before the Turks could digest so many undemocratic practices they had to face in one week, they woke up only to learn that scores of journalists at a newspaper critical of Erdogan had been detained. On October 31, police raided the homes of 11 people, including executives and journalists of Cumhuriyet newspaper, after prosecutors initiated a probe against them on "terrorism" charges. Cumhuriyet said detention warrants were issued for 15 journalists. The prosecutor's office said the operation was based on accusations that the suspects were "committing crimes on behalf of two terror organizations."

Large crowds gathered outside the Cumhuriyet office in Istanbul to protest the detention of journalists, while leading press organizations also slammed the raids. The Contemporary Journalists Association released a written statement, saying:

"This is about ... abolishing all universal values including the right to live and social rights. The most explicit indications of it are the growing pressure against the Turkish press and the policies to destroy it. This is the process of the destruction of free thought."

Precisely. "Universal liberties" and "Turkey" have already become a very unpleasant oxymoron. Erdogan's populism, based on religious conservatism and ethnic nationalism, are fast driving Turkey toward Arab Baathism instead of Western democratic culture.

**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.

Saudi Journalists, 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed The Mosul Campaign Is An Iranian Offensive Against Sunni Arabs

MEMRI/November 02/2016/Special Dispatch No.6660

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/02/memrisaudi-journalists-abd-al-rahman-al-rashed-the-mosul-campaign-is-an-iranian-offensive-against-sunni-arabs/

In recent days, a joint force comprising Iraqi government troops, Kurdish Peshmerga forces and elements of the international anti-terror coalition has been waging a massive campaign to push the Islamic State (ISIS) out of the Iraqi city of Mosul. Alongside praise for this offensive and for its stated goal of expelling ISIS from the city, there has also been concern among Iraqi and Saudi Sunnis regarding the implications of the offensive for the residents of Mosul, most of whom are Sunnis, and regarding the true intentions of some of the elements involved in the campaign. These concerns were expressed in many articles recently published in the Saudi press, which claimed inter alia that the Mosul offensive is merely a cover for an Iranian plan to expel Sunnis from the Mosul area and change its demographic makeup in order to strengthen Iran's influence there. The articles also claimed that Mosul is likely to suffer the same fate as other Sunni cities controlled by ISIS that were taken over by Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi, a union of popular Iraqi militias sponsored by the Iraqi and Iranian governments. These militias, which according to some reports are indeed involved in the Mosul offensive,[1] have been known to take revenge upon the Sunni residents of cities it liberated from ISIS. Some of the articles also compared Mosul to the Syrian city of Aleppo, the main stronghold of the Syrian opposition that is currently under heavy attack by the Syrian regime and its allies, Russia and Iran. The articles stated that both cases involve an attack on Sunni residents by anti-Sunni forces bent on expelling these Sunnis from their homes. Another claim was that the U.S. and the West were, knowingly or unknowingly, cooperating with this Iranian plan. As evidence of their position, the writers cited statements by former Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who said at an "Islamic Awakening" conference in Baghdad this week that the Mosul offensive, dubbed Operation "We Are Coming, Nineveh," also conveys "we are coming, Raqqa," "we are coming, Aleppo" and "we are coming, Yemen."[2]

The following are excerpts from the articles in the Saudi press:

'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed: The Campaigns In Mosul and Aleppo Are Further Battles In A Long-Standing Sunni-Shi'ite Conflict

'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, the former editor of the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat and former director-general of Al-Arabiya TV, wrote that the offensives in Mosul and Aleppo were both directed against a Sunni population, and that in both cases, victory by the attackers would only be temporary and would not resolve the larger crisis: "…Will the battles in Mosul and Aleppo end the war against ISIS in Iraq or the civil war in Syria? I don't believe so. In both countries, the problems stem from [the regime:] the character of the regime in Syria and the actions of the one in Iraq, [and from] the exclusion and marginalization of [the Sunnis]… In Iraq, Arab Sunnis comprise 20% of the population, and along with non-Arab Sunni groups they comprise 40% of Iraq's population. How can ten million citizens be eliminated or excluded? In Syria, Sunnis comprise 80% of the population, namely over 20 million people. Even if five or ten million of them flee [the country], the remaining [Sunnis] will still constitute an overwhelming majority.

"Iraq's parliamentary regime is inclined towards a sectarian [form of] government, and this will lead, following the liberation of Mosul, to a minimizing of Iraq, making it a smaller and less stable country. As for Syria, after Aleppo is purged of most of its residents – not just of the combatants in it – the fighting will move to another city, and the battles will continue, since there is no political solution. This is due to Iran's insistence on cleaving to the man who is responsible for all this bloodshed [Bashar Al-Assad], just as it has cleaved to Hizbullah, which indirectly governs Lebanon and has caused instability there for 20 years…

"Let the Syrians and Iraqis prepare to celebrate the 'liberation' of Mosul and Aleppo. We know the celebrations will be short-lived, and after they [end] the battles and the [dubious] alliances will continue, as will the persecution of the angry residents. The global terrorists [will continue] to benefit from this fertile ground [for their activity], and the tension in the region will persist.

"At present Mosul is surrounded by a large international force, with generals eager to appear on the television stations of their countries and politicians falling over each other to take credit for the almost-certain victory. The global media, which, like the politicians, know the outcome [of the battle] in advance, take no interest in what will happen afterwards. The battles in Mosul and Aleppo are two more campaigns in a long-standing conflict that cannot be resolved without a just political plan."[3]

Al-Yawm Daily: The West Must Stop Iran From Entering Mosul In Order To Change The Demographic Makeup Of The Area

An editorial in the Saudi daily Al-Yawm directed harsh criticism at the U.S. and the West which, it said, are wooing Iran and trying to appease it even though it is harming their interests and undermining regional security. The article called on the U.S. to end this "masochistic" relationship and overcome this enchantment with Iran, and to keep this country from entering Mosul in order to change the demographic makeup of the area. The editorial said: "It seems like the current rationale of the international community recognizes only those who attribute no importance to international agreements and treaties, those who sign [agreements] with one hand and erase their signature with the other. This is what the masochistic relationship between the U.S. and Iran implies. The U.S. took Iran to its bosom and called on the entire West to do the same, to lift the siege from it and welcome it back to the fold of the international [community] like a pampered child. Moreover, the U.S. remained silent over everything [Iran] has done to undermine regional security by the dirtiest sectarian means possible, and eliminated all the black files it kept [on Iran], as though seeking to purge it of its sins and embrace it as a trustworthy ally…

"Today we face the most complicated issue: Mosul. Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi, sponsored by Iran, has positioned itself at the spearhead of the forces seeking to expel ISIS [from the city]. But what [future] do they envision for Mosul after it is purged of the ISIS militias, especially considering the dark record of this sectarian Hashd [and what it has done] in some Iraqi towns in the Saladin province? Will the West continue to remain silent over Iran's foolish actions and its hectic efforts to change the demographic makeup of the region, aimed at ensuring the loyalty of further cantons so it can use them as an excuse for intervention? Or will it reread the history of the conflict between the Arabs and the Persians, realize what [Iran] is planning [to do] in the guise of the war on ISIS, and work to remove any doubt by preventing the Iranians, with their Safavid hatred, from entering Mosul and adding fuel to the sectarian fire that is [already] raging due to the policy of the regime of the Rule of the Jurisprudent and its sectarian forces?

"I think that the world – which welcomed Iran [even though Iran] fires rockets at its vessels[4] while [the world] embraces it to its bosom – should notice that it is embracing a cunning snake, which Saudi Arabia [learned to] avoid only after drinking of its deadly poison. Will those who see [Iran] only as [a source of] gas, oil, carpets and pistachios realize this?"[5]

'Abd Al-Aziz Al-Tuwaijiri: The Real Sunni–Shi'ite War For Control Of Mosul Will Begin After Its Liberation From ISIS

In an article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, Saudi academic 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Tuwaijiri wrote in a similar vein that the real goal of the Mosul offensive is not to defeat ISIS but to realize Iran's plan to change Iraq's demographics. He added that the U.S. is coordinating its actions in Mosul with Iran. He wrote: "Is this really a campaign to liberate Mosul, or is it a determined effort to subordinate this Sunni-majority city to Iran's sectarian plan, as happened in the past with other cities and areas taken over from ISIS? Is Mosul doomed to end up like Aleppo – an Arab Sunni city in ruins?

"Several elements are battling each other for the exclusive control of Mosul. One of them is the Iraqi army, which has a Shi'ite majority; another is Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi, which obeys Iran's directives and serves its interests, like Hizbullah in Lebanon. It has already been proven that, after Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi enters a city or village controlled by ISIS, it sows destruction, ruin and death. It has committed crimes against humanity against Sunni Iraqis, 'in revenge for the death of Hussein,'[6] as [its members] declared in hysterical tones. This happened in Fallujah, Tikrit, Ramadi and elsewhere, and it is certain to happen in Mosul and throughout the Nineveh governorate if ISIS hands it over to them…

"The U.S., which occupied Iraq in 2003, withdrew from this wretched Arab country in a disgraceful manner only after making sure that Iran would take its place there. Today, in the battle for Mosul, [the U.S.] coordinates with Iran, not with the government in Baghdad. It is immaterial whether this is done as part of bilateral [U.S.-Iran] relations or as part of the U.S.-led international anti-terror coalition, for ultimately it is the U.S. that has the interests and holds ties with Tehran and Baghdad. This means that Iraq's sovereignty has been usurped and the Iraqi government has no control [over what is happening].

"In light of this, we can understand why the Baghdad government is insisting, so surprisingly, on the withdrawal of the Turkish army form Iraq, especially after the establishment of Al-Hashd Al-Watani, headed by the former governor of Mosul, which comprises Sunni [troops] and is known today as the Nineveh Guards. Iran regards this Sunni [force], which was trained by the Turkish army, as a threat to its interests in Mosul and the Nineveh governorate, because if it takes part in the campaign to liberate the city, under Turkey's indirect command, it will protect the residents of Mosul, most of whom are Sunnis, from the aggression of the Shi'ite Al-Hashd [Al-Sha'bi] and thwart Iran's imperialistic ambitions…

"If Turkey has declared that it means to stay in the [Mosul] area in order to defend the Sunnis and secure its interests after the withdrawal of ISIS from the city, that is it's own business, because the battle that is waiting for everyone is the one that will begin immediately after this battle [for Mosul ends]. Who will rule the Nineveh governorate? Will Mosul and the surrounding villages return to [the control of] Iraq's national government, assuming that such a thing even exists? Will [Nineveh] become a direct continuation of Iranian [territory], thereby changing the map, so that the world faces a fait accompli? What will be the position of the U.S.? Will capitulating to the developments and continuing the coordination with Iran [really] serve its interests?..."[7]

Turki Al-Dakhil: There Is A Plan To Export Mosul Crisis To Gulf Countries

Turki Al-Dakhil, a senior Saudi journalist and former director-general of Al-Arabiya TV, called on the world to unite its ranks against ISIS, while also warning that the war on ISIS conceals hidden agendas, namely an intention to harm the Sunnis in the city as well as the Gulf states. He wrote: "…The entire world must unite to defeat ISIS. Perhaps this campaign will manage to exhaust this extremist organization, especially if [the fighting forces] manage to transcend [the attempts] to transform the war into a sectarian one or to change the demographics of the city, which in effect has already happened. But when we mention expelling Sunnis [from Mosul], it takes us back to the reason why [former Iraqi prime minister] Nouri Al-Maliki facilitated ISIS's entry into Mosul [in the first place]. These are not just emotional declarations [on my part]. Amnesty [International] has declared that the Sunnis in Mosul are facing [the danger of] cruel vengeance at the hands of sectarian militias… Nouri Al-Maliki said explicitly that the Shi'ite militias will fight not only in Mosul or Aleppo but will reach Yemen. There is an intention to export the Mosul crisis to the [entire] region, especially to countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, in order to derive as much benefit as possible from the Mosul [affair].

"The Mosul campaign is crucial in defeating ISIS. Mutually hostile countries are taking part in the fighting. The important point is for the city of Mosul to triumph, not some sectarian or ethnic group. At the same time, we must fight any [attempt] to change the demographic makeup of any city, no matter which sect or religion is dominant there. The campaign might be prolonged, but will it achieve all its objectives? Achieving them on the ground may be difficult, and may take longer than expected. Mosul will [eventually] be liberated, but it will no longer be the Mosul of which we have read and which we know."[8]

Endnotes:

[1] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), October 29, 2016.

[2] Facebook.com/nourialmalikiiq, October 22, 2016.

[3] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 24, 2016.

[4] In the past year there have been several tense encounters between U.S. and Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps vessels in the Persian Gulf. See e.g., edition.cnn.com, August 31, 2016.

[5] Al-Yawm (Saudi Arabia), October 21, 2016.

[6] Hussein, the son of the fourth Caliph 'Ali, was killed in the battle of Karbala in 680.

[7] Al-Hayat (London), October 24, 2016.

[8] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 25, 2016.