LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

October 22/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.october22.16.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006

Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006

Question: "What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit?"
GotQuestions.org/Answer: Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of a Christian. The Bible makes it clear that everyone receives the Holy Spirit the moment he or she believes in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14). One of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit coming into a Christian's life is to change that life. It is the Holy Spirit's job to conform us to the image of Christ, making us more like Him.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is in direct contrast with the acts of the sinful nature in Galatians 5:19-21, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” This passage describes all people, to varying degrees, when they do not know Christ and therefore are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Our sinful flesh produces certain types of fruit that reflect our nature, and the Holy Spirit produces types of fruit that reflect His nature.
The Christian life is a battle of the sinful flesh against the new nature given by Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). As fallen human beings, we are still trapped in a body that desires sinful things (Romans 7:14-25). As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit producing His fruit in us and we have the Holy Spirit's power available to conquer the acts of the sinful nature (2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 4:13). A Christian will never be completely victorious in always demonstrating the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the main purposes of the Christian life, though, to progressively allow the Holy Spirit to produce more and more of His fruit in our lives—and to allow the Holy Spirit to conquer the opposing sinful desires. The fruit of the Spirit is what God desires our lives to exhibit and, with the Holy Spirit's help, it is possible!

Bible Quotations For Today

The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 04/26-29/:"He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

‘Nothing beyond what is written’, so that none of you will be puffed up in favour of one against another.
First Letter to the Corinthians 04/01-13/:"Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God. I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, ‘Nothing beyond what is written’, so that none of you will be puffed up in favour of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 21-22/16

Aoun’s nomination receives mixed reviews on Beirut streets/Ghinwa Obeid/The Daily Star/October 22/16
Churches Around The World Ring Bells For Aleppo As Hundreds Slaughtered In Brutal Siege/Carey Lodge/Christian Today/October 21/16
First They Came for Asia Bibi"/Douglas Murray/Gatestone Institute/October 21/16
WikiLeaks shows Hillary got $12 million from Morocco. Here's what Rabat got in return.
Julian Pecquet/Al Monitor/October 21/16
Why battles for Mosul and Aleppo will not turn into a World War/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 21/16
Openess and tolerance are the key to peace/Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya/October 21/16
Important not to lose sight of the objective in Yemen/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/October 21/16
JASTA is an insult to all Arabs/Waheed Abdul Majid/Al Arabiya/October 21/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on October 21-22/16

Aoun’s nomination receives mixed reviews on Beirut streets
US cautiously optimistic Lebanon will get president
Lebanese Forces chief Geagea urges more support for Aoun
Geagea Says Ties with Hariri Have 'Returned to How They Were', Vows to 'Achieve March 14 Project'
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Visits Roumieh Prison
UNIFIL Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Its Maritime Task Force
Report: Hariri Reassured about Outcome of Endorsing Aoun
Report: Kataeb Fears 'One-Party' Ruling Under Aoun
Qabbani: I Will Not Vote for Aoun
Lebanese Army Stages Security Raids in Hermel, Arrests Fugitive
I will not vote for Aoun: Future MP
Aoun visits Berri after nomination
Hariri gambles on Aoun to break Lebanon political deadlock
Hariri backs Michel Aoun as Lebanon's next president
Hariri’s backing boosts Aoun’s presidential chances
Endorsing Aoun was 'difficult' decision: Machnouk

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on October 21-22/16
Churches Around The World Ring Bells For Aleppo As Hundreds Slaughtered In Brutal Siege
Hillary Clinton Tops 2015-16 Islamist Money List
UN claims ISIS seizes 550 families as human shields in Mosul
UN to Begin Evacuations from Aleppo if Truce Holds
IS Raids Iraq's Kirkuk to Draw Attention from Mosul Offensive
Russia to pause Aleppo strikes 11 hours for 4 days
US soldier killed in northern Iraq bomb attack
Kerry, Jubeir discuss ways to ‘fix’ JASTA
Pentagon sees role for Turkey in Mosul battle
Buenos Aires bombing: Argentina seeks Ali Akbar Velayati extradition
Vatican-Muslim dialogue to restart in April
Some 1,400 migrants rescued off Libyan coast
Britain accuses Russia of “making the situation worse” in Syria
900 Houthi violations of Yemen truce
Rape claims against Khamenei’s favorite reciter ‘buried’
US spy worker stole ‘astonishing quantity’ of data
Third Night of Police Protests in France

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on October 21-22/16
Dialogue between Vatican and al-Azhar to restart in April after five-year lull
Nigeria: Muslims murder over 40 Christians, burn down their houses
Afghanistan: Man in Afghan military uniform murders US soldier and US civilian
Austria: Muslim migrant who raped 10-year-old boy has conviction overturned
Will Alberta police investigate Muhammad’s death penalty for gays as “hate speech”?
UK press regulator permits criticism of Islam, Muslim journo says it’s “open season on minorities”
Islamic Jihad plotted mass casualty jihad massacre at Israeli wedding

Links From Christian Today Site for on October 21-22/1
Churches Around The World Ring Bells For Aleppo As Hundreds Slaughtered In Brutal Siege
How The Vatican And China Are Trying To Make Up After A Decades-Long Dispute
Tom Wright: Church Must Reclaim Its Prophetic Role In Society
EU Slams Britain: ISIS Is Committing Genocide And You're Doing Nothing
Muslim Children As Young As Five In Pakistan Are Being Taught To Hate Christians, Says Archbishop
Christians And Muslims Play Football To Combat Extremism
Nigerian Christians Massacred In 'Savage' Attack, At Least 40 Dead
You Have The Right To Be Angry! Bishop Of Liverpool Advice To LGBT Christians
Charlie Hebdo Mocks New Russian Cathedral: Russians Say It's 'Blasphemous And Scandalous'
Only One In Six Americans Fully Trust Religious Leaders
Here's Another Reason Millennials Are Leaving The Church

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on October 21-22/16

US cautiously optimistic Lebanon will get president
AFP,Washington Friday, 21 October 2016/The United States is cautiously optimistic that Lebanon is on the point of breaking a political deadlock and appointing its first president in two years. “This stalemate on the issue of the presidency is hurting Lebanon and hurts the region and we hope it will move forward,” Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad Hariri on Thursday endorsed his rival Michel Aoun’s presidential ambition, paving the way for him to be appointed. The endorsement looks likely to fill a void that has lasted since May 2014, with Lebanon’s divided parliament unable to agree a successor to president Michel Sleiman. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim whose party leads a Western- and Saudi-backed political bloc, had opposed Aoun’s candidacy. Aoun, an 81-year-old Maronite Christian and former head of the Lebanese army, is allied with the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is in turn backed by Iran.

Aoun’s nomination receives mixed reviews on Beirut streets
Ghinwa Obeid/The Daily Star/October 22/16
BEIRUT: Mixed reviews emerged from the streets of Beirut Friday over former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s decision to endorse MP Michel Aoun. The general atmosphere was one of dissatisfaction. Although the move appeared highly unlikely just a few weeks ago, Hariri Thursday endorsed his Hezbollah-affiliated rival for the vacant presidency. Aoun, founder of the Free Patriotic Movement, has the largest Christian parliamentary bloc. It is the second largest in Parliament after Hariri’s. In the predominately Sunni neighborhood of Al-Tariq Al-Jadideh, traditionally associated with Hariri’s Future Movement, a number of residents said they did not support the choice. “I am not satisfied with the move because it is what the others in March 8 wanted to happen,” Zeina Damerji told The Daily Star, referring to Hezbollah and its allies. “Of course there has been a submission. It would’ve been better if he [Hariri] kept up his support for Sleiman Frangieh.” Before offering his support for Aoun, Hariri previously pushed for Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh for presidency. He initially backed Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who has since endorsed Aoun.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since the term of President Michel Sleiman ended in May 2014. Lawmakers have repeatedly failed to select a successor as legislators have boycotted the elections. Damerji expressed her frustration with the political class, saying that regardless of the endorsement, the Lebanese people are the ones paying the price for what she described as “under the table deals.” Fixing the wool in his shop, Salim Mikati also said he was not happy with Hariri’s decision. Mikati’s discontent stems from the Future Movement’s past political experiences with the FPM.
“There were days when the FPM betrayed and insulted Hariri and now he extends his hands to them again?” Mikati said, adding that his support for the Future Movement has been affected by Hariri’s decision. Ministers of Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, including the FPM, met at Aoun’s residence in Rabieh in 2011. It was from there that Energy Minister Gebran Bassil announced the resignation of the March 8 ministers from the government, which at the time was headed by Hariri. The desertion brought down the 30-member government. The announcement came as Hariri was meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House. It was widely perceived as being timed to embarrass him. Mikati noted that the former prime minister’s popularity among his community could be affected by his endorsement of Aoun.
Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Future Movement MP Ammar Houri are among the members of the Future parliamentary bloc who have declared their opposition to Aoun’s candidacy. Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal Movement, is one of Aoun’s main opponents. He continues to support Frangieh. “Did you see Siniora and Ammar Houri? They reject the idea. And Berri is also against it.”However, not everyone in Al-Tariq Al-Jadideh opposed Hariri’s move. Ghomra Masri said she believed that the Future Movement leader was honest and correct when he said Aoun was the only remaining option for the top Christian post. “At the beginning I had an issue with this,” she said. “But then I realized that he was forced to do [it]. There are things that might be happening that we don’t know of, and he might see that making this move will remove the country from the situation it is in.”
For Masri, Hariri remains the backbone of the Sunni community in Lebanon, and she said that they need to stand by his side. Opposition to Aoun’s candidacy was also prevalent in the Shiite neighborhood of Zoqaq al-Blat, where political allegiances are divided between the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.
The residents whom The Daily Star spoke to said they did not agree with Hariri’s endorsement, and expressed suspicion of its sincerity.
“I don’t support the move,” Randa Dayraki said. “[Aoun] is not qualified to run a country.” Dayraki said that even if the lawmakers are the ones who choose a president, the people should also have a say in who will become head of state. “Given the history, Frangieh remained more suitable than Aoun,” she said. Hasan Zeineddine echoed Dayraki’s remarks, but expressed doubt that Aoun would win the election. “What you need now is for the whole move to be completed,” he said. Zeineddine said he did not support Aoun or Frangieh, and believes that the country needs a third candidate to bring lasting stability. “We want a president who will not collect money and leave.” Support for Hariri’s endorsement of Aoun appeared strongest in the predominately Christian neighborhood of Sassine in Ashrafieh, where both the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party enjoy widespread support. Those who hailed Hariri also recognized the role Geagea played in paving the way for Aoun’s endorsement. “It’s a very good step,” Rami Nasser said. “Aoun has a large [degree of] popularity compared to Frangieh,” he said. Nasser said he hoped that Aoun would be able to eliminate sectarianism, implement administrative decentralization, and revive the country’s flagging economy.“Aoun has a strong power base,” Sami Fattal said. “There needs to be hope.”

Lebanese Forces chief Geagea urges more support for Aoun
The Daily Star/October 21/16/BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea expressed hope Friday that all parliamentary blocs would support the election of Change and Reform chief MP Michel Aoun in his bid for the presidency. "We will have a president made through a Lebanese [decision] and we will have a real Lebanese entity," Geagea said from Rabieh, following talks with Aoun. Geagea voiced optimism that the presidential stalemate, now in its third year, will come to an end soon. "The next step after the election of Aoun is supposed to be the formation of a Cabinet by [former Prime Minister Saad] Hariri," Geagea told reporters. Hariri Thursday announced his formal support for Aoun's candidacy, shifting from Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh. His move came after he conducted a series of political consultations in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, France and Russia. However, several key Future Movement members still oppose Aoun’s ascendancy to the presidential palace, including former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and other members of his parliamentary bloc."The election of Aoun is an actual implementation of the Taif Accord," Geagea added, noting that no party is seeking to exclude Speaker Nabih Berri. Berri strongly opposes the nomination of Aoun and announced that he would vote against him in the upcoming presidential session, scheduled for Oct. 31. The meeting was held in the presence of LF media officer Melhem Riachi and Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan. Parliament has failed to elect a head of state 45 times since the term of former President Michel Sleiman expired in 2014.

 Geagea Says Ties with Hariri Have 'Returned to How They Were', Vows to 'Achieve March 14 Project'
Naharnet/October 21/16/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Friday that the ties between LF and al-Mustaqbal Movement “have returned to how they were before,” vowing that the two parties will keep exerting efforts to “achieve March 14's project.” “Today I'm glad because the relations between LF and Mustaqbal have returned to how they were before in the context of March 14's grand project and everything we are doing is aimed at achieving the project of (slain ISF intelligence chief) Wissam al-Hassan and March 14's project,” said Geagea after talks with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri at the Center House. “We will not rest before achieving March 14's project,” Geagea pledged, a day after Hariri formally endorsed Geagea's presidential candidate Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun. Hariri's previous endorsement of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh had strained his relations with Geagea and prompted the LF leader to endorse the candidacy of Aoun – his longtime Christian rival. “I hail the courage of ex-PM Saad Hariri, who has not backed down on his stance, and this is not the first time that Sheikh Saad does this,” Geagea added
“We will have a president on October 31 and Saad Hariri will be the prime minister of the next government,” the LF leader said. “I hope we will reach consensus on General Aoun's nomination before October 31, but if that didn't happen, all parties must remember that this is an election and this is how they must deal with the presidential file,” Geagea went on to say. Asked whether the March 14 coalition is still functional after all the developments, the LF leader stressed that March 14's project is still alive, casting doubt over the cohesion of the March 8 alliance. The meeting at Hariri's headquarters in downtown Beirut was held in the presence of Hariri's adviser ex-MP Ghattas Khoury and LF media officer Melhem Riachi. The talks come after a morning meeting between Geagea and Aoun in Rabieh. 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 had 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 have argued 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: Electing Aoun Puts Taef Accord into Implementation
Naharnet/October 21/16/Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea stated on Friday that Lebanon is in front of a chance to have a president chosen by the Lebanese themselves putting the Taef Accord on the track of implementation, as he voiced hopes that all parliamentary blocs elect MP Michel Aoun during the next presidential election session. “We will have a president chosen by the Lebanese. We have a real entity now. The presidential path is going the right way and I am optimistic,” said Geagea after a meeting he held with Change and Reform bloc head and presidential hopeful MP Michel Aoun at Rabieh. “Let the parliamentary blocs elect Aoun and with that the actual implementation of the Taef shall begin,” he went on to say. On Thursday, Hariri has formally endorsed the presidential nomination of Free Patriotic Movement founder Aoun, describing his decision as a “major political risk” that he is willing to take for the sake of the country.
“We have a chance to get out of the dark tunnel,” stated Geagea. On reports alleging an agreement between him and Aoun that will see him become president of Lebanon in six years, Geagea denied and said: “There is no such agreement between Aoun and me.”The LF leader described Aoun's nomination by Hariri as the first step towards the implementation of the Taef Accord that ended the civil war in Lebanon, he said: “This is the first step on the path to the implementation of the Taef Accord, which has never been applied effectively, it is the agreement which we adhere to the fullest extent.”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 had launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Hizbullah's ally Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Geagea, an ally of Hariri has endorsed Aoun for the post after withdrawing his own candidacy in his favor. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid have argued 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.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Visits Roumieh Prison
Naharnet/October 21/16/United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag visited Friday the Roumieh Prison, her press office said. Kaag met and held discussions with prison authorities as well as adult and juvenile detainees. Following a tour of the prison, Kaag participated in a special therapeutic session led by Zeinab Daccache, executive director of the NGO Catharsis. The Special Coordinator was also briefed by a representative from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). During the visit, Kaag stressed the importance of upholding international human rights standards and ensuring appropriate conditions in the prison. Commending the good cooperation between prison authorities, local NGOs and the U.N., the Special Coordinator called for additional support and resources to build the capacity of staff and improve the general conditions in the prison. The oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, Roumieh has witnessed sporadic prison breaks and escalating riots in recent years as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.

UNIFIL Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Its Maritime Task Force
Naharnet/October 21/16/The commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major General Michael Beary, praised Friday the work done by the U.N. mission’s Maritime Task Force (MTF) in effectively assisting the Lebanese authorities under the mandate of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. In his remarks at a special ceremony at the Beirut Port, organized to mark the tenth anniversary of the deployment in Lebanon of the U.N. Peacekeeping’s first and only naval force, Beary said the MTF’s work has become a trendsetter within the world body. “Over the last 10 years the Maritime Task Force has laid the foundations of a United Nations naval doctrine,” said the UNIFIL head, addressing an audience comprising MTF Commander Rear Admiral Claudio Mello, Lebanese Navy Commander Rear Admiral Majed Alwan, representative of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Brigadier General George Shreim, Lebanese officials, journalists and UNIFIL peacekeepers on the pier in front of MTF’s flagship Frigate “Liberal.” “As a result of a decade of closely planned training, today the LAF Navy patrol their territorial waters, use modern coastal radar to monitor sea traffic, plan and execute complex special operations exercises and coordinate search and rescue operations at sea. I can assure the LAF Navy personnel present today that UNIFIL remains commuted to this important task,” he added. MTF was deployed on October 15, 2006 at the request of the Government of Lebanon, following the adoption of the resolution 1701 by the U.N. Security Council. MTF supports the Lebanese Navy preventing the unauthorized entry of arms or related material by sea into Lebanon. It also assists the Lebanese Navy enhancing its capabilities by carrying out a range of different training courses and joint exercises with the intent of the Lebanese Navy assume all duties required for maritime security. Speaking at today’s ceremony in Beirut, Beary paid tribute to the 15 countries that have contributed naval assets to MTF since 2006 “for their assistance in playing their important part in implementing UNIFIL’s mandate.” He also thanked and congratulated the Lebanese Navy for the work they have engaged in with MTF over the last 10 years. “I hope that everyone here today will agree with me when I say that it has been a remarkable partnership,” he added. In the last ten years, UNIFIL MTF has hailed more than 70,000 ships, of which more than 8,500 were referred to the Lebanese Navy for inspection. UNIFIL MTF currently has more than 850 uniformed naval personnel and seven ships: two from Bangladesh and one each from Brazil, Germany, Greece, Indonesia and Turkey. There are two onboard helicopters.

Report: Hariri Reassured about Outcome of Endorsing Aoun
Naharnet/October 21/16/Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri is reassured about the outcome of his initiative as for nominating MP Michel Aoun for the post of president, and said its unlikely for the election session scheduled at the end of October to be postponed, An Nahar daily reported on Friday. In side talks with the daily, Hariri said “I am reassured,” about the results of the initiative, and that he does not expect the election session on 31 of October to be postponed “unless they wanted to,” he said. He was referring to reports circulating that the session might be delayed until the tense relations between Speaker Nabih Berri and Aoun are settled, according to the daily. On Thursday, Hariri has formally endorsed the presidential nomination of Free Patriotic Movement founder Michel Aoun, describing his decision as a “major political risk” that he is willing to take for the sake of the country. On the tense relations between Berri and himself, Hariri pointed to a strong friendship with the Speaker “the huff will not continue, because there is no room for that in politics.” On his relations with Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh and a previous nominee of his for head of the state post, Hariri said: “the only (real) ally that Franjieh has is Saad Hariri because his allies did not give him anything.”On the circumstances that made Hariri choose to endorse Aoun, Hariri said that after exhausting all other options he told the parties concerned since last August that he cannot continue with the presidential vacuum. Hariri had endorsed Aoun after his previous support for the presidential nomination of Franjieh was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Berri has openly announced that he will not vote for Aoun in any presidential election session and some officials of his AMAL Movement have accused Aoun and Hariri of seeking a bilateral agreement that would marginalize Shiites in power, allegations that Aoun and his movement have denied. 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 had launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Hizbullah's ally 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 have argued 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.

Report: Kataeb Fears 'One-Party' Ruling Under Aoun
Naharnet/October 21/16/The Kataeb party warned of a “vertical split” and a “one-party” ruling in the country following the endorsement of MP Michel Aoun for the presidency by head of al-Mustaqbal Movement, and stressed that the majority do not support the MP for the top state post, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday. “General Aoun does not have the consensus of the Lebanese. There is a vertical split in the country,” Kataeb sources told the daily on condition of anonymity. “The supporters and adversaries are equal because one-half of the supporters are not convinced with (Free Patriotic Movement founder) Aoun,” they went on to say. The Kataeb sources stressed the need to address this “split because it will generate a difficult situation at the level of incorporating the basis for a new phase in the country.”They voiced fears that ruling under “Aoun might be a one-party ruling or a monopolization of the Christian representation between two groups and the abolition of the other parties.”“Aoun is required to make a tour on previous presidents and leaders to garner a massive support around him and to appease everyone that he will adopt the policy of standing at an equal distance from everyone,” they said. “Kateab will oppose Aoun until the last minute, but as soon as he is elected we will stand by his side,” they concluded.Mustaqbal head and ex-PM Saad Hariri had on Thursday formally endorsed Aoun after his previous support for the presidential nomination of Franjieh was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. 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 had launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Hizbullah's ally 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 have argued 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.

Qabbani: I Will Not Vote for Aoun
Naharnet/October 21/16/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Qabbani said in a statement issued Friday morning that he would not vote for presidential candidate, Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun, the National News Agency reported. “In line with my political convictions and those of the people of Beirut, I confirm that I will not be voting for Aoun during the upcoming presidential election session,” Qabbani stated. A parliamentary session is scheduled to convene on October 31 to elect a president and fill the over two-year vacuum at the post. On Thursday, al-Mustaqbal Movement chief and ex-PM Saad Hariri has formally endorsed the presidential nomination of Aoun, describing his decision as a “major political risk” that he is willing to take for the sake of the country. Hariri had endorsed Aoun after his previous support for the presidential nomination of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. At least five members of Hariri's Mustaqbal bloc, including its head ex-PM Fouad Saniora, have also said that they will not vote for Aoun. Several MPs from the bloc boycotted Hariri's speech at the Center House on Thursday, as an objection to Hariri's step. Al-Mustaqbal Movement Secretary General Ahmed Hariri told VDL (100.5) on Friday that (Saad) Hariri will take a clear stance in the coming hours as for the MPs who boycotted Thursday's speech at the Center House. 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 had launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Hizbullah's ally 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 have argued 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.

Lebanese Army Stages Security Raids in Hermel, Arrests Fugitive
Naharnet/October 21/16/The Lebanese Army staged wide security operations in the Bekaa city of Hermel and was able to arrest a fugitive wanted on several arrest warrants, the National News Agency reported on Friday. The military was searching for illegal arms and fugitives in Hermel, added NNA. The army arrested fugitive H.N. who is wanted on several arrest warrants.

I will not vote for Aoun: Future MP
The Daily Star/October 21/16/BEIRUT: Future Movement lawmaker Mohammad Qabbani Friday reiterated that he would not vote for Change and Reform chief MP Michel Aoun in the upcoming presidential election session. "In harmony with my political convictions and that of my family in Beirut, I assure that I will not vote for Aoun in the next presidential session," Qabbani said in a statement carried by the National News Agency. Qabbani, along with MPs Ahmad Fatfat and Ammar Houri, Thursday did not attend former Prime Minister and Future Movement leader Saad Hariri's announcement to endorse Aoun's presidency. Some key Future Movement members still oppose Aoun’s ascendancy, including former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Hariri announced his decision to support the candidacy of Aoun for the country's top post based on "the need to protect Lebanon, protect the system, protect the state and protect the people."Parliament has failed to elect a head of state 45 times since the term of former President Michel Sleiman expired in 2014. The next session is scheduled for Oct. 31.

Aoun visits Berri after nomination
Joseph A. Kechichian/Gulf News/October 21/16/Speaker still furious about alleged deal brokering behind his back, refuses to endorse Aoun Beirut: A few hours after former Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced that he was ready to back the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader General Michel Aoun for the office of president, the latter visited Speaker Nabih Berri to seek his backing, though no breakthrough was reached. According to numerous sources, Berri asked Aoun to visit him without his son-in-law, Foreign Minister Jibran Basil, as the leader of the Amal Party was apparently angry at an alleged deal made by Bassil with Nader Hariri, Hariri’s chief of staff, on a complete post-presidential election package, including which parties would be assigned which government portfolios in a new Hariri-led cabinet. On Friday, Al Akhbar reported that when Berri asked Aoun about the Bassil-Nader Hariri accord, the General responded that “all the talk about deals and understandings and agreements and secure positions are incorrect and have no basis in reality”. The Speaker, who is as hard-nosed a politician as any among the old-timers, issued a statement after the meeting in which he reiterated that the two men “heard each other’s points of view”, but insisted that his preferred presidential candidate was Sulaiman Franjieh.For his part, Aoun declared that it was his “duty” to inform the Speaker of the latest developments that led to Saad Hariri’s endorsement, but acknowledged that the meeting did not result in a change. “We are certainly seeking Speaker Berri’s support in the presidential race,” said Aoun, “but we respect his freedom in taking the decision he wants”. Reactions to Thursday evening’s dramatic developments were numerous, ranging the gamut from those who praised Hariri for his nationalist positions that placed the interests of the country above all else, to those who foresaw unrest and assassinations. Lebanese politicians were divided along ideological lines, filling the airwaves and newspapers with contradictory opinions about how best to save Lebanon from its unending crises, fill the two-year-long constitutional void at the highest levels of the state, and restore confidence among all components.Everyone waited for Hezbollah leaders to confirm their attendance at the 46th parliamentary convocation on October 31 to elect one of the two candidates in the running: Michel Aoun vs Sulaiman Franjieh.

Hariri gambles on Aoun to break Lebanon political deadlock
euronews/21/10/2016/Lebanon may be nearing the end of a two-and-a-half-year political deadlock that has left the nation without a president. Former prime minister Saad Hariri, who leads the largest block in parliament, now says he will back leading Christian politician General Michel Aoun, despite his being a strong ally of Hezbollah, an organisation that many accuse of murdering Hariri’s father. “In our dialogue with Michel Aoun we reached an agreement to revive the state, the institutions, the economy, basic services, job opportunities and to give Lebanese women and men the chance to live a normal life,” said Hariri, who may hope to become Aoun’s prime minister. Hariri’s endorsement will be put to the test on October 31 when parliament sits again to decide on the presidency, the 46th time it has tried to since Michel Suleiman left office in 2014. Hezbollah has welcomed the move, but has refused to commit to any wider power-sharing agreement. Traditionally Lebanon reserves the presidency for a Christian, the prime minister’s job for a Sunni Muslim, and parliamentary speaker for a Shi’ite.

Hariri backs Michel Aoun as Lebanon's next president
Al Jazeera News And Agencies/October 21/16/Surprise endorsement of Aoun comes amid speculation on Hariri's plan to return as prime minister [Al Jazeera]Surprise endorsement of Aoun comes amid speculation on Hariri's plan to return as prime minister [Al Jazeera] . Michel Aoun, a former military chief and ally of the armed Hezbollah group, is set to become Lebanon's new president after receiving an endorsement from rival and former prime minister Saad Hariri. Thursday's endorsement paves the way for the 81-year old Maronite Christian leader to fill the post that has been vacant since May 2014. "I announce today before you my decision to endorse the candidacy of General Michel Aoun for the presidency of the republic," Hariri said. He described his decision as necessary to "protect Lebanon, protect the [political] system, protect the state and protect the Lebanese people".
Hariri said the endorsement came after he had exhausted all other options and was intended "to preserve the political system, reinforce the state, relaunch the economy, and distance us from the Syrian crisis.
"We want to protect our country from this crisis," he added. For two years and five months, the Lebanese parliament has been unable to agree on a successor to former president Michel Suleiman. Lebanon's 128-member parliament is now expected to convene next week for a session to vote on the president - the 46th such session since Suleiman's term expired in May 2014. Lebanon's president is reserved for a Christian candidate under a power-sharing agreement. Lebanon's 128-member parliament is expected to vote on Aoun's nomination next week [EPA]
The endorsement comes as a surprise with speculation that it is the result of a deal that will allow Hariri to return as prime minister. Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the capital Beirut, said Hariri's endorsement of Aoun "raises some eyebrows" within Hariri's Saudi and Western-backed Sunni-majority party.He said at least two senior members of Hariri's party announced they would oppose Aoun's nomination. "Hariri is finding himself in a very difficult position," our correspondent added. Aoun is allied with the Shia movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and has dispatched fighters to neighbouring Syria to bolster the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.He served as head of the armed forces and briefly as prime minister during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, when he was a staunch opponent of Syrian military presence in Lebanon. But he shocked many by brokering an alliance with Damascus ally Hezbollah in 2006, a year after his return from exile in France and after Syria pulled its troops from Lebanon. The current war in Syria has deepened existing divisions in Lebanon, with Hezbollah and its allies backing Assad's regime, while Hariri and his partners support the uprising against him. More than one million Syrian refugees have also sought shelter in Lebanon, straining the country's already stretched resources and infrastructure.

Hariri’s backing boosts Aoun’s presidential chances
Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star/October 21/16
The speech in which former Prime Minister Saad Hariri endorsed MP Michel Aoun for president seemed like an existential move. Political sources said that Hariri justified the maneuver by stating that an agreement was reached with Aoun that the Taif Accord would not be altered unless an alternative was agreed upon by all sides. The same sources said that Hariri has secured guarantees for his decision, and has taken the necessary precautions. They added that Hariri would hold Aoun accountable if Hezbollah repealed its own endorsement of the FPM founder’s candidacy. But sources warned that if Hariri’s gambit should fail, there are no charitable organizations in politics. Hariri’s first step after endorsing Aoun will be trying to gather the maximum number of votes from the Future Movement, which he heads. Hariri will also have to “bridge gaps” and reach out to his allies to convince them to back Aoun.
The coming days before the scheduled session to elect a president will witness many developments,” said Hezbollah-affiliated MP Mohammad Fneish, according to a political source. The source said Fneish would not have made such comments if he did not receive positive indications that allied groups would come together. These indications may become clearer Sunday afternoon, following an expected speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah. Following the speech, the outcome of Berri and Aoun’s Thursday night meeting could also become clearer. This should also give a sense of where the relationship between Aoun and MP Sleiman Frangieh is headed. The political source stated that any attempt to boycott the elections, thereby securing their postponement, would not sit well with Aoun – particularly following Hariri’s endorsement. The failure or success of agreements between Aoun and Berri, Berri and Frangieh or Berri and Hariri will not impede on the election of Michel Aoun as president on Oct. 31. The days leading up to the proposed election of Aoun will set the tone for the days following the election. The larger issues will surface after Election Day, when a Cabinet must be formed, a new election law agreed on, and parliamentary elections held. But more significantly, all of these issues can be discussed inside the presidential palace, which will no longer be vacant.

Endorsing Aoun was 'difficult' decision: Machnouk
The Daily Star/ October 21/16/BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk Friday said his Future Movement's endorsement one day earlier of Michel Aoun's presidential bid was a "difficult" but necessary decision to protect the state. The decision by Future chief Saad Hariri to endorse Aoun “might be the last initiative,” Machnouk said during a ceremony at the Internal Security Forces' headquarters in Beirut to mark the 4th anniversary of the assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam Al-Hasan. He called the move the last “olive branch,” as this endeavor to reach a settlement with other parties was wrongly presumed to be “a sign of weakness.”Hariri attended the ceremony but did not provide a statement. Hasan and his companion 1st. Sgt. Maj. Ahmad Sahyouni were killed in a car bomb in the Ashrafieh district of Beirut on Oct. 19, 2012. A passerby was also killed. ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous praised Hasan for a number of achievements, including “dismantling espionage networks and uncovering terrorist groups.”The ceremony concluded by announcing the Al-Hasan Prize winners and laying wreaths at a monument for the slain intelligence chief at the building. Resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, who was the head of the ISF when Hasan was killed, did not attend the ceremony. Conflicts between Rifi and Hariri on a number of issues, including the presidency, led the former to resign from Cabinet in February.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on October 21-22/16

Churches Around The World Ring Bells For Aleppo As Hundreds Slaughtered In Brutal Siege
Carey Lodge/Christian Today/October 21/16
Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, today branded the bombardment of Aleppo "crimes of historic proportions".Reuters
More than 500 churches around the world are ringing their bells every day in tribute to the thousands of civilians being slaughtered in Aleppo. The Syrian city has been under brutal siege for weeks, intensified by Russian and Syrian bombing of rebel-held areas that began last month. Around 275,000 people are believed to be trapped in the east of the city. The Lutheran Kallio church in Helsinki began the tolling on October 12. Vicar Teemu Laajasalo told Reuters: "After reading the news that day, of Aleppo, we decided to ring funeral bells at 5pm to remember the deaths. First I just asked a few local churches to join us."They have now been joined by hundreds of churches nationwide and across the globe, including congregations in Britain, America and Australia.
Each church will ring the bells daily in the lead up to United Nations Day on October 24.
"We all see the devastating events in Aleppo, but at the same time feel powerless to help, because of the complexity of the situation. With the bells, we want to make our voices heard, and give hope for better future," Laajasalo said. Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden is one of the churches to join in the initiative. Archbishop of Sweden Antje Jackelén and cathedral dean Annica Anderbrant said in a joint statement: "We become desperate and helpless when we learn of the stories about the situation in Aleppo and other places in Syria – the fate of the children, hospitals in impossible working situations, innocent civilians who suffer. "When impotence is greatest, it is important to gather in prayer."Kallio church is pictured in Helsinki, Finland.Reuters. Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, today branded the bombardment of Aleppo "crimes of historic proportions".
In a speech before the UN Human Rights Council, he said the "indiscriminate airstrikes across the eastern part of the city by government forces and their allies are responsible for the overwhelming majority of civilian casualties".He accused those forces of committing "war crimes" and added: "If knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against civilians, they constitute crimes against humanity."The "collective failure of the international community to protect civilians and halt this bloodshed should haunt every one of us", he said.To sign up your church for Bells for Aleppo,

Hillary Clinton Tops 2015-16 Islamist Money List
The Middle East Forum/Philadelphia – October 20, 2016 – The Middle East Forum’s “Islamist Money in Politics” (IMIP) project is releasing the top-ten recipients of 2015-16 campaign contributions from individuals who subscribe to the same Islamic supremacism as Khomeini, Bin Laden, and ISIS. Hillary Clinton tops the list, raking in $41,165 from prominent Islamists. This includes $19,249 from senior officials of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates on November 15, 2014. For example, Mrs. Clinton has accepted $3,900 from former CAIR vice-chairman Ahmad Al-Akhras, who has defended numerous Islamists in Ohio indicted – and later convicted – on terrorism charges. Among other current presidential candidates, Jill Stein has accepted $250. Donald Trump and Gary Johnson have not received any Islamist money. Other top recent recipients of money from the enemy include Rep. Keith Ellison ($17,370) and Rep. Andre Carson ($13,225). The top-ten list includes nine Democrats, one independent (Sen. Bernie Sanders accepted $9,285), and no Republicans. None of the above recipients has responded to IMIP’s efforts to inform and warn them about the Islamist ties of these donors. Islamist Money in Politics holds politicians accountable for accepting funds from sources linked to the enemy. It shines a light on Islamist influence in U.S. politics by making public the campaign contributions of 1,356 leading figures in America's most important Islamist groups. To date, IMIP has documented 2,974 Islamist contributions worth $1.43 million. Launched in 2014, the non-partisan project continually updates contribution data to educate politicians themselves and the public.
 

UN claims ISIS seizes 550 families as human shields in Mosul
Reuters 21/16/As a US-led coalition attempts to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS, the United Nations issued a statement on Friday, claiming that the terrorist group has once again taken to using civilians as protection against attacks. "We are gravely worried by reports that ISIL (another acronym for ISIS) is using civilians in and around Mosul as human shields as the Iraqi forces advance, keeping civilians close to their offices or places where fighters are located, which may result in civilian casualties," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a statement. "There is a grave danger that ISIL fighters will not only use such vulnerable people as human shields but may opt to kill them rather than see them liberated."Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with air and ground support from the US-led coalition, are pursuing operations to seize territory around Mosul in preparation for an offensive on the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq. UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, citing "verified information" from local contacts, said 200 families were forced to walk to Mosul from Samalia village on 17 October, and another 350 families left Najafia village for Mosul on the same day.
"This would seem to indicate that the reason for these moves is to use them for the purposes of human shields," she said. The office was also investigating "corroborated information" that ISIS militants had killed 40 civilians in one village outside Mosul. She declined to give details. Zeid said that Iraq must respect international law when screening civilians leaving areas controlled by ISIS, a job that should only be done by army and police. "We are urging the Iraqi authorities to take all possible steps to prevent armed groups operating alongside the Iraqi Security Forces from any form of revenge attack on civilians fleeing ISIL," he said. "This issue remains a serious concern as these groups have reportedly subjected people fleeing conflict zones, particularly men and boys above 15 years of age, to threats, intimidation, physical violence, and even abduction and killing," he said.

UN to Begin Evacuations from Aleppo if Truce Holds
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 21/16/The United Nations hopes to carry out the first medical evacuations from Aleppo on Friday, if a "humanitarian pause" in the Syrian army's Russian-backed assault on the city holds. Despite a drop in violence after the unilateral ceasefire took effect on Thursday, there was little sign civilians were heeding calls to leave opposition-held areas of the city, and Russia accused the rebels of intimidation. The unilateral ceasefire was initially described as lasting just 11 hours, but Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced late Thursday that it would be extended "by 24 hours," leaving it unclear exactly when it will end. East Aleppo, which the rebels captured in 2012, has been under siege by the army since mid-July and has faced devastating bombardment by the government and its ally Russia since the launch of an offensive to retake the whole city on September 22. Nearly 500 people have been killed, more than a quarter of them children, since the assault began. More than 2,000 civilians have been wounded. The scale of the casualties has prompted outrage in the West, with Washington saying the bombardment amounted to a possible war crime. Russia announced a halt to its air strikes from Tuesday and the unilateral ceasefire from Thursday. - Few leaving -The Syrian army has opened eight corridors across the front line for the more than 250,000 civilians in rebel-held areas to leave but so far almost none have taken up the offer.
"There has been no movement in the corridors in the eastern district. For the moment, we haven't seen any movement of residents or fighters," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. An AFP correspondent on the government-held side of one crossing in the Bustan al-Qasr district also reported no movement at all early on Friday. He reported just eight people passing through it on Thursday.
There has been no air or artillery bombardment of east Aleppo since the ceasefire began but sporadic clashes have continued on the front line, some of them near the evacuation corridors. The Observatory reported overnight skirmishes on the front line in the Old City and in al-Zahraa district. UN humanitarian task force chief Jan Egeland said that Russia, the Syrian government, and rebels had given permission for medical evacuations to start on Friday, adding that the UN also hopes to deliver food to the besieged east. No UN aid convoy has entered Aleppo since July 7 and food rations will run out by the end of October, UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday. The United Nations has been criticised by the Syrian opposition for focusing more on enabling people to leave than providing relief supplies to allow them to stay.
A joint statement from the Syrian National Coalition and the Free Syrian Army said UN policy "is flawed, and instead of preventing forced displacement, it plays into the Assad regime's plans to empty Aleppo." It accused the world body of becoming a "tool in the hands of Russia."

- Moscow blames rebels -Moscow hit back, accusing rebels of preventing residents from leaving. "The rebels are violating the ceasefire and preventing the evacuation of the population," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his US counterpart John Kerry by telephone on Thursday. Moscow and Damascus have called on civilians to leave so that the offensive can focus on fighters of former Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Fateh al-Sham Front. The two governments have said repeatedly that there will be no let-up in their offensive until the jihadists leave.But at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Thursday, US ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia and Syria of targeting civilians. "Let us be real: terrorists are not the ones dropping bunker-busting bombs on hospitals and civilian homes in eastern Aleppo, nor are they besieging civilians there," she said. "The Assad regime and Russia are."Moscow has shown no sign that its intervention in support of its Syrian ally will end any time soon. A Russian aircraft carrier battle group is currently in the North Sea en route from the Baltic to the eastern Mediterranean. But Western governments have been divided over how to respond. After meeting in Brussels on Thursday, European Union leaders backed down from an explicit threat of sanctions against Russia but warned they would consider "all available options" if atrocities continue.

IS Raids Iraq's Kirkuk to Draw Attention from Mosul Offensive
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 21/16/Jihadists staged a brazen raid on the Iraqi city of Kirkuk Friday, in what appeared to be an attempt to divert attention from the huge offensive against their Mosul bastion. Residents awoke to the sound of shooting and praise for the "Islamic State" blaring through mosque loudspeakers. Some attackers carried grenades and wore explosives vests or belts in the assault claimed by the Islamic State group. An AFP reporter attended the interrogation of one suspected jihadist who said after being captured by Kurdish forces that the attack was designed to ease the pressure on the Mosul front to the northeast. "Today's attack was one of caliph Baghdadi's plans to demonstrate that the Islamic State is remaining and expanding and reduce the pressure on the Mosul front," he said. The young man in a grey tracksuit had his hands cuffed and gave his name as Hani Aydan Mustafa, but his role in IS was unclear. Two years ago in Mosul, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" straddling Iraq and Syria. One of its main slogans was to remain and expand but it has been shrinking steadily since last year and losing Mosul could mean the end of its days as a land-holding force in Iraq. The attack on Kirkuk, a strategic city some 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Baghdad, demonstrated the group's continued ability to time its attacks and grab headlines."Around morning prayers, I saw several Dawaesh (IS fighters) enter al-Mohammadi mosque," Haidar Abdelhussein, a teacher in the Tesaeen neighborhood, told AFP.
Sniper risk
"They used the loudspeakers to shout 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greatest) and 'Dawlat al-Islam baqiya' (Islamic State remains)," he said. At least five suicide bombers targeted government buildings, including Kirkuk's main police headquarters. At least six policemen and 12 jihadists were killed in clashes. A senior police officer said the main obstacle to flushing out holdout attackers was the risk from snipers. A journalist for a local Turkmen television station was killed by an IS sniper, and health officials also said 51 wounded residents were evacuated to nearby hospitals. A curfew was in place and sporadic gunfire could still be heard as night fell on what was now a war zone, with armored vehicles taking up position and security forces manning rooftops or crouching behind walls. IS is unlikely to hold positions in Kirkuk for long, and its attack had no immediate impact on the offensive against Mosul, the biggest Iraqi military operation in years. The governor of Kirkuk, Najmeddin Karim, told AFP he suspected the involvement of IS sleeper cells. Kurdish peshmerga fighters have played a major role in the Mosul advance, and both they and federal security forces have made gains on several fronts. Political and military leaders have praised what they say is speedier than expected progress, with IS offering deadly but so far ineffective resistance as forces backed by air strikes steamroll towards the edge of Iraq's second city.
Suicide bombers
The jihadists defenders of Mosul are vastly outnumbered and the final outcome is hardly in doubt. But they have been launching waves of suicide bombers to make the anti-IS drive as slow and painful as possible. Also on Friday morning, gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a power plant being built by an Iranian company near Dibis, a town southeast of the Mosul offensive's main area of operations, and just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Kirkuk. "Three suicide bombers attacked the power plant at around 6:00 am (0300 GMT), killing 12 Iraqi administrators and engineers and four Iranian technicians," Dibis mayor Abdullah Nureddin al-Salehi told AFP. A police lieutenant colonel confirmed the casualty toll from the attack, which was also claimed by IS. IS controlled more than a third of Iraq two years ago, but its self-proclaimed "caliphate" has been shrinking steadily.
A 60-nation U.S.-led coalition and neighboring Iran have helped Iraqi forces regain one city after another, and Mosul is now the group's last major stronghold in the country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday he was confident that Turkey would take part in the battle to retake Mosul, following tensions between Ankara and Baghdad over the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq. "I think there is agreement there in principle," he said in Abu Dhabi after a visit to Turkey.
'Ultimate sacrifice'
"Iraq understands that Turkey as a member of the counter-ISIL coalition will play a role in counter-ISIL operations in Iraq and secondly that Turkey since it neighbors the region of Mosul has an interest (in) the ultimate outcome in Mosul," Carter said, using an alternative acronym for IS. The jihadist group claimed responsibility for at least five suicide car bomb attacks om Kurdish forces attacking their positions northeast of Mosul. "Up to 10,000 peshmerga are involved in this operation from three fronts, making it one of the largest ground-led assaults in the war against ISIL," the peshmerga command said in a statement.
Iraqi forces have not provided figures for their losses, but the statement said "a number of peshmerga have paid the ultimate sacrifice."The coalition announced that a U.S. service member accompanying elite Iraqi forces northeast of Mosul was killed on Thursday.
According to the United Nations, 5,640 people were displaced in the first three days of the operation that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared on October 17. It said up to 1.2 million people may still be inside Mosul, trapped by the estimated 3,000 to 4,500 IS fighters digging in for a major urban assault by the advancing Iraqi forces. The aid community fears an exodus of massive proportions that could peak as winter sets in without sufficient shelter capacity for refugees.

Russia to pause Aleppo strikes 11 hours for 4 days
Reuters, Geneva/Moscow Friday, 21 October 2016/Russia has told the United Nations it will stop bombing eastern Aleppo for 11 hours a day for four days, but that is not enough to trigger a wider ceasefire deal under which militants would leave the Syrian warzone, the UN said on Thursday. The Syrian military said a unilateral ceasefire backed by Russia had come into force to allow people to leave eastern Aleppo, a move rejected by rebels who say they are preparing a counter-offensive to break the blockade. “They (the Russians) have said 11 hours per day and four days from today, Thursday,” UN Syria humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland told reporters. “We hope it can be four days from tomorrow Friday.” “They are considering that additional day,” he said, noting that Russia had originally announced an 8-hour pause, but the UN had objected that it was too short to evacuate wounded and bring in assistance. Russia did not announce the four days of pauses. But its defense ministry said President Vladimir Putin had ordered the first 11-hour pause, which was due to expire on Thursday afternoon, to be extended for a further 24 hours. Russia has vetoed five Security Council resolutions on Syria since 2011. An emergency special session of the General Assembly could adopt a resolution on Syria recommending action.
Lavrov: Rebels preventing evacuation
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday accused Syrian rebels of preventing civilians from leaving areas of battle-scarred east Aleppo despite a humanitarian truce in Syria's second city. In a phone call to his US counterpart John Kerry, Lavrov said the halt in fighting should give both civilians and rebels the opportunity to leave. However, he told Kerry that “the rebels are violating the ceasefire and preventing the evacuation of the population”, the Russian foreign ministry quoted him as saying in a statement. Kerry confirmed that he had spoken with Lavrov without mentioning any discussion on Syria. The phone call, initiated by Washington, is the seventh this month and came at the end of a day when the “humanitarian pause” in rebel-held east Aleppo took effect following weeks of heavy bombardment by Russia.

US soldier killed in northern Iraq bomb attack
AFP Thursday, 20 October 2016/A member of the US military was killed Thursday in a bomb blast in northern Iraq, the Pentagon said in a statement. "A US service member died from wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device blast in northern Iraq," the statement read. No further information was immediately available.

Kerry, Jubeir discuss ways to ‘fix’ JASTA
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Friday, 21 October 2016/US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday discussed with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir ways to “fix” the US Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, known as JASTA, to limit its repercussion on US relations with its partners. “We discussed ways to try to fix this in a way that respects and honors the needs and rights of victims of 9/11, but at the same time does not expose American troops and American individuals who may be involved in another country to the potential of losses,” Kerry said in a join conference. JASTA grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on US soil, clearing the way for lawsuits seeking damages from the Saudi government. On Yemen, the Saudi foreign minister said his country reserves the right to protect its border and its citizens, stressing the Kingdom’s commitment to maintain its cessation of fire. “I want to emphasize that we have a right to defend ourselves, we have a right to protect our borders, we have a right to protect our citizens and we have to ensure that the other side maintains its commitment to the cessation of hostilities,” Jubeir said.

Pentagon sees role for Turkey in Mosul battle
AFP, Abu Dhabi Friday, 21 October 2016/US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday he was confident that Turkey would take part in the operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the ISIS group. "I think there is agreement there in principle," he said after a visit to Turkey, following tensions between Ankara and Baghdad that have alarmed Washington. "Iraq understands that Turkey as a member of the counter-ISIL (ISIS) coalition will play a role in counter-ISIL operations in Iraq and secondly that Turkey since it neighbors the region of Mosul has an interest (in) the ultimate outcome in Mosul," Carter said. "I am confident that we can work things out and there are things that would be productive for Turkey to do and we just need to work through these practicalities." A senior US defense official indicated that Turkey could provide medical or humanitarian support, or train Iraqi forces. Earlier on Friday Carter met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other top officials during his short visit to Turkey, a crucial ally in the fight against ISIS. Baghdad has called for the withdrawal of hundreds of Turkish troops from Bashiqa near Mosul where they have been deployed to train Iraqi fighters for the battle for the militant stronghold. Ankara fears that the operation to retake Mosul could be spearheaded by Shiite militia and also include Kurdish militia vehemently opposed by Turkey.

Buenos Aires bombing: Argentina seeks Ali Akbar Velayati extradition
AFP, Buenos Aires Friday, 21 October 2016/Argentina issued another extradition warrant Thursday for an Iranian ex-foreign minister over the deadly bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994, the government said. Investigating Judge Rodolfo Canicoba asked Baghdad to extradite Ali Akbar Velayati, who is on the Interpol wanted list, since he is currently on Iraqi soil. He asked Iraq to arrest Velayati “in order to extradite him, after learning via the international press that the accused travelled to Baghdad” on Wednesday, the Argentine justice ministry said in a statement. In July Argentina issued a similar warrant to Singapore and Malaysia after learning Velayati was on a lecture tour to those countries. Argentine investigators accuse Velayati and four other Iranian former officials, including ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, of orchestrating the July 18, 1994 car bombing at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association in Buenos Aires. The Iranians allegedly ordered the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to carry out the bombing, the deadliest terror attack in the South American country’s history. Iran, which denies involvement, has repeatedly rejected Argentine demands for the accused to testify. Velayati rejected the accusations as a lie in an interview last year with Argentine television channel C5N. The lead prosecutor in the case, Alberto Nisman, was found dead last year in mysterious circumstances four days after accusing then-president Cristina Kirchner of conspiring with Iran to shield suspects from prosecution.

Vatican-Muslim dialogue to restart in April
The Associated Press, Vatican City Friday, 21 October 2016/The Vatican and the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning, Al-Azhar, are expected to formally reopen talks next year after a five-year lull. Officials from the Vatican's office of interreligious affairs are going to Cairo this weekend for a preparatory meeting to lay the groundwork for the official restart of talks, scheduled for late April in Rome. The Vatican announcement Friday comes after Pope Francis and the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib, met at the Vatican in May and embraced. It marked a turning point after Al-Azhar froze talks with the Vatican in 2011 to protest comments by then-Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict had demanded greater protection for Christians in Egypt after a New Year's bombing on a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria killed 21 people.

Some 1,400 migrants rescued off Libyan coast
AFP, Rome Friday, 21 October 2016/Some 1,400 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean were rescued Thursday off the coast of Libya, according to the Italian coastguard, which coordinated the operations conducted mainly by aid ships. Attempts at the dangerous crossing are continuing despite worsening weather as winter approaches, with more than 2,400 migrants rescued off Libya in total since Sunday. The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres tweeted that it had rescued 802 people on six rubber dinghies and one small wooden boat, and MOAS, a Maltese NGO, said it had rescued 432 migrants on three dinghies. Italian coastguards and the crew of an EU counter-trafficking vessel rescued the remaining migrants. Boats carrying migrants are treacherous even if they don't sink: exhaust fumes, hypothermia, dehydration and overcrowding have all proved fatal. On Wednesday, rescuers found five bodies on a dinghy carrying around 200 people, many of them unaccompanied minors.The Italian interior ministry said Tuesday that more than 145,000 migrants had landed in Italy so far this year, a figure similar to that of the previous two years. According to the UN, at least 3,654 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year. Meanwhile, it emerged Thursday that as many as 900 migrants may have died in the 2015 sinking off Libya of an overcrowded fishing trawler, about 100 more than previously thought. The new toll from the worst maritime tragedy in the Mediterranean since World War II came after forensic scientists, who spent three months examining 675 body bags, discovered that many contained the remains of more than one person, Italy's missing person chief Vittorio Piscitelli told a news conference in Rome. Only 28 people survived when the 20-metre (70-foot) trawler capsized in April 2015. Libya forces free 5 foreign captives from ISIS. Libyan pro-government forces have freed five foreign nationals held by ISIS in Sirte after heavy fighting in their battle to capture the final district of the city, a local official said on Thursday. Two of the freed foreigners were from Turkey, two from India and one from Bangladesh, said Rida Issa, a spokesman for the Bonyan Marsous forces which have been battling for six months against militants in Sirte. "There was a desperate resistance by Daesh, but it was confronted by heavy weapons," Issa said, using one of the Arabic names for ISIS. (with input from Reuters)

Britain accuses Russia of “making the situation worse” in Syria
By Reuters, Geneva Friday, 21 October 2016/Britain sought to shame Russia on Friday for its deadly air strikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo, during a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council called by London to set up a special inquiry into violations. “Russia, you are making the situation worse, not solving it,” Tobias Ellwood, the British government minister for Africa and the Middle East said in a speech to the Geneva forum. “This is shameful and it is not the action or leadership that we expect from a P5 nation,” he said, referring to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Russia’s delegation was due to speak later in the debate.

900 Houthi violations of Yemen truce
By Staff writer Al Arabiya English Friday, 21 October 2016/Around 900 violations have been recorded during Yemen's UN-brokered truce by Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh during the past 24 hours, the coalition said Friday. The coalition said Houthi rebels and their allies had breached the truce since it took effect at midnight Wednesday. It said the ceasefire violations increased dramatically during the past 24 hours. “The Coalition Forces stressed that the response to the sources of fire was made in accordance with the approved rules of engagement,” read a statement on Saudi Press Agency. “The Coalition Forces also stressed their commitment to the policy of self-restraint towards these violations.”Violations were committed along the Saudi and Yemeni borders. Rockets and projectiles were fired and sniper weapons were used by the Houthis at Jazan and Najran, it added. In a statement issued on Thursday, Major General Ahmed Assiri said coalition artillery and aircraft retaliated. He told Al Arabiya’s sister al-Hadath channel that the militiamen have not stopped the firing since the start of the truce. "We will respond to each violation. We will be reactive," he said, in statements carried by AFP. "It's so easy. If they stop, we will not fire a bullet." In one attack, a man and his daughter were wounded in the kingdom's Jazan region, according to Saudi civil defense authorities. Furthermore, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi stressed on the legitimate authority's commitment to the truce, despite ongoing attacks by Houthi militias. During his meeting with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Hadi highlighted his keenness to achieve peace, knowing that the war will always lead to the dialogue table. “We ordered our various field commanders to abide by the truce, despite the registered violations of the rebels in various regions and cities, including Taiz,” he said.

Rape claims against Khamenei’s favorite reciter ‘buried’
By Ramadhan al-Saadi, AlArabiya.net Friday, 21 October 2016/The reformist website in Iran, Amad News, has stated that the Iranian authorities held an emergency meeting to consider a strategy to end the scandal of Saeed Toosi and maintain Iran's reputation and that of its leaders, after claims he raped several of his students, sources have said. Toosi, who is a 46-year-old Iranian competitor, and winner, in the international Quranic competition, is accused of raping seven of his students aged between 12 and 14, over the past seven years. Sources revealed that security officials spoke for two hours in the presence of representatives of the judiciary, on the issue that was first revealed by The Persian Voice of America broadcasting from Washington. The show aired court documents and audio testimonies of the victims. The abused children revealed the rape and molestations they say they were subjected to by Toosi who was overseeing the participation of the reciters of Quran in international competitions. Three of the victims have spoken to the Persian department of Voice of America and revealed details about the harassment and rape carried out by Saeed Toosi during his Quranic trips to more than 20 countries in the world aimed at “spreading the Quranic culture” and participate in Quranic competitions. The victims said they had written documents and made audio recordings (including recordings of phone calls with Toosi), part of which was displayed on the show. The Latter clearly points to Khamenei’s favorite reciter. According to some documents, Toosi wrote a “repentance letter” where he promised he would never repeat the same mistake again, after direct orders from the leadership house to the court. In an audio recording publicized by Last Page program on the Persian voice of America, Toosi was heard talking to one of his students, saying that the Supreme Leader Khameini was well aware of the situation and had agreed with the head of the judiciary Sadek Larijani to bury the scandal, in order to preserve the reputation of the “Quranic institution” within the country. In separate testimonies, the victims said they filed complaints against Toosi to officials in the house of the leadership after many relatives advised them to. Yet these officials dismissed their pleas after Toosi wrote the repentance letter where he admitted his wrongdoings and pledged to never repeat them. Toosi is a permanent guest in the Quranic councils celebrated by the supreme leader, Khamenei, every year during Ramadan. He also inaugurated the Shura council session last May, reciting verses from the Quran in the presence of senior officials of the Iranian regime. This article was orignially published on AlArabiya.net

US spy worker stole ‘astonishing quantity’ of data
By AFP, Washington Friday, 21 October 2016/US prosecutors on Thursday said they expected to file espionage charges against a private contractor for the National Security Agency suspected of stealing an “astonishing quantity” of classified information. Harold Martin III was arrested August 27 in Maryland and poses a “grave danger” to the United States, prosecutors wrote in a filing ahead of a detention hearing set for Friday in Baltimore. Martin, who has now been fired, worked for Booz Allen Hamilton - the same firm that hired the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Martin was entrusted to work with classified information for several government agencies and allegedly had been stealing information since 1996. “The defendant violated that trust by engaging in wholesale theft of classified government documents and property - a course of felonious conduct that is breathtaking in its longevity and scale,” prosecutors wrote. They said Martin had swiped at least 50,000 gigabytes of information, though not all of it was classified. One single gigabyte is enough space to store about 10,000 pages of documents containing images and text. “The defendant was in possession of an astonishing quantity of marked classified documents which he was not entitled to possess, including many marked (secret),” prosecutors said. Some of the documents “appear” to contain national defense information and Martin allegedly kept the files in his car and lying around his Maryland home. Investigators also allegedly found an “arsenal” of 10 firearms including an assault rifle. “The government anticipates that the charges will include violations of the Espionage Act, an offense that carries significantly higher statutory penalties and advisory guideline ranges than the charges listed in the complaint,” prosecutors wrote. Martin’s lawyers have previously said he loves his family, and said there was no evidence he intended to betray his country. Martin does not appear to have a valid passport and investigators have not said he sent information to foreign governments. But prosecutors noted: “The defendant has also communicated online with others in languages other than English, including in Russian.”Booz Allen has said it reached out to offer full cooperation with the authorities as soon as it learned of the arrest, and quickly fired Martin. The arrest came after investigators began looking into the theft of source code used by the NSA to hack adversaries’ computer systems, such as those of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Such access would enable the NSA to plant malware in rivals’ systems and monitor - or even attack - their networks. The case is an embarrassing new blow for both the NSA and Booz Allen, which the New York Times said helps build and operate many of the NSA’s most sensitive cyber operations. Former NSA contractor Snowden has been living in Russia since shortly after leaking documents revealing the scope of the agency’s monitoring of private data.

Third Night of Police Protests in France
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 21/16/Hundreds of police have taken to the streets of Paris for a third night of demonstrations calling for reinforcements and stiffer penalties following a string of attacks on officers.
Protests also took place in other French cities on Thursday night despite the government's efforts to contain growing anger among police as the issue of safety of law enforcement officers enters the presidential race. Around 500 officers, most dressed in civilian clothes and some with their faces partly covered, protested near the Eiffel Tower. "Police officers need recognition," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said earlier Thursday. "They are loved by the French people, and not only since Charlie," he added, referring to an outpouring of sympathy for police following the attack last year on the Charlie Hebdo magazine.
The execution-style killing of a police officer during the assault by two extremists became one of the emblematic images of the tragedy, the first in a string of Islamist-inspired attacks that have shocked France. "I call for calm and peace and I say to the police officers of France that they can count on my support, my solidarity, my understanding and my commitment," Valls said. With security at its highest possible level, officers have been up in arms over attacks on police during patrols in tough suburbs and during street demonstrations. On October 8, a 28-year-old officer suffered serious burns when he was attacked with a petrol bomb on the outskirts of the capital. He remains in a coma. Police unions, which have already met with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, are demanding a meeting with President Francois Hollande and calling for fixed minimum sentences for attacks on the police. Hollande said early Friday that he planned to meet with police union leaders at the start of next week. Under French law, police may protest only when off duty, out of uniform and provided they leave their service weapons and vehicles behind. The Socialist government has accused former president Nicolas Sarkozy of cutting 10,00 police jobs during his 2007-2012 presidency. Sarkozy, who is bidding to clinch the right-wing nomination as he attempts to regain the presidency, described the accusations on Thursday as "lies".
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on October 21-22/16

First They Came for Asia Bibi"
Douglas Murray/Gatestone Institute/October 21/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/10/21/47527/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9138/uk-pakistan-asia-bibi
The same week that Mr Yousaf was extolling the idea that Britain is a proto-Nazi state and Pakistan a potential safe-haven, the Pakistani authorities saw the latest round of the interminable and unforgivable saga of Asia Bibi. This is the woman who has been on death-row in Pakistan for no crime other than the crime of being a Christian. Bibi has been awaiting execution for five years, purely because a neighbour claimed that Bibi had insulted Mohammed during an argument.
They attack the Conservative government of the UK for Nazism while not merely praising, but lauding as a safe haven, a state which actually persecutes and murders people because of their religion.
Which means that he is doing what many other people today are doing, which is knowingly to cover for a racist despotism, so long as it is despotism with an Islamic face.
Is Britain becoming a Nazi state? It would seem unlikely, but to listen to some of the critics of the Conservative government in recent days it would appear that we are only moments away from become a racist despotism.
Last week the convener of the Scottish Parliament's Equalities and Human Rights Committee, one Christina McKelvie, pronounced that the Conservative party is displaying "some of the most right-wing reactionary politics that I've heard in my lifetime" and claimed that the Conservative party's recent conference showed what will happen in Britain "if we become bystanders and do not speak out against discrimination." She said that some recent Conservative proposals were "reminiscent of the rise of Nazism in the 1930s."
Higher up the Scottish Nationalist Party food-chain, one of their MPs, Mhairi Black last week also compared the recent Conservative party conference to the Nazi party. She wrote without irony that she was vexed by its alleged "nationalism', all the more "when that "nationalism" is used as a motivation or an excuse for racist, bigoted and small minded policy." The policies of the Conservative party, she claimed, were increasingly "reminiscent of early 1930s Nazi Germany." As though to demonstrate how sparse her knowledge of that period is, she concluded her piece by citing -- as though no one could possibly have come across the quotation before -- Pastor Martin Niemoller. "First they came for the Jews."
Having sparked some criticism, other nationalists soon came to the aid of Ms Black. Notable among them was Humza Yousaf, one of the ministers of the SNP and himself a member of the Scottish Parliament. While many people on social media criticised Ms Black's absurd rhetoric, he chose to back her up. "Those criticising, I have friends/family who have applied for dual nationality with Pakistan. Feel UK will be unbearable for Muslims in future." This gained headlines of its own. But nobody pointed out the twin outrages of this grotesque nonsense.
While Humza Yousaf (left), a member of the Scottish Parliament, extolls the idea that Britain is a proto-Nazi state and Pakistan a potential safe-haven, Asia Bibi (shown at right with two of her five children) sits on death-row in Pakistan for no crime other than the crime of being a Christian.
First, although it should be obvious, a country the citizens of which elected a Muslim (Sadiq Khan) as the mayor of their capital city, is highly unlikely to become a place where pogroms against Muslims are imminent. Second, in making this comparison, Mr Yousaf unwittingly pointed to one of the greatest outrages of our time.
While the Conservative party in Westminster is portrayed by these supposed defenders of human rights as some kind of Nazi offshoot, life is, in fact, unequalled in Britain for being good for people of any faith or background. It would be hard to find a society anywhere that has been more tolerant of mass immigration or tried to make life good for the immigrants who arrive, whatever background they are from. Pakistan, on the other hand, is a country which could hardly have a worse record on all of these matters. It is a country where racism and ethnic and religious hatred are rife. People of the "wrong" background, caste, or ethnicity experience infinitely more racism in Pakistan than in any country in Europe. Even people who are the "wrong" type of Muslim, such as Ahmadiyya Muslims, are the subject of constant and routine persecution and bigotry. The persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims is so rife in Pakistan that this July, it even spilled out onto the streets of Glasgow in the murder of an Ahmadiyyan shopkeeper, Asad Shah.
There is also almost no country in the world today (Saudi Arabia and Iran perhaps aside) that is more intolerant of people of other faiths. The same week that Mr Yousaf was extolling the idea that Britain is a proto-Nazi state and Pakistan a potential safe-haven, the Pakistani authorities saw the latest round of the interminable and unforgivable saga of Asia Bibi. This is the woman who has been on death-row in Pakistan for no crime other than the crime of being a Christian. Bibi has been awaiting execution for five years, purely because a neighbour claimed that Bibi had insulted Mohammed during an argument.
As it happens, the case of Asia Bibi has now been delayed yet again because the judge has removed himself from the case. He has done so because he knows that if he were to release Asia Bibi, he will himself be assassinated in the manner of the late Punjab governor Salman Taseer. While last week's hearing was going on, hundreds of riot police had to be deployed outside the courthouse in Islamabad. This was because everything about Asia Bibi and her case brings out mobs in Pakistan; thousands of Pakistani nationals have said that if Asia Bibi were ever released, they would kill her.
So this is the situation the ridiculous nationalists of the SNP and others who are like-minded find themselves in. They attack the Conservative government of the UK for Nazism while not merely praising, but lauding as a safe haven, a state which actually persecutes and murders people because of their religion.
If Black, Yousaf and company were merely ignorant that would be one thing. But they cannot possibly be so ignorant -- or at least Yousaf cannot be. He must know enough about Pakistan to know the prejudice and ignorance that goes right through Pakistani society. Which means that he is doing what many other people today are doing, which is knowingly to cover for a racist despotism, so long as it is despotism with an Islamic face. As for the colleague whose rescue he ran to, perhaps the next time Ms Black ponders the lessons of Pastor Niemoller she could tell her readers, "First they came for Asia Bibi. But I did not speak up, for I had never heard of her." That, at least, would be honest.
**Douglas Murray, British author, commentator and public affairs analyst, is based in London, England.
© 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.

WikiLeaks shows Hillary got $12 million from Morocco. Here's what Rabat got in return.
Julian Pecquet/Al Monitor/October 21/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/10/21/julian-pecquetal-monitor-wikileaks-shows-hillary-got-12-million-from-morocco-heres-what-rabat-got-in-return/

WASHINGTON — Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton is endorsing the illegal exploitation of disputed lands and risks undermining four decades of UN diplomacy by taking money from Morocco, critics say.
Critics of a $1 million Clinton Foundation gift see a ploy to build support for illegal exploitation of the "last colony in Africa."
Clinton, who's expected to announce her candidacy for the Democratic nomination April 12, has come under fire for accepting foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation, most recently a $1 million donation from OCP, a fertilizer giant owned by the Moroccan government. Left unsaid in the initial reports: OCP — the Office Chérifien des Phosphates — is a major player in the exploitation of mineral resources from the Western Sahara, a disputed territory known as the “last colony in Africa” that Morocco took over after colonial power Spain abandoned it in the 1970s.
“You’ve heard of blood diamonds, but in many ways you could say that OCP is shipping blood phosphate,” Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., told Al-Monitor. “Western Sahara was taken over by Morocco to exploit its resources and this is one of the principal companies involved in that effort.”
A co-chairman of the Western Sahara Caucus and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Pitts is one of a small handful of lawmakers willing to buck Morocco, a longtime US ally that runs a massive lobbying and PR operation in Washington. On April 10, he sent a letter to the Clinton Foundation, first obtained by Al-Monitor, along with House Foreign Affairs human rights panel Chairman Chris Smith, R-N.J., asking the foundation to refund the money and “discontinue its coordination with OCP.”
A spokesman for the foundation did not return an email request for comment.
At issue is OCP’s operation of a mine in the Western Sahara town of Boucraa, from which phosphate rock — a key ingredient for making fertilizer — is dumped onto the world’s longest conveyor belt to make its way toward the coast, 60 miles away. According to a 2002 legal opinion by the UN, the exploitation of natural resources from so-called non-self-governing territories such as the Western Sahara is only legal if done to benefit the local population.
OCP and Rabat have started a lobbying blitz to persuade the world that Morocco, which claims the Western Sahara as its own, is spending far more money developing the desert region than it is making from the exploitation of its natural resources.
“It is a fact that what is produced in the Sahara is not even enough to meet the basic needs of its population,” King Mohammed VI told the UN last year. “Let me say this, in all sincerity: Moroccans have borne the cost of developing the southern provinces. They have paid out of their own pockets and given from the earnings intended for their children so that their brothers in the south may lead a dignified life as humans.”
Sahrawi advocates say the only way Morocco can claim to be benefiting the local population is if it finally gives them a vote on independence, as called for by multiple US-backed UN resolutions dating back to 1990.
“OCP is the first beneficiary of the war and the first beneficiary of the occupation — it is the one that is cashing in on the misery of thousands of refugees and hundreds of political detainees for the past 40 years,” said Mohamed Yeslem Beisat, the Washington envoy of the Polisario Front, which claims to lead a Sahrawi government in exile based in Tindouf, Algeria. “They’re doing this because they know Hillary has some chances of being president of the United States. And they want her to support their brutal occupation of Western Sahara.”
Covington and Burling, which lobbies the US government on behalf of OCP, did not return a request for comment. The OCP’s CEO, Mostafa Terrab, was himself a registered lobbyist in the United States until last year.
Morocco and its allies counter that it is the Polisario Front, an Algeria-backed rebel movement with past ties to Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi and Cuba’s communist regime, that is exploiting the Sahrawi people and keeping them locked up in camps on the Algerian side of the border. In a speech before the UN in November, King Mohammed VI made it clear that he had no intention of giving up Moroccan claims over the territory.
“The Sahara is a crucial, existential issue, not just a question about borders,” Mohammed VI told the world body on the 39th anniversary of the so-called Green March of 1975, when more than 300,000 Moroccans marched into the territory as Spain departed. “Morocco will remain in its Sahara, and the Sahara will remain part of Morocco, until the end of time.”
The OCP donation to the Clinton Foundation, which was first reported by Politico, will reportedly help pay for a Clinton Global Initiative meeting this May in Marrakech. It will be the first ever in the Middle East or Africa, and will feature such big wigs as former President Bill Clinton, King Mohammed VI and the presidents of Rwanda and Tanzania.
Hillary Clinton herself touted Morocco as a “vital hub for economic and cultural exchange” when she announced the meeting last September (she made no mention of OCP’s largesse at the time). In a subsequent press release, the Moroccan American Center for Policy, Rabat’s main lobbying arm in Washington, touted the country’s “ongoing efforts to leverage the country’s phosphate resources — an important component of fertilizer — to boost food security.”
Terrab is a former World Bank official committed to “democratizing access to fertilizer for Africa’s farmers,” according to a recent profile of the continent’s 50 most influential people in the French magazine Jeune Afrique. While those credentials dovetail with the Clinton Foundation’s mission, the Marrakech event also comes at a time when Morocco’s exports from the Western Sahara are coming under increasing scrutiny around the world.
The European Parliament in 2011 voted to revoke a fishing agreement that allowed the EU fleet to fish in Western Sahara waters, judging that the deal with Morocco was illegal because the Sahrawi people did not have a say in the matter, but reversed course in 2013. And Western Sahara Resource Watch, a Scandinavian nonprofit that aims to shame companies that benefit from the region’s exploitation, last year published its first comprehensive list of fertilizer companies that import Western Sahara phosphates.
“I think [the Clinton Foundation donation] is about wanting to be able to continue to exploit these resources as more and more people are becoming aware of how unfair and how wrong this is,” said Suzanne Scholte, a Republican human rights activist who chairs the non-profit US-Western Sahara Foundation. “I see this as an effort to try to block those gains.”
Scholte pointed to last month’s vote by the African Union Peace and Security Council to recommend a “global boycott of products of companies involved in the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara” as further proof of Morocco’s growing isolation. Morocco is the only country on the continent that’s not part of the African Union because of its occupation of the Western Sahara; the AU, however, recognizes the Polisario Front-led government in exile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, as a member state.
“I do not believe that the people in Washington know and understand this — that the support for the Sahrawis is broad and deep all across the African continent,” she told Al-Monitor.
Critics of Morocco see the Clinton Foundation donation as a transparent attempt to portray Moroccan sovereignty over what it calls its “southern province” as having global support. They point to a parallel lobbying effort in Congress, where Morocco champion and Appropriations member Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., introduced legislation in the 2014 omnibus spending bill that for the first time allows the US to spend foreign aid earmarked for Morocco in the Western Sahara — in apparent contradiction with US policy that does not recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.
The Pitts/Smith letter also raised concerns that OCP may have been complicit in violations of the 2004 free trade agreement with the US, which was accompanied by a Ways and Means Committee report — championed by Pitts — that makes it clear the trade deal’s benefits don’t apply to imports from the Western Sahara. Morocco and OCP are widely believed to be seeking an end to those restrictions.
“I would be shocked, given the fact that Congress's opinion on the FTA was clarified in the committee report and not the base text, if Moroccan allies don't eventually try to muddle the FTA policy,” a House staffer who follows the issue told Al-Monitor.
*Editor's note: This article has ben updated since its initial publication.
*Julian Pecquet is Al-Monitor's congressional correspondent. He previously led The Hill's Global Affairs blog. On Twitter: @congresspulse Contact him via email jpecquet@al-monitor.com
 

Why battles for Mosul and Aleppo will not turn into a World War
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 21/16
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Numan Kurtulmuş recently warned against the risks of disagreements over the battle of Mosul. He said that this could even mark the beginning of World War Three. Despite the sectarian and ethnic nature of the conflict, the battle of Mosul is not likely to cause a third world war, not even a broad regional war. Similarly, the war on Aleppo, Syria or Iraq would not turn into a broad war. All that is being talked about are mere incendiary talks. They have nothing to do with strategists, planners and decision-makers who sit in air-conditioned rooms thousands of miles away from our region in America or Russia. The world is already grappling with several conflicts and is not likely to witness any of these turning into as devastating as the World War. World War II took 60 million lives, mostly from the West and a World War Three would be atrocious because it is estimated to kill a billion people. It will use the only weapon that can ensure “victory” i.e. mass destruction of nuclear and chemical weapons. Countries like the United States, Europe, Russia and others of vital influence will disappear. There will be no winner and the whole world will go back to Stone Age. The earth will no longer remain inhabitable for humans. This is why, no direct wars have been engendered by the escalation of international conflicts. What was known as the Cold War between the US and Soviet camps was nothing but proxy or indirect wars. As many as 140,000 American soldiers were killed in the Cambodian Vietnam War. However, the US did not resort to the use of nuclear weapons and withdrew after the defeat. There were 4,000 casualties in Iraq before they withdrew.
It is not impossible to imagine a lunatic leader using nuclear weapons in the future. Even if it happens, the reason won’t be conflicts such as the one taking place in Mosul, Aleppo or other parts of our region. The Russian empire crumbled and lost 15 countries that were part of the Soviet empire. They even lost three-quarters of their land and half of their population, and yet, they did not talk about a World War III. They did not launch a single nuclear missile. Instead, they continue with the old chess strategy in the struggle with their rivals to gain back influence and regions. It is not impossible to imagine a lunatic leader using nuclear weapons in the future. This scenario has haunted the world since the end of World War II. Many regulations and protocols have been put in place to avoid this madness. Even if it happens, the reason won’t be conflicts such as the one taking place in Mosul, Aleppo or other parts of our region.
Conflicts in the region
Super powers consider our wars as side conflicts that do not call for a suicidal war that would destroy their countries. What is being circulated in the Arab and Iranian media about World War Three, and being attributed to Russian president or Henry Kissinger, is all forged. What are the circumstances in which major countries would wage a crazy global nuclear war? It would only happen when their security is directly threatened and is on the verge of collapse. This scenario is extremely unlikely. We imagine that the world is keen to ensure our security and stability whereas its main concern is safeguarding against terrorists and refugees. Some are only worried about our oil wells as they are their sources of energy. Our governments are solely in charge of the region’s war and peace. The Middle East is in a state of constant political failure, which has lasted half a century now. We have not been able to live together and have failed to reach lasting agreements that abide by our borders. We don’t respect the conventions that seek to renounce wars as a means to resolve disputes. Up until this day, we are still living in a jungle, where regimes often become ferocious monsters only caring about stealing and looting. We continue to live in an era in which we don’t know who would bomb us when we go to bed. **This article was first published Asharq al-Awsat on Oct. 21, 2016.

Openess and tolerance are the key to peace
Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya/October 21/16
I recalled this famous saying I heard - while staying with an American Mormon family, to advance my English skills - of former Malaysian President, Mahathir Mohamad “if Sunni apostatize the Shiite, and the Shiite apostatize the Sunni, who is the Muslim then?” In a comparative question, I have asked the father of the family on how Mormons, a very conservative religious group, deem other Christian sects, his affirmative reply astounded me. He said confidently: “Some are destined to hell, while the rest hang on in the waiting room.”In a state of shock I asked again “what about me? - I’m a Muslim. Will hell be my destiny as well ?”He sarcastically replied with a confident tone: “You know you are a nice chap, but yes you will end up in hell as well.”I expressed my dissatisfaction for being branded “infidel”, when I met the Director of the institute next day, she told me in a cynical way: “Bizarre… you are the one to mark them infidel’. True, they are the infidel... not me, nonetheless, according to the logic of the majority rule, I turned out to be the infidel, and them the believers. Later, I joined the Mormon family in labeling a Chinese student, who joined the family accommodation later, as an “infidel” following a discussion he showed his unawareness of the basis of the monotheistic religions. Tolerance is a genuine humanity, because it helps you to observe others as human beings, the way God created them, not as herds of delinquents astray
For a while, I felt I was outcast, being the “infidel”. I am, then I adopted a different approach to look into things from a different prospective. I’m the winner from this apostasy… Believers and infidels cocoon, deprive themselves from taking advantage of the universe’s diversity. For example the two infidels, my Chinese friend and I, were open minded to realize and adopt new things, in contrast to this family who were totally secluded inside their blaspheme mindset. This story is a symbolic of the absurdity of penitence, the importance of tolerance and humanity participates in this new world.
Tolerance is a genuine humanity, because it helps you to observe others as human beings, the way God created them, not as herds of delinquents astray. Morally correct because you are dealing with people equally and with humanity. It is useful economically and scientifically, in the era of transcontinental companies, airports and international cities and multiple university campus. European countries, such as Sweden or Denmark are culturally and constitutionally tolerant, they are clear evidence that penances are defiant to humanity progress and economic development. Westerners passed over the absurd atonement issue (that American family still lives in the past). Nevertheless, this issue continues to play a major role in our lives. It destroyed nations and blew up mosques and markets, and pushed 21st century teenagers to kill their mothers. It’s born satanic characters such as al-Zarqawi and al-Baghdadi, and created terrorist organizations, like ISIS and Al Qaeda. Failure to address this dangerous ideology and challenge its promoters, will result in suddenly converting the teenager who used to film his funny snap shots in his room, to film in al Raqqa. This idea is deeply rooted in his imagination, it is more dear to him than his collections of iPads and iPhones. Cultural ideals reflect the true identity planted by extremist rhetoric cultivated within him. However, the history of Muslims has an era full of a culture where motivation, tolerance and political realism prevailed. Since the transfer of the capital of the Islamic caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad, cultural interaction continued with other cultures and religions. According to the late scholar George Tarabichi it “have retained the Byzantine administration system as they are in the hands of local administrators, and maintained Greek as the temporary language of diwans - which is equivalent to ministries today, churches and monasteries in most cases, were intact, the Assyrian intellectuals became clerks in the new Arab nations.”Cordoba has seen the emergence of notable philosophers, as Ibn Massara, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Baja, Ibn al Tufail, Ibn Rushd and Ibn Arabi. As from Jewish side there were: Maimonides and Ibn Gapiroll, beside some Christian thinkers. Cordoba has enjoyed religious tolerance and academic and cultural wealth till the death of son of Caliph Abdul Rahman III (Nasser) in 976 AD, fundamentalism emerged and inquisition courts were erected to chase philosophers and scientists, forcing them to flee, such as the well renowned scientist Abdul Rahman, nicknamed “Euclid Spanish”, and the prominent musician Saeed al Hamar who fled to Sicily. These historical tolerant stories, and understanding of the European Renaissance from the Dark Ages to the enlightenment and modernity, are crucial to overturn the Takfiri terrorist rhetoric we hear about daily. They dominate the imagination and minds of young generations haunted by hatred and sectarianism, as a result we ended up with “Muslim countries empty of Muslims,” as Mahathir said.

Important not to lose sight of the objective in Yemen
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/October 21/16
United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, announced a 72-hour ceasefire in the country that began shortly before midnight on Wednesday. The most noticeable thing was its approval by the legitimate government in Yemen. Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Abduljalil al-Mekhlafi informed Ould Cheikh that they approve of a 72-hour ceasefire with the possibility of it being extended, if the other party adheres to it and lifts the siege of Taiz. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir confirmed that Saudi Arabia is willing to accept the ceasefire if Houthi militias agree to it. Jubeir’s reservations were justified considering the track record of the Houthi militias and supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and the extent of their commitment to the truce, which they have violated in the past. What matters amid all this is maintaining focus on the objectives defined for the Operation Decisive Storm. The operation was launched for and continues to tirelessly work to restore international legitimacy as represented by UN Security Resolution 2216. It is important to keep this in mind considering attempts being made to overlook it. This was also the objective behind the Gulf imitative and national reconciliation in Yemen. The London Quartet on Yemen also adhered to the same objective. Saudi Arabia is not alone in this fight in Yemen neither did it decide to fight on its own. The country has a legitimate international and regional cover which Saleh continuously seeks to ignore as he sees the entire situation as if it is a personal problem with Saudi Arabia.Saudi Arabia has a legitimate international and regional cover which Saleh continuously seeks to ignore as he sees the entire situation as if it is a personal problem with the country
Houthis in power
Whether the truce stands or not, and whether the western influence succeeds in bringing coalition air strikes to a halt, and ends the conflict, the objective must remain the same i.e. we must not accept a Houthi state in south of Saudi Arabia as it threatens the Saudi and Gulf security.
The idea is not to neutralize the Houthi identity – which is aided by Ali Abdullah Saleh, the vengeful former president – but to prevent them from imposing tyranny on Yemen as this poses a threat to the region. Few days ago, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, reportedly said on state television that Iran’s intervention in Yemen is part of the essence of “Iranian values.”He was responding to the US Secretary of State John Kerry’s reprimand over Iran’s interference in the region. Araghchi is reported to have said that the nuclear agreement did not include the subject of “interference”.
Whatever the situation may be, it is not possible to co-exist with the Houthis as neighbors and in control of the authority on Yemen. The rest are only matters of detail.
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Oct. 19, 2016.

JASTA is an insult to all Arabs
Waheed Abdul Majid/Al Arabiya/October 21/16
The importance of a law usually lies in its texts and consequences. However, the message behind the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), seems more important that its content and consequences, especially since it is the basis on which lawsuits can be filed by the 9/11 attack victims’ relatives.
This law stipulates that those who want to file such lawsuits, should gather evidence that the independent investigation committee could not find after investigating the terrorist act. In this case, it would have been easier to find such evidence directly when investigating. Contrary to what it is commonly believed, JASTA does not provide new elements for those who are looking for alleged evidence about involvement of Saudi government officials or employees in the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The text that was released again is the same that was issued before with one important amendment. Based on the initiative of Senator John Cornyn, a number of Congress members have introduced amendments to the original draft before voting on it. Under this amendment, the law will work according to the American court methodology, which is not to look into the allegations of indirect involvement or the so-called secondary responsibility for the terrorist acts. This is the basis upon which the American anti-terrorism law was issued on October 26, 2001, known as the Patriot Act. All Arabs should react to JASTA by taking new legal actions so that the US and other international powers realize that Arabs have the ability to influence.
Despite the fact that JASTA violates the principle of sovereign immunity, which is one of the pillars of international law, it does not allow judgments based on allegations of high responsibility, which means that the law has to still abide by the Patriot Act. This means that the applicant should provide evidence that the accused is directly and primarily responsible.
This is a difficult, and even impossible task in the case of the 2001 attacks, especially since all the direct perpetrators are known already. However, even if JASTA does not allow the condemnation of an Arab state, it represents an insult to all Arabs. Underlying this law is a serious message that it is possible to deal with the Arabs according to any decision taken by the Congress or any other committee, and not according to what the law of international relations specifies. the It is not only the Saudi government that this message has offended. Therefore, all Arabs should react to JASTA by taking new legal actions so that the US and other international powers realize that Arabs have the ability to influence, even when going through the most difficult stage in their recent history.
Quick action needed
What is important is to have a quick reaction. The new Congress members should receive this reaction at the beginning of their tenure, and thus be forced to review this offensive law against the Arabs and put an end to it. Congress members should know that they have to correct this error once and for all.
In this context, an emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Arab League should be held to discuss the possibility of modifying existing laws in these countries, so as to allow the filing of lawsuits against governments with foreign and military policies leading to implicit support to terrorism.
While waiting for this meeting to be held, and taking into consideration there is a possibility for it not to be held, Arab organizations and figures can immediately file lawsuits against US officials in the countries where laws permit, including the United States itself under the JASTA law, and accuse them of making and implementing policies that have led or can lead to add oil to the fire of terrorism in the Middle East, and threatening the security of citizens from outside the region by the retaliatory terrorist acts. Americans of Palestinian origin can also file lawsuits under JASTA, against current and previous administration officials in Washington, on charges of aiding Israel at the militarily level to commit crimes in the occupied territories. This move does not prevent other legal actions, such as lawyers seeking to constitutionally challenge the lawsuits filed by the relatives of the victims of the 2001 attacks, under the JASTA law.
Such legal proceedings will spare any political escalation by those who are angry and are underestimating the Arabs, because the goal is to launch messages against JASTA.The best response in such situation is to counter-react to this law.
This article was first published in Al Ittihad on Oct. 19, 2016.