LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

October 18/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today

If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 16/01-12/:"The Lord Jesus said to the disciples: ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, "What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer." Then the manager said to himself, "What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes." So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, "How much do you owe my master?" He answered, "A hundred jugs of olive oil." He said to him, "Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty."
Then he asked another, "And how much do you owe?" He replied, "A hundred containers of wheat." He said to him, "Take your bill and make it eighty." And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.
If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?"

As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless
First Letter to the Corinthians 01/01-09/:"Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 17-18/16

FPM firm message: Elect Aoun president or escalation/Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/ October 17/16
Berri refuses to back Aoun for president despite mounting pressure/Joseph A. Kechichian/Gulf News/October 17/16 |
What Should Americans Be Talking About/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/October 17/16
It Is How We Become to Jihad/Hakim Haider/ Gatestone Institute/October 17/16
What’s the plan, pretty one/Turki Aldakhil/Arabiya/October 17/17
The tragedy of Aleppo and the Syrian people/Eyad Abu Shakra/Arabiya/October 17/17
Nobel for Bob Dylan furthers popular vs literary argument/Yossi Mekelberg/Arabiya/October 17/17
Saudi role in regaining rights of Palestinians/Samar Fatany/Arabiya/October 17/17
Regional challenges demand stronger Saudi-US partnership/Andrew J. Bowen/Arabiya/October 17/17
Tension rises on Temple Mount during Jewish holy days/Ben Caspit/Al Monitor/October 17/16
 Muslim, Jewish Religious Leaders Denounce Violence, Promote Peace in Unprecedented Israeli-Palestinian Meeting/The Washington Institute/October 17, 2016

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on  October 17-18/16

Hariri Returns to Beirut, Meets French Diplomat
FPM MP Says Hariri to Declare Support of Aoun's Nomination 'This Week'
Kataeb Rejects Turning Presidential Election into a 'Deal'
Geagea Discusses Presidential Developments with French Diplomat
French Official Holds Talks with al-Rahi on Possible Int'l Lebanon Meeting
French Official Holds Talks with al-Rahi on Possible Int'l Lebanon Meeting
Miqati: Major Gap between My Electorate and FPM's Candidate
Army Arrests 30 Syrians in Akkar Crackdown
Judge Charges Yassine and 17 Others for Links to IS
Judge Saqr Appeals Release of ex-Mufti Tarras
Jumblat Says Signal Received on Presidency...'God Save us'
Kataeb: We refuse changing democracy into package deal in presidential election
Geagea, French envoy dwell on current juncture
Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Nohad Mashnouq, meets STL's Roux
ISIS terrorists killed by Lebanese army fire in Bekaa
FPM firm message: Elect Aoun president or escalation
Berri refuses to back Aoun for president despite mounting pressure
High-ranking Hezbollah commander, Hatem Hamedeh killed in Aleppo
Hariri to endorse Aoun 'in coming days': LF lawmaker
Former Lebanese Prime Minister, Hariri: Iran Regime is Shedding Blood and Hitting Islamic Unity

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on  October 17-18/16
Iranian official boasts about republic’s interference in region
Syrian opposition captures town of Dabiq from ISIS
Syria intelligence chief in Cairo for security talks
EU persuaded to condemn Russia over Syria
Iraq requests participation of Iran’s Soleimani in Mosul campaign: report
Heavy IS Casualties as Army Bombs Militant Posts on Eastern Border
Pentagon Says Iraqi Forces 'Ahead of Schedule' in Mosul
Moscow Announces 8-Hour Aleppo Ceasefire by Russian, Syrian Forces Thursday
Saudi: ‘Euphrates Shield’ important step to defeat ISIS
Anti-ISIS Mosul operation: Latest developments
First 14 unaccompanied children from Calais “Jungle” reach Britain
Israeli raid victims fear Turkish court to halt case
Kuwait parliament elections set for Nov 26
Latest Taliban offensives kill dozens, displace thousands in Afghanistan
Tunisia dismantles cell planning attack on ‘senior official’
Italian mob sells weapons to ISIS in Libya
US air strikes pound Libya’s Sirte to oust ISIS militants
Egyptian puts seriously burned daughter on US flight for medical care
The Shocking Confession of an Iranian Authority About the Addiction In Iran
Suppression and assassination in Iran’s Baluchestan – South Eastern Province
Iran: family forced to put their children on sale due to not affording hospital costs
Iran: humiliating conditions in exchange for release from prison
Political prisoner in critical condition in Karaj Prison (Western Tehran)
1 Dead, 6 Missing in Blast at German Chemical Plant

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on  October 17-18/16
UN meeting: Iran demands halt in arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia
Canada: Muslim activist says Sharia can be gradually implemented in North America
Heroic rescue: Islamic State jihadist killed before he abuses sex slaves
German Home Secretary on migrants: “We have underestimated the role of religion”
Germany: Schools on lockdown following threats of mass shootings
Vienna: Government wants to identify Muslim youth “latently vulnerable” to “radicalization” and establish “dialogue” with them
Abbas holds presidential reception for family of jihad murderer, lauds him as “hero”

Links From Christian Today Site for on  October 17-18/16
Battle For Mosul Begins - But Will There Be Any Christians Left?
The Battle To Retake Mosul: What Will It Mean For Civilians?
ISIS Militants Blow Up Church In Iraq
Boko Haram 'Ready To Release 83 More Chibok Schoolgirls', Government Says
Boko Haram Frees 21 Kidnapped Chibok Schoolgirls In Nigeria
More Christians Killed In Nigeria By Islamist Terrorists Of Boko Haram
Why The Church Has Got To Start Caring About Persecuted Christians
Nigeria: Families of missing Chibok schoolgirls to receive trauma counselling
This Could Be The Biggest Move Against Abortion In 50 Years
3 Places That Need Your Prayers This Weekend
Prayers Needed Urgently For Christians Facing Death Penalty In Sudan
45,000 People Baptised At Rick Warren's Saddleback Church
Car Bomb Explodes Near Syria's Holiest Shi'ite Mosque

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on  October 17-18/16

Hariri Returns to Beirut, Meets French Diplomat
Naharnet/October 17/16/Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri returned Monday evening to Beirut from a foreign trip. Shortly after his return, Hariri held talks at the Center House with Jerome Bonnafont, the head of the Africa and Middle East department at the French foreign ministry, his office said. Bonnafont was accompanied by French Ambassador to Lebanon Emmanuel Bonne. Talks tackled “the situations in Lebanon and the region from all aspects,” Hariri's office said in a terse statement. Bonnafont is in Lebanon for a 48-hour visit and he held separate talks on Monday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. He is scheduled to hold talks with other leaders in the coming hours. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel 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. Education Minister Elias Bou Saab of the FPM announced Sunday that Hariri has officially decided to endorse Aoun's presidential nomination in a bid to break the presidential deadlock. 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.

FPM MP Says Hariri to Declare Support of Aoun's Nomination 'This Week'
Naharnet/October 17/16/Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri will announce his endorsement of the presidential bid of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun “this week,” MP Alain Aoun of the FPM said on Monday. “We knew that Hariri would return to Lebanon today,” Alain Aoun said in a TV interview. Hariri returned Monday evening to Beirut from a foreign trip. The ex-PM has been exploring the possibility of endorsing Aoun for several weeks now and on Sunday Education Minister Elias Bou Saab of the FPM announced that Hariri has officially decided to endorse Aoun's presidential bid. 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 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.

Kataeb Rejects Turning Presidential Election into a 'Deal'
Naharnet/October 17/16/The Kataeb Party on Monday said that it rejects attempts to “turn the process of electing a president from a democratic practice” into a “deal.”In a statement issued after its political bureau's weekly meeting, the party stressed its keenness on “implementing the Constitution and abiding by its stipulations.”“The Kataeb Party rejects replacing democracy with the distribution of shares, personal gains and foreign diktats, and it also rejects turning the process of electing a president from a democratic practice into a deal vote,” it added. “The party will remain the sovereign voice that echoes loudly to rescue the republic,” Kataeb said, adding that it will continue to “reject surrender and insist on the right of the Lebanese to see an end to the presidential void and the election of a president who would distance Lebanon from conflicts.”The next president must also “enjoy full independence in his decisions away from any foreign or domestic agendas,” the party added. Kataeb has repeatedly reiterated that it would not vote for any presidential candidate carrying the political vision of the Hizbullah-led March 8 camp. Two of Hizbullah's allies – Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh – are vying for the country's top Christian post. Aoun's chances have largely surged in recent days amid reports that al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri has decided to shift his support from Franjieh to the FPM founder. 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 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.

Geagea Discusses Presidential Developments with French Diplomat
Naharnet/October 17/16/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday discussed the latest developments regarding the presidential file with a visiting French delegation, state-run National News Agency reported. During the meeting, Jerome Bonnafont, the head of the Africa and Middle East department at the French foreign ministry, told Geagea that “France is worried over the economic and social situations in Lebanon, which have reached the brink of collapse,” NNA said. “He also said that his visit is aimed at exploring the political leaders' stances to determine if it is possible to elect a president in the upcoming electoral session,” the agency added. The French visitor stressed that “France will always stand by Lebanon in order to strengthen security and stability, combat terror and support the economy.” Talks also tackled the regional situations, especially the developments in Syria and the international-backed campaign to recapture Iraq's Mosul from the hands of the Islamic State jihadist group. According to NNA, Bonnafont's 48-hour visit to Lebanon is a completion of the visit that French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault paid to the country in June and he is scheduled to meet with several other political leaders.
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Hariri's move prompted Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties. Aoun's chances have largely surged in recent days amid reports that Hariri has decided to shift his support from Franjieh to the FPM founder. 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.

French Official Holds Talks with al-Rahi on Possible Int'l Lebanon Meeting
Naharnet/October 17/16/A French diplomat held talks Monday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi over the most important developments on the local and regional scenes, Lebanon's National News Agency reported. After the talks, Jerome Bonnafont, the head of the Africa and Middle East department at the French foreign ministry, said he carried to the patriarch “a message of friendship from the French authorities.”“Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has asked me to head to Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials and discuss with them the idea of organizing an international meeting in support of Lebanon before the end of the year,” Bonnafont said. The suggested meeting would discuss possible support from the international community to Lebanon “amid this dire situation that it is going through because of the refugee crisis and the paralysis of state institutions,” the French diplomat explained. “We hope the work of institutions will be reactivated so that Lebanon can restore its normal life and move forward on the path of economic dynamism, confidence and safety,” he added. Ayrault had held talks with al-Rahi in July during an official visit to Lebanon. Last month, French President Francois Hollande told Prime Minister Tammam Salam during a New York meeting that France is preparing for a Paris meeting for the International Support Group for Lebanon that will be held in November in order to “take the necessary measures to help Lebanon at all levels.”Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Hariri's initiative followed a Paris meeting with Franjieh. Aoun's chances have largely surged in recent days amid reports that Hariri has decided to shift his support from Franjieh to the FPM founder. 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.

French Official Holds Talks with al-Rahi on Possible Int'l Lebanon Meeting
Naharnet/October 17/16/A French diplomat held talks Monday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi over the most important developments on the local and regional scenes, Lebanon's National News Agency reported. After the talks, Jerome Bonnafont, the head of the Africa and Middle East department at the French foreign ministry, said he carried to the patriarch “a message of friendship from the French authorities.”“Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has asked me to head to Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials and discuss with them the idea of organizing an international meeting in support of Lebanon before the end of the year,” Bonnafont said.
The suggested meeting would discuss possible support from the international community to Lebanon “amid this dire situation that it is going through because of the refugee crisis and the paralysis of state institutions,” the French diplomat explained.
“We hope the work of institutions will be reactivated so that Lebanon can restore its normal life and move forward on the path of economic dynamism, confidence and safety,” he added. Ayrault had held talks with al-Rahi in July during an official visit to Lebanon.
Last month, French President Francois Hollande told Prime Minister Tammam Salam during a New York meeting that France is preparing for a Paris meeting for the International Support Group for Lebanon that will be held in November in order to “take the necessary measures to help Lebanon at all levels.” Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.
Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Hariri's initiative followed a Paris meeting with Franjieh. Aoun's chances have largely surged in recent days amid reports that Hariri has decided to shift his support from Franjieh to the FPM founder. 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.

Miqati: Major Gap between My Electorate and FPM's Candidate
Naharnet/October 17/16/Tripoli MP and ex-PM Najib Miqati told a Free Patriotic Movement delegation on Monday that there is a “major gap” between his supporters and FPM founder MP Michel Aoun, whose chances to be elected president have largely surged in recent days. “We share the FPM's vision regarding the essential, national and reformist issues, but as to the presidency I was clear with the FPM delegation about the presence of a major gap between a segment of the Lebanese, especially those whom I represent, and the FPM's candidate,” Miqati said after talks at his office with MPs Simon Abi Ramia and Alain Aoun. “We discussed this issue and this remains my stance and hopefully the stances will become clearer in the coming days,” the ex-PM added. “I explained that any bilateral agreements cannot negate the historic accumulations regarding the ties among all Lebanese,” Miqati went on to say. Education Minister Elias Bou Saab of the FPM announced Sunday that al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri has officially decided to endorse Aoun's presidential bid. 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.

Army Arrests 30 Syrians in Akkar Crackdown
Naharnet/October 17/16/The army on Monday raided a number of Syrian refugee encampments and residence places in the outskirts of the Akkar towns of al-Sheikh Mohammed, Halba and Tal Abbas, state-run National News Agency reported. Thirty Syrians were arrested in the raids on charges of failure to present legal identification and residency papers, NNA said.They were referred to the relevant judicial authorities.A number of unlicensed motorcycles were also seized in the crackdown, the agency added.

Judge Charges Yassine and 17 Others for Links to IS
Naharnet/October 17/16/State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr prosecuted the so-called Emir of the Islamic State group in Ain el-Hilweh, Imad Yassine, and 17 others on charges of carrying out terror acts in favor of the Islamic State group, the National News Agency reported on Monday. Most of the prosecuted were Palestinian nationals and they include a prisoner from the Akkoush family, added NNA. They were all charged with belonging to the IS and with carrying out terror acts, receiving information from the leaders of the organization in al-Reqqa, preparing to target tourist sites, military and security centers and Lebanese army positions, preparing to detonate bombs in different places, assassination attempts against one of the officials whose name was not disclosed. The judge referred the file to the First Military Investigating Judge. In September, the army intelligence arrested Yassine in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh after receiving orders from IS foreign operations chief Abu Khaled al-Iraqi to stage major Iraq-like bombings across Lebanon. The terrorist groups are also seeking, to “create major chaos, destruction and terror in the various Lebanese regions, especially in Beirut and its southern suburbs, through targeting gatherings and densely-populated areas,” media reports has said

Judge Saqr Appeals Release of ex-Mufti Tarras
Naharnet/October 17/16/State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr appealed a decision to release Muslim cleric Sheikh Bassam Tarras over links to a terror group, the National News Agency reported on Monday. First Military Investigative Judge Riad Abou Ghaida questioned the ex-Mufti Tarras Monday and released him on travel ban, NNA said. But Judge Saqr, who charged Tarras last week with communicating with the Islamic State group militants, has appealed the decision before the Military Court. In September, the General Security held Sheikh al-Tarras briefly in accusations of meeting Islamic State members and the mastermind of the Ksara attack during a visit to Turkey. Tarras was rearrested early in October after a brief detention before Eid al-Adha, in the case of the Ksara bombing that rocked the city of Zahle in August.

Jumblat Says Signal Received on Presidency...'God Save us'
Naharnet/October 17/16/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said that Lebanon has probably received a signal from abroad as for the presidential elections, as he voiced fears of the future consequences. “It seems that the signal has been received, God save us,” said Jumblat in a Tweet on Monday. Jumblat's comments came in parallel with a telephone conversation that al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri has received on Sunday from Saudi Arabia while in Paris, media reports said. Following the telephone call, Hariri traveled to Saudi Arabia on board his private airplane, added the reports. An Nahar daily quoted well-informed sources who explained Jumblat's comments, they said: “Jumblat was informed that the signal includes a rejection of Hariri's presidential path (as for nominating MP Michel Aoun) by officials in Riyadh as well as a rejection of Hariri's premiership from the March 8 alliance prompting fears of possible repercussions which made him say 'God save us'.”Free Patriotic Movement founder Aoun's chances to be elected president have largely surged in recent days and Education Minister Elias Bou Saab of the FPM announced Sunday that ex-PM Saad Hariri has officially decided to endorse Aoun's presidential bid. Endorsing Aoun for Lebanon's top state post is not totally met with open arms by political factions or regional powers. Speaker Nabih Berri, for example, has reiterated more than once that he will “never support” Aoun's nomination. Media reports link Lebanon's presidential deadlock to regional issues mainly the war in Syria and the Saudi-Iranian ties. 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.

Kataeb: We refuse changing democracy into package deal in presidential election
Mon 17 Oct 2016/NNA - Kataeb party underscored the national constants it already raised high and expressed keenness on previously, refusing changing the practice of democracy in presidential election to a sort of package deal. Kataeb political bureau on Monday convened under the chairmanship of head of Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel. "The party will remain owning that high sovereign voice in favor of rescuing the republic and eill remain adhering to the principle of democracy also...The party will remain sticking to the public right for ending the presidential vacuum and electing a president able to disassociate Lebanon from conflicts, a president enjoying independent decisions away from foreign or local agendas," said the party.

Geagea, French envoy dwell on current juncture
Mon 17 Oct 2016/NNA - Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, welcomed, at his Maarab residence on Monday, head the North Africa and Middle East Department at the French Foreign Ministry, Jérôme Bonnafont, in presence of French Ambassador to Lebanon, Emmanuel Bonne. Bonnafont reportedly conveyed to Geagea France's concern over the economic and financial condition in the country, confirming that his government will always side with Lebanon "in order to enhance security and stability, combat terrorism, and uphold the economy." The envoy's visit comes within his political tour to sense the likelihood of a president election in the next House session. The pair did not fail to tackle regional developments, especially in Syria and Iraq.

Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Nohad Mashnouq, meets STL's Roux
Mon 17 Oct 2016/NNA - Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Nohad Mashnouq, met on Monday with Head of Defense Office at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, François Roux, who informed him of the course of work of the UN-backed court.

ISIS terrorists killed by Lebanese army fire in Bekaa
Mon 17 Oct 2016/NNA - The Lebanese army bombed ISIS hotbeds in the outskirts of Qaa and Arsal, as well as in Ras Baalback, killing and injuring a crowd of terrorists, National News Agency correspondent reported on Monday.

FPM firm message: Elect Aoun president or escalation
Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/ October 17/16
BEIRUT: Thousands of Free Patriotic Movement supporters turned out Sunday near the presidential palace in the Beirut suburb of Baabda in a show of force apparently intended to step up pressure on former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to endorse MP Michel Aoun’s candidacy for the presidency.
Held under the slogan: “Either there is the National Charter, or there is no Lebanon,” the FPM rally was primarily aimed at sending a clear but firm message that the party will accept nothing short of electing Aoun as president if its threatened street protests over the alleged marginalization of Christians in state posts are to be averted.Aoun, the FPM founder, addressed the rally via video link but did not attend in person.
The rally was also addressed by party leader and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, and attended by Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, FPM lawmakers, and thousands of supporters waving the party’s orange flags and Aoun’s portraits. But the crowd, estimated at only a few thousand, fell short of the FPM’s expectations of a massive turnout in light of the party’s preparations and the mobilization of its loyalists over the past two weeks. Addressing the rally from his residence in Rabieh, north of Beirut, via huge screens erected along the road to the Baabda Palace via a video link, Aoun adopted a conciliatory tone, avoiding his usual tough rhetoric against his political opponents, namely the Future Movement and its March 14 allies.
The rally comes as Hariri is coming under pressure at home to take a final stance on Aoun’s presidential bid. Hariri’s round of intensive consultations with top Lebanese leaders and senior Saudi and French officials in the past two weeks have signaled that he might shift his support from Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh to Aoun as a means of ending the presidential vacuum, now in its third year. The rally staged along the road leading to the Baabda Palace – often referred to as the “House of the People” by FPM officials – symbolizes the party’s determination to have Aoun elected as president.
In his speech, Aoun underlined that respecting the Constitution and the country’s equal power-sharing formula between Christians and Muslims was the key to building a proper state. Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, also stressed that Lebanon would not exist without the National Charter, which enshrines equality between Muslims and Christians. “The first step toward building the nation is respecting the Constitution, the National Charter, laws and guaranteed and balanced partnership to all sects without spitefulness, isolation or suppression,” Aoun told the rally to commemorate his ouster from the palace on Oct. 13, 1990.
“The building of the nation is by putting an end to favoritism and nepotism, respecting qualifications in selection, renewing loyalty to the state and ... renewing the political elite through a fair electoral law that ensures true representation to all the nation’s components,” he said.
Future Movement MP Mohammad Qabbani said Aoun’s conciliatory speech was motivated by his presidential aspirations. “Aoun delivered a conciliatory speech because he wants to be elected as president. The speech came after 15 years of provocation against the Future Movement and the Sunni community,” Qabbani told The Daily Star. Aoun said building the nation required creating an appropriate economic and administrative environment to bring back thousands of Lebanese youths working abroad, holding the highest positions in several fields. Aoun, who is standing against Frangieh in the presidential race, did not touch in his speech on any political issue or Hariri’s current efforts to end the deadlock.
Future Movement sources scoffed at the FPM officials’ optimism that Hariri is expected to declare this week his support for Aoun’s candidacy for the presidency. “The majority of the Future bloc [31 MPs] opposes Aoun’s election as president,” a Future source told The Daily Star, adding that Hariri was still pondering all options regarding the presidential election.But Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan said in a statement he expected Hariri to announce his support for Aoun’s candidacy in the next two days, which would set the stage for the election of the FPM founder at the Parliament session on Oct. 31. “The Future bloc is united over Aoun’s option, [Hezbollah leader] Sayyed Hasan [Nasrallah] is honest in backing [Aoun’s] candidacy, and the Lebanese Forces are committed [to supporting Aoun]. Therefore, the FPM’s [lawmakers] must decide and go to the [Parliament] electoral session.”The FPM rally commemorated fateful events on Oct. 13, 1990, when the Syrian army bombarded the Baabda Presidential Palace, forcing Aoun, who was army commander at the time, to take refuge at the French Embassy before he went into self-exile to France in 1991.
Aoun, who at the time headed an interim military government after Parliament failed to elect a successor to the then-President Amine Gemayel, was engaged in battle with the Syrian military over his strong opposition to the 1989 Taif Accord which ended the 1975-90 Civil War. Aoun returned to Lebanon in May 2005, a few weeks after Syria withdrew its army from Lebanon under local and international pressure, ending nearly three decades of its domination of the country. Aoun and other FPM officials have demanded strict adherence to the National Charter’s power-sharing formula. Addressing the rally, Bassil said that the FPM’s dream was to see Aoun become president. “We dream of genuine national unity and coexistence. Yes, our dream is for Michel Aoun to stand on the balcony of the Baabda Palace and call out ‘Oh great people of Lebanon,’” he said, in reference to a quote used by Aoun when addressing his supporters from the palace in 1990. “We entered Parliament, the government, the [state] administration, development, and now there is still the presidency,” he added.
Bassil stressed that without the National Charter, Lebanon would not exist as a nation. “Without its charter, Lebanon is not a nation. It is the charter of equal coexistence between Muslims and Christians,” he said. “Our dream today is the nation and to clean it, not only from garbage, but also from corruption.”
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai reiterated his rejection of a package deal proposal or understandings to end the presidential stalemate. He also criticized lawmakers for failing to carry out their duty for more than two years to elect a president as stipulated by the Constitution. “We must return to the [National] Charter and the Constitution both in letter and spirit to carry out the great national duty which is the election of a president,” Rai said in Sunday’s sermon at his seat in Bkirki, north of Beirut. “The Lebanese people are fed up with a political practice for two years and six months during which [politicians] discussed a package deal at one time, and understandings at another, most of which, it seems, serve one thing: Sharing of spoils at the expense of Lebanon and its people,” Rai added.
 

Berri refuses to back Aoun for president despite mounting pressure
Joseph A. Kechichian/Gulf News/October 17/16 |
Future Movement leader Sa’ad Hariri calls for a ‘unified stance’ from March 8 politicians over presidency
Beirut: Anti-Syrian Future Movement leader Sa’ad Hariri will not declare his support for Free Patriotic Movement founder Michel Aoun for president unless the pro-Syrian March 8 alliance, particularly parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, agrees and takes a unified stance in that regard, media reports said on Monday. “I will not nominate Aoun, don’t you try with me,” Berri said on Sunday, despite the fact that Aoun is the official candidate of Hezbollah. “Saudi Arabia will never accept Aoun as a president, and will prevent his arrival at the Baabda Palace even though he garners the support of Hariri,” he said. Hariri’s statement has put the onus on pro-Syrian March 8 politicians, testing their commitment to electing a president in the country. March 8 politicians have been widely quoted in the media saying that Hariri has endorsed Aoun and will make the announcement “soon”. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Sulaiman ended in May 2014 and Hezbollah and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament’s electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.
Observers point to Hezbollah’s boycott as confirmation that Damascus is not interested in electing Aoun as president and prefers a weak state with no president at all. Hariri’s official candidate for the post is Marada Movement leader Sulaiman Franjieh, but recent reports say he has been mulling to switch his support to Aoun. On Monday, Mohammad Mashnouq, the minister of environment and a close confidant of Prime Minister Tammam Salam added credibility to the circulating rumours. “There is a retreat in [verbal] escalations, and instead the adoption of a comprehensive sectarian coalition to build an understanding, and the absence of differences in anticipation for what will be announced in the coming days,” he tweeted. Under the alleged agreement, Hariri would become prime minister and Aoun, president, a position he has long coveted. But backing Aoun would put Hariri in direct conflict with most of the 35 Future Movement parliamentarians, creating internal rifts within the party, not to mention with Saudi Arabia. On Monday, Druze leader Walid Junblatt said that Lebanon has probably received a signal from abroad, as he voiced fears of the future consequences. “It seems that the signal has been received, God save us,” said Junblatt in a tweet on Monday.
His comments came in parallel with a telephone conversation that Hariri was received on Sunday from Saudi Arabia while in Paris, media reports said. Following the telephone call, Hariri travelled to Saudi Arabia on board his private airplane, added the reports. Al Nahar daily quoted well-informed sources who explained Junblatt’s comments, they said: “Junblatt was informed that the signal includes a rejection of Hariri’s presidential path [as for nominating MP Michel Aoun] by officials in Riyadh as well as a rejection of Hariri’s premiership from the March 8 alliance prompting fears of possible repercussions which made him say ‘God save us’.” Lebanon’s presidential deadlock has been linked to regional issues mainly the war in Syria and the Saudi-Iranian ties.

High-ranking Hezbollah commander, Hatem Hamedeh killed in Aleppo
Hatem Hamedeh was one of the top officials in the Radwan Forces, Hezbollah's elite special operations unit.
BEIRUT – A high-ranking Hezbollah commander has been killed in Aleppo, the latest casualty suffered by the Lebanese party fighting on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. A pro-Hezbollah outlet which publicizes funerals of the party's fighters killed "in confrontation with the mercenaries of disbelief and Wahhabism”—a reference to Sunni militants–announced on October 17 the death of Hatem Hamadeh, who was only described as a “commander.”Another announcement of his “martyrdom” clarified that Hamadeh was the “deputy official of the Radwan Forces,” Hezbollah’s elite special operations unit.
The mourning notices, which were circulated in his predominantly Shiite-populated hometown of Qmatiyeh situated in the mountains outside Aley, did not specify where Hamadeh died. However, another media outlet that supports Hezbollah revealed that the military official was killed in the “1070 Apartment Projects,” a flashpoint front in the southwestern edge of Aleppo where rebels have engaged in fierce battles against advancing pro-Assad forces. According to Mulhak news, an IED blew up a vehicle Hamadeh was in, killing him while injuring another field commander and a number of Hezbollah fighters accompanying the two officers. The pro-Hezbollah outlet claimed that Hamadeh was driving through the “1070 Apartment Projects” after pro-regime troops managed to wrest control of the area from rebels, a battlefield shift not yet reported by pro-opposition sources.
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera also reported that Hamadeh was killed by an IED that targeted his convoy in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, for its part, said Monday that an unidentified Hezbollah commander was killed in fighting against rebels, but did not specify the circumstances of his death.
Hamadeh, who was also known by his nom de-guerre “Hajj Alaa 125”, was “considered one of the high-ranking figures in the military wing of the party,” according to Mulhak. The pro-Hezbollah outlet added that he was a close associate of Ali Fayyad, a high-ranking Hezbollah official better known as “Alaa Bosnia” who led a number of the party’s military operations. Mulhak’s report also noted that Hamadeh played a “prominent role” during Hezbollah’s offensives in the mountainous Qalamoun region that straddles Lebanon’s eastern border.
**NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report.
 

Hariri to endorse Aoun 'in coming days': LF lawmaker
The Daily Star/October 17/16/BEIRUT: A Lebanese Forces MP said Sunday that Future Movement leader Saad Hariri will endorse Michel Aoun for the presidency very soon. “Hariri will declare his support for the endorsement of [Free Patriotic Movement founder Michel] Aoun in the coming days,” lawmaker George Adwan told MTV Lebanon. He added that Hariri’s initiative to endorse Aoun stems from the common conviction among everyone in the country on the necessity to elect a president. Lebanon has been without a head of state since May 2014, when Michel Sleiman’s tenure ended. Adwan said that while the Lebanese Forces was not officially notified of anything yet, “through our follow-up ... we see that [Hariri] will eventually declare his support for Aoun’s nomation.”FPM officials such as Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and MP Alain Aoun on Sunday also made it clear that an understanding had been reached between Hariri and Aoun, signaling the possible election of the latter as president. A parliamentary session to vote for a new president is scheduled for Oct. 31, following 45 failed sessions.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister, Hariri: Iran Regime is Shedding Blood and Hitting Islamic Unity
Sunday, 16 October 2016 /NCRI - Saad Hariri, the leader of The Future Movement Party (Almustaqbal) and former Lebanese Prime Minister, has on Wednesday October 12 accused Iran of being responsible for destruction of Syria and disintegration of Yemen and said: “the Iranian regime is the arrowhead of destruction in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and is spreading the poison of sectarianism in our societies and threatening our unity and children’s lives.”Hariri added: “the Iranian regime should stop shedding the Yemenis’, Syrians’ and Iraqis’ bloods and hitting the Islamic Unity.” In remarks published in the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper, the former Lebanese Prime Minister has said: “the hands of the Iranian regime as well as Hezbollah in destroying Syrian cities and shedding more than 250,000 Syrians’ blood will not be hidden by the cries of the children in Aleppo. These cries will make the murderers shiver.” Hariri pointed to the Iranian regime’s crocodile tears for the Houthi militias and said: “why don’t they shed tears for the crimes perpetrated in Syria, Yemen and Iraq? Why don’t they shed tears for their bloody hands in Aleppo and all over Syria? Why don’t they shed tears for millions of Syrians, Iraqis and Yemenis who due to Iranian regime’s acts of sabotage in Arab countries have been displaced around the world?

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on  October 17-18/16

Iranian official boasts about republic’s interference in region
By Al Arabiya.net Monday, 17 October 2016/A prominent Iranian official has boasted that his country interference in Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Lebanon and Iraq is in line with objectives to export the “Islamic Revolution” throughout the region. Hassan Fariuzabadi - the military advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, said in an interview with semi official news agency, Fars: “We do not interfere and we do not want to expand our territory”, adding: “what is clear is our system is an Islamic revolution”, referring to Ruhollah Khomeini’s declared aim in 1979 of exporting the revolution. The former Chief of Staff made reference to military action in Syria and Iraq, where Tehran have deployed advisers in support of Baghdad and Damascus, in addition to supporting militants in Yemen, Bahrain and Lebanon, suggesting it is not interference as defined by the principles of the "Islamic revolution.”He added: “since the first day of the victory of the revolution Imam Khomeini said we will defend Muslims and the oppressed around the world, and this is the core of the revolutionary, religiously and humanitarian concepts”, according to the news agency close to the Revolutionary Army. Iran military involvement in Syria has doubled since the second year of the Syrian revolution, an intervention prevented the fall of the Assad regime according to numerous military analysts. In addition Tehran support “Hezbollah”, Iraqi and Afghan militants with money and weapons to fight alongside the Damascus regime. In an unprecedented statement, Khamenei Advisor revealed in the interview published Saturday, that his country sent, in the past years, military advisers to Gaza strip and trained the “Palestinian forces.”**This article was first featured on Al Arabiya.net in Arabic
 

Syrian opposition captures town of Dabiq from ISIS
The Associated Press, Beirut Monday, 17 October 2016/Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces captured the symbolically-significant town of Dabiq from ISIS militants on Sunday as government forces reversed recent rebel advances in the center of the country. Though only a small town of marginal strategic importance in northern Syria, Dabiq has figured centrally in ISIS propaganda. Meanwhile, southwest of Dabiq, Syrian government forces pounded rebel-held districts in the contested city of Aleppo, culminating in a devastating airstrike on a residential building in the Qaterji neighborhood late in the evening that killed at least 25 people, according to the Civil Defense search-and-rescue outfit. Spokesman Ibrahim Alhaj said some families remain trapped under the rubble.The Qaterji attack brought the death toll to 49 from strikes on opposition-run eastern Aleppo on Sunday, according to Al Haj. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group, which monitors the conflict through local contacts, put the toll from the Qaterji attack at no less than 15 civilian fatalities, and Sunday's tally for the eastern portion of the city at 31 civilians.Russian jets are also known to fly sorties over east Aleppo. Russia is a key backer of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's raging war. In Dabiq, ISIS fighters put up “minimal” resistance in defending the town, according to a commander of the Syrian opposition Hamza Brigade, before they withdrew south to al-Bab, which remains under ISIS control. Saif Abu Bakr said some 2,000 opposition fighters pushed into Dabiq with tank and artillery support from the Turkish army. The commander said ISIS left the town heavily mined. Both Turkish and international coalition warplanes conducted airstrikes on Dabiq and nearby Arshak, the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency reported.The US envoy to the coalition against ISIS, Brett McGurk, tweeted Sunday that the extremist group had promised a “final victory” in Dabiq, but that its fighters had instead “fled in defeat at the hands of Syrians supported by our @coalition.”

Syria intelligence chief in Cairo for security talks
Now Lebanon/October 17/16
Syrian National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk met with General Khaled Fawzy, the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate.
BEIRUT – A top Syrian intelligence official has discussed security coordination with his Egyptian counterpart amid warming ties between the two countries. Syria’s state news agency reported Monday that Syrian National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk “made an official visit to Cairo,” where he met with General Khaled Fawzy, the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate, as well as other “senior security officials.”“The two sides agreed to coordinate political stances,” SANA claimed, adding that they also decided to “strengthen coordination in the fight against terrorism.”Although Egypt has yet to make any official statements on Mamlouk's visit, media outlets in the country over the weekend reported that Syrian officials had traveled to the country. Mamlouk’s visit comes after Egypt on October 8 voted in favor of Russia’s proposed resolution at the UN Security Council to institute an “immediate ceasefire” in Syria, a measure defeated by vetoes from the US, France and Britain. Saudi Arabia reacted angrily to Cairo’s diplomatic move with the Kingdom publicly criticizing its long-time ally as rifts between the two continue to grow. Days after the vote, Riyadh suspended its oil aid to Egypt amid mounting tension over a number of issues. Egypt defended its vote in support of Moscow, saying that it supported all efforts to end the conflict in Syria, and also voted in favor of France’s rival resolution. Mamlouk, who has served as a diplomatic troubleshooter for the Bashar al-Assad regime, previously traveled to Egypt in August 2015. At the time, Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that Egyptian President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi received the Syrian official, who has also reportedly made trips to Jordan and Saudi Arabia in the past year. Egypt’s ties with Syria have improved in the past year as Sisi has moved closer to Russia.
NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated Arabic-language material.

EU persuaded to condemn Russia over Syria
Reuters, Luxemberg Monday, 17 October 2016/Britain, France and Germany aim to persuade the European Union on Monday to condemn Russia’s devastating air campaign in Syria and pave the way for imposing more sanctions on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The bloc also plans to continue pushing for humanitarian aid to reach the besieged city of Aleppo. Struggling to help end Syria’s war, the EU is stepping up efforts to support the United States in its bid to stop the bombing of eastern Aleppo, where 275,000 people are trapped. But it is split over strategy towards Russia, its biggest energy supplier. EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday after the United States held weekend talks in Lausanne and London will voice their harshest criticism yet of Russian air strikes in eastern Aleppo that have destroyed hospitals and targeted an aid convoy. EU leaders meet on Thursday to discuss further steps. “It is vital that we keep that pressure up,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said following his meeting in London on Sunday with US Secretary of State John Kerry, before heading to Luxembourg for the EU meeting. “There are a lot of measures we’re proposing, to do with extra sanctions on the Syrian regime and their supporters, measures to bring those responsible for war crimes to the International Criminal Court,” said Johnson. The United States is also considering additional sanctions. A draft of the diplomatic statement to be delivered on Monday says EU ministers will condemn the “catastrophic escalation” of the Syrian government offensive to capture the eastern zone of Aleppo, where 8,000 rebels are still holding out against Syrian, Russian and Iranian-backed forces. They will say that air strikes on hospitals and civilians “may amount to war crimes”, calling on “Syria and its allies” to go to the International Criminal Court, according to a draft seen by Reuters that is still under discussion.
Diplomats say the European Union will also call for a ceasefire with an observation mission, a renewed push for peace talks to include EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and immediate access for an EU aid package announced on Oct. 2. But Britain and France, with the support of Germany, want to go further, pushing for economic sanctions on some 20 Syrians suspected of directing attacks on civilians. They would be added to the EU’s existing sanctions list of some 200 Syrians. Sanctions already include an oil and arms embargo and a ban on dealing with the Syrian central bank. Paris and London may push other EU leaders on Thursday to consider travel bans and asset freezes on as many as 12 Russians involved in the Syrian conflict. However, that is not on the agenda for Monday and may be too much for Russia’s closest EU allies such as Greece, Cyprus and Hungary. They are worried about angering the Kremlin with talk of sanctions and putting peace talks further out of reach. “Some governments are cautious about being tough on Russia,” said an EU diplomat. “But equally, they know that the EU is at risk of being seen to be doing nothing,” the diplomat said. Any new measures must be agreed by all 28 EU governments. While the discussions have taken on a new urgency after diplomatic efforts at the United Nations in New York failed to halt air strikes on eastern Aleppo, the European Union’s most pressing concern is to deliver water, medical aid and food. The bloc, the biggest aid donor in the conflict, announced a new humanitarian plan on Oct. 2 in coordination with the United Nations. It is in almost daily contact with charities to move in, but diplomats say the trucks cannot get through government checkpoints to eastern Aleppo from the western part of the city. “There is no point-blank refusal, but drivers are asked for things they don’t have, like special driving licenses,” said one EU official. “We need a facilitation letter from the Syrian authorities.”

Iraq requests participation of Iran’s Soleimani in Mosul campaign: report
Now Lebanon/October 17/16/A “high-level source” in the Tehran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces spoke with Al-Akhbar on the Mosul offensive against ISIS.

BEIRUT – The Iraqi government has allegedly asked General Qassem Soleimani to take part in the newly-announced offensive on Mosul, according to a Lebanese daily supportive of Hezbollah. A “high-level source” in the Tehran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces spoke with Al-Akhbar on the Mosul campaign against ISIS, which kicked off in the early hours of October 17 following months of preparation. According to the source, Baghdad requested that Soleimani “participate” in the campaign, however the unidentified Popular Mobilization figure did not go into any details on the potentially dramatic move. The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force has served as Tehran’s point-man on battlefields in Iraq and Syria, with his public presence near the frontlines serving as a propaganda boon for Iranian-supported fighting forces. However, Soleimani’s influence in Iraq was reportedly criticized last year by highly influential Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose 2014 religious ruling on the defense of Iraq against ISIS set the stage for the creation of the Popular Mobilization Forces. The source in the umbrella organization also told Al-Akhbar that Popular Mobilization combatants mobilized outside Mosul were not coordinating with the US-led international coalition, which has supported Iraqi government forces as well the Kurdish Peshmerga. The source, who remained anonymous, claimed that the “coalition’s participation in the battle does not mean anything” to the Popular Mobilization, a government-sponsored collection of mainly Shiite paramilitary groups which the US has avoided providing official support. NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated Arabic-language material.

Heavy IS Casualties as Army Bombs Militant Posts on Eastern Border
Naharnet/October 17/16/The army on Monday bombed militant posts in the outskirts of three eastern border towns, inflicting heavy casualties on the extremist Islamic State group, state-run National News Agency reported. The agency said the army “fired heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers at the posts of the militants in the outskirts of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek after detecting suspicious movements.” In the evening, NNA said the army was still bombarding militant posts and gatherings in the outskirts of Arsal, Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, and that the sounds of shelling were echoing across Hermel and the neighboring towns. "A large number of militants from the terrorist IS group have been killed and wounded," the agency added.Five people were killed and 28 others were wounded in late June when eight suicide bombers attacked al-Qaa, a mainly Christian town, in two waves. Militants from the Islamic State group and Fateh al-Sham Front -- formerly al-Qaida's Syria affiliate al-Nusra Front -- are entrenched in areas along the undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border and the army regularly shells their posts while Hizbullah and the Syrian forces have engaged in clashes with them on the Syrian side of the border. The two groups briefly overran the Lebanese border 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 IS' captivity.

Pentagon Says Iraqi Forces 'Ahead of Schedule' in Mosul
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 17/16/Iraqi security forces were "ahead of schedule" after the first day of an offensive for the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, a Pentagon official said Monday. A U.S.-led coalition has for months been helping train Iraqi forces for the fight for Mosul -- the last IS stronghold in Iraq -- and the military offensive finally got underway early Monday."Early indications are that Iraqi forces have met their objectives so far, and that they are ahead of schedule for this first day," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. But he warned it was unknown how long the battle would last. A top U.S. general earlier said it would take several weeks or even longer. "We are in the first day of what we assume will be a difficult campaign that could take some time," Cook said. After IS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria in early 2014, the United States formed a coalition that launched an air campaign to strike the Sunni extremists and to train local, partnered forces to do the fighting. The coalition has trained more than 45,000 Iraqi troops and launched more than 10,000 precision strikes in Iraq -- including more than 70 in the Mosul area this month, the Pentagon says. The start of the long-awaited assault has raised deep concerns for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in Iraq's second-largest city, with aid groups warning of a massive humanitarian crisis. The Iraqi government has dropped thousands of leaflets on Mosul telling residents what to do during the offensive. "My understanding is that there may be as many as seven million leaflets dropped in the next 48 hours or so to try and educate the population of Mosul as to the safest way to conduct themselves as this fighting plays out," Cook said. "There is an effort to try and reach out to the people of Mosul to try and make them as aware as possible of what's to come and the dangers they face."

Moscow Announces 8-Hour Aleppo Ceasefire by Russian, Syrian Forces Thursday
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 17/16/Russia said Monday its forces and Syrian regime troops would briefly halt fire in Aleppo on Thursday, as criticism mounted of the ferocious Moscow-backed assault on the Syrian city. "We have taken a decision not to waste time and to introduce 'humanitarian pauses', mainly for the free passage of civilians, evacuation of the sick and wounded and withdrawal of fighters," senior Russian military officer Sergei Rudskoi said at a press briefing. The ceasefire would run from 0800 to 1600 local time (0500 GMT to 1300 GMT) "in the area of Aleppo", Rudskoi said.
"During this period the Russian air force and Syrian government troops will halt air strikes and firing from any other types of weapons," he said. Rudskoi said that the initiative comes as Russia, the United Nations and "countries with influence" were continuing to work on a plan for getting jihadists from the Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly known as al-Nusra Front and al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, to leave Aleppo. Russia is currently conducting a fierce bombing campaign in support of a regime offensive to capture rebel-held eastern Aleppo, drawing fierce condemnation from the West. The European Union blasted Russia for causing "untold suffering" and said that air strikes by Moscow and Damascus in Aleppo "may amount to war crimes." Moscow last Thursday said it was ready to guarantee safe passage for rebel fighters out of eastern Aleppo along a pre-ordained corridor on the Castello Road, the main potential route for humanitarian assistance into the city.

Saudi: ‘Euphrates Shield’ important step to defeat ISIS
By Saudi Press Agency Monday, 17 October 2016/King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday afternoon. The Cabinet commended the directive to King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid to coordinate with the Command of Coalition Forces, the Yemeni government and the institutions of the United Nations to facilitate and transfer the wounded of the Great Hall incident in Sanaa, who need treatment outside Yemen. The Cabinet welcomed the joint statement of the quadrilateral meeting in London to discuss the situation in Yemen. It expressed its support for the efforts of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen and for the road map to be submitted to the two sides on security and political steps needed to reach a political solution to the conflict. The Cabinet discussed Saudi's participation in the international meeting on the Syrian crisis, which was held in Switzerland’s city of Lausanne along with a number of international parties. It also welcomed the liberating of the Syrian town of Dabiq from ISIS, praising the FSA supported by Turkish troops and what they achieved in operation “Euphrates Shield,” in defeating the extremist organization. The Cabinet welcomed the statement issued following a meeting of the Syrian National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, held in Riyadh to discuss the continuation by the Syrian regime and its allies to disrupt the political process and their pursuance of a scorched earth policy in all parts of Syria, especially in Aleppo. The Cabinet also confirmed the kingdom’s support for the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Vision 2030, which was held in the Thai capital, Bangkok. It also confirmed the Kingdom’s readiness to actively participate in most of the proposals to develop the vision and put them into practice.

(Additional editing by Al Arabiya English)

Anti-ISIS Mosul operation: Latest developments
By Agencies Monday, 17 October 2016/Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of military operations to liberate the northern city of Mosul from ISIS militants early Monday, launching the country on its toughest battle since American troops left nearly five years ago.Following are some of the most recent developments related to the operation:
The offensive begins
Two years after ISIS seized the city of 1.5 million people and declared a caliphate from there encompassing tracts of Iraq and Syria, a force of some 30,000 Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Sunni tribal fighters began to advance. Helicopters released flares and explosions could be heard on the city’s eastern front, where Reuters watched Kurdish fighters move forward to take outlying villages. “Daesh are using motorcycles for their patrols to evade air detection, with pillion passengers using binoculars to check out buildings and streets," said Abu Maher, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.
3,000 Turkish-trained Iraqi fighters taking part
Turkey’s deputy prime minister says some 3,000 Turkish-trained Iraqi fighters are taking part in the operation to free Mosul from ISIS militants. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus also told reporters on Monday that Turkey has no intention of withdrawing its troops from a base in northern Iraq, where they have been training Iraqi forces to fight ISIS. He says that so far, nearly 4,000 Mosul fighters, including Arabs, Turkmens, Kurds, and a number of Yazidis, have been trained in this training camp in Bashiqa, near Mosul. Kurtulmus said that “about 3,000 of them have joined the Mosul operation” with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Erdogan: Impossible for Turkey to stay out
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday indicated that Turkey would play a role in the US-backed Iraqi offensive to retake the city of Mosul, saying it was unthinkable that Ankara would stay on the sidelines. “We will be in the operation and we will be at the table,” Erdogan said in a televised speech. “Our brothers are there and our relatives are there. It is out of the question that we are not involved.”
100,000 may flee for Syria
The United Nations refugee agency said on Monday that up to 100,000 Iraqis may flee to Syria and Turkey to escape the assault aimed at ousting ISIS. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued an appeal for an additional $61 million to provide tents, camps, winter items and stoves for displaced inside Iraq and the two neighboring countries.
UN ‘extremely concerned’
The UN deputy Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief voiced grave concern Sunday at risks faced by civilians as the operations began. “I am extremely concerned for the safety of up to 1.5 million people living in Mosul who may be impacted by military operations to retake the city from ISIS,” Stephen O’Brien said. He warned that “families are at extreme risk of being caught in cross-fire or targeted by snipers.” The northern city was where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi publicly proclaimed a “caliphate” straddling Iraq and Syria in June 2014. With the support of Iran and a US-led coalition, Iraqi forces have since regained much of the ground lost to ISIS. Mosul is the extremist group’s last major stronghold in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said only government forces will enter Mosul, a Sunni-majority city that ISIS seized with relative ease partly amid local resentment towards the Shiite-dominated security forces. “Depending on the intensity and scope of the fighting, as many as one million people may be forced to flee their homes in a worst-case scenario,” O’Brien said in a UN statement. Children and elderly are among those at greatest risk, he said. “Tens of thousands of Iraqi girls, boys, women and men may be under siege or held as human shields. Thousands may be forcibly expelled or trapped between the fighting lines,” O’Brien added.
The battle for Mosul in pictures
‘Decisive moment’
US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the operation was key to defeating the extremist group. “This is a decisive moment in the campaign to deliver ISIS a lasting defeat,” Carter said in a statement. “We are confident our Iraqi partners will prevail against our common enemy and free Mosul and the rest of Iraq from ISIS’s hatred and brutality.”(With inputs from agencies)

First 14 unaccompanied children from Calais “Jungle” reach Britain
Reuters, London Monday, 17 October 2016/A first busload of children arrived in Britain on Monday from the “Jungle” camp near the French port of Calais as the British government started to act on its commitment to take in unaccompanied migrant children before the camp is destroyed. The fate of children staying in the Jungle, a squalid camp where up to 10,000 people fleeing war or poverty in the Middle East and Africa have converged seeking ways to cross to Britain, has been a political problem for the British government.Religious leaders, refugee rights campaign groups and opposition parties have accused the government of dragging its heels on helping to move unaccompanied children out of the camp, which France has said it will soon demolish. The French and British interior ministers, Bernard Cazeneuve and Amber Rudd, agreed in talks on Oct. 10 to speed up the process of moving children eligible to go to Britain out of the Jungle. Fourteen children, the first whose cases have been processed, arrived by bus in Croydon, south London, to be reunited with relatives already living in Britain. Faith leaders and aid workers were on hand to welcome and assist them. “The camp at Calais is a desperate, dangerous, horrible place, nowhere any adult should be, let alone any child,” said Bishop of Croydon Jonathan Clark. “So this is a really good day to celebrate as some of those children begin to make their journeys to be reunited with their families,” he told reporters outside a Croydon church. It is not known exactly how many children will be brought to Britain. The British interior ministry has said 80 children had been accepted for transfer from France so far this year under EU family reunification rules known as the Dublin regulation. The Red Cross estimates that 1,000 unaccompanied children are living in the Jungle, of whom 178 have been identified as having family ties to Britain. It has said some of these children have been held back by bureaucracy. Separately from the Dublin process, Britain has sent out a team to work with the French authorities to identify children who can be brought to Britain under the terms of a change to British immigration law known as the Dubs amendment. It states that Britain will take in “vulnerable unaccompanied child refugees” who arrived in the EU before March 20, even if they do not have relatives in Britain. March 20 was date of an EU-Turkey deal aimed at limiting the flow of migrants into the bloc, which reached crisis levels in 2015. The Dubs amendment is named after the politician who proposed it, Alf Dubs, who came to Britain as a Jewish child refugee fleeing Nazi persecution.

Israeli raid victims fear Turkish court to halt case
Reuters, Istanbul Monday, 17 October 2016/Victims of an Israeli raid that killed 10 people in 2010 on an aid flotilla fear a Turkish court is set to halt a case brought by them because of a deal to restore ties between Israel and Turkey, a lawyer representing the victims said on Monday. Relations between Israel and what was once one of its Muslim allies crumbled after Israeli marines stormed the Mavi Marmara ship in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Mavi Marmara was part of a larger aid flotilla and the court case has been brought on behalf of hundreds of people who say they were wounded, assaulted or imprisoned during the raid. An Istanbul high court will hold a hearing in the case, representing 740 victims from 37 countries, on Wednesday, four months after the two nations normalised relations. “Our concern on behalf of the victims, who have all participated in this criminal case, is that it will be stopped by the court as a result of the treaty,” human rights lawyer Rodney Dixon, told Reuters in an interview by telephone. Turkish officials on Monday declined to comment on the case. Israel, which had already offered apologies for the raid - one of Ankara’s three conditions for a deal - agreed to pay out $20 million to the families of those killed. A senior Turkish official has called the deal a “diplomatic victory”. Under the accord, the naval blockade of Hamas-run Gaza, which Ankara wanted lifted, remained in force, but humanitarian aid was to keep going into Gaza via Israeli ports. Dixon said the agreement also specified that there would be no further criminal or civil proceedings over the raid. But he said halting the case would be contrary to international law and the European Convention on Human Rights. “If they end the case then there could be legal avenues pursued both in Turkey, including before the constitutional court, and internationally including before the European Court of Human Rights,” he said.

Kuwait parliament elections set for Nov 26
Reuters, Kuwait Monday, 17 October 2016/The Kuwaiti cabinet announced on Monday that elections for the next parliament will be held on November 26, state news agency KUNA reported. Kuwait’s emir ordered the dissolution of parliament on Sunday, saying “security challenges” in the region could best be addressed by consulting the popular will.

Latest Taliban offensives kill dozens, displace thousands in Afghanistan
AFP, Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan Monday, 17 October 2016/The Taliban’s latest offensives in the north and south of Afghanistan have killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands, officials said Monday. Earlier this month the militants launched a full-fledged attack on Kunduz, briefly entering the northern city and triggering fierce fighting with Afghan forces that forced thousands of residents to flee. Last week the militants also launched a new attack on Lashkar Gah, the besieged capital of volatile Helmand province in the south. They killed dozens of security forces personnel before being pushed back when government reinforcements arrived. “Due to hostilities in Kunduz and intensified fighting across the south we have seen a jump of 37,000 IDPs alone -- more than ten percent of the year total in just one week,” Danielle Moylan a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP. The total number of internally displaced people due to fighting since the start of the year stands at 323,500. In Helmand, which has seen some of the worst fighting since the Taliban began their insurgency against the western-backed Kabul government in 2001, authorities reported dozens of troops had been killed and more captured.“Around 50 Afghan security forces were killed, and the same numbers went missing in Helmand province over the past two weeks,” Tooryalai Hemat, the Helmand governor’s adviser, told AFP. Shir Muhammad Akhunzada, a parliamentarian, told parliament around 70 soldiers had surrendered to the Taliban. In Uruzgan, another volatile province north of Helmand, 150 soldiers surrendered last week at Tarin Kot, senior local official Mohammad Zahir Naderi said. “They surrendered with their weapons and ammunition and twenty Humvees,” Zahir said, referring to US-built light-armoured vehicles. The Taliban have intensified attacks across the war-torn country in recent months, pressuring Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts. Apart from their assaults on Kunduz and Helmand, they have attempted to overrun other provincial capitals, from Baghlan in the north to Farah in the west, but have so far been repelled.

Tunisia dismantles cell planning attack on ‘senior official’
AFP, Tunis Monday, 17 October 2016/Tunisia has dismantled a militant cell planning attacks including against security officials and a senior government official, a prosecution spokesman said Monday. “The cell was targeting security officials and a figure holding an important position within the government,” Sofiene Sliti said. Twenty-nine of the 62 alleged militants were referred to trial under the country’s anti-terrorism law, Sliti said, while 20 others are on the run. He said that seven other suspects were already behind bars for other offences while the last six members of the cell are awaiting trial. Tunisian media said the cell had planned to target Interior Minister Hedi Majdoub, but his ministry and Sliti refused to comment. Tunisia has faced a rise in militant attacks since the 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Militant attacks in Tunisia have cost dozens of lives among security forces as well as civilians, and 59 foreign tourists were also killed in 2015.

Italian mob sells weapons to ISIS in Libya
Al Arabiya.net Monday, 17 October 2016/A new report has revealed that Italian mafia gangs are providing ISIS fighters stationed in Libya with weapons in exchange for smuggled monumental antiquities. The mobs later put the invaluable antiquities back to the market, to sell it to art patrons and connoisseurs from Asia and Russia. According to the Intel published by the Italian newspaper La Stampa, and examined by Al Arabiya.net, an organized crime group in relation to the Italian mafia in the southern city of Calabria, are purchasing Kalashnikovs artilleries, rocket propelled grenades as well as rocket launchers from Moldova and Ukraine. The Italian Mafia in cooperation with the Russian Mafia smuggles these weapons to devolve them in the end in the hands of the ISIS fighters, based in the city of Sirt, Libya. In exchange for weapons, the Italian mob obtains Greek and Roman antiquities that ISIS fighters burglarized during their battles in Libya. An Italian journalist working at La Stampa went undercover. Pretending to be an art collector , he reached out to the crime group in Southern Italy . He eventually received an offer to snip an exceptionally unique piece , a head made of marble , sculpted in the ancient Roman era for a mere 60 thousand Euros. He later realized that the same artifact is one of the stolen antiquities looted by ISIS fighters, and displayed for sale in Southern Italy. The mafia also put in display pictures of a bust sculpture with larger proportions that dates to the ancient Greek era, for the price of 800 thousand Euros.
As claimed by the Italian newspaper, the stolen treasures are shipped to the shores of Calabria in Southern Italy to be later auctioned to art collectors from China, Russia and Japan as well as the wealthy from Gulf countries. ISIS has established local militia in Libya to execute looting and smuggling, in an attempt from the organization to make profits from contraband. This same operation has already proven effective in Iraq and Syria. The newspaper revealed and for the first time, that Libyan archaeologists and geologists responsible for the archeological sites in the country received death threats in an attempt to scare them off from reporting the violations committed by ISIS. There are five archaeological sites in Libya that are officially registered as world heritage sites by UNESCO, the specialized agency of the United Nations UN. On the other hand, La Stampa reported that Italian investigators from the security services affirmed that they have suspicions about the involvement of Mafia gangs in weapons trafficking for ISIS. An Italian security source stated that “Islamist fundamentalist fighters are well implicated in weapon and drug trafficking since the 1990s. “It is maintained that ISIS controls a number of restricted areas in Libya, yet it is widely believed that large numbers of fighters managed to escape Syria and Iraq as a result of the repeated military strikes, and are now stationed in the Libyan city of Sirt, where Libyan forces are fighting fierce battles to free their country.
 

US air strikes pound Libya’s Sirte to oust ISIS militants
Reuters, Sirte, Libya Monday, 17 October 2016/US aircraft hit ISIS targets with more 30 strikes over the last three days on the Libyan city of Sirte as pro-government forces push into its last militant-held districts, the US military said on Monday. Libyan forces are close to ending a six-month campaign to liberate Sirte from ISIS, which took over the city more than a year after taking advantage of factional infighting that emerged after the fall of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.Forces mostly from nearby Misrata city are pushing ahead street by street, facing snipers and suicide bombers. They are helped by US air strikes since August and coordination with small teams of Western special forces on the ground. On Sunday, Libyan forces recaptured the city’s Cambo area, and swept out tunnels used by militants to hide and prepare ambushes, and seized a field hospital. They found charred bodies of militants hit by air strikes.A Reuters reporter at the scene said they also came across booby traps using grenades and rocket shells. “At the moment, the forces are preparing to enter Ghiza Bahriya district,” Rida Essa, media official with the pro-government forces, said. US aircraft carried out 36 strikes from Friday to Saturday mostly on enemy fighting positions but also on a car bomb, according to a US Africa Command statement on Monday. The loss of Sirte would close down ISIS’s main stronghold in North Africa and its only base outside Iraq and Syria, just as the militant group comes under pressure in the Iraqi city of Mosul. ISIS steadily imposed control on Sirte a year ago, and used the city as a base to launch attacks on oilfields and ports as well as to target checkpoints in nearby Misrata. Since Gaddafi’s fall in a war in 2011, Libya has slipped steadily in the fractional fighting among brigades of former rebels who first battled the strongman and then turned against each another. ISIS profited from the security vacuum. The Misrata forces leading the Sirte campaign back a UN-supported government in Tripoli that is trying to bring the rival factions together. But the Sirte campaign has also prompted moves by eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, who rejects the Tripoli government, to extend his influence.

Egyptian puts seriously burned daughter on US flight for medical care
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 17 October 2016/The Egyptian father of a 16-year-old girl, who was discovered on a JFK-bound with 40 percent burns on her body, has said he had no choice as he couldn’t find medical help in his country. According to a report in the NY Daily News, the girl, identified as Aiyah Abdelhalim, started screaming halfway through the EgyptAir flight from Cairo after her pain medication wore off. The man, Ibrahim Abdelhalim, told the newspaper that Aiyah, a US citizen, was injured on Sept. 30 in a gas explosion at her home and that the US Embassy in Egypt had been of little assistance for Aiyah, or his own efforts to travel to America to join her.

The Shocking Confession of an Iranian Authority About the Addiction In Iran
Sunday, 16 October 2016/NCRI - The head of the Anti-Drug committee, affiliated to the secretariat of the Expediency Discernment Council, Ali Hashemi stated that according to the statistics, the number of addicted people is more than 2 million and 500 thousand and by adding the number of "fancy drug users" the population reaches to 4 million. The head of the Anti-drug committee also added that there are currently 13 million workers in the country in which 21 percent of those are suffering from drug addiction. Therefore, there are only 3 million addicted workers in the country .By counting the number of the so-called "fancy drug-users" or the non-workers addicts; the population is far more than of the estimated official figures that indicates 1 million and 500 thousands. Ali Hashemi considered unemployment as one of the key factors in the prevalence of addiction in Iran. He also said that the unemployment in some cities reaches to 80 percent as well. After the Iran and Iraq war, Ayatollah Khomeini stressed on the reconstruction of damages and curbing the addiction was his second major priority in that time. The current supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, in a meeting with the heads of the regime, also confessed about social problems, especially addiction and pointed out that "these issues have been discussed with twenty years of delay." Ali Hashemi also said that he was the deputy of Iran Drug Control Headquarters in time of Mohammad Khatami's office. At the end of this presidency, the number of addicted people was 10 thousand. On the contrary, the 10th government gave the office to Rouhani with 335 thousand numbers of addicted people. There is no planning to occupy the leisure time of people, especially for youths and the teenagers so the addiction permeates. The minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance admitted that the 70 percent of Iran's population watch satellite channels and they are all considered as criminals according to the law.

Suppression and assassination in Iran’s Baluchestan – South Eastern Province
Saturday, 15 October 2016/NCRI - Ameneh Eesa Zadeh, 21, a Baluch Sunni citizen from Khargoushi village in Sirik, was arrested and taken to an unknown location on Monday October 10, following her criticism of a religious ritual. According to reports on Sunday October 9, two Baluch citizens were assassinated at the entrance of Saravan by unidentified persons. The two fellow Baluch were named Farough Derazhi and Omid Ali Derazhi. According to witnesses, they were killed by persons dressed in local costumes. Insecurity and assassination of fellow Baluch by intelligence and security forces have increased in recent days. A Baluch youth named Mohammad Gorgij, 31, was killed under torture by security agents. According to reports, the security agents beat and arrested Mohammad Gorgij in Zahedan’s cell phone market. One of the agents hit his head from behind with his rifle butt, making him unconscious. The agents handed over his dead body to the morgue a few days after his death.

Iran: family forced to put their children on sale due to not affording hospital costs
Sunday, 16 October 2016/NCRI - Iranian news agencies reported this week on Araki triplets being put on sale by their father due to his inability to pay the hospital costs. The babies’ father asks an amount of 40 million Tomans for each triplet at first , but agrees to 20 million Tomans after bargaining. The state newspaper ‘Arman Emrouz’ has written in this regard: “ the problem of trading babies (in Iran) is not a new one. But due to its media coverage in recent years, the sensitivity of the issue has risen. Poverty and involvement of parents in social harms are the main factors for selling babies.”
In an interview with ‘Arman Emrouz’, the head of the Iranian Social Pathology Institution has said: “selling babies is one of the issues which calls into question the human dignity as well as the social dignity. Kouroush Mohammadi adds: “it is believed that in recent decades due to issues like poverty, unemployment, growing prostitution, and serious damages to marriage, we are to a large extent faced with a growing number of orphans and foundlings.”Mohammadi continues: “these abandoned babies were considered as foundlings in the past, but ever since the addicts and jobbers came out, the issue of trading babies was raised and a market was set up for that purpose, so that we are now faced with trading babies across the country and especially in big cities.”

Iran: humiliating conditions in exchange for release from prison
Monday, 17 October 2016/NCRI - The political prisoner Mehdi Farahi Shandiz who was being held in Gohardasht Prison’s quarantine and solitary confinement, has been transferred to ward 4, Hall 12 of the prison on Sunday October 9. It should be mentioned that although his sentence has ended, but he has been asked to provide a huge bail in order to get released. If unable to provide the bail, he will have to wear an ankle bracelet on his release from prison to be constantly monitored. Farahi Shandiz has refused to accept such humiliating terms. Also the intelligence agents as well as Gohardasht Prison officials have offered a number of prisoners, including two Baha’i political prisoners Mousivand and Jalilzadeh, to wear electronic ankle bracelets in exchange for their release. These prisoners have not agreed to such humiliating terms either. In a letter in this regard, Mehd Farahi Shandiz writes: I was summoned a few days ago by the Rajayee Shahr Prison officials to the Office of Enforcement and asked to pay three million as well as a monthly fee of 350,000 Tomans in order to get released. I did not accept such humiliation. Besides, I tell the heads the tyranny that if anyone should ever be chained, that would be you the enemies of Iran who betrayed 80 million Iranian people as much as you could. And if anyone should be chained in a people’s court, that would be you (Khamenei, Rafsanjani, …) and all your gangs who turned Syria, Iraq and Yemen into a real hell, not me, a teacher whose only sin has been defending the rights of the Iranian people. I will never accept such humiliation and ask other prisoners of conscience not to agree with such humiliating terms either. Being chained deserves the beasts who destroyed the peace and comfort of Iranian people and the region.

Political prisoner in critical condition in Karaj Prison (Western Tehran)
Monday, 17 October 2016/NCRI - Despite being in a critical condition, Delshad Vasimi, a political prisoner held in Karaj Rajayee Shahr Prison, has been returned to prison from hospital while the prison officials have even prevented him from having access to health services. He is now being left in a complicated situation. Having the signs of beatings and even a possible mock execution, the political prisoner is suffering from a severe psychological blow and in a kind of shock. According to human rights sources from Iran, the security prisoner Delshad Vasimi was transferred to the political prisoners’ hall at Rajayee Shahr Prison on Wednesday October 5, while having signs of injury and specially scratch marks on his neck. Being in a very poor physical condition, Vasimi was taken to hospital from the political prisoners’ hall, but was returned without completing his medical treatment. He was then transferred to ward 7, hall 21 where the Sunni prisoners are being held. Regarding Vasimi’s physical condition, a source close to him told Harana: “after his return from hospital, Vasimi has been left for a few days on a bed next to the entrance of ward 7, while being unable to eat or speak and in a semi-conscious state.”
The source also stressed: “Delshad is severely mentally imbalanced. He is an emergency patient who needs to be hospitalized under the supervision of a specialist. But unfortunately the prison officials pay no attention to his condition and have never pursued his treatment.”Delshad Vasimi, a Sunni citizen born in 1989 in Paveh and residing in Tehran, was arrested on July 4, 2016. Previously, the sources had reported on Vasimi’s status when arriving at the Rajayee Shahr political prisoners’ hall: “he has scars on his face and a big mark, similar to a rope mark, is around his neck.” Having signs of beatings and even a possible mock execution, this political prisoner is suffering from a severe psychological blow and in a kind of shock.

1 Dead, 6 Missing in Blast at German Chemical Plant
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 17/16/One person was killed and at least six others were missing after an explosion Monday at a chemical plant at BASF's headquarters in western Germany, the firm said, advising local residents to stay indoors. The blast, which occurred around 11:30 am (0930 GMT) and triggered a huge fire, happened during work on a pipeline that transports raw materials, the global chemicals giant said in a statement. "We regret to announce one dead, at least six injured and at least six missing," BASF executive Uwe Liebelt told reporters in Ludwigshafen. A police official at the same press conference spoke of "six seriously injured and an unknown number of light injuries". A large fire and a huge column of gray smoke could be seen rising from the site, a vast industrial complex with a harbor on the Rhine river. "We have not been able to establish any danger to the population," Liebelt added, after residents in Ludwigshafen and nearby Mannheim were told to remain inside and shut doors and windows. Local authorities had also asked nurseries and schools to keep children indoors, but no evacuations were ordered. "Emergency services from the whole region are on the scene to prevent the fire spreading to other parts of the plant," Ludwigshafen city authorities said in a statement earlier in the day. Firefighters were still trying to extinguish the flames by 1330 GMT, while police had blocked off nearby roads, an AFP reporter at the scene said. "We hope to have the fire under control by this evening," a spokesman for the local fire services told reporters at the same press conference in Ludwigshafen. BASF said it was still investigating the precise cause of the blast.
'Respiratory irritations'
The site's steam cracker units -- used in a chemical procedure to produce lighter hydrocarbons -- have been shut down for safety reasons, it added. Ludwigshafen is a city of some 160,000 people located around 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Frankfurt.City authorities said fire engines as well as a fireboat had been deployed to the scene. On its Twitter account, Ludwigshafen added that some residents had complained of respiratory irritations. An emergency hotline has been set up as well as an information tent. The Landeshafen Nord site where the explosion took place is a harbour used for the transportation of combustible fluids and liquefied gases. On its website, the company describes the site as a "very important for BASF's supply of raw materials", where more than 2.6 million tonnes are handled each year. The goods are unloaded from ships into the production plants via a system of pipelines. The company employs 36,000 people in Ludwigshafen. BASF was also grappling with a second, smaller incident at its nearby Lampertheim plant where four people were injured in a gas explosion and had to be taken to hospital, DPA news agency reported. BASF said the two incidents were not related. The company employs over 110,000 employees worldwide, with sales of more than 70 billion euros ($77 billion) last year. In its deadliest incident to date, nearly 600 people were killed in 1921 in an explosion at an ammonia plant near Ludwigshafen. In 1948, 200 people died and more than 3,800 were injured when a rail tanker exploded, also at the Ludwigshafen complex
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on  October 17-18/16

What Should Americans Be Talking About?
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/October 17/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9126/us-election-issues
Should Americans uphold the Judeo-Christian values, which have governed Western civilization until now? Or should they quietly allow the defeat of those values by a false liberalism -- false, because it is anything but liberal -- which will allow values, such as that of Islamic sharia religious law to settle over the United States? Will people willingly surrender their own culture in order to avoid becoming victims of intimidation?
Worse, these policies often come in the seemingly benign-sounding terms of "diversity", "multiculturalism", "peace", "anti-racism", and "human rights"; but are often used in an Orwellian way to mean their own opposites. "Diversity" means, "It is great to look different so long as you think the same way I do" and is also an acceptance of Islamic values. "Anti-racism" often means, in a racist way, anti-white or anti-Jew. "Human rights" now means a political agenda. "Peace" is used to mean the destruction of Israel. "Multiculturalism" means any culture except the Judeo-Christian one -- regardless of whether that culture supports denigrating women, slavery, flogging, amputating limbs, murdering gays and the intolerance of all other religions and cultures. These inversions of language are having devastating consequences not only on university campuses, but also throughout the U.S. and abroad.
"The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process' with all [that] the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers..." -- Muslim Brotherhood, 1991.
The question of whether to submit to these policies, as Europe is doing, or to uphold freedom, as Israel is doing, has arrived in the United States. The choice Americans make will immeasurably affect not just the US, but, despite sounding melodramatic, the future of Western civilization.
For the American voter, issues of immense urgency to the survival of the free world -- such as individual freedom, dispassionate enquiry and freedom of speech and thought, which we dangerously have come to take for granted -- are being derailed by crude language and behavior, when Americans need to be paying attention to serious threats to the United States, its allies and to the values of the West.
Internationally, these threats come from Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, and countless terrorist groups.
Domestically, they appear in the form of massive corruption -- financial and otherwise -- that is visibly hollowing out American institutions, such as the FBI (the failure to follow investigative procedure, followed by calls for FBI Director James Comey's resignation); the Department of Justice (the "Fast and Furious" gun-walking scandal, and the Attorney General meeting with a former president whose wife is under investigation); the State Department (email leaks are still yielding up evidence of collusion between the Clinton Global Initiative and the State Department under Hillary Clinton); the IRS (targeting conservative non-profits, and raiding the businesses of private citizens, who disagree with policy); the Environmental Protection Agency's attempt to acquire power over every puddle in America) and the Executive branch in the "I have a pen and I have a phone" president's dealings with Iran.
There have also been attempts by outsiders to incite racial and religious anarchy. The entrepreneur George Soros, for example, donated $33 million to turn events in Ferguson, Missouri from a local protest into chaos.
There have been attempts by outsiders to incite racial and religious anarchy. The entrepreneur George Soros, for example, donated $33 million to turn events in Ferguson, Missouri from a local protest into chaos. (Image source: World Economic Forum)
Instead of helping Americans to create a safer, more prosperous way of life, the Ferguson events destroyed a community, devastated small business owners, and eroded security, the rule of law, and any hope for a better future. Who benefits? Creating chaos embeds a political dependency: rather than helping people to climb out of poverty, it keeps them voting for politicians to "rescue" them.
Jews and Israel are also targeted -- often, regrettably, by other Jews, who appear naïvely to hope that they will thereby "immunize" themselves from attacks on Jews. Recently, for example, an article accused the U.S. Republican presidential election campaign of "significantly enhancing the presence of antisemitism in the public arena."
Seriously?
While "conservative" radicals, such as white supremacists do exist, they are not even close to overtaking the mainstream discourse. That space, rather, seems to have been filled in the last decades by self-described "liberals" who now seem to dominate it to such a degree that the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago, John Ellison, felt obliged to write a letter warning prospective applicants not to expect a "safe space." "Conservative" radicals are not the ones hunting down Jews -- "liberals" and Islamists are victimizing and shutting them out.
Ironically of course, the liberals have not yet figured out that the agendas of these two groups are incompatible (as in gender equality); perhaps they are trying to "immunize" themselves, too.
Public debate in the US, particularly in the next few weeks, really needs to be about choosing what policies would actually improve the lives of Americans. Should they uphold the Judeo-Christian values, which have governed Western civilization until now? Or should they quietly allow the defeat of those values by a false liberalism -- false, because it is anything but liberal -- which will allow values, such as that of Islamic sharia religious law to settle over the United States? Will people willingly surrender their own culture in order to avoid becoming victims of intimidation?
American university campuses, which should proudly be championing debate of all ideas, have instead been rife with antisemitism for years, mostly because a "thought police" obsessed with identity politics -- another way of saying my race, religion, skin color or sexual proclivity is good, yours is not -- has overtaken campuses and turned them into embittered war-zones. It is postmodern Stalinism.
Worse, these policies often come in the seemingly benign-sounding terms of "diversity", "multiculturalism", "peace", "anti-racism", and "human rights"; but are often used in an Orwellian way to mean their own opposites. "Diversity" means, "it is great to look different so long as you think the same way I do" and is also and acceptance of Islamic values. "Anti-racism" often means, in a racist way, anti-white or anti-Jew. "Human rights" now means a political agenda. "Peace" is used to mean the destruction of Israel. "Multiculturalism" means any culture except the Judeo-Christian one -- regardless of whether that culture supports denigrating women, slavery, flogging, amputating limbs, murdering gays and the intolerance of all other religions and cultures. These inversions of language are having devastating consequences not only on university campuses, but also throughout the U.S. and abroad.
The glue that brings "liberals" and Islamists, such as the Muslim Students Association (MSA) in the US (a front[1] for the Muslim Brotherhood), together in a common cause is the goal of eradicating Israel -- of course always only under the euphemisms of "helping Palestinians" and "Peace," even though Jihadi camps for children were organized first by Palestinians.
A 1991 official document authored by the Muslim Brotherhood outlines its strategic goals for civilizational jihad in North America. It depicts the Muslim Brotherhood's plans for civilization jihad in the United States stating:
"The process of settlement is a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" with all [that] the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers... [W]e must possess a mastery of the art of "coalitions", the art of "absorption" and the principles of "cooperation."
The question of whether to submit to these policies, as Europe is doing, or to uphold freedom, as Israel is doing, has arrived in the United States. The choice Americans make will immeasurably affect not just the US, but, despite sounding melodramatic, the future of Western civilization.
*Judith Bergman is a writer, columnist, lawyer and political analyst.
[1] In a 1991 official document authored by the Muslim Brotherhood, outlining its strategic goals for civilizational jihad in North America, the Muslim Students Association was mentioned as "one of our organizations and the organizations of our friends", that is, a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood. The document was entered as evidence in the 2008 Holyland Terror Funding Trial.
© 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.

It Is How We Become to Jihad
Hakim Haider/ Gatestone Institute/October 17/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9089/how-we-become-to-jihad
The Boy voice was getting slowly Down and after a few whiles he is silent with no locomotion, then this same soo beautifull girl come close and look up his eyes and fire more bullets onto his face and tell us that he is died.
My Dears Boys today you are standing here it is a very Good position for you. On Otherside you will have a golden happiness, Paradise! Do not come back without full Fill the Task. You may write your last wish here and after we Go a head for Jihad. This is our First and Last meeting, Takecare.
One Boy who are aware from this area try to Run away but Man have a pistol he fire on the Boy, and Bullet hit Boy on Forehead and he thud onto the Road.
Jihadi camps where gives training is just for terror or personal interest, Nothing more. Parents even do not know where is my Son. They thinks One Day he come backs.
Editors' note: To those of you who have enquired, the author is a real man living in the Middle East who sent us these pieces because he is unable to share them with anyone where he lives. At first we tried to tidy up the English, but that seemed to knock much of the soul out of his work. So we made the editorial choice to present his work basically as he sent it; what you are seeing is the result of that choice. It is the way he sees the world from his point of view, unobstructed by editors. Perhaps think of it more as a different kind of article, more as folk art but in words. It is not meant to offend anyone or any religion. It always seemed, living among people from different nations, as if wrongnesses in English were often "righter" than rightnesses. The painter Paul Gauguin reportedly said: "If you see a tree as blue, then make it blue." We apologize to anyone who may not like these postings. "Those who understand, understand."
In 2013, some Body is asking, am meet my cousins Jowhar & Muhammad near to my Town. So first we have a nice chat, except for Jowhar who are not talk, and after a Few whiles am seeing Skin of right Arm on Jowhar is black with thick lines on the Arm Skin.
So am ask to Jowhar, What happened this?
He reply, This is a Vestige of Torture.
I reply, Torture, which kind of Torture this and why?
He answer, This is a Vestige of Jihad Torture.
I ask, Jihad Torture sorry am not understand this.
He reply, I show to you after.
So we together go to the room of Jowhar & Muhammad where he remove his Shirts and when I look at the Jowhar am Shock His body are full with Lines from Torture.
sk, What is this and how it is happen?
He reply, A few years back we join One of the prominent jihad group who is trains the Boys and childrens for Jihad and we take a training there. Here we face the Body Torture, the Mentality Torture, and the Sexuality torture, very High. So at firstly we Lives in a Mosque with many other Boys for listening different type of Quranic Ayaat and Hadith of P.B.U.H. and listening that there is a lot of HOOR (fairy) for you in the Paradise, and that Shahadat, to be killed on ALLAH, is GREAT PRIZE for you! So next day we are all into the Bus and going out on the hills.
I ask, But how is your family members allow you to do this Jihad?
He reply, No we just ran away from House. Our Family do not allow to take part in this. After a Travel, we reach where is jeeps are. So we leaves the Bus and sits onto the Jeeps. Jeep take us in a remote area where no One is there, and every Where just Mountains and hills and A house. When you enter this house, here is many beautifull Girls Welcome Us. When we look to the Girls they is very beautifull and all is wearing black. We very Happy to see these Girls. Then one person come and order us to sit in the Hall for Dinner because at night when we reach there.
Next day, all the girls serve us a nice Dinner and after Dinner she gives us a Tea. Then same person come in and order us go out. So go out and the girls also with us.
Then few persons come and deliver us a speech and say that girls first gives you A training and after that all of you goes to The Next Step of Training. After speech girls Orders us divides into groups.
Next Day morning after Morning Prayer we are all in the Ground and we see that the other corner of the Ground is farr for us and do not see the other corner of the wall.
One girls order us to All of you stand in a Line. So we in a Line. Then she order us to run in a line until we can not stop. So we are running a distant time untill some Body suddenly stop. One of the girls is Hit him with a Stick. Then She ask Stop! and order us to removes the shirts. So we removes.
One Boy demand for Water but she is ask, There is no water for you untill the end and after this you may drink .
Then She order us to Laid Down in the Ground. So we laid. Then One girl jump on us with Shoes that is soo pain full, the Shoes was hard and clawing on our Bodies. We shout a lot Release us! but No one is help and the clawing goes on a faraway time.
One boy who is angary all at once Slap the Girl, then all other girls come and they tight the Boy up with A Rope and cover the face and start to Beating soo hardly. The Boy is shouting but all the girls is continuing to beat.
We are all looking this but No one has a Courage to stop any Thing. The Boy is Shouting and call FOR HELP. He is wheeping and say Please forgive me but No One is Listen. He is help Less.
After so hard beating The boy was tight with Piller and Tither. Then One girl come and she beat this boy again on the face untill his face is Full with Blood. We all looking this and sheviring. He calling for Help again but we are all stand and just watch. Many girls is beating One by one soo hardly. Then after this One Girls who is holding the revolaver (Pistol) She is fire bullets on the Legs of the Boy. He is Shouting more loudly, then one girl un tight the Boy from piller and Tither and start beating to him again. Then she say, Look at her! If some One do not obey our order then we will give him a pain untill death and now you just sit there and watch how this death.
We sitting there Quietly and looking the Boy. He gush in High pain and every One are praying, ALLAH that release us from this place.
The Boy voice was getting slowly Down and after a few whiles he is silent with no locomotion, then this same soo beautifull girl come close and look up to his eyes and fire more bullets onto his face and tell us that he is died.
We all are wheeping after this, she order us go into the hall that are to Eat. We are hungary that night. She serve us a meal and after this tea and order us again to come to the Ground after Finish. But no one from us really Finish are still sheviring.
When we are in the Ground after Dinner a girl is standing there says, Here where you all come for Jihad. Jihad is a Good and easy way to enter in a Paradise . If you kill One jew then in a Paradise you get a 35 HOOR (fairy). And To day one of your Companion not with you he is here under my Feet because not able to enter into a paradise and now his body are just waste. If Next any of you do like this, we kill them too.
After few days we are down half the boys, Other half killed with these girls on torture. New team is come to train to The Next Step of Training and all of these is Foreigner. They start with beating us on electric Wire. One Boy do not bear this and he is died.
After this, they gives us just a One Time for eating. That Day our body are full with Blood and we just laid onto the floor.
A jihadi training camp (illustrative).
Next day they Order us to Removes the full dress and prepare your Self for hard torture. There was a hot water pool and they jostle us into the water but the water was too Hot and also soo many wound on our body that is why we feel too much pain but no one try to comes out because if Some one is come out they kill him.
We face a lot of pain and torture and after heavy months we are all most no Boys Left. We see soo many boys for dying. One Day we standing in the hall and a person come out and say To Day Our Leader come to meet you and He is deliver a speech to Jihad and After this all of you tell us your last wish and then we go in fight Against the Enemy For Jihad! So To Day is your Rest day and to Night was a special night for you because Tonight you may enjoy with girls. We surprized. At night time girls came out wearing a beautifull dress we Shocked to see these girls that are the same who is giving us a training and they torture us. But tonight we do a Sex. We all Boys afraid but that night we looks first time towards the face of this girls All of girls is soo beautifull and first these girls behaviour like a maid of us. We enjoy all the night. And Morning we are in the Same hall and a Man come who was a Leader with a Black Coat and have a Grizzled. He say:
AS SALAM-O-ALIKUM All of you boys. I am a Leader and Arranger of this camp I know more than a HALF Boys are not here, these are Unlucky but all of you Very Lucky because now You are going for Jihad and for fight for Islam. My Dears Boys today you are standing here it is a very Good position for you. On Oneside you have a Courage for the Shahadat and on Otherside you will have a golden happiness. You may Died, but on Secondside you may Alive after death in the Paradise! Now you are soo strong and am very happy to tell you that am may Hugg you to death but am hope you will never come back until you wins. You may died but Jihad is Alive. Here islam is again A live after your Death. My beloved Sons, am know you face too much pain here and you are Lucky because this pain give you a New Life, the Life that is for ALLAH and for Islam! Now you may Go Hurry-up and Fight against the Enemy who are very weak and Short hearted but your training make you Strong and you are Soo Brave. I know you are ready I know you never run away. I know you are able to fight against the Enemy. We do not choose you but ALLAH choose you for this great Jihad! Now my Child you are able to use the weapons and Now you are soo powerfull I know you may gives Life but do not come back without full Fill the Task. There was a lot of people who helps you in this fighting. Now your body full with the remains of Wound and this is your MEDAL OF HONOUR. Now you may write your Last wish here and after full Fill last wish, we Go a head for Jihad. This is our First and Last meeting, Takecare.
After he is a Way. We write the last Wish to Go to the city where we buy a New dress to use on Final Day, so they are happy to listen. Than we Comes out from this building after serverile Months and sit again in the jeeps. After tall journey jeeps drop us near the Bus and we sit onto the Bus with many persons who look after us so that No One can make a Disabling. After this, Bus drop us into the market, One boy Know better to this area because he is Visit here many Times Before. So we all are in the Shop where we Buy a One piece of Cloth. And after this a Man tell to us Shoping is Over, now into the Bus for go Back. One Boy who are aware from this area try to Run away but Man have a pistol, he fire on the Boy and Bullet hit Boy on the Forehead and he thud onto the Road.
We Sits silently onto the Bus and when Bus leave the Market they Stop to the Bus and Tight us up with the seat of the Bus so that No one of us can runs. After more too far Journey the Bus again stops and they un tight us and tells Go In side the jeep One by one. So we full fill the order. This time there was Only One jeep and we are many Boys so we are sit into the jeep Smally. They never Tight us up In the jeep when big Men is standing there but we all is free here because Mountain are every Where and No one from us know the way any Where. Then when sees a road Muhammad and me jumps outside from the jeep and is run a Way. After serverile day we reach toward the city.
Jowhar sits while Muhammad put the shirts back up over the Vestige of torture skin of the Jowhar arm.
At night, Jowhar say, when asleep still are sheviring. If girls is tell to you to come a Way from here and Go to Jihad for me, do not listening. Is just terrorists. All Jihadi camps where gives training just for terror or personal interest, Nothing more. Parents even do not know where is my Son. They thinks One Day he come backs.
**Hakim Haider is a (real) Muslim based in the Middle East.
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What’s the plan, pretty one?
Turki Aldakhil/Arabiya/October 17/17
Transportation network company Careem’s recent message to its clients in Saudi Arabia has resulted in a sweeping social reaction. The message read “what’s the plan, pretty one?” It sums up the distance between the message-giver and the recipient and between the text and its interpretation.
A message sent out this way justifies the angry social reaction it received. Women have become the proverbial hunter, who when surrounded by deer, does not know which one to target. Women now suffer from drivers who demand high prices while not being allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. These companies have now emerged and used women as a commodity within the context of a marketing campaign. A woman is not an object and she is no one’s belonging. She has her own character and individuality. The ad’s text is unsuccessful and no matter how you look at it, it will somehow harm a conservative society like the Saudi society, and also harm its ideas and beliefs. Other ads by different companies used to say: “Where will you go this evening?” or “How can a family spend this day?” However, to write an ad in such a blatant manner like Careem did is just wrong. Many colleagues, intellectuals and female writers and academics responded to the ad with resentment. The ad was written by someone who views woman as an object and a possession. If he hadn’t been as such, he would have thought a thousand times before venturing and sending out this text which we cannot but consider rude and impolite.
**This article was first published in Okaz on Oct. 16, 2016.

The tragedy of Aleppo and the Syrian people
Eyad Abu Shakra/Arabiya/October 17/17
Although Syria’s tragedy is too painful to be associated with humor, the suffering that both Moscow and Washington are inflicting on the Syrian people reminds us of a kind of a “black comedy” joke. It goes like this: A barber was very keen on his son inheriting his “salon”, but the young man wasn’t remotely interested in such a career. One day the barber decided to force his son to join him, and asked him to tend to a customer by copying what he was doing to another. However, whilst the barber was engaged with his own customer he heard a loud scream from the poor gentleman that his son was tending to. Asking about what had happened, the poor guy said that he had been cut. The barber responded by slapping his son. However, the son lent back and the customer received the full force of the “punishing” slap before the father apologized and then ordered his son to carry on. This time he also told him to be careful. But a few seconds later there was another scream and another misplaced painful slap landed on the cheek of the son’s victim. This went on several times until the son severed the self-restrained customer’s ear, to which the latter responded pleadingly: “Please, please, my son, throw it away before your father sees it!” President Obama and his team have always cited “the failed US intervention in Iraq’ as an excuse for their negative approach to Syria; acknowledging that this intervention caused the collapse and disintegration of the Iraqi state and made it an easy prey to Iran
Sulk and walk
This is exactly what is befalling Aleppo under barbaric Russian air raids while Washington criticizes and threatens to “walk away from further cooperation with Moscow” on the Syrian issue. As Syrians are being murdered and the Russians bomb their homes and cover Bashar Al-Assad genocide, John Kerry simply “sulks” and walks away! It is such an ugly and surreal picture that not only proves the moral bankruptcy of international politics, but also points to the fact that the Arab world is facing a catastrophe, and the so called “war against terrorism” is being conducted in a preposterous manner that intentionally ignores the root causes of the problem.
The “agreed” silence surrounding the systematic destruction of what remains of Aleppo, and evicting more than half of its population, as a first step to handing it back to Al-Assad under Russo-American sponsorship, has also forced Turkey to keep quiet, and is complementing the preparation to “liberate” Mosul against the background of a very dangerous Iraqi scene. Thus, concentrating efforts exclusively on ISIS and al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front while disregarding the overall regional military, political, ethnic as well as religious and sectarian complexities, will only lead to temporary solutions. These serve an American administration that has gained a great expertise in leaving to its successors all the consequences of its failures and short term interests, as well as a dictatorial Russian leadership that cares little about human rights, civil society, democracy and global interaction. The other day President Barack Obama apologized to Bashar al-Assad for the unintended bombing of his troops in Deir Ez-Zor (Eastern Syria), and welcomed the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, fully expressing his support for the latter’s plans for the “liberation” of Mosul. In fact, before and after this meeting Washington has consistently backed the current Iraqi government whose policies – as it is common knowledge – are drawn in Tehran; not forgetting, that Abadi himself candidly admitted that Qasem Soleimani, the head of al-Quds Brigade of Iran’s IRGC and the commander of its operations in Syria, is actually an ‘adviser’ to his government.
Furthermore, all those aware of the Iraqi internal situation, led by human rights organizations, have linked the sectarian crimes of the ‘Popular Mobilization Forces’ (Al-Hashd Al-Sha’bi) with the IRGC, but still the Abadi government behaves as if it doesn’t know. Last but not least, President Obama and his team have always cited “the failed US intervention in Iraq’ as an excuse for their negative approach to Syria; acknowledging that this intervention caused the collapse and disintegration of the Iraqi state and made it an easy prey to Iran.
However, after signing the JCPOA (the nuclear deal) with Iran, the relationship with Tehran became the “constant” – indeed, the cornerstone of Obama’s Middle East policy. This led to Washington turning a blind eye to the intervention of Iran’s militias in the Syrian war, and its hegemony in both Iraq and Lebanon. In a sense, George W Bush’s derided “failed intervention” in Iraq has become the basis of Obama’s regional policy!
Obama’s successor
Given the above, it is now important to ask about the most likely outcome of the US presidential elections in the first week of November. Will Obama’s successor follow in his footsteps, regardless of party affiliation, as the change caused by JCPOA is huge, and the ‘rehabilitation’ of Iran as an ally has gone a long way; noting the breakthroughs achieved by Tehran’s ‘friends’ in Congress, the media, think tanks, and financial circles and networks?Those monitoring Hillary Clinton’s campaign noticed some time ago that the Democratic candidate has already picked her Foreign policy advisers. Among the names expected to be listened to on the Middle East, the Muslim world, and “terrorism” are Jake Sullivan, Philip Gordon, Laura Rosenberger, in addition to veteran old hands like Leon Panetta and Madeleine Albright. On the other hand, many do not expect Clinton to just copy Obama’s policy, but rather balance the interest-based pragmatist perspective of Bill Clinton’s days and the ideological, retreat – if not outright apology- imbued, perspective of Barack Obama. The presence of people like Sullivan and Gordon, however, is not a good sign.
Sullivan was with William Burns (ex-Deputy Sec of State) and Puneet Talwar (Iranian Affairs in the State Dept.), a member of the ‘triumvirate’ that conducted the Muscat secret negotiations with Iran and was one of the Washington’s in Syria, Libya and Myanmar. As for Gordon, he has been one of the ‘mainstays’ of Obama’s disastrous Middle East policy, especially Syria; and both Sullivan and Gordon, along with their colleague Ben Rhodes, are very close to Iran’s active lobby group ‘NIAC’ (National American Iranian Council). In the opposite camp, the team assembled by the Republican candidate Donald Trump, includes a bunch of ultra conservatives, who although are opposed to Tehran, are also anti-Muslim in general. Among the leading names here are George Papadopoulos and Walid Phares, a US-Lebanese academic. Both men are interested in the Middle East and are highly critical of Obama’s policy of ‘retreat’ from the region. Last year, Papadopoulos advised Israel to “co-operate with Russia for its security” as well as Syria and Lebanon. As for Phares, Muslim American groups have often accused him of stirring up “Islamophobia”. So, in light of this, the Arabs find themselves before a sad and ‘well-known’ Democratic option and a worrying and ‘unknown’ Republican option. In a way, our position is similar to that of the Syrians – namely the people of Aleppo – with the ‘Barber of Washington’ who hurts even when he wants to help!
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Oct. 08, 2016.

Nobel for Bob Dylan furthers popular vs literary argument
Yossi Mekelberg/Arabiya/October 17/17
Cometh with the autumn cometh with the guessing game of who will be awarded a Nobel Prize. The awards committee never fails to surprise, at least in some categories, and this year the most eye-catching one was American songwriter and singer Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize for Literature. It was a very popular decision by many around the world, though not among some literary critics that turn up their noses at Dylan’s work as poetry. Snobbery among the chattering classes dictates that poetry should not be associated with popular culture, which is consumed by the masses. It should be by definition exclusive and less accessible. Adonis in the race. Prior to the announcement of this year’s winner the rumor mill in some circles in the Middle East suggested that Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said Esber, better known by his pseudonym Adonis, had a very good chance of winning. He has been regarded for years as a favored choice by many critics and alleged insiders. At eighty-six, he may need to wait another year, but his socio-political poetry shares much in common with Dylan, especially as he has spent decades challenging the oppressive character of political power. From humble beginnings in the Midwest state of Minnesota, born during the Second World War, Bob Dylan’s work reflects his generation; he became one of the most influential artists of his contemporaries. He released his first album in 1961, when President Kennedy just entered the White House, and yet his ability to continuously evolve over five and half decades as an artist, a thinker and a social activist, has been quite astonishing.
Dylan’s latest accolade highlights the tremendous value of his collection of poetry, as a reflection of American history, society, values and flaws from his unique critical point of view. The Swedish Academy that was criticized by the “purists” for awarding the prize to Dylan, should instead be praised for breaking with convention. As it correctly stated, Dylan, enigmatic and at times divisive, “… created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Dylan’s music has had an impact well beyond the United States’ borders, even if it was American by nature. A member of the Academy responded to a question about whether awarding the prize to Dylan reflected a broadening of the definition of poetry by referring to one of Dylan’s best known lyrics, “The times they are a-changing, perhaps.”Dylan is no stranger to either controversy or being honored, though the latter came later in life. Winning 10 Grammy awards, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, in addition to being introduced to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 by President Obama, are a reflection of his rise from a protest folk singer to a national and international icon.
From protest to lament
Nevertheless, Dylan’s latest accolade highlights the tremendous value of his collection of poetry, as a reflection of American history, society, values and flaws from his unique critical point of view. Awarding him the Nobel Prize is bound to turn attention to the relevance of his writings, even to those that were written decades ago. Many of his songs protest and some may lament, the state of the American society. The themes of his songs, such as the discrimination of African Americans, the futility of military intervention abroad, miscarriages of justice, or the maltreatment of women in society, are still extremely relevant today. His immortal words in ‘Times are a-Changin’, chastize the detachment of the political establishment and its obliviousness to the feelings of the American people; a song that could have been written today in relation to the 2016 elections: “There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’, It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, For the times are a-changing.”In a similar vein “Oxford Town”, tells of the tribulations of a black student James Meredith, enrolling at the University of Mississipi. The treatment of minorities in the United States has improved, however, deprivation and neglect, as expressed in Dylan’s writings, still prevail in many parts of the country. Some of the bigotted expressions against minorities in this year’s elections, brought to the surface that the equality of minorities and women is far from being a resolved issue, though those are phenomena which are not exclusive to the United States.
His “Hurricane” ballad became a seminal expression of the miscarriage of justice, incarcerating Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, a black champion boxer, for a triple murder he did not commit:
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For something that he never done
Put him in a prison cell but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world….
If you’re black you might as well not show up on the street
‘Less you wanna draw the heat.
Still today many prisoners can identify with these words, as their freedom has been taken from them, serving long sentences in jails for crimes they have not committed. And as the US ponders its next move in Syria, while licking its wounds from the ordeals in Iraq and Afghanistan, “Blowin in the Wind”, is a reminder that any military intervention if not a last resort and not done in a proportionate manner, might blow up in everyone’s face. Bob Dylan is still performing quite intensively, and has a very devout hard core of supporters, many of whom have followed him throughout his career, including through the evolution of his music and thinking. Becoming a Nobel Prize Literature laureate may attract a younger generation to his work and its relevance to them. It may well also encourage young musicians to follow in his footsteps and write verses that their audience can identify with and which resonate with the world they live in.

Saudi role in regaining rights of Palestinians
Samar Fatany/Arabiya/October 17/17
Saudi Arabia’s active participation in the Arab political and diplomatic process is critical to regain the rights of the Palestinian people and eliminate the threat of terrorism and regional conflicts. The national security of Saudi Arabia and its social stability remain at risk with the continued Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. The government cannot appear to be indifferent to the plight of the Palestinians. The protection and preservation of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the liberation of Palestine has always been a religious and national goal for Saudi Arabia and all Arabs and Muslims. Muslims all over the world look to Saudi Arabia to protect the holy lands of Islam and voice Muslim condemnation of Israeli ethnic cleansing and atrocities against Palestinian women and children. The failure of Saudi Arabia to stand for the rights of Palestinians would compromise its national security and stability. Addressing Israeli atrocities in Palestine and the chaos and wars surrounding the Kingdom have tested Saudi Arabia’s resolve as a stabilizing factor in Middle Eastern politics. Israeli settlements and the continued campaign to spread hate against Palestinians is a crime against humanity. Israel is an obstacle to peace. Today, more than ever before, serious pressure is needed to stop Israeli atrocities and to force Israel to accept a two-state solution. This will allow peace-loving Israelis and Palestinians, whether Jews, Christians or Muslims, to live in peace and harmony. Muslims all over the world look to Saudi Arabia to protect the holy lands of Islam and voice Muslim condemnation of Israeli ethnic cleansing and atrocities against Palestinian women and children. The transformation of Saudi Arabia cannot only be on an economic basis. Today, the Kingdom has a political and moral responsibility to modify its policies and propagate the true moderate and tolerant principles of Islam. The Kingdom al.so has a political obligation to transform the country into a strong and modern state, one which can play an important role in influencing an era of progress and development in the region. Moreover, the Kingdom’s role in enhancing global security cannot be underestimated.
Complacency and failed policies have contributed to the present situation. Urgent united Arab action is crucial in order to bring peace, security and prosperity to the region. Saudi Arabia remains challenged by the need to contain internal conflicts and form stronger alliances to defend the nation and protect its interests.
Arab organizations
As a founding member of both the Arab League, founded in 1945, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), established in 1969, it is crucial for Saudi Arabia to make both of these organizations play a more effective role in regional peace and development. They cannot afford to fail in their task. These vital organizations need a new strategy, renewed energy and greater funding to be more effective. Sadly, the role of the League has remained ineffective for a long time. It has failed to protect the rights of the Palestinian people and defend the sovereignty of Iraq and Libya. Arab leaders were not able to protect the lives of the innocent victims of the brutal conflicts and wars in Syria, Yemen and other Arab countries that remain weak, fragmented and vulnerable to foreign interventions and attacks. Due to irreconcilable differences with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and the brutal way he has dealt with his political opponents, the League has suspended Syria from the organization. The Syrian people are the victims of failed diplomacy that could have been avoided and saved the region a lot of bloodshed and ruin. Also in Yemen, negotiations failed to rein in Ali Abdullah Saleh resulting in tribal conflict and terrorist operations that threaten the Yemeni people and the whole region. Similarly, the OIC, founded in 1969 because of the unlawful burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, is another example of how Muslim organizations have failed in their mission to protect the rights of Palestinians and the interests of the Arab and Muslim world.The inclusion of policies related to making Arab and Muslim organizations more effective and strengthening relations and cooperation between Arab and Muslim states should be incorporated in the Kingdom’s transformation plans. Saudi Vision 2030 to transform the nation into a modern and prosperous state requires new policies to maintain the Kingdom’s strong role in the region and preserve its moral standing within the Islamic world. **This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on Oct. 15, 2016.

Regional challenges demand stronger Saudi-US partnership
Andrew J. Bowen/Arabiya/October 17/17
The decades-old US-Saudi partnership faces one of its most turbulent moments. From Congress voting almost overwhelmingly to sustain Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) law to the deepening domestic criticism in the US on the Yemen campaign, Washington and Riyadh’s common strategic bonds are severely strained by both growing differences and a souring populist mood in America. There has been an avalanche of commentary openly questioning the need for a partnership with the Kingdom. Despite their reservations on Iran, a number of members of Congress are openly questioning the level of security commitment the US provides to the Kingdom. The White House has been a lukewarm partner. While exercising a veto of JASTA and supporting Saudi Arabia’s security requirements, President Obama is openly skeptical about the broader relationship and its value. Electoral politics haven’t helped with both Donald Trump and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at times directly referencing Washington’s differences with the Kingdom. A number of US media outlets have further created an echo chamber for this autumn of discontent. At this critical moment, as Washington and Riyadh confront deepening challenges from Syria to Iran, the current dark political malaise surrounding the relationship distracts from the pressing challenges facing both states in the region. The recent US strike on Houthi positions, after the militant group launched an attack on the US navy off the coast of Yemen, is a reminder of the real dangers facing Washington and Riyadh. Yemen’s challenges are not purely a problem from the Kingdom, but for both the broader region and the US. The commentary that Washington faces a moral dilemma in Yemen for supporting the GCC intervention is a distraction from the real issues
One shouldn’t approach these challenges with closed eyes. Yemen’s challenges are not purely a problem from the Kingdom, but for both the broader region and the US. The commentary that Washington faces a moral dilemma in Yemen for supporting the GCC intervention is a distraction from the real issues.
Iran’s regional play.
Since the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US navy has faced increasing harassment from both Iran and its supported proxies in the region. This month’s Houthi directed actions against the US underscore this challenge. This behavior is further met by Tehran’s expansion of its ballistic missile program. Iran has been equally as well a dubious partner in fighting ISIS. More broadly, Ayatollah Khamenei has shown no deep desire to find common ground with Washington and its regional partners on regional challenges. As members of the Washington policy community have continued to debate whether there are “reformers” in Iran, the Iranian leadership has aggressively pursued its own strategic interests and has shown no interest as President Obama advocated of “sharing” the region with its neighbors. For Tehran, the “deal” was about economic returns not strategic compromises. In the setting months of Obama’s presidency, Syria has become simply a casualty of the nuclear deal. Equally, as well, the White House has been too overly accommodating of Iran’s complaints that the economic returns from reaching the JCPOA haven’t materialized enough. The new US Treasury OFAC guidance, released last week, sets a bad precedent that Washington is somehow responsible for economic outcomes never agreed in the deal. It is then this strategic environment that Washington and Riyadh need to remain focused on addressing.
New footing
While certainly the American public mood (riled by the populism of Donald Trump) is sour and restless, the partnership between the US and the Kingdom can weather this storm. However, this will require renewed leadership in the White House and Congress.
JASTA, a poorly thought-out piece of legislation, can’t become a roadblock to addressing deeper challenges both states face. When Congress reconvenes after the election in November, an opportunity exists to lay this bill to rest. Regional challenges from Yemen to Syria and Iran’s aggressive footing require a deep partnership between Washington and Riyadh. It is one thing to ideally long for a day where Washington can work with both Riyadh and Tehran to address common challenges, but that day hasn’t come. Iran’s still an adversary for the US and arguably, a number of segments of Iran’s political elite still view Washington as an adversary. It’s naïve to ignore this darker reality. The next US President has an opportunity to strengthen the partnership. After almost eight years of mistrust, both Washington and Riyadh have a moment to turn the page. Hopefully, this moment is seized upon and not missed.

Tension rises on Temple Mount during Jewish holy days
Ben Caspit/Al Monitor/October 17/16
The Israeli security service went to great efforts to contain, restrain and eradicate the terror wave that began just over a year ago in October 2015, and has since received the appellation "individual intifada." These security service efforts included the development of special algorithms that monitor social networks to track down potential assailants according to the status updates they write, before they embark on their evil schemes. Other efforts include massive reinforcement of security service personnel in areas surrounding East Jerusalem, stiffening punishments for lawbreakers and intensifying pressure on West Bank Palestinian populations who engage in terror activities, versus the easing of restrictions on terror-free areas.
Israeli security forces fear that the recent shooting attack in Jerusalem signals the beginning of a new wave of violence, especially during this month of Jewish holy days.
The terror wave had died down in recent months and Israelis started to breathe more easily. Nevertheless, anyone who knows anything about security and terror had realized that the Jewish holiday season in October — from Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year), to Yom Kippur (day of fasting) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) — would be the true terror litmus test. This Jewish month of Tishrei is always the most worrisome period of the year because of the tension enveloping Jerusalem, which is nowadays flooded with Jewish pilgrims. Hence, there are numerous frictions and flash points at this time between the religions and the various adversaries in the city.
Unfortunately, the Tishrei holidays have lived up to their reputation so far this year. On Oct. 9, two days before the holiest festival for Jews (Yom Kippur), Mesbah Abu Sabih from Silwan embarked on a killing spree on the streets of Jerusalem. He was armed with a submachine gun (evidently an M16 belonging to the Israeli army) and shot passersby from a moving vehicle on a route several hundred meters long in East Jerusalem: from the French Hill neighborhood via the Light Rail stop opposite the police national headquarters, all the way to the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Police forces pursued him during most of the route, but Abu Sabih succeeded in killing policeman Yosef Kirma and former Knesset employee Levana Malichi who was standing at the Light Rail stop. Other Israelis were wounded in the shooting spree, before Abu Sabih was shot and killed by the police.
Beyond the tragic loss of human life, this terror attack served as a harbinger of things to come, despite the previous signs of waning terror and despite the Israeli efforts to stifle the year-old terror wave. This time, it did not involve a hate-filled youth grabbing a knife to run out and stab policemen, or an inflamed adolescent girl attacking passersby with scissors. Abu Sabih is one of the most notorious Palestinians in the city’s eastern section; his local nickname is “the Lion from al-Aqsa.” He was one of the key activists of the Mourabitoun on the Temple Mount, and after this organization was outlawed he joined a group called Shabab al-Aqsa.
The Abu Sabih attack disproved the Israeli assumption that the harsh security steps adopted on the Temple Mount, together with the quiet contacts and "understandings" between the prime minister’s office and the court of Jordanian King Abdullah, had created just the right formula to bring peace and quiet to what is viewed by Israeli experts as the most explosive site in the world.
Abu Sabih was a symbol of Palestinian extremism on the Temple Mount, which believes that Israel is trying to push the Muslims away from the Temple Mount and increase a Jewish presence on the spot. Sabih was a convicted terrorist sentenced several times to various punishments for violence. He was a provocateur, well known by the Israel police force, and was supposed to have begun serving a prison sentence for attacking a policeman on the day he embarked on his killing spree. In posts he placed on his Facebook page before the attack, Abu Sabih wrote about his yearning for the Al-Aqsa Mosque and that “the dark ones” (the Israelis, according to his definition) “are preventing me from going there.”
The killing of Abu Sabih following the terror attack reignited the wave of violence, at least for a few days. The scenes that were observed in the Palestinian neighborhood of al-Ram in Jerusalem, where Abu Sabih’s family lives, turned the clock back and aroused great worry in Israel. The neighborhood, parts of which are located on municipal territory of the Israeli capital, turned into a roiling, hatred-filled Hamas stronghold for a few days. Israeli media crews were not allowed to get near the family’s house and were told by local residents that Jews were not welcome there.
Abu Sabih was a Hamas member, and the organization praised his deeds to the skies and called on people to take action like he did. Neighborhood activists and his family members distributed candy to the hundreds of Palestinians who crowded the streets and shouted defamatory statements about Israel and the Jews. In the riots that erupted at the same time, another Palestinian was killed and demonstrators were wounded, as well as an Israeli policeman. It seems that the wave of violence that erupted last year and had started to die down in recent months has returned to us in full force. Israeli security sources had warned of complacency just prior to the Jewish holidays; they noted that the situation was explosive and volatile and that there were many who would want to reignite the region. It turns out that they were totally on the mark: That is exactly what happened.
Quiet started to return to Jerusalem after a few days, but it is an especially tense quiet concealing great dangers just under the surface. Yom Kippur is behind us, but the Sukkot festival (a week’s holiday starting Oct. 17), which seals the Tishrei holidays and brings numerous Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem, also has the potential for an outbreak of violence.
Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan renewed his attacks against Facebook. He said that the social networks had again served as a cooperative fertile breeding ground for incitement in the case of Abu Sabih. After the terror attack, Facebook closed Abu Sabih’s personal page. Israeli security agents claim that this was too little, too late. However, in conversations with Al-Monitor these sources admitted that while the social networks do help disseminate incitement, they are not the basic cause of its existence.
“The conflict existed before Facebook,” said a senior Israeli security figure in the Jerusalem area, speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “We have to continue the work with the social networks and continue putting pressure on Facebook and similar networks. But let’s not forget the fact that the basic situation on the ground — tension between the populations, tension on the Temple Mount and the various conspiracy theories­ ­— is what brought us to this point. The situation requires in-depth, root canal work, not cosmetic steps alone.”

 Muslim, Jewish Religious Leaders Denounce Violence, Promote Peace in Unprecedented Israeli-Palestinian Meeting
The Washington Institute/October 17, 2016
Israeli President Rivlin hosts Washington Institute Iinitiative that brings Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Muslim religious leaders together for the first time.
In the first event of its kind, top Palestinian Muslim and Israeli Jewish religious leaders – including the top religious affairs advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi and leaders of a prominent West Bank yeshiva -- met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to promote peace and affirm their opposition to all forms of religiously inspired violence.
Participants in the initiative issued this statement at the meeting:
"God created life and commanded life. Therefore, we denounce the killing of innocents or any kind of aggression against the other. We believe the deliberate killing of or attempt to kill innocents is terrorism, whether it is committed by Muslims, Jews or others. In this spirit, we encourage all our people to work for a just peace, mutual respect for human life and for the status quo on the holy sites, and the eradication of religious hatred."
Key figures at this unprecedented meeting included Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef as well as Palestinian President Abbas' Islamic Affairs Advisor Sheikh Mahmoud Habbash, the Supreme Sharia Court Judge.
"The meeting today is important and significant - perhaps the most important meeting that could be held during these days," said Israeli President Rivlin. "We all know that the tensions between Jews and Muslims are difficult, and specifically for that reason, we insist on meeting together here today. We must not allow this land to once again witness a sacrifice of blood senselessly spilled."
The summit was the result of a year-long Washington Institute initiative led by two of its scholars – Ziegler Distinguished Fellow David Makovsky and Kaufman Fellow David Pollock – who devoted dozens of hours in private talks to bring this group together.
"Having Jewish and Muslim leaders from Israel and the Palestinian Authority join together at the home of the president of Israel sends a powerful message of peace at a critical and sensitive moment," said Makovsky and Pollock. "Over the last year we have seen a rise in tensions between Israelis and Palestinians that has led to grave consequences. Since much of the violence of the last year has been religiously motivated, we believed it was vital for religious leaders to speak out. One should never assume one meeting alone can be transformative, but it could provide an important foundation to build upon."
With the help of the Center for Middle East Development at UCLA, in early 2016 the Institute brought together Sheikh Habbash, the Palestinian Authority's former religious affairs minister, and Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein, head of Yeshivat Har Etzion in the West Bank region of Gush Etzion, to discuss the role of religious leaders in conflict mitigation. In subsequent rounds of talks, each side brought three additional religious leaders. Participants began to understand each other's perspective on the conflict, how each views its own religious narrative, and the importance of religious leaders speaking out against religiously inspired violence and promoting tolerance and peace.
ute plans to continue this high-level dialogue to find additional practical steps to reduce religious tension.
"We hope that this initiative will create an ongoing mechanism for Israeli and Palestinian clerical leadership to communicate with each other and to work in concert to reduce tensions," said Institute Executive Director Robert Satloff. "In some small way, this initiative underscores the powerful idea that religion can serve as a basis for coexistence, not just an excuse for conflict."
Participants included:
Rabbi Shlomo Brin, head of Yeshivat Har Etzion for first-year students
Sheikh Mahmoud Habbash, Supreme Sharia Court Judge and Religious and Islamic Affairs Advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein, head of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion
Rabbi Daniel Tropper, founder and president emeritus of the Gesher organization
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel