LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 10/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.october10.16.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
Very truly, I tell you, anyone who
hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come
under judgement
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 05/24-30/:"Very truly, I
tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal
life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from death to life.
‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the
Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in
himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the
Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who
are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out those who have done
good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the
resurrection of condemnation. ‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge;
and my judgement is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of
him who sent me."
Through faith in Jesus Christ
the promise might be given to those who believe
Letter to the Galatians 03/22-29/:"Brothers and sisters: Scripture confined all
things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise
might be given to those who believe. Before faith came, we were held in custody
under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed. Consequently, the law
was our disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now
that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian. For through faith
you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized
into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you
are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's
descendant, heirs according to the promise."
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on October 09-10/16
Thanks Giving Day:
Obligations, Prayers & Wishes/Elias Bejjani/October 09/15
Trump meets with Bill Clinton rape
accusers — right before squaring off with Hillary Clinton in debate/Julie Pace
And Lisa Lerer/AP/October 09/16
Hillary Clinton for President of the United States/The Editors of Foreign
Policy/October 09/16
Syria will be the first task for Antonio Guterres/Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/October
09/16
Should we change our anti-terror strategies/Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/October
09/16
JASTA could open a can of worms on 9/11/Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/October
09/16
Can anyone really end the Israeli blockade of Palestinian aid/Yara al-Wazir/Al
Arabiya/October 09/16
Putin's Puritan Piety: The Ideological War against the West/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/October 09/16
Hungary to Amend Constitution to Block EU Migrant Plan/Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute/October 09/16
Titles
For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on October
09-10/16
Thanks Giving Day: Obligations, Prayers & Wishes
Al-Rahi Rejects 'Preconditions' on President, Urges Blocs to Reveal Stances on
Nominations
Muslim Scholars Committee Rallies at Military Court to Protest Tarras Rearrest
ISIS Official al-Raqqawi Found Killed in Arsal
EU Urges Lebanon to Abolish Death Penalty, Lauds Moratorium
Wahhab Says 'Tawhid Brigades' to Start Operating Soon
Young Men in Sidon Altercation with ISF over Ashoura Security Measures
Army Sergeant Wounded in Tripoli Armed Attack
Hizbullah Unlikely to Mediate between Aoun and Berri
Qassem Stresses 'Firmness' of Hizbullah's Ties with AMAL, FPM
Hezbollah Ties with Lebanese Allies Ruled by Regional, International Interests
Aoun nearing Baabda: FPM lawmaker
MEA plane makes emergency landing in Sofia following passenger's heart attack
Bassil: Any deal insinuation against us is a sabotage attempt
Statement by Ambassador Lassen on the European and World Day against the Death
Penalty
Khalil: We bet on politicians' consciousness
Israeli patrols along the border between Kfar Kila and Oudeissy
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports
And News published on on
October 09-10/16
Several wounded in Jerusalem
shooting attack
Truck bomb attack on soldiers kills 18 in Turkey
Turkish military: 31 ISIS militants killed in northern Syria
Three bomb attacks in Iraqi capital kill 10 people, wound 37
UNICEF calls for end to ‘dire’ situation in Aleppo
UNICEF calls for end to ‘dire’ situation in Aleppo
Russia: US actions ‘threaten our national security’
Syria Regime Keeps Up Aleppo Assault after U.N. Fails on Truce
John McCain Pulls Support from Trump after Lewd Comments
Saudi: Egypt stance on Syria resolution ‘painful’
Iraq army with tribal volunteers liberate two villages from ISIS
Jund al-Aqsa pledges allegiance to ex-Qaeda branch in Syria
Arab Coalition Says to Probe Yemen Funeral Carnage
Woman’s hijab pulled down on London street in racial assault
Canada condemns attack in Yemen and urges rapid investigation
More than 100 migrants rescued off Spain in one day
Links From Jihad Watch Site for on
October 09-10/16
UK: Almost 400 ISIS jihadis now at large, only 14 returned
jihadis have been jailed
France: 15,000 Muslims, including 2,000 children, on watch list
UK: Former topless model, convert to Islam, arrested for ties to Islamic State
UK: University considering banning “God Save the Queen”: it’s “far right”
Jerusalem: Muslim opens fire on street, murdering two Israelis
India: Muslim tried to join the Islamic State because he wanted sex slaves
India: Muslim school investigated for “lessons on jihad”
Pakistan: Muslim leader says bill against honor killing is un-Islamic
Georgetown University Presents Index Islamophobicus
Video: Jamie Glazov on “America Trends” Discussing “Sharia to
Bloom Under President Clinton?”
Links From Christian Today Site for on
October 09-10/16
Trump Defiant As Senior Republicans Withdraw Support
The Time To Act Is Now': Faith Leaders Urge Theresa May To Welcome Child
Refugees
Australians Rally Ahead Of Same-Sex Marriage Referendum
Pete Greig Interview: 'You Can't Care More About Brangelina Than Aleppo And Be A
Christian'
3 Sins Rooted In Boredom That We Need To Be On Our Guard Against
Latest Lebanese Related News published on on October 09-10/16
Thanks Giving
Day: Obligations, Prayers & Wishes
Elias Bejjani/October 09/15
This Year, Our
beloved Canada celebrates on the 10th of October The Thanks Giving Day.
A blessed day by all means that is welcomed and cherished with joy,
gratefulness, Hope and faith.
All principles and values of humility and gratitude necessitates that each and
every one of us with faith, and hope thank Almighty God for all that we have no
matter what.
To appreciate what we have it is a must to look wisely around and observe the
millions and millions of people all over the world who are totally deprived from
almost every thing that is basic and needed for securing a descent life.
While celebrating the "Thanks Giving Day" Let us be grateful and thank Almighty
God genuinely and with full reverence.
On this special day we have to focus on praying and combine both faith and acts
together.
We need to train ourselves to witness for the truth and to be humble and
generous in giving what we can to all those who are in need.
We must recognise and understand with no shed of doubt that the only weapons
that a peaceful believer can use to fight hardships of all sorts are faith,
honesty, self trust, righteousness and praying.
Let us all Lebanese Canadians pray and ask Almighty God for what ever we are in
need for ourselves, for others and for our beloved both countries, Canada and
Lebanon.
Almighty God definitely will hear and respond in case we are genuine in our
prayers and praying with confidence, faith and trust, but His responses shall be
mostly beyond our understanding or grasping.
Let us Pray for on going peace and prosperity in the hospitable and great Canada
that gave us a home when we needed it.
Let us pray for peace in our beloved original country, Lebanon and for freedom
of its persecuted and impoverished people.
Let us pray that all Families will get together on this day to support each other and mend all differences among their members.
Let us pray that all
parents will be appreciated today by their family members, honoured and showed
all due respect.
Let us pray for the souls of Lebanon's martyrs that fell while defending
Lebanon's dignity and independence.
Let us pray that Jesus Christ shall grant, our mother country, Lebanon, the Land
Of the Holy Cedars with faithful clergymen and brave political leaders who fear
him and count for His Day Of Judgment.
Let us pray for peace and tranquility in our beloved Canada all over the world,
especially in the troubled and chaotic Middle East
Al-Rahi Rejects
'Preconditions' on President, Urges Blocs to Reveal Stances on Nominations
Naharnet/October 09/16/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday reiterated
his rejection of imposing any “preconditions” on any presidential candidate or
the president-elect, as he urged the parliamentary blocs to “clearly announce”
their stances on the nominations.
“Despite their importance, the topics that were raised at national dialogue or
in bilateral meetings cannot become an obligatory gateway for the election of a
president and cannot be imposed as preconditions on the candidates or the
president-elect, seeing as that would violate the text and the spirit of the
Constitution,” al-Rahi cautioned in the Sunday mass sermon.
“The process of raising and addressing these topics in parliament and cabinet
must be left to the president, and this president must be wise, shrewd and
knowledgeable, and as per the call of the bishops, he must be an 'arbitrator
president' not a partisan or puppet president,” the patriarch added. He also
stressed that “after two years and five months of destructive presidential void,
the political and parliamentary blocs have a duty to clearly and frankly declare
their stances on the candidates whose nominations have become public
Ties between al-Rahi and Speaker Nabih Berri had witnessed tensions in recent
days in the wake of the patriarch's announcement last Sunday that any candidate
who “has dignity” cannot accept the so-called package deal that has been
proposed by the parliament speaker.
But Berri on Wednesday lauded a statement issued by the Council of Maronite
Bishops and noted that it “does not contradict” with the national dialogue
agreements or the proposed package deal. Bkirki sources have also noted that “as
long as the speaker has announced his approval of the Maronite bishops' call,
this means that we are in agreement and that he is not imposing conditions on
the president.” Recent media reports have said that Berri is willing to accept
“half a package deal” involving agreements on the electoral law, the oil
exploration file and the finance and energy ministries. Ex-PM Saad Hariri's
recent return to Lebanon has triggered a flurry of rumors and media reports
about a possible presidential settlement and the possibility that the former
premier has finally decided to endorse FPM founder MP Michel Aoun for the
presidency in a bid to break the deadlock. Lebanon has been without a president
since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change
and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's
electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to
Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement
chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with
reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The
supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than
Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his
bigger influence in the Christian community.
Muslim Scholars Committee Rallies at Military Court to Protest Tarras Rearrest
Naharnet/October 09/16/The Muslim Scholar Committee, a grouping of Sunni Muslim
clerics, staged a sit-in Sunday outside the Military Court in Beirut in protest
at the rearrest of Sheikh Bassam Tarras. The road outside the tribunal building
was blocked by the protesters for around an hour and traffic was diverted to
alternative routes. Refusing the continued detention of Tarras, a spokesman for
the demonstrators said: “The way we are being treated is what creates and
maintains terrorism, and if Sheikh Tarras' charge is supporting the Syrian
people we are all with supporting this people.”
“We are advocates of the state project and we are with building a just state and
a state of institutions, not a state of militias and corruption, but we want a
just and fair state,” he added.
The cleric was re-arrested on Wednesday after a brief detention in connection
with the August 31 Ksara bombing. His new arrest is not linked to the bomb
attack, al-Joumhouria newspaper has quoted State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud as
saying. “He was summoned by the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch for
interrogation at the request of Assistant State Commissioner to the Military
Court Judge Hani Helmi al-Hajjar, who went to the branch's headquarters to
oversee the investigations,” the daily said. Hajjar “ordered the arrest of
Tarras pending further investigations in light of new information that was
unveiled by Hajjar's interrogation of Tarras last week and the judicial writs
that he issued as a result,” al-Joumhouria added. Tarras' involvement in the new
case has not been confirmed until the moment, Hammoud said. “He might be guilty
or innocent,” the prosecutor noted. On September 15, the General Directorate of
General Security said Tarras was briefly held in connection with the August 31
bombing over a meeting he held in Turkey with the attack's mastermind. The brief
arrest of Tarras, a former mufti of the Rashaya area, has created an uproar in
Lebanon's Sunni community, especially among the ranks of the influential Muslim
Scholars Committee and some Islamic activists. The Ksara bomb attack left an
elderly woman dead and at least ten people wounded. The explosive device that
was placed at a busy roundabout was targeted against AMAL Movement convoys that
were carrying supporters to a rally commemorating Imam Moussa al-Sadr in the
southern city of Tyre, AMAL leader and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said a day
after the attack. Other vehicles were hit by the blast shortly after AMAL buses
passed by the roundabout, reports have said.
ISIS Official al-Raqqawi Found Killed in Arsal
Naharnet/October 09/16/Abu Bakr al-Raqqawi, an official of the extremist Islamic
State group, was found killed on Sunday in the restive northeastern border town
of Arsal. Raqqawi was behind the assassination of Internal Security Forces first
warrant officer Zaher Ezzeddine in January, state-run National News Agency
reported. Militants from IS and Fateh al-Sham Front -- formerly al-Qaida's Syria
affiliate al-Nusra Front -- are entrenched in rugged areas along the
undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border and the army regularly shells their posts
while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on the
Syrian side of the border. The two groups briefly overran the town of Arsal in
August 2014 before being ousted by the army after days of deadly battles. The
retreating militants abducted more than 30 troops and policemen of whom four
have been executed and nine remain in the captivity of the IS group.
EU Urges Lebanon to Abolish Death Penalty, Lauds Moratorium
Naharnet/October 09/16/Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon,
Ambassador Christina Lassen, called on Lebanon on Sunday to abolish the death
penalty, on the occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty
that will be marked on Monday. "The European Union and Lebanon have a regular
and open dialogue on human rights. Abolition of the death penalty is one of the
issues that figure prominently in the agenda of our bilateral talks,” Lassen
said in a statement distributed by her press office. “Although the last
execution in Lebanon took place in 2004, death sentences are still being handed
down,” the ambassador lamented. She called on Lebanese authorities to adopt a
law “confirming the existing moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its
abolition, as well as to ratify the 2nd Optional Protocol on the International
Convent on Civil and Political Rights aiming at its abolition.” “We are glad to
see that many of our partners in Lebanon share our views. This includes many
civil society activists, but also policy makers, judges, religious leaders and
citizens from all across the Lebanese society,” Lassen said. “On this day, we
stand by them and share their hopes to make abolition a reality in Lebanon," she
added.
Wahhab Says 'Tawhid Brigades' to Start Operating Soon
Naharnet/October 09/16/Arab Tawhid Party chief Wiam Wahhab announced Sunday that
an apparently paramilitary group affiliated with his party will “soon” start
operating in “all Lebanese regions.”The group, dubbed Tawhid Brigades, will
“stand by the Lebanese army and Lebanese security forces in repelling any threat
that Lebanon might face,” Wahhab said. “It will not be confined to a certain
region or certain community and it will allow everyone to join it,” the
ex-minister added. Wahhab, who is close to Damascus and Hizbullah, did not say
whether the new group will be part of the controversial Hizbullah-linked
Resistance Brigades. Last month, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq blasted
the Resistance Brigades as “occupation brigades.” The decision to create the
Resistance Brigades was taken in 1997 by Hizbullah's leadership. The group
comprised Lebanese young men who wanted to fight the Israeli occupation of south
Lebanon without having to officially join Hizbullah. The group was not disbanded
after Israel's withdrawal from the South in the year 2000 and Hizbullah's rivals
have in recent years accused the Brigades of recruiting “thugs” and individuals
who have criminal records and of stirring tensions in several regions.
Young Men in Sidon Altercation with ISF over Ashoura Security Measures
Naharnet/October 09/16/An altercation erupted Sunday in the Sidon suburb of
Haret Saida between the Internal Security Forces and a number of young men over
the closure of a key road leading to a Shiite mosque during a Ashoura ceremony,
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported. Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) meanwhile
said that the young men belong to Hizbullah. Strict security measures have been
taken around Ashoura commemorations across the country. Fears have surged in
recent years over the possibility of Ashoura gatherings being targeted by
terrorist attacks in the wake of Hizbullah's military intervention in
neighboring Syria in support of the country's regime. The ten days of Ashoura
mark the death of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein, who is revered by
Shiites, in the Battle of Karbala over 1,300 years ago. Every year millions of
Shiites around the world mark Ashoura, which this year climaxes on October 12.
Army Sergeant Wounded in Tripoli Armed Attack
Naharnet/October 09/16/An army sergeant was seriously wounded on Sunday when he
came under gunfire in the northern city of Tripoli, state-run National News
Agency reported. “Army Sergeant Talal Taleb was injured when gunmen opened fire
at him from a white Renault Rapid car in Tripoli," NNA said. "He sustained
injuries to the flank and back and he is currently undergoing a surgery at the
Nini Hospital," the agency added. It had earlier said that he was transferred to
hospital in an "unstable condition." The agency did not elaborate on the motives
or on whether Taleb was on or off duty.
Hizbullah Unlikely to Mediate between Aoun and Berri
Naharnet/October 09/16/Betting on a Hizbullah mediation between its two allies
Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun does not
seem to be based on firm facts, a media report said on Sunday. “Successive
statements by Hizbullah MPs and officials indicated that the party is still
ruling out imminent solutions, amid continued silence by the party over ex-PM
Saad Hariri's initiative and avoidance to take any clear stance on it,” An Nahar
newspaper said. Hizbullah MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi had recently called on Aoun and
Berri to start bilateral dialogue between them, without mentioning any
mediation. MP Ali Fayyad for his part called on all parties to “return to
dialogue,” while noting that “there won't be political breakthroughs anytime
soon.”Relations between Aoun and Berri have always been tense and media reports
have said that the speaker will not endorse the FPM founder for the presidency
unless he is offered guarantees related to several important ministerial
portfolios. Hariri's recent return to Lebanon has triggered a flurry of rumors
and media reports about a possible presidential settlement and the possibility
that the former premier has finally decided to endorse Aoun for the presidency
in a bid to break the deadlock. Lebanon has been without a president since the
term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and
Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's
electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to
Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement
chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with
reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than
Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his
bigger influence in the Christian community.
Qassem Stresses 'Firmness' of Hizbullah's Ties with AMAL, FPM
Naharnet/October 09/16/Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has stressed
that his party's ties with its two allies the AMAL Movement and the Free
Patriotic Movement are “firm” and “strategic.”“Our alliance with the AMAL Movement is as firm and solid as the firmness and
strength of this land... and we will remain keen on the strength of this
alliance,” Qassem underlined during a Ashoura ceremony in the southern city of
Tyre. “We will not renounce this alliance no matter what that might cost us,
seeing as it is the honor and dignity that we will cling to,” he added. Turning
to Hizbullah's alliance with the FPM, Qassem described it as “a firm and
strategic national alliance.”“At some junctures, the parties that reject this
alliance try to stir some disputes and claim that we are confused, but everyone
must be confident that this alliance is firm and it will stay like this until
the end,” Hizbullah number two said. “We are the people of loyalty and we commit
to what we declare and express. This alliance contains a definite interest for
Lebanon, its sects and everyone, and both alliances with AMAL Movement and the
FPM are contributing to Lebanon's cohesion, sovereignty and advancement.”Some
parties have accused Hizbullah of refraining from using its influence to
persuade AMAL leader and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to endorse FPM founder
MP Michel Aoun's presidential nomination in a bid to prolong the presidential
vacuum. Relations between Aoun and Berri have always been tense and media
reports have said that the speaker will not endorse the FPM founder for the
presidency unless he is offered guarantees related to several important
ministerial portfolios.
Ex-PM Saad Hariri's recent return to Lebanon has triggered a flurry of rumors
and media reports about a possible presidential settlement and the possibility
that the former premier has finally decided to endorse Aoun for the presidency
in a bid to break the deadlock.
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in
May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies
have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the
needed quorum.
Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to
nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his
proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as
well as Hizbullah.
The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than
Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his
bigger influence in the Christian community.
Hezbollah Ties with Lebanese
Allies Ruled by Regional, International Interests
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 09/16/
Beirut-The so-called Hezbollah party has been lately busy with the
two-and-a-half year Lebanese presidential crisis and its repercussions that
created disputes between allied parties.
Despite being active in the fighting along the Syrian regime in Syria since
2012, Hezbollah was capable of managing the existing disputes among its allies
in Lebanon in a way that benefited the party’s strategic interests.
Despite the comments made by one of the party’s parliament members, MP Nawaf
Moussawi, who called on head of the Change and Reform bloc, MP Michel Aoun, and
Speaker Nabih Berri to “resume direct talks that could produce a certain mutual
understanding,” the latest developments in Beirut show that the party has an
interest in keeping the status quo. Therefore, the party is satisfied with
watching Berri obstructing the arrival of Aoun to the presidential seat.
According to political researcher Ali al-Amine, a Shi’ite who is opposed to
Hezbollah, Berri would have never taken such evolving positions in the issue of
Aoun’s candidacy, had he not been convinced that the election of a new president
is not one of Hezbollah’s priorities.
“The party is looking neither for an ally nor for an enemy in Lebanon, but
rather for a regional partner to help carry the burdens of the foreign
relations, the financial affairs and the relationship of Lebanon with its
regional surroundings,” al-Amine said.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah has more than an ally that provides the party with
specific interests. According to informed sources, the most prominent ally
remains Berri. The sources said the relation between the party and the Speaker
is strategic to protect the unity of the Shi’ite community in Lebanon.
In addition, Berri provides the “good-looking image for the diplomatic
engagement, particularly with the West.”The sources said Aoun ranks second on the list of the party’s allies.
Aoun offers Hezbollah the Christian cover that the party needs to embellish its
image in front of the international community.
However, the relationship among the party’s allies had recently deteriorated,
particularly between Aoun and Berri, and between Aoun and head of the Marada
Movement MP Suleiman Franjieh.
Hezbollah has done nothing to fix the disputes, but rather observed their
relationship further worsening.
Al-Amine said the party is tactically attached to the candidacy of Aoun instead
of Franjieh, because it is convinced that the Change and Reform bloc has a
greater Christian representation than Franjieh.
“The so-called Hezbollah is able to please all its allies with different tools
because it completely controls the country, and therefore, the party won’t be
forced to choose between an ally or another,” al-Amine said.
Aoun nearing Baabda: FPM lawmaker
The Daily Star/October 09/16/BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement MP Simon Abi Ramia
Sunday suggested party founder Michel Aoun was getting close to becoming
Lebanon's next president. “The Free Patriotic Movement is close to the Baabda
Palace (presidential palace), and it is time to sow [what we have reaped],” the
Jbeil district lawmaker said during a talk show on MTV Lebanon. Aoun is backed
by Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces for the country’s top post, and is
attempting to convince Future Movement leader Saad Hariri to get on board as
well. Hariri is seen as the last obstacle in Aoun's way of the presidency.
“Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s decisions are obstructing Aoun from
reaching the presidency, however Hariri’s talks are positive, despite him not
being explicit about his actual decision,” Abi Ramia added. Hariri, who
officially nominated Marada Movement chief Sleiman Frangieh for the presidency
in February, held a round of discussions late last month with different leaders
in a bid to end the more than two-year presidential void. A parliamentary
session to elect a president is scheduled for Oct. 31. Berri has pushed for an
all-inclusive deal to end the country’s crises, including the presidential
vacuum, finding a new electoral law for legislative elections and the makeup of
a new Cabinet. The relationship between Berri and Aoun has been unsteady for
years, and the speaker has not voiced support for Aoun’s presidential bid.“We
want an agreement on a number of issues prior [to electing a president] ...
however, [these agreements] must not be conditions to elect Aoun,” Abi Ramia
said.
MEA plane makes emergency landing in Sofia following passenger's heart attack
Mon 10 Oct 2016 /NNA - A Lebanese plane belonging to Middle East Airlines (MEA)
was forced to make an emergency landing in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, on
Sunday, after a passenger suffered a heart attack, thus summoning this
precautionary measure. In details, MEA Flight 213 took-off from Rafik Hariri
International Airport in Beirut at 7:30 a.m., bound for Geneva. However, after
approximately 2 hours from take-off, one of the passengers suffered a sudden
heart attack, prompting the pilot to make an emergency landing at Sofia Airport,
which caused a wave of panic among the remaining passengers before knowing the
reason for the landing. The plane was then back en route to its core destination
after the passenger was transferred by ambulance to a hospital in Sofia.
Bassil: Any deal insinuation
against us is a sabotage attempt
Sun 09 Oct 2016/NNA - Free Patriotic Movement Head, Foreign Affairs Minister
Gebran Bassil said, on Sunday, that "all insinuations against our Party
regarding undercover agreements and settlements are actually intended for
defacement and sabotage.""Our agreements were conducted for the sake of
restoring our role and position within the State," stressed Bassil. Speaking
during an environmental event organized by the Party's branch in the Casa of
Metn, Bassil indicated that "relentless efforts are being exerted to preserve
the role and status of all parties and sides within the State.""This is the
framework and scope of our work, which aims at fortifying and safeguarding the
Republic," he underscored, adding that "this is our Movement, always filled with
positivity, hopes and vision for a better future for all."
Statement by Ambassador
Lassen on the European and World Day against the Death Penalty
Sun 09 Oct 2016/NNA - On the occasion of the European and World Day against the
Death Penalty, on 10 October, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union
to Lebanon, Ambassador Christina Lassen, made the following statement: "The
European Union and Lebanon have a regular and open dialogue on human rights.
Abolition of the death penalty is one of the issues that figure prominently in
the agenda of our bilateral talks. Although the last execution in Lebanon took
place in 2004, death sentences are still being handed down. We continue to call
on authorities to adopt a law confirming the existing moratorium on the death
penalty with a view to its abolition, as well as to ratify the 2nd Optional
Protocol on the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights aiming at
its abolition. We are glad to see that many of our partners in Lebanon share our
views. This includes many civil society activists, but also policy makers,
judges, religious leaders and citizens from all across the Lebanese society. On
this day, we stand by them and share their hopes to make abolition a reality in
Lebanon."
Khalil: We bet on
politicians' consciousness
Sun 09 Oct 2016/NNA - "I bet on politicians' consciousness to find out a formula
that saves the country from the current political stagnation, and ensures the
election of a president," Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, said on Sunday
from Khiam. Minister Khalil added that the reactivation of State institutions'
was possible if politicians put their personal interests aside. The Minister
called on all political components to review their stances in a bid to attain a
political settlement.Khalil warned against the institutions paralysis which
affects negatively people's daily life and undermines their trust in the state
and the nation.
Israeli patrols along the
border between Kfar Kila and Oudeissy
Sun 09 Oct 2016/NNA -
Israeli forces patrolled on Sunday along the border between Kfar Kila and
Oudeissy, NNA correspondent reported.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on October 09-10/16
Several wounded in Jerusalem
shooting attack
Reuters, Jerusalem Sunday,
9 October 2016/A Palestinian who was due to begin a prison term in Israel next
week went on a shooting spree on Sunday, killing a pedestrian and a police
officer in Jerusalem before being shot dead by police, medical and law
enforcement officials said. The incident, near Israel’s national police
headquarters, began when shots were fired from a vehicle at people waiting at a
tram stop, a police spokeswoman said. The assailant, who the Palestinian
Islamist group Hamas said was a member of its organization, then drove off and
was shot dead in an exchange of fire with police, she said. Medical officials
said six people were wounded in the attack, and that two of them, a woman and a
police officer, died in hospital. Police identified the assailant as a
39-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem. A spokeswoman for the Israel
Prisons Service said the attacker had been ordered by a court to start a
four-month jail sentence next week after being convicted of assaulting a police
officer. In the past year, Palestinians, many acting alone and often with
rudimentary weapons, have killed at least 35 Israelis and two visiting Americans
in attacks. During that period, at least 220 Palestinians have died in violent
incidents in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Of those, 149 were identified by authorities as assailants while others were
killed during clashes and protests. Israel says anti-Israeli incitement by
Palestinian officials and on social media networks is stoking attacks.
Palestinian leaders say assailants are acting out of desperation over the
collapse in 2014 of peace talks and the expansion of Israeli settlements on
occupied land that Palestinians seek for an independent state.
Truck bomb attack on soldiers kills 18 in Turkey
Reuters, Diyarbakir, Turkey
Sunday, 9 October 2016/Ten Turkish soldiers and eight civilians were killed on
Sunday when suspected Kurdish militants detonated a five-ton truck bomb that
ripped through a checkpoint near a military outpost in the country’s southeast,
the prime minister said. Another 27 people, including 11 soldiers, were wounded
in the blast which hit the Durak gendarmerie station, 20 km (12 miles) from the
town of Semdinli, in one of the most deadly attacks in the region of recent
times. The mountainous Hakkari province, where the attack occurred, lies near
the border with Iraq and Iran and is one of the main flashpoint areas in a
conflict that has pitted Turkey’s army against the militant Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) for 32 years. The attack occurred around 9:45 am (0645 GMT) when a
small truck approached the vehicle checkpoint and ignored an order to stop,
prompting gendarmerie troops to open fire, the Hakkari governor’s office said. A
bomb in the vehicle was detonated, which Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told
reporters contained some five tons of explosives. President Tayyip Erdogan vowed
to put an end to PKK attacks as he condemned the bombing, accusing the group of
acting on behalf of “dark forces that had designs in Syria and Iraq.”
“Hand in hand with our people, our state with all its institutions is determined
to make the separatist terror organization incapable of carrying out attacks,”
his written statement said. The army has “neutralized” 387 PKK fighters in
Hakkari alone since Aug. 4, state-run Anadolu Agency cited military sources as
saying. The governor’s office said extensive air-backed operations were being
conducted by commando units in the area to capture PKK militants, who were
believed to have opened fire in the run-up to the attack to distract soldiers at
the checkpoint. Military helicopters flew the wounded to hospitals in the region
following the blast, the governor’s office said, as soldiers looked on and
locals wandered amid mangled wreckage and debris, video footage on CNN Turk
showed. Authorities were on high alert for possible attacks on Sunday, 18 years
to the day since PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan fled Syria before being captured by
Turkish special forces in February the following year. He has since been in
prison on an island near Istanbul. Erdogan often criticizes what he sees as
inadequate Western support in the fight against the PKK, and Energy Minister
Berat Albayrak called on Sunday on its allies to show solidarity. “This fire of
terror continues to burn our country, the whole region and world each day that
passes. We have to show more sincerity than ever in this process,” Albayrak said
in a speech at an energy conference in Istanbul. Smokes rise after Kurdish
militants detonated a car bomb outside a military station in Semdinli near the
border with Iraq, Turkey, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (Reuters)
Surge in violence
Violence has flared in the mainly Kurdish southeast and elsewhere in Turkey in
recent days. On Saturday, a man and a woman who authorities suspect were PKK
militants preparing a car bomb attack detonated explosives and killed themselves
near the capital Ankara in a stand-off with police. In the southeast, 12 people
were killed on Saturday, including eight PKK fighters. Four civilians were
killed by gunfire from an armored police vehicle in the town of Yuksekova near
the Iranian border. On Thursday, a bomb attack near a police station in Istanbul
wounded 10 people. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a PKK offshoot, claimed
responsibility for that blast. The PKK, which launched its separatist insurgency
in 1984, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and
the European Union. A two-year ceasefire between the group and Turkish
authorities collapsed in July last year and the violence subsequently rose to
levels not seen since the height of the conflict in the 1990s. The surge in
violence coincides with a Turkish military operation in northern Syria in
support of rebels and designed to drive away from the border ISIS militants and
a Syrian Kurdish militia closely linked to the PKK. President Erdogan chaired a
security summit with the head of the armed forces and ministers in Istanbul on
Saturday, but details of the meeting have not been disclosed.
Turkish military: 31 ISIS
militants killed in northern Syria
Reuters, Ankara Sunday, 9 October 2016/Thirty-one ISIS militants have been
killed in clashes and US-led coalition air strikes in northern Syria over the
last 24 hours, the Turkish military said on Sunday, marking an escalation in
violence in the area. It said in a statement that 14 of the extremists had been
killed as they attempted to enter the villages of Akhtarin and Turkmen Bareh,
which are under the control of Turkey-backed rebels. Another 17 ISIS militants
were killed in air strikes by coalition warplanes in the same areas, the
military said.
Three bomb attacks in Iraqi capital kill 10 people, wound 37
The Associated Press,
Baghdad Sunday, 9 October 2016/Iraqi officials say three bomb attacks have
killed 10 people and wounded at least 37 across the Iraqi capital. In a
statement, ISIS group claims responsibility for the largest attack, which killed
five people and wounded 22 in eastern Baghdad. It says a suicide bomber targeted
Shiite pilgrims marking the holy month of Muharram.
Other attacks
Iraqi officials say two other attacks in southern Baghdad killed five people and
wounded 15.
The Iraqi security and medical officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they
are not authorized to brief the press.The attacks come as Iraqi forces prepare
to retake the city of Mosul from ISIS, the militant group’s last urban
stronghold in Iraq. ISIS has been carrying out attacks far from the front lines
after suffering territorial losses.
UNICEF calls for end to ‘dire’
situation in Aleppo
The Associated Press,
Beirut Sunday, 9 October 2016/UNICEF’s representative in Syria called Saturday
for an end to the violence that has beset northern Aleppo, causing “dire”
humanitarian and psychological impacts on both sides of the divided city. UN
agencies are on “standby” to deliver needed assistance, Hanaa Singer of the UN’s
children agency told The Associated Press. With the key powers deeply divided,
the UN Security Council on Saturday once again failed to agree on the course of
action in war-ravaged Aleppo, and Syria in general. Russia vetoed a resolution
drafted by France demanding an immediate halt to the bombing of Aleppo. A
resolution put forward by Russia that called for a separation of moderate and
extremist forces in Syria but making no mention of a bombing halt in Aleppo
failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes required for passage. Also on
Saturday, Syrian state media and a Syria monitoring group said pro-government
troops advanced in a northern district of eastern Aleppo, wrestling control from
rebel fighters in their latest push into the besieged area. Singer said
conditions in besieged Aleppo are “terribly dire,” with hospitals hit, doctors
overwhelmed, and over 100 children killed in bombings since Sept. 19. Conditions
for thousands of displaced in the government-held part of the city are also
deteriorating, with some of them being displaced for up to six times in the last
three years, she said. Singer returned earlier this week from a week-long trip
to the government-held part of Aleppo where she was visiting thousands of
displaced Syrians. Most are crammed in makeshift shelters, mosques, parks and
churches after recently fleeing clashes on the front line between rebels and
pro-government forces. In one case, a mother so desperate from the continuous
displacement, stabbed her baby girl thinking she will save her the misery of
living on handouts and without a home, Singer said. Describing the dramatic
situation for thousands of families living in shelters in government-controlled
Aleppo, Singer said: “These (are) the horrors in western Aleppo. God knows what
is happening, (in the case of) mental health or the psychological situation on
the eastern (rebel-held) side.”
UNICEF calls for end to ‘dire’
situation in Aleppo
The Associated Press,
Beirut Sunday, 9 October 2016
UNICEF’s representative in Syria called Saturday for an end to the violence that
has beset northern Aleppo, causing “dire” humanitarian and psychological impacts
on both sides of the divided city. UN agencies are on “standby” to deliver
needed assistance, Hanaa Singer of the UN’s children agency told The Associated
Press.With the key powers deeply divided, the UN Security Council on Saturday
once again failed to agree on the course of action in war-ravaged Aleppo, and
Syria in general. Russia vetoed a resolution drafted by France demanding an
immediate halt to the bombing of Aleppo. A resolution put forward by Russia that
called for a separation of moderate and extremist forces in Syria but making no
mention of a bombing halt in Aleppo failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes
required for passage. Also on Saturday, Syrian state media and a Syria
monitoring group said pro-government troops advanced in a northern district of
eastern Aleppo, wrestling control from rebel fighters in their latest push into
the besieged area. Singer said conditions in besieged Aleppo are “terribly
dire,” with hospitals hit, doctors overwhelmed, and over 100 children killed in
bombings since Sept. 19. Conditions for thousands of displaced in the
government-held part of the city are also deteriorating, with some of them being
displaced for up to six times in the last three years, she said.
Singer returned earlier this week from a week-long trip to the government-held
part of Aleppo where she was visiting thousands of displaced Syrians. Most are
crammed in makeshift shelters, mosques, parks and churches after recently
fleeing clashes on the front line between rebels and pro-government forces. In
one case, a mother so desperate from the continuous displacement, stabbed her
baby girl thinking she will save her the misery of living on handouts and
without a home, Singer said. Describing the dramatic situation for thousands of
families living in shelters in government-controlled Aleppo, Singer said: “These
(are) the horrors in western Aleppo. God knows what is happening, (in the case
of) mental health or the psychological situation on the eastern (rebel-held)
side.” UNICEF representative in Syria Hanaa Singer, speaks during an interview
with The Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. The
representative of the U.N. Children agency is calling for an immediate end to
the violence that has beset the northern city of Aleppo, saying UN agencies are
on "standby" to deliver needed assistance. (AP)
Western Aleppo, controlled by the government, is separated from eastern
rebel-held Aleppo by a few meters, sometimes by a single plastic sheet or
pockmarked building. An estimated 275,000 people are living in the rebel-held
part of Aleppo, with no international aid reaching the area since the first week
of July. Besides the scarce assistance, it is also difficult to assess the needs
with the ever-evolving violent situation, and lack of access for international
aid groups, she said.“I think we all agree, and especially if you have been so
close in the area there and seeing the dire situation in the west, hearing about
the horrible situation in the east, all we need now is (for) the violence to
stop,” Singer said. “The violence has to stop and once the violence stops, the
UN, we absolutely stand ready. We are ready. We are actually on standby.”
Singer says UN plans are in place for government-held Aleppo to accommodate
residents that may evacuate the besieged part of the city if a cease-fire takes
effect. According to medical charity Doctors Without borders, hospitals in the
eastern side of Syria’s Aleppo have been attacked 23 times since July, damaging
all eight facilities that have not yet been shuttered or destroyed. Since the
US-Russian cease-fire broke down on Sept. 19, the situation in besieged Aleppo
has immensely deteriorated under a relentless bombardment campaign. Water
stations and civil defense centers have also been hit, while over 320 people
have been killed in eastern Aleppo in nearly three weeks of violence. “In
eastern Aleppo, the situation is terribly dire. Lots of schools and of hospitals
have been hit we understand that there are only 30 doctors there. We have
information that at least over 100 children have been killed. We hear that
because of the lack of services and lack of health facilities that some
children, that doctors can’t cope with all the cases, and some children in dire
situation are left to die,” Singer said. On Saturday, amid intensive air raids,
pro-government forces seized the al-Awijeh district in northeastern
rebel-controlled Aleppo, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights. The Observatory also reported clashes on the southern edge of the
rebel-held area. There was no immediate word on casualties.Syrian State TV
reported that government and allied troops took control of al-Awijeh, moving
toward the Jandoul roundabout and getting closer to crowded residential areas in
Aleppo’s rebel-controlled eastern districts.
Russia: US actions
‘threaten our national security’
Reuters, Moscow Sunday, 9
October 2016/Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that the
United States had been taking aggressive steps that threatened Russia’s national
security, the RIA news agency reported. “We have witnessed a fundamental change
of circumstances when it comes to the aggressive Russophobia that now lies at
the heart of US policy towards Russia,” it quoted Lavrov as saying. “It’s not
just a rhetorical Russophobia, but aggressive steps that really hurt our
national interests and pose a threat to our security.”
Syria Regime Keeps Up Aleppo Assault
after U.N. Fails on Truce
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/October 09/16/Syrian government forces Sunday kept
up their blistering assault on rebel-held eastern Aleppo after a divided U.N.
Security Council failed to agree on a truce to "save" the war-battered
city.Regime forces and their allies were advancing street by street in the
eastern sector which has been out of government hands since 2012. "Clashes on
the ground as well as fierce air strikes went on all night and are continuing
Sunday, especially in the Sheikh Said district" of eastern Aleppo, said Rami
Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said regime
forces took control of the Jandul crossroads in the northeast of the city. The
latest advances aim to clear the way for "a crucial and decisive land
offensive," said the Damascus daily al-Watan which is close to the government.
The army launched its assault on the besieged sector of Aleppo more than two
weeks ago with the backing of Russian air strikes, aiming to reunite the city
which was Syria's economic hub before its conflict erupted in 2011. According to
the Observatory, air strikes by the regime and its Russian ally have claimed 273
lives, mostly civilians and including 53 children, since the September 22 launch
of operations to reunite the government-held west and the east of Aleppo.Another
17 civilians have died in artillery bombardment of eastern districts, says the
Britain-based monitoring group. The Observatory, which compiles its information
from sources on the ground, said 50 civilians, including nine children, have
also died in rebel bombardment of regime-controlled western districts.On
Saturday at the United Nations, Russia vetoed a French-drafted resolution
demanding an end to the bombing of Aleppo, but its own rival measure on a truce
was rejected.
'More dangerous' than Cold War
The failure of the two resolutions deepened divisions at the U.N. Security
Council between Moscow and the Western powers backing rebel forces in Syria's
five-year war which has killed 300,000 people. France's draft called for an end
to all military flights over Aleppo and to air strikes on the rebel-held east
that has 250,000 inhabitants. "What is at stake today is first and foremost the
fate of Aleppo and its people," France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told
the council, urging it to take "immediate action in order to save" the city. It
was the fifth time that Russia used its veto to block U.N. action on the war in
Syria. Shortly after Russia's veto, the Security Council rejected a rival draft
presented by Moscow that called for a ceasefire but did not mention a halt in
air strikes. Britain's ambassador to the United Nations, Matthew Rycroft,
described Saturday's failure in New York as "a bad day for Russia, but an even
worse day for the people of Aleppo". Following the meeting, his Russian
counterpart Vitaly Churkin insisted that diplomatic efforts on Syria were not
dead. "No, no, no," he said. The assault on Aleppo was launched just days after
the collapse of a ceasefire in Syria that was brokered jointly by Russia and the
United States. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that the
mounting tensions between Washington and Moscow over the Syrian conflict had
created a situation "more dangerous" than the Cold War. "It's a fallacy to think
that this is like the Cold War," Steinmeier said in an interview published by
Bild newspaper. "The current times are different and more dangerous."
John McCain Pulls Support
from Trump after Lewd Comments
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/October 09/16/Senator John McCain, a senior figure
in the Republican Party who was its 2008 presidential nominee, formally withdrew
his support Saturday for Donald Trump over lewd remarks that threw his White
House campaign into disarray. "I have wanted to support the candidate our party
nominated. He was not my choice, but as a past nominee, I thought it important I
respect the fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules
our party set. I thought I owed his supporters that deference," read a statement
from McCain, the latest in a growing number of Republicans to withdraw support
for Trump. "But Donald Trump's behavior this week, concluding with the
disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual
assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for
his candidacy. "Cindy and I will not vote for Donald Trump," he added, referring
to his wife. "I have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and we
will not vote for Hillary Clinton. We will write in the name of some good
conservative Republican who is qualified to be president."
Saudi: Egypt stance on Syria
resolution ‘painful’
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 9 October 2016/The Saudi envoy to the
UN, Abdullah al-Muallami, dubbed Egypt’s stance kowtowing to Russia on a UN
resolution about Syria, and called it as “painful.”Russia - with three others,
including Egypt - on Saturday vetoed a draft French UN Security Council
resolution on Syria, which demanded an end to air strikes on Aleppo and military
overflights. “Stances by Sengal and Malaysia were much closer to the agreed Arab
decision,” said Muallami, in comparison to the Arab League-member Egypt. The
envoy said it was a “farce” to see a decision vetoed by four members when it
received a “strong” backing by 11 members at the Security Council. “It is a dark
day for the Syrian people,” he said. “But Syrians do not know darkness. They
will win.” However, the head of Egypt’s delegate to the United Nations,
Ambassador Amr Abu Atta, said that Egypt supports all efforts to stop the
tragedy of the Syrian people, and that the vote was based on the failure of the
two sides of the security council to reach a permanent decision. Atta stressed
that "Egypt’s voted is in favor of stopping the targeting of Syrian civilians
and to support humanitarian work, as well as the cessation of hostilities,
according to the Security Council resolutions."Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign
Ministry said on Sunday that the draft would have helped Islamist militants in
the Aleppo area by protecting them from aerial bombing. In a statement, the
ministry also said the French text was politicized and one-sided. “An explicit
attempt was made, by banning flights in the Aleppo area, to provide cover for
the terrorists of Jabhat Al-Nusra and associated militants,” the ministry said.
After the vote, Basma Qathmati, a member from the Saudi-backed High Negotiation
Committee (HNC) comprising 34 opposition groups, urged Washington to
unilaterally move to disallow Russia from continuing its targeting of civilians
in Aleppo.
Iraq army with
tribal volunteers liberate two villages from ISIS
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 9 October 2016/Iraq Army’s Seventh
Band, with the backing of tribesmen, have liberated two villages in Hit island
in the western province of Anbar on Sunday from ISIS, a local media reported.
Al-Mahboubiya and Al-Safakiya villages located in the island on the Euphrates
river were recaptured from ISIS and Iraqi flags were raised in the liberated
areas. Maj. Gen Qassim al-Mohamadi, Head of Operation to Liberate Hit Island,
said on Sunday that the “operation to liberate [Safakiya] village began after
getting rid of 37 explosive devices and 23 jugs containing C-4
material.”Composition C-4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive.
Meanwhile, a source told the local Al-Sumaria News that ISIS militants fled
Mahboubiya after they incurred financial and human losses. The operation to
liberate the island, which had fallen under ISIS control since mid-2014, started
three weeks ago. The operation was launched as an offensive to retake Iraq’s
second largest city – Mosul – looms.
Jund al-Aqsa pledges
allegiance to ex-Qaeda branch in Syria
Reuters, Beirut Sunday, 9 October 2016/A powerful Syrian Islamist insurgent
group on Sunday pledged allegiance to former al-Qaeda branch Jabhat Fateh
al-Sham, a statement circulated by rebel officials and reported by a monitoring
group said. The Jund al-Aqsa group said it was trying to settle differences with
Ahrar al-Sham, with which it has been fighting for days in the northwestern
Idlib province, so as not to weaken rebel fighting against President Bashar
al-Assad’s government. Government forces in recent days have captured territory
from rebels taking advantage of infighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights has reported. The Observatory, which also reported Jund al-Aqsa’s
announcement, said the group was seeking the protection of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
Jund al-Aqsa’s statement - circulated by rebel officials from other groups and
carrying the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham stamp - did not say how pledging allegiance to
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham would mend its relationship with Ahrar al-Sham. The move
appears to formalize Jund al-Aqsa’s ties with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly the
Nusra Front, which changed its name in July and said it was breaking from the al
Qaeda network founded by Osama bin Laden. Jund al-Aqsa, which is on the US State
Department’s list of terrorist groups, has been heavily involved in fighting in
the west and north of Syria including around Aleppo in the most recent months of
the five-year-old civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Syria’s Islamist insurgents have eclipsed more moderate and Western-backed
nationalist rebel groups in the conflict. Nusra Front’s breaking of ties from
al-Qaeda appeared aimed at assuaging Syrians who had misgivings about its links
with foreign militants. Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said at the time that
the split would help unite Syrian insurgents.
Arab Coalition Says to Probe
Yemen Funeral Carnage
The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen said Sunday it will investigate
an air raid that killed more than 140 people, after Washington announced it was
reviewing support for the alliance. The Iran-backed Huthi rebels have blamed the
Arab coalition for Saturday's attack, one of the deadliest since it launched a
military campaign against the Shiite insurgents in March last year. The attack
could further sour U.S.-Saudi ties already strained over the coalition's
military intervention which is suspected of causing almost half of the more than
4,000 civilian deaths in Yemen's conflict. After initially denying any
responsibility, the coalition said it was ready to launch a probe into the
"regrettable and painful" strike, which the U.N. said also wounded more than 525
people. "The coalition will immediately investigate this case along with...
experts from the United States who participated in previous investigations," it
said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
"The coalition is also willing to provide the investigation team with any data
and information related to its military operations today, at the incident's
location and the surrounding areas," it said. The U.N. said aid workers were
"shocked and outraged" by the attack that hit a community hall in Sanaa where
mourners had gathered. The insurgent-controlled news site sabanews.net said
coalition planes hit after hundreds had gathered to mourn the death of the
father of rebel interior minister Jalal al-Rowaishan and denounced the "massacre."The
Huthis did not say if Rowaishan was present in the building at the time of the
attack, nor did they indicate if other senior figures were attending the
funeral. But Sanaa mayor Abdel Qader Hilal was among those killed, according to
the rebels' Almasirah television.
U.S. 'deeply disturbed'
Riyadh's key ally Washington warned it had launched an "immediate review" of
support to the Arab coalition. "We are deeply disturbed by reports of today's
air strike on a funeral hall in Yemen, which, if confirmed, would continue the
troubling series of attacks striking Yemeni civilians," White House National
Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
"In light of this and other recent incidents, we have initiated an immediate
review of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led coalition
and are prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with U.S.
principles, values and interests."Price stressed that "U.S. security cooperation
with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check", and called on all sides to implement an
"immediate" ceasefire. In August, the U.S. military announced it had slashed its
number of intelligence advisers supporting the coalition following concerns over
civilian casualties.
U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, called for an
immediate investigation into the funeral strike and said the international
community must exert pressure to ensure civilians are protected. "This violence
against civilians in Yemen must stop immediately," said McGoldrick. A "horrified
and extremely disturbed" U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien called for a prompt and
"impartial" probe."I also call on all parties to protect civilians and stop
using explosive weapons or conducting aerial bombardments in civilian-populated
places in Yemen. Surely enough is enough," he added.
'Horrendous and heinous'
"This horrendous and heinous attack displayed an utter disregard for human
life," said O'Brien.
The Saudi-led coalition has come under increasing international scrutiny over
civilian deaths.
In September 2015, a suspected coalition air strike killed at least 131
civilians at a wedding near the Red Sea city of Mokha. The Saudi-led alliance
denied any involvement. And in March this year, Saudi-led air strikes on a
market killed at least 119 people, including 106 civilians, of which 24 were
children, in the northern rebel-held province of Hajja. On Saturday, emergency
workers pulled out at least 20 charred remains and body parts from the gutted
building in southern Sanaa as others scoured the wreckage for survivors. Some of
the wounded had their legs torn off and were treated on the spot by
volunteers.In an initial statement to AFP, the Saudi-led coalition said it had
no operations at the location and "other causes" for the incident must be
considered. The coalition "has in the past avoided such gatherings and (they)
have never been a subject of targeting", it said. In its latest statement,
however, the coalition expressed its "deepest condolences and support to the
families of the victims of hostilities since the coup takeover of power in Yemen
during 2014." The coalition -- which also comprises Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco,
Qatar, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates -- has faced repeated criticism from
rights groups over civilian casualties in its campaign in Yemen. The Huthis
swept into Sanaa in September 2014 and advanced across much of Yemen, forcing
the internationally recognized government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to
flee. The conflict has killed more than 6,700 people -- almost two-thirds of
them civilians -- and displaced at least three million since the coalition
launched military operations, according to the United Nations. U.N. rights
office spokesman Rupert Colville said Tuesday that from March 2015 through
September 30, 4,014 civilians had died and nearly 7,000 had been injured.
Woman’s hijab pulled down on London
street in racial assault
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 9 October 2016/A man pulled down the
hijab of a woman walking on a London street in a racially motivated assault,
British daily The Guardian reported on Sunday. The victim who was in her 20s was
walking with a female friend in the British capital at around 7:30pm local time
on September 28, when she was approached by two men from behind. One of them
pulled down the hijab she was wearing before both ran off, the Metropolitan
police said. The first suspect is described as white, in his late 20s or early
30s, with blond or ginger shaved hair and stubble, while the other man he was
with looked to be of Mediterranean appearance. Police said that the woman was
not injured from the attack but was shocked and distressed by what happened.
Canada condemns attack in
Yemen and urges rapid investigation
October 9, 2016 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the
following statement:
“Canada condemns the attack on a funeral hall in Sana’a, Yemen and extends its
deepest condolences on the resulting loss of life.
“The Saudi-led coalition must move forward now on its commitment to investigate
this incident.
“Canada calls on all parties in Yemen to avoid an escalation of violence as a
result of this incident.
“Canada urges all parties to abide by their obligations under international
humanitarian law, and to commit to political dialogue and to a lasting cessation
of hostilities to halt the tragic loss of civilian life.”
More than 100 migrants
rescued off Spain in one day
AFP, Madrid Sunday, 9 October 2016/More than 100 African migrants were saved
from the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain after attempting the perilous
crossing to Europe on a rickety boat, officials said. “Today at least 104 people
were saved,” said a spokeswoman for the Spanish public agency in charge of
maritime rescues yesterday, adding that children were among the passengers.
Their boat was spotted by a fishing ship northeast of the Spanish island of
Alboran. Rescuers transported 56 people from Sub-Saharan Africa to Malaga, the
spokeswoman said, while 32 other Africans, including 17 women, were taken to the
port of Motril, 100 kilometers (60 miles) further east. Sixteen other migrants,
originally from North Africa, were taken to Cartagena, 400 kilometers northeast
of Malaga. Since 2014 more than 10,000 migrants have lost their lives in the
Mediterranean, according to UN figures.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on October 09-10/16
Trump meets
with Bill Clinton rape accusers — right before squaring off with Hillary Clinton
in debate
Julie Pace And Lisa Lerer,
The Associated Press | October 9, 2016
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/presidential-debate-2-2016-live
ST. LOUIS — In a
stunningly brazen move, Donald Trump met Sunday night with several women who
have accused Bill Clinton of rape and other unwanted sexual advances, just over
an hour before the Republican presidential nominee was stepping on the debate
stage with the former president’s wife, Hillary Clinton. The Trump pre-debate
event was the clearest sign yet that he planned to use Bill Clinton’s
extramarital affairs to try to distract from the swirling controversy over his
own predatory remarks about women. Trump is under enormous pressure from his own
Republican Party after the release of a 2005 video in which the businessman can
be heard saying his fame allows him to “do anything” to women. Trump refused to
answer questions from reporters about the video during his meeting in a hotel
conference room with Paula Jones, Kathy Shelton, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen
Willey. Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their
accusations against the Clintons. “Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but
Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me,” Broaddrick said. “I
don’t think there’s any comparison.”
Evan Vucci / Associated Press
Evan Vucci / Associated PressDonald Trump, right, looks on as Juanita Broaddrick,
who has accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual assault, speaks before
the second presidential debate in St. Louis on Sunday. Broaddrick, a former
Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Bill
Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against
him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has
denied the allegations. Trump is trying to change the subject from his own
conduct. Even before Friday’s new revelations of his sexual remarks about women,
his campaign was slumping. But the release of the 2005 video has some leading
Republicans convinced the damage is insurmountable.
Even Trump’s most loyal supporters struggled to defend him on Sunday.
“They’re remarks you certainly don’t want to hear from anyone, much less a
presidential candidate,” Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, said on
CNN. “I think he made a full and complete apology for it. He probably is going
to do it again tonight.”Clinton has stayed largely silent since the video was
made public, though running mate Tim Kaine accused Trump of engaging in a
“pattern of assaultive behaviour.”“I think there’s kind of a piece of the jigsaw
puzzle missing in Donald Trump where he does not look at women and consider them
as equal to himself,” Kaine said on CNN. Trump’s troubles have almost completely
overshadowed the release of hacked emails from the Clinton campaign that
revealed the contents of previously secret paid speeches to Wall Street. Clinton
told bankers behind closed doors that she favoured “open trade.” Such remarks
were at odds with her tough public comments.
Trump allies desperately hope the businessman can keep his focus in the debate
on Clinton, raising questions about her trustworthiness and pushing his own
populist economic ideas. The candidates will face questions in the town
hall-style setting both from moderators and undecided voters seated with them on
stage, a format that typically rewards candidates who show empathy and connect
with the problems facing Americans. But as Trump’s meeting with Clinton’s
accusers indicated, he appeared to have other priorities. Trump has long hinted
he would raise Bill Clinton’s sexual history at debates. In what was billed as a
videotaped apology for the 2005 videotaped remarks, Trump said “Bill Clinton has
actually abused women” and Hillary Clinton “bullied, attacked, shamed and
intimidated” her husband’s “victims.”Clinton’s campaign appeared unconcerned by
the prospect of Trump raising Bill Clinton’s past.
“If that is how he chooses to spend his time in the debate, then that’s his
decision,” Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri told reporters.
“I’m not sure that’s what voters are going to want to hear.”At a fundraiser in
Chicago, President Barack Obama called Trump’s rhetoric “disturbing.” Obama said
“it tells you that he’s insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting
other people down.”Trump’s own running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has
declared he could neither condone nor defend the remarks in the video revealed
on Friday.
Other Republicans have taken the extraordinary step of revoking support for
their party’s nominee. Among them: Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, New Hampshire Sen.
Kelly Ayotte — both are running for re-election — and the party’s 2008 nominee,
Arizona Sen. John McCain. Some called on Trump to quit the race.
“I thought about years from now when my daughter Kate is old enough to know what
is in those tapes and to understand what he is talking about,” Ayotte said of
her 12-year-old daughter during a press conference Sunday. “I want her to know
where I stood.”Trump spent Sunday morning highlighting Twitter messages from
supporters who slammed Republican leaders for abandoning him. In his own
message, Trump said, “So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll
numbers — and elections — go down!”Republican leaders scheduled a rare Monday
conference call for House GOP lawmakers, who are on recess. An email obtained by
The Associated Press doesn’t specify the topic, but rank-and-file lawmakers
believe it’s about Trump.
Hillary
Clinton for President of the United States
By The Editors of Foreign Policy/October 09/16
Endorsement
A Donald Trump presidency is among the greatest threats facing America, and the
Republican standard-bearer is the worst major-party candidate for the job in
U.S. history.
In the nearly half century history of Foreign Policy, the editors of this
publication have never endorsed a candidate for political office. We cherish and
fiercely protect this publication’s independence and its reputation for
objectivity, and we deeply value our relationship with all of our readers,
regardless of political orientation.
It is for all these reasons that FP’s editors are now breaking with tradition to
endorse Hillary Clinton for the next president of the United States.
Our readers depend on FP for insight and analysis into issues of national
security and foreign policy. We feel that our obligation to our readers thus
extends now to making clear the great magnitude of the threat that a Donald
Trump presidency would pose to the United States. The dangers Trump presents as
president stretch beyond the United States to the international economy, to
global security, to America’s allies, as well as to countless innocents
everywhere who would be the victims of his inexperience, his perverse policy
views, and the profound unsuitability of his temperament for the office he
seeks.
The litany of reasons Trump poses such a threat is so long that it is, in fact,
shocking that he is a major party’s candidate for the presidency. The recent
furor over his vile behavior with women illustrates the extraordinary nature of
his unsuitability, as does his repudiation by so many members of his own party —
who have so many reasons to reflexively support their nominee.
Beyond this, however, in the areas in which we at FP specialize, he has
repeatedly demonstrated his ignorance of the most basic facts of international
affairs, let alone the nuances so crucial to the responsibilities of diplomacy
inherent in the U.S. president’s daily responsibilities. Trump has not only
promoted the leadership of a tyrant and menace like Vladimir Putin, but he has
welcomed Russian meddling in the current U.S. election. He has alternatively
forgiven then defended Russia’s invasion of Crimea and employed advisors with
close ties to the Russian president and his cronies. Trump has spoken so
cavalierly about the use of nuclear weapons, including a repeated willingness to
use them against terrorists, that it has become clear he understands little if
anything about America's nuclear policies — not to mention the moral, legal, and
human consequences of such actions. He has embraced the use of torture and the
violation of international law against it. He has suggested he would ignore
America’s treaty obligations and would only conditionally support allies in
need. He has repeatedly insulted Mexico and proposed policies that would inflame
and damage one of America’s most vital trading relationships with that country.
Trump has played into the hands of terrorists with his fearmongering, with his
sweeping and unwarranted vilification of Muslims, and by sensationalizing the
threat they pose. He has promised to take punitive actions against America’s
Pacific trading partners that would be devastating to the world economy and in
violation of our legal obligations. He has dismissed the science of climate
change and denied its looming and dangerous reality. He has promoted a
delusional and narcissistic view of the world, one in which he seems to feel
that the power of his personality in negotiations could redirect the course of
other nations, remake or supplant treaties, and contain those tyrants he does
not actually embrace.
He has repeatedly denigrated the U.S. military — its leadership, service
members, veterans, and the families who stand behind them. He has also derided
the intelligence community. Many of the most prominent Republican national
security and foreign-policy specialists have repudiated him publicly. Indeed, he
is not simply seen as a dangerous candidate by members of the Democratic Party,
but virtually no single credible GOP foreign-policy advisor has joined his team.
This is because Trump either undercuts or has placed himself in opposition to
the best foreign-policy traditions of the Republican Party and to the standards
and ideals of every GOP administration in modern history.
There are other reasons to oppose Trump. He has repeatedly demonstrated a
complete disregard for America’s most important values, from tolerance to
respect for the rule of law.
He has treated the press with derision, demeaning individual reporters, and his
campaign has employed exclusionary policies that targeted specific news
organizations, suggesting a complete disregard for the First Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution. He has shown such a complete disregard for the truth that he
has arguably done more than any other single individual to seek to usher in a
new and unwelcome post-fact era in America’s political debate. That is not just
odious but if it becomes more accepted could compromise and undercut governance
in the United States for generations to come. His proposed policies on
immigration and for dealing with Muslims in America show scorn for the Fourth
Amendment. Based on a lifetime of statements and actions, Donald Trump has
revealed himself to be a racist and, again and again, a misogynist. Throughout
this election he has cynically embraced the support of white supremacists and
anti-Semites.
He would therefore put at risk our way of life, our freedoms, and our alliances.
His reckless behavior has already undermined America’s standing internationally.
His proposed embrace of some bad actors and his provocations toward others, his
dangerous views on the use of weapons of mass destruction, his failure to
understand how the global economy works, his lack of appreciation for the
importance of alliances, and his temperamental defects all suggest that were he
to claim the Oval Office, he would be a destabilizing force that would undercut
American leadership instantly and for generations to come. His spotty track
record as a businessman compounds these flaws further still.
Indeed, we are not the first to say it, but Trump is the worst major-party
candidate this republic has ever produced.
Fortunately, not only is Trump opposed by a worthy candidate, but his opponent
is, on foreign-policy and national security issues — all of the areas we cover
here at FP — one of the best qualified candidates this country has produced
since World War II. As first lady, New York senator, and secretary of state,
Hillary Clinton regularly distinguished herself by her intelligence, dogged work
ethic, ability to work across the political aisle, and leadership on difficult
issues. She has devoted her entire life to public service and has been a
powerful and effective advocate for women, children, and those in need at home
and abroad. Whether you agree with all the policy stances of her campaign or
not, impartial eyes will conclude that her proposals on climate change,
combating terrorism, and human rights are thoughtful and comprehensive — and
ultimately worthy of consideration.
Hillary Clinton is a quality candidate who is unquestionably well-prepared to
lead this country. What is more, we do not think it is a small thing that by her
election she will be righting a deep wrong that has compromised U.S. democracy
since its inception: the exclusion of women from its highest offices. Were she
to be elected as this country’s first woman president, not only would it be
historic and send an important signal about both inclusiveness and Americans’
commitment to electing candidates who have distinguished themselves on their
merits, but she would enter office having already put down one great threat to
the United States of America — the grotesque and deeply disturbing prospect of a
Donald Trump presidency.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/10/09/foreign-policy-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president-of-the-united-states/
Syria will be the first task for Antonio Guterres
Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/October 09/16
The consensus of the UN Security Council members to nominate the veteran
Portuguese diplomat Antonio Guterres to succeed Ban Ki-Moon as UN secretary
general comes amid sharp tensions between the US, Europe and Russia over the
Syrian issue, and amid dented confidence in the credibility of the UN because of
its failure to put an end to the ongoing massacre in Syria and failure to uphold
the principle of accountability for war crimes. His expected confirmation in
that post would put in the post a man well versed with the issue of refugees,
having served in related functions over the past decade as UN High Commissioner
for Refugees (2005-2015). But this time he will have different tools and powers
at his disposal. Guterres is no ordinary bureaucrat and he is the first
secretary general who would have previously served as prime minister. Guterres
began his career at 25 in 1974, when he joined the Portuguese Socialist Party,
rising up the ranks shortly after the end of Salazar’s dictatorship. He was
elected MP for Lisbon in 1976. In 1988, he became leader of the Socialist Bloc
in parliament, and in 1992, he became leader of his party, paving the way for
the post of prime minister he assumed in 1995. In 2000, he was appointed as
president of the European Council, highlighting his international ambitions
leading up to the top job at the UN today. His experience, his skillful
campaign, and his daring scramble for a post that was supposed to have been
earmarked for a woman or an Eastern European candidate put him ahead, helping
him dodge criticism that he had “hijacked” the post. The man who will now lead
the UN is thus not an unknown entity, but may well be viewed as the necessary
choice at this juncture. So how might Guterres act amid the Western-Russian
duel, the collapse of US-Russian partnership, and the increasing international
anger over the deafening silence vis-à-vis the war crimes and child killing in
Aleppo and other Syrian cities? Nothing today indicates Western-Russian
relations will soon be mended with regard to Syria, especially as the Russian
government appears intent on pressing the battle of Aleppo to its conclusion, no
matter how much time it takes and no matter the cost. The Russian envoy to the
UN Vitaly Churkin was clear. Russia will not apologize for the bombardment and
the human tragedy it is causing, as it restricts the issue to fighting the al-Nusra
Front even if that means leveling Aleppo. Since Russia has inserted itself into
a battle that will be fateful for it and not just Syria, and in light of
preparations for a Turkish-Gulf Plan B with a European umbrella and US blessing,
the coming phase in international relations will be very complicated and full of
flagrant brutality on the part of Russia and its allies in Syria, all at a
prohibitive human cost.
Not an easy task
It will not be easy for Antonio Guterres to face the media, public opinion, and
member states with a weak policy or by evading the challenges coming from Syria.
He will have to formulate strong stances to navigate the turbulent seas of
current international policies. Neither will he be able to attack Russia for its
violations in Syria early in his tenure, nor is he ready to pretend as if
nothing is happening there. Guterres is likely to focus on the refugee angle of
the Syrian crisis, rather than the war crimes perpetrated by the regime, Russia,
Iran, allied militias and terrorist groups like ISIS and the al-Nusra Front
Therefore, Guterres is likely to focus on the refugee angle of the Syrian
crisis, rather than the war crimes perpetrated by the regime, Russia, Iran,
allied militias, and terrorist groups like ISIS and the al-Nusra Front. Guterres
will focus on the delivery of humanitarian aid, which will require a cessation
of hostilities. He will seek a new start that could take the form of appointing
a replacement of current UN envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura, or keep him on
condition of changing his current approach based on reforming US-Russian
relations. Something that could help Guterres as he prepares to assume his
duties in January is that he is coming in at a time dominated by multilateral,
multidirectional efforts rather than the kind of skirting the issues that
prevailed in the UN corridors pending a US-Russian deal. Indeed, the UN Security
Council had shamefully abandoned its duties in Syria under the pretext of the
looming Russian veto, choosing not to act as Syria descended further into the
abyss. In reality, the UN Security Council member states had mandated the US and
Russia to act on their behalf, abandoning their moral and legal duties. Now,
after Kerry lost his patience and the US military establishment decided it has
had enough, the UN General Secretariat is showing more boldness, as Britain and
France began to propose draft resolutions and put forward new ideas on Syria.
Ban Ki-moon recently announced that he will appoint a fact-finding mission to
investigate the bombing of the humanitarian convoy in the countryside of Aleppo.
The joint investigation between the United Nations and the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will present its fourth and final report and it
is thought the US is preparing a draft resolution regarding the next step in
light of the findings. France has prepared a move at the Security Council on the
issue of chemical weapons, focusing not on the contentious Syrian angle but on
the basis of non-proliferation of WMDs. France has also prepared a UN Security
Council resolution addressing a truce in Aleppo, and a mechanism for monitoring
and aid delivery. All these moves are opposed by Russia.
The ‘Plan B’
Britain is talking of a new phase of diplomacy with Russia following the failure
of the old policy, which for years tasked Russia to pressure the regime in
Damascus and sought to change how Russia behaved. London is not talking about
military confrontation with Russia in Syria, however, rather about a margin
existing between full military intervention and non-intervention. In other
words, Britain is talking about securing a European umbrella for Turkish-Gulf
measures to establish a no-fly and safe zone. This is the plan B a Gulf minister
detailed to Al-Hayat published in this column last week.
Why all this sudden flurry of activity? The answer of course lies with the
failed US-Russian partnership in Syria, but also with the growing magnitude of
the carnage in Syria. However, there are other dynamics such as the desire to
spur the Obama administration before it departs, to avoid turning the transition
in the US post-elections into an opportunity for Russia to act as it pleases
with impunity over the next six months. Russia is betting on the time factor.
Vladimir Putin may be even betting on a Trump victory in the US, as the
Republican candidate is likely to accommodate him in Syria and elsewhere. Syria
would otherwise pay a high price in the dead time in the US, requiring the UN to
push for necessary actions. This is perhaps why Britain is seeking to preempt
demands to do more as a permanent member of the Security Council, instead of
hiding behind the collapse of US-Russian partnership on Syria.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid bin Raad warned Russia this
week of the consequences of its excesses in Syria. He said the situation in
Aleppo requires new and bold initiatives, "including proposals to put an end to
the use of the veto by a permanent member in the Security Council.” This, in his
opinion, will enable United Nations to refer the situation in Syria to the
international Criminal Court. Such a referral would be more than justified given
the rampant and deeply shocking impunity that has characterized the conflict and
the magnitude of the crimes that have been committed, some of which may indeed
amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to Prince Zeid bin
Raad.
Ban Ki-moon’s legacy
Ban Ki-moon had hoped for his legacy to be an end to impunity, but he failed. He
had said once that ultimately, there was no escape from trying Bashar al-Assad
and punishing him for his actions in Syria. Perhaps he is right. But today, Ban
Ki-moon leaves his post without any punishment on the horizon, rather the
contrary: impunity. This legacy that wasn’t lies in wait for the new UN Chief
Antonio Guterres. Initially, Guterres will have to implement what was negotiated
with Russia, China, the US, Britain, and France before he was nominated, in
terms of top appointments such as UN undersecretary general for political
affairs currently held by Jeffery Feltman. Russia has asked for the post to be
taken away from the US and return it to Britain, as was once the norm. Very
soon, Syria will chase up the new secretary general, who will have to start
working on his legacy for when he leaves his post.
Kofi Annan was once said to be adept at navigating obstacles because he was a
technocrat. Ban Ki-moon was said to be a bureaucrat par excellence. Antonio
Guterres served in one post after another with a lot of acumen, determination,
and flexibility. For this reason, the socialist former prime minister was
suddenly the preferred nominee, leaving behind women candidates and others.
Perhaps the US-Russian accord over the man was compensation for the ongoing
confrontations between them. Perhaps it is a sign of accord to avoid further
confrontation and walk towards repairing ties, so long as a radical reformation
of policies on Syria remains impossible.
**This article was first published in al-Hayat on Oct. 07, 2016 and translated
by Karim Traboulsi.
Should we change our
anti-terror strategies?
Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/October 09/16
On the outskirts of Jisr al-Shughur in the western countryside of Syria’s Idlib,
an unmanned drone targeted Ahmad Salama Mabruk Abdul Razek, known as “Abu Faraj
al-Masri,” leader of “Fath al-Sham” organization. This operation reminds us of
similar ones which targeted leaders of terrorist organizations. Does it
represent a triumphant success in the war or a strategic setback for countries
fighting terrorism, taking slow-paced strategies in order to change the
situation on the ground?Targeting leaders with unmanned drones from time to time
will not necessarily weaken the organization. One simply has to recall al-Qaeda
and the Taliban, the two organizations that were targeted the most by drones;
they certainly suffered from heavy losses but they have remained active up until
this day. General Stanley McChrystal, who was in charge of the assassination of
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2008, was quoted poking fun of a number of government
officials, including Vice President Joe Biden. What was more dangerous was when
he accused them of defeatism in the war on terrorism. The whole saga sent rumors
swirling that President Obama called for his resignation.
Two decades ago, the main conflict in the American rhetoric was between two
strategies:
The first is the Quinn strategy, demanding more money to fight terrorist groups,
more equipment, troops and money in the battlefield; it is more effective but
its time limit cannot be determined and countries would drown in a long war. The
second is the CT-Plus strategy that focuses on security in order to eradicate
the heads of the rebels and prominent al-Qaeda members. The main idea behind
this strategy is to identify the leaders’ locations through intelligence and
then perform the operation with unmanned drones, However, those who criticize
this strategy believe that it is ineffective at separating terrorist factions
from society, as it will be targeting specific identified leaders but does not
eradicate the basic root to isolate the organization on the geographical and
social levels. Therefore, the Quinn strategy seems to be more efficient in the
war on terrorism. The US has relied on the Quinn strategy in Afghanistan and
Iraq in a specified phase, while the CT-Plus is based on the premise of hit and
run.
Targeting leaders with unmanned drones from time to time will not necessarily
weaken the organization.There are many studies related to the war on terrorism
undertaken through unmanned drones. The US has used these drones in more than
eight countries within the Middle East and Africa; it targeted Afghanistan,
Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali and the Gaza Strip. Political
analyst William Pfaff believes that the US orchestrated an excessive number of
operations using drones, namely in Yemen and Iraq and this may be due to the US
focusing on the strategy more than the security and accuracy. However, it is not
a decisive means in the fierce battles that require a presence on the
battlefield to dismantle, fight or resist the organization.The excessive
reliance on drones has made the armed groups feel that the war against them was
not serious enough, since they can still control the land, expand recruitment
and control areas of social influence without any international measures. In
contrast, the unmanned drones have generated partial sympathy by the communities
affiliated to al-Qaeda. For example, Brian Glyn Williams says these drones are
often described by villagers as wasps because they sting, or like detonators
because they strike without warning. Al-Qaeda is always trying to involve the
community in the war on other nations and according to a letter by Osama bin
Laden that was published in a documentary, he warned about forcing Yemenis to
join the organization as he wanted them to join willingly. Tight bonding was
established between the organization and communal groups in areas such as Abyan
due to the excessive number of operations led by drones.
I have already written two pieces about unmanned drones, one of which tackled
the moral issue and the other was about the security question. Here I am now,
talking about the two famous strategies. It is certain to me that the social
environment will breed terrorism if only drones are used, without resorting to
different plans suited to the target organization’s on-the-ground presence. For
example, when an American man of Pakistani origins named Faisal Shah was
arrested after detonating a car bomb in Times Square in New York in 2010, he
said that his goal was to kill as many Americans as possible because the US was
sending their drones to kill dozens of women and children. This story shows how
terrorist groups are exploiting the people’s trauma in order to get them
involved, making it difficult on the long run for any security measure to be
taken to disengage the community from the organization. This is why new methods
should be applied, because traditional cowardly tactics are not working in the
war on terrorism. When targeted by drones, terrorism will get stronger no matter
where it is in the world and terrorists will feel increasingly more secure.
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on October 6, 2016.
JASTA could open a can of
worms on 9/11
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/October 09/16
Now that Congress has passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA)
into law permitting individuals, including the family members of 9-11 victims,
to sue a sovereign state for the actions of its nationals in contravention of
international law, the door is open for a comprehensive independent
investigation into events surrounding that earth-shattering day. Lawmakers
should have heeded the old adage “Let sleeping dogs lie.”In other words, if US
Courts have the jurisdiction to probe the government of Saudi Arabia’s
connection, albeit non-existent, with the al-Qaeda hijackers, there is nothing
preventing other states from enacting similar laws allowing judges to demand
answers from the US to questions remaining unanswered by the 9/11 commissioners.
Lest we forgot, over 12 percent of 9/11 fatalities (372 in total) were foreign
nationals who could lodge lawsuits against the US for criminal negligence or for
a lack of transparency. It should also be noted that the JASTA law must be based
on speculation as official US investigations found no link between the Saudi
Arabian government and 9/11. Other theories and conspiracies have pointed the
finger of blame at the CIA and the US government.
As Kurt Eichenwald writing in the New York Times pointed out, “On August 6,
2001, George W. Bush received a classified review of the threats” during “that
morning’s ‘presidential daily brief’ that “featured the now-infamous heading
‘Bin Laden determined to strike in the US’ Over the ensuing months, the CIA “all
but pleaded with the White House to accept that the danger from Bin Laden was
real.”From March 2001, warnings from foreign intelligence agencies arrived on
Bush’s desk thick and fast; some were specific. Italian wiretaps of an al-Qaeda
cell discovered a plot to attack the US with aircraft. Congress should quit
flaying around looking for a country to blame. The hijackers are dead. Osama bin
Laden was assassinated. Lawmakers should be calling for a truly independent 9/11
enquiry. Egypt reportedly told US officials that 20 al-Qaeda terrorists were in
the US and four were attending flight schools. Israel presented a list of 19
terrorists on US soil planning to attack. Other warnings came from the UK and
Jordan. The majority of victim’s families accepted compensation from the US
government – average pay-out $2 million – on condition they relinquished their
rights to sue airlines, airports, security companies or other American
organizations open to being faulted for intelligence and inadequate security
measures.
Whistle-blowers
FBI whistle-blower and translator/interpreter Sibel Edmonds – dubbed by the
American Civil Liberties Union as “the most gagged person in the history of the
United States of America” – enjoyed top-level clearance. While translating
documents in Farsi, Turkish and Azerbaijani she discovered a plot to attack
skyscrapers in major US cities and alerted her managers. She was summarily
dismissed and gagged. She later told the 9/11 Commissioners that the FBI was
aware of an upcoming attack and knew the terrorists were in country. And if
Saudi Arabia is being hauled to court in the US for colluding or supporting
al-Qaeda which considered the Kingdom as its prime enemy, then there should be
no holds barred from holding the US to account for its own dubious associations.
In her memoir “Classified Woman” Edmonds reveals that the Pentagon, the CIA and
the State Department maintained ties to al-Qaeda militants until 2001 and
collaborated with their destabilization activities in Central Asia as part of an
operation known as “Gladio B”. The Sunday Times prepared a four-part
investigative series in which senior officials confirmed her allegations, but
the story was dropped under pressure from unnamed “interest groups”.
I have no intention of getting in to conspiracy theories – although, admittedly
there is a tendency to dismiss individuals with valid questions as fantasists -
but there is no eluding the fact that the truth remains elusive; many aspects
have been deliberately hidden from the realm of public knowledge.
In May, 2002, CBS News reported that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney opposed a
“9/11 query panel”. They did everything they could to block it. Ultimately it
was delayed for 400 days. Why was that? Both declined to testify under oath or
to permit their testimony to be recorded. The 9/11 Commission was grossly
underfunded and several of the commissioners were appointed by the White House;
others were discredited as having conflicts of interest.
One of the commissioners Max Cleland resigned in December, 2003, describing the
commission as “a national scandal”, adding, “One of these days we will have to
get the full story because the 9/11 issue is so important to American. But this
White House wants to cover it up.”“The chair and vice-chair of the 9/11
Commission, respectively Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, assert in their book
Without Precedent that they were ‘set up to fail” and were starved of funds to
do a proper investigation. They also confirm that they were denied access to the
truth and misled by senior officials in the Pentagon and the federal aviation
authority; and that this obstruction and deception led them to contemplate
slapping officials with criminal charges,” is a damning paragraph published in
The Guardian under the heading “9/11 The big cover-up?”
If there is a cover-up, what is it being hidden? The failure of NORAD to
intercept the errant planes after the first hit the World Trade Center perhaps?
The prompt shipping of WTC steel beams to China and India on the orders of
former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani before they could be examined? The implosion
of Tower 7 that had not been hit but which the Federal Emergency Management
Committee claimed was due to flaming debris from the nearby taller towers? There
is still no convincing explanation how passengers on two planes succeeded in
making calls using their personal cell phones at high altitude when such
technology was unavailable in 2001 or why there is no video of a plane hitting
one of the most monitored buildings on earth, the Pentagon; only one showing an
explosion. The FBI confiscated all the government footage including that taken
by private cameras. Those champing at the bit to take Saudi to court on the
grounds they seek the truth should also file claims against the US government
and /or its agencies for what appear to be major cover-ups. If not, then they
view Riyadh as a convenient scapegoat. Iraq was another.
The 9/11 Commission
The families of two businessmen killed on the day took Iraq to court and a
federal judge ordered the Iraqi government to pay $64 million notwithstanding
that Saddam Hussein had no links whatsoever to al-Qaeda or any other terrorist
group, as confirmed by the CIA. Indeed, the 9/11 Commission report cites Iran as
permitting some of the hijackers to move through the country without having
their passports stamped. In March this year, US District Judge, George Daniels,
ruled that Tehran must pay $7.5bn to 9/11 victim’s families and $6.88m in
punitive damages. Congress would have been wise not to dredge up 9/11 after 15
years when most people had forgotten the anomalies, not to mention the
repercussions in terms of US-Saudi relations, the potential outflow of funds and
the setting of a precedent inviting other states to pass their own JASTA-type
laws that could see US service personnel and officials vulnerable to being
exposed to liabilities abroad for what Obama euphemistically describes as “all
the work we are doing around the world”. Before leaving office George W. Bush
issued executive order 13292 sealing national security-related documents from
public scrutiny for many years to come. Congress should quit flaying around
looking for a country to blame. The hijackers are dead. Osama bin Laden was
assassinated. Lawmakers should be calling for a truly independent 9/11 enquiry
but they will not because that would be a populist disaster and a kiss of death
to their careers. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is disgracefully classed as
fair game.
Can anyone really end the
Israeli blockade of Palestinian aid?
Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/October 09/16
What do women, food, medicine and aid have in common? They have all been blocked
from entering Gaza by boat at some point, most recently this week. The
Zaytouna-Oliva had set sail from Spain with an all-female crew and no aid and
was said to be a symbolic gesture. The mission highlighted the decade-long
blockade of “the world’s largest open-air prison.” Israel used this as yet
another opportunity to remind the activism world as to who is in charge by
intercepting the boat and diverting it. Israeli had previously blocked similar
missions by boat in 2010, and uses systematic hurdles to prolong aid deliver on
a regular basis. Yet Israel does not only prevent symbolic emotional aid such as
Zaytouna-Oliva from reaching Palestinians, rather physical aid as well. This is
a costly business to the Palestinians from which the Israeli government and
business benefit greatly.
The occupation
In a September 2015 study published by Shir Hever, an Israeli economist, it was
highlighted that a shocking 72 percent of aid intended for the Palestinian
people is soaked into the Israeli economy. Through systematic abuse of legal
loopholes, the Israeli government is managing to deprive necessary aids to
Palestinians, introducing further stress on their livelihoods. Campaign groups
must recognize that their role must stretch beyond campaigning and into activism
that challenges the legal system within Israel that allows it to act as a
constant mediator to aid being delivered to the Palestinian people
The United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) paid $2.5
million in taxes to the Israeli government in 2002. In 2013, the World Bank
estimated that the multiple layers and levels of land restrictions cost the
Palestinian economy $3.4 billion, or 35 percent of Palestine’s total GDP. Aid
must not be taxed, and systematic loopholes that engage with this mechanism must
be plugged.
Aid priorities
The international activism community has spent a lot of time, effort, and most
importantly money, into highlighting the systematic injustices suffered by the
Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government. This has been successful in
garnering increased rates of sympathy toward the Palestinian people, as
highlighted by Pew Research Center, which showed that between July 2014 and
April 2016, the percentage of Americans sympathizing with Palestinians has
increased from 14 percent to 19 percent. Although five percentage points may
seem relatively low, this shows a growing trend in the political views
heightened by various Palestinian campaign groups in the United States. Still,
campaign groups must recognize that their role must stretch beyond campaigning
and into activism that challenges the legal system within Israel that allows it
to act as a constant mediator to aid being delivered to the Palestinian people.
Various methodologies, including tax, diverting aid to storage warehouses, and
transportation limitations are employed by Israel to divert financial aid as
well as physical aid. By sending physical aid to storage facilities, which are
owned by Israeli businesses, using roads and transportation vehicles employed by
Israeli companies, the Israeli economy is has become increasingly weary of the
impact of prolonging the time it takes for aid delivery. The reasoning is
simple: the longer it takes for aid to reach Palestinians, the more aid money is
spent on unnecessary activities, such as renting storage capacity.
International organizations
The blockade of the Zaytouna-Oliva to Gaza must be the last time that Israel
exercises its powers to block aid. Although sending an all-female crew is
symbolic, the Palestinians have a history of prevailing through disparity.
Israel may have been able to block an all-female ship from entering the maritime
borders of Gaza, but it must not forget that the women (and men) of Gaza and
Palestine do not need inspirational figures arriving on boats, they are
inspiration in themselves. After all, Palestinians have managed to continue to
live, innovate, and leave their mark on the world through teaching awards
despite decades of occupation. Just imagine how much more successful they can be
if they were allowed to access 100 percent of the aid donated to them. They will
then probably not need any aid at all.
Putin's Puritan Piety: The Ideological War against the West
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/October 09/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/10/09/giulio-meottigatestone-institute-putins-puritan-piety-the-ideological-war-against-the-west/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9063/putin-piety-church
Russia is one of the
few countries in the Western world in which religion is becoming increasingly
important and not less.
To establish his authority on the Russian society, President Vladimir Putin has
shaped a doctrine mobilizing the entire Russian society against a perceived
Western "decadence". He has declared that Russian traditional family values are
a bulwark against the West's "so-called tolerance -- genderless and infertile."
The first Cold War was a clash between Western democracy and the Soviet
dictatorship of the proletariat. The new Cold War is a one between Western
liberalism and Russian conservatism.
During the Cold War, American conservatives used to label the Soviet Union "the
godless nation" on the verge of collapse because it had purged religion from the
Russian society. Two decades later, the Kremlin is occupied by a former officer
of the KGB, secretly baptized, who launches the same accusation of atheism at
the United States and the West.
Welcome to "Putin's covert war on Western decadence", as The Spectator defined
it:
"Putin's Russia is fast becoming a very puritan place. Ever since returning to
the presidency in 2012, Putin has pursued an increasingly religious-conservative
ideology both at home and abroad, defining Russia as a moral fortress against
sexual licence and decadence, porn and gay rights".
Recently, Russian officials censored porn websites. When the largest pornography
site on the internet, PornHub, offered the Russia's official communications and
media watchdog a premium account in exchange for lifting the ban, Russian
officials replied: "Sorry, we are not in the market and the demography is not a
commodity."
Russian President Vladimir Putin's ideological war against the West is getting
cocky and self-confident. In a televised speech from a Kremlin hall, Putin
declared that Russian traditional family values are a bulwark against the West's
"so-called tolerance -- genderless and infertile."
"Many Euro-Atlantic countries have abandoned their roots, including Christian
values," said Putin. The patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Kirill, echoed Putin
by charging the West of being engaged in a "spiritual disarmament" of the
Russian people, and by criticizing the European laws that prevent wearing
religious symbols in public. "We have experienced an era of atheism and we know
what it means to live without God", Kirill said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian
Orthodox Church, May 24, 2015. (Image source: The Kremlin)
The first ten years of Putin's dominance were devoid of any religious and
cultural reference. Putin and his circle never mentioned any "values", and did
not try to teach any moral lessons to the West. The second Putin decade has been
marked by a "conservative revolution" based on the revival of an isolated
Russian Orthodox culture, separated for centuries from European civilization.
"Putin wants to make Russia into the traditional values capital of the world,"
said Masha Gessen, author of a Putin biography, entitled The Man Without a Face:
The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. In the Russian media, Putin is now called
"the savior of the decadent West."
Putin is now focused on a church in the heart of Paris. The Sainte-Trinité
Cathedral, often referred to as "Moscow on the Seine," is under construction
near the Eiffel Tower, in the Quai Branly, and will be the largest Orthodox
cathedral in France. "This church is an outpost of the other Europe,
conservative and anti-modern, in the heart of the country of libertinism and
secularism", said Michel Eltchaninoff, a French scholar and author of the book,
Dans la tête de Vladimir Poutine ("Inside the Head of Vladimir Putin"), on the
thoughts of the Russian president.
Are France, the United States and Ireland open to gay marriage? Putin's Russia
bans "gay propaganda". Does Western Europe allow quick divorce? Putin's Russia
taxes divorce. Does the West legalize abortion on demand? Putin's Russia is
trying to restrict it. Russia's leading clerics have just urged Putin to ban
abortion. A new Russian law also targets "foreign religions."
"Western values, from liberalism to the recognition of the rights of sexual
minorities, from Protestantism to comfortable prisons for murderers, arouse in
us suspicion, wonder and alienation", said Yevgeny Bazhanov, one of Putin's
"intellectuals". Putin has apparently even managed to win the support of the
most renowned Russian musicians, such as the conductor Valery Gergiev,
superintendent at the St. Petersburg Marjinskij theater.
Even in foreign policy, Putin often justifies its decisions with references to
Christianity. The New York Times explained that, in addition to strategic and
economic interests, a major reason to explain Russian support for Assad's regime
in Syria is the uncompromising position of the Orthodox Church. The Russian
Patriarch Kirill evoked, in fact, the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, with its
endless "carcasses of defiled churches."
Before that, there was the historical role of Russia in defense of Armenian
Christians against Turkish pro-Western Muslims, and Christian Serbs against
Bosnian Muslims supported by the U.S. To try to justify the invasion of the
Crimea, Putin said that is "our Temple Mount," a reference to Judaism's holiest
site in Jerusalem.
Vladimir Putin has presided for years over the great revival of Orthodox
Christianity. On the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian church had
50,000 parishes and 60 schools. By 1941, Stalin had eliminated the church as a
public institution. Every monastery and seminary had been closed. With the fall
of communism in 1991, the church began to rebuild its devastated institutional
life. Putin's Russia is returning to the concept of Byzantine symphonia -- an
approach in which church and state work together.
The church apparently aspires to achieve the "re-Christianization of the Russian
nation." Although as much as 70% of Russians call themselves Orthodox and are
baptized, only 4% take part in the liturgy. But Russia is also one of the few
countries in the Western world in which religion is becoming increasingly
important and not less.
To establish his authority over the Russian society, Putin has shaped a doctrine
mobilizing the entire Russian society against a perceived Western "decadence."
The Kremlin has closely followed the opposition to gay marriage in France and
tensions over migrants in the European Union. Putin then launched a conservative
offensive aimed at both Russians and Europeans. As the Wall Street Journal
wrote, "Putin Depicts Russia as a Bulwark Against European Decadence."
Against a perceived Western amnesia about its own Christian past, moral
relativism and political correctness, Putin affirmed the Christian roots of
Russia, traditional family values, patriotism and obedience to hierarchy.
"According to him, in essence, Europe has entered a phase of decadence, while
Russia is in an ascending phase of its history", Michel Eltchaninoff says of
Putin.
"He relies on the pseudo-scientific model of Konstantin Leontiev, one of whose
most famous concepts Vladimir Putin is fond of quoting: that of 'flourishing
complexity'. According to the Russian philosopher, who took a fervently
anti-European and anti-bourgeois position, any civilisation, after a period of
original simplicity, reaches its apex in an era of flourishing complexity,
before declining into a period of simplification and confusion. For Leontiev,
ever since the Renaissance, Europe has ceased to give birth to saints and
geniuses, and only engenders engineers, parliamentarians and ethics professors.
It makes everything uniform, through its mode of development and its conformism.
But it is also confused. Its inhabitants are lost, and no longer know how to
give meaning to their lives. They show themselves to be incapable of perceiving
an inspiring superior principle."
The first Cold War was a clash between Western democracy and the Soviet
dictatorship of the proletariat. Western freedom crushed the Soviet gulags. The
new Cold War is a one between Western liberalism and Russian conservatism.
As happened during the first Cold War, when the Soviets depicted capitalism as a
Western fault, avaricious and amoral, the burden is presumably again on the West
to prove it has better way of life and that its society is not just a "decadent"
stereotype. Meanwhile, against the West's visible lack of self-confidence and
the deterioration of Europe's élite, Putin's geopolitical and ideological
hegemony is getting stronger.
Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
© 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.
Hungary to
Amend Constitution to Block EU Migrant Plan/"Brussels or Budapest, that was the
question, and the people said Budapest."
Soeren Kern/ Gatestone Institute/October 09/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9088/hungary-migrants
The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, all former Communist countries, also
oppose the EU plan to relocate 160,000 "asylum seekers," which they say is an
"EU diktat" that infringes on national sovereignty.
"One of the principals underpinning the system is the primacy of EU law." —
Margaritis Schinas, chief spokesperson for European Commission.
"In the early autumn of 2015 we erected a fence on the external green border of
the European Union and the Schengen Area. This was to protect the European
Union's greatest achievement: free movement within the common area of the
internal market.... We do not want to distribute the migration burdens falling
on Europe, but we want to eliminate them: to put an end to them." — Hungarian
President Viktor Orbán, July 11, 2016.
"We do not like the consequences of having a large number of Muslim communities
that we see in other countries... That is a historical experience for us." —
Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, September 3, 2015.
"We lose our European values and identity the way frogs are cooked in
slowly-heating water. Quite simply, slowly there will be more and more Muslims,
and we will no longer recognize Europe." — Hungarian President Viktor Orbán,
September 30, 2016.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has proposed amending the Constitution to
prevent the European Union from settling migrants in Hungary without the
approval of Parliament.
In a speech on October 4, Orbán said the amendment would be presented to
Parliament on October 10, and, if approved, it would come into effect on
November 8.
Hungarian voters overwhelmingly rejected the European Union's mandatory migrant
relocation plan in a referendum on October 2, but failed to turn out in
sufficient numbers to make the referendum legally binding.
More than 97% of those who voted in the referendum answered 'no' to the
question: "Do you want the European Union to be entitled to prescribe the
mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary without the consent of
the National Assembly?"
Voter turnout was only 40%, however, far short of the 50% participation required
to make the referendum valid under Hungarian law.
Orbán has been a vocal opponent of the EU's plan to relocate 160,000 "asylum
seekers" from Greece and Italy. Under the scheme, 1,294 migrants would be moved
to Hungary. The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, all former Communist
countries, are also opposed to the EU plan, which they say is an "EU diktat"
that infringes on national sovereignty.
Although the referendum has been invalidated, Orbán — whose eurosceptic Fidesz
party has more support than all opposition parties combined — said he would not
be deterred. Speaking to supporters after the polls closed, he said:
"The European Union's proposal is to let the migrants in and distribute them in
mandatory fashion among the member states and for Brussels to decide about this
distribution. Hungarians today considered this proposal and they rejected it.
Hungarians decided that only we Hungarians can decide with whom we want to live.
The question was 'Brussels or Budapest' and we decided this issue is exclusively
the competence of Budapest."
In an address to Parliament on October 3, Orbán hailed the vote as a "great
victory" and reiterated his plan to amend the Hungarian Constitution to ensure
that the EU cannot settle migrants in Hungary. He said:
"No party or party alliance in the history of Hungarian democracy has ever
received such a large mandate. I'm telling you with sufficient gentleness, we
will not let the opinion of the 3.3 million people who voted 'no' to be ignored.
"... with sufficient modesty and restraint I must say that Hungarians made
history yesterday. If it is true that history is written by the victors then
with a resounding victory of the 'no' votes Hungary won yesterday."
In Brussels, Margaritis Schinas, chief spokesperson for European Commission, the
powerful administrative arm of the European Union, said that regardless of the
referendum, EU law still takes precedence over Hungarian law. He said:
"On the referendum, if it had been legally valid, our comment would have been
that we take note of it. Since it was declared legally void by the Hungarian
electoral commission, we can now say that we also take note of it.... One of the
principals underpinning the system is the primacy of EU law."
The EU's unrelenting stance, and Orbán's continued opposition to it, implies
that the intra-European fight over what to do with hundreds of thousands of
migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East is far from over.
Some 400,000 migrants passed through Hungary in 2015 on their way toward Western
Europe. Since then, Hungary has built fences on its borders with Serbia and
Croatia, effectively cutting off the so-called Western Balkan Route, which
constitutes the main land route through Eastern Europe for migrants who enter
the EU from Turkey via Greece and Bulgaria.
Migrants protest at Budapest Keleti railway station, September 4, 2015. (Image
source: Mstyslav Chernov/Wikimedia Commons)
Orbán, who has emerged as the standard-bearer of European opposition to German
Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open-door" migration policy, has rejected criticism
of the fences. In a July 11, 2016 article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he
wrote:
"In the summer of 2015, with complete disregard for European rules, more than
ten thousand migrants a day were arriving at the Hungarian-Serbian border. These
people had already been in the territory of another Member State: in the
territory of both the EU and the Schengen Area. As it is the responsibility of a
country on the Schengen Area's external border to ensure that the crossing of
that external border is controlled, Hungary had no choice but to erect a
physical barrier.
"Germany, and a considerable section of German public opinion, were unable to
comprehend — and some people are still unable to do so — how Hungary, the
country that tore down the iron curtain, could resort to such a measure.
"I understand how German society, which for decades was divided by walls and
barbed wire, dislikes the fence. But if anyone has the moral standing to explain
this to their German friends, surely the Hungarians do. After all, it was
Hungary that cut through the Iron Curtain which divided Europe — and the German
people — in the decades after the Second World War....
"In 1989 we dismantled a fence which divided the peoples of Europe. In the early
autumn of 2015 we erected a fence on the external green border of the European
Union and the Schengen Area. This was to protect the European Union's greatest
achievement: free movement within the common area of the internal market. This
free movement is protected by the Schengen Agreement, in accordance with jointly
agreed European regulations ratified many years ago. As a result, we have been
protecting the European people's way of life and economic model — at least on
the section of Europe's external border for which we are responsible. And, no
less crucially, we have been protecting their security....
"When some people hear comments such as these they automatically react with the
accusation of populism. As Shakespeare would put it, however, populists are
people who call a spade a spade. We Hungarians call things by their names. This
is part of our nature. We do not want to distribute the migration burdens
falling on Europe, but we want to eliminate them: to put an end to them."
Orbán has repeatedly warned that Muslim refugees are threatening Europe's
Christian identity.
At a news conference after a meeting with other European leaders in Brussels,
Orbán said:
"We don't want to, and I think we have a right to decide that we do not want a
large number of Muslim people in our country. We do not like the consequences of
having a large number of Muslim communities that we see in other countries and I
do not see any reason for anyone else to force us to create ways of living
together in Hungary that we do not want to see. That is a historical experience
for us."
Orbán was referring to the 150-year Ottoman Turkish occupation of Hungary, which
began with the Siege of Buda in 1541, and ended with the Treaty of Karlowitz in
1699, when the Ottomans ceded Hungary to the Habsburg Monarchy.
The Ottoman conquest of Hungary actually began at the Battle of Mohács in 1526,
when Turkish forces led by Sultan Suleiman I destroyed the Hungarian army and
partitioned the country. Some 15,000 Hungarian troops were killed in the battle
and many of those who survived were beheaded by Turkish forces.
Over the next century and a half, the Ottoman forces occupying Hungary plundered
and pillaged the land and took more than a million Hungarians as slaves,
according to Paul Fregosi, the author of Jihad, a history of Muslim holy war
against Christians.
In a September 3, 2015 essay published by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Orbán
wrote:
"Let us not forget that those arriving have been raised in another religion, and
represent a radically different culture. Most of them are not Christians, but
Muslims. This is an important question, because Europe and European identity is
rooted in Christianity. Is it not worrying in itself that European Christianity
is now barely able to keep Europe Christian? If we lose sight of this, the idea
of Europe could become a minority interest in its own continent."
Speaking at a September 30, 2016 rally in support of the referendum, Orbán said:
"We lose our European values and identity the way frogs are cooked in
slowly-heating water. Quite simply, slowly there will be more and more Muslims,
and we will no longer recognize Europe. What we have seen so far from the
people's migration have only been warm-up rounds. The real battle is yet to
come."
When asked if he thought the EU could override Hungarian law, Orbán replied:
"I can't imagine that there is a state among the democratic community of Europe
which says clearly that it doesn't want something, and then in another capital,
they try to override it. Brussels, for example.
"I think this would be unprecedented in the history of the European Union, so I
don't think there would be a decision like this, a decision raping democracy. I
have a much better opinion of the European Union."
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He
is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de
Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on
Twitter.
© 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.