LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

September 06/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.september06.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 05/43-48/:"‘You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy."But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost
First Letter to Timothy 01/01-07.12-17/:"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine, and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith. But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions. I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
 

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 05-06/16
Who Trusts Aoun, End On His Victim’s Long List/Elias Bejjani/September 05/16

What's Ankara Doing in Syria/Jonathan Spyer/The Jerusalem Post/September 05/16
Iran: The Return of Ahmadinejad & Co/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 05/16
The Invisible (Female) Palestinians/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 05/16
Turkey expands assault on independent media/Week in Review/Al-Monitor/September 05/16
Why Rouhani may become Iran's first one-term president/Saeid Jafari/Al-Monitor/September 05/16
Confronting Islam: Pope Francis vs. Saint Francis/Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/September05/16
A G20 summit in turbulent times/Talmiz Ahmad/Al ARabiya/September 05/16
Why Russia sees Bahrain as a partner in the Middle East/Maria Dubovikova/Al ARabiya/September 05/16
Is political Islam an obstacle to peaceful coexistence/Samar Fatany/Al ARabiya/September 05/16
Delight in Japanese good manners/Turki Aldakhil/Al ARabiya/September 05/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 05-06/16
Who Trusts Aoun, End On His Victim’s Long List

National Dialogue Suspended after FPM Vows to Boycott Meetings
Franjieh, Bassil in War of Words over Christian Representation
Shehayyeb Says Waste Crisis 'Solution' Reached after Meeting FPM Officials
Kataeb: Those Keen on National Pact Must Immediately Secure Quorum to Elect President
Saniora to Geagea: Constitution Doesn't Say President Can be Imposed, Appointed
Fayyad Blames Mustaqbal for Election Law Impasse
Report: Fadel Shaker Wants Security Agencies' Assistance to Run to Qatar
Syrian Man Kills Sister in Tyre
Salam receives invitation to attend European Arab summit in Athens
Fire extinguished in Jbeil district
Hezbollah condemns deadly blasts in Syria, Afghanistan
Abu Faour from Dahr Ahmar: Dialogue suspension great setback to all
ISF denies Roumieh inmate dying of carelessness

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 05-06/16

Death toll in deadly Syria bombings rises to 38
Several missing after building collapse in Tel Aviv
Afghan capital rocked by three deadly blasts
Mass Protests in Brazil against Temer 'Coup'
U.S., Russia Fail to Reach Syria Deal despite 'Productive' Talks, 'Some Alignment'
Netanyahu considering talks with Palestinian president in Moscow
Palestine’s Abbas agrees to Moscow talks with Israel's Netanyahu
Britain appoints first ambassador to Iran since 2011
Fighting in Yemen oil region kills 26
Drone strike kills seven Qaeda suspects in Yemen
European parliament committee backs visa-free travel for Georgia
UN Security Council to meet Tuesday on N.Korea missile launches
Former French FM calls for international court to prosecute Iran regime for 1988 massacre in Iran
Ahmad Montazeri charged with acting against ‘Iran national security’
Iran: 1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners and Responsibility of the International Community

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on September 05-06/16
Germany: Merkel admits her open-door policy on Muslim migrants led to her party’s crushing defeat
SHOCKING REPORT: Massive cover-up of Muslim rape gang activity in the UK
Islamic State bride, former topless model, defends her newfound ‘peace’ and the veil
Islamic State claims Copenhagen shooting, shooter “sympathized” with jihadis, cops say no evidence it was Islamic State
Australia: Muslim teen gets 10 years for jihad plot to behead police officer
Egyptian Christian teens sentenced for “defaming Islam” flee to Switzerland
Iranian officials meet with Hamas, agree to face ‘Zionist danger’ together
Israel: Muslim attempts to run over police and border police forces
Syracuse U: Jewish filmmaker disinvited from conference, “BDS faction on campus will make matters very unpleasant for you”
Soros group spent $600,000 on “countering the anti-migrant rhetoric and toxic narratives surrounding migration in Europe”
Robert Spencer Moment: If You Don’t Want to Assimilate, Don’t Come
Hugh Fitzgerald: Never Mind About 50 Million Frenchman – Can 13,000 Chinese Be Wrong?

Links From Christian Today Site for on September 05-06/16
Pope Francis proclaims Teresa of Calcutta a saint
Mother Teresa's mission lives on in Kolkata
Scripture has something powerful to say to all those who feel like giving up
I met Mother Teresa. A few days later, I went blind.
Why infidelity never starts with sex and what you can do to guard against it
3 prayers for when you're working hard to weather life's storms
Finland: Church won't allow pastors to officiate gay weddings
Former bishop part of British delegation that met Syria's President al-Assad
Nigeria 1966: How faithful missionaries saved countless lives in a forgotten genocide
The Jenkins controversies: Can you be a Christian and not believe in the Virgin Birth?
At least 40 dead in Syria as ISIS claims series of blasts
Trump uses visit to black church to call for new civil rights agenda
Donald Trump pledges to remedy injustice during church visit: 'I'm going to get things done'
Calais: Lord Dubs condemns UK government for failing 'obligation' to refugee children

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 05-06/16
Who Trusts Aoun, Ends On His Victim’s Long List
من يثق بعون على الأكيد، الأكيد والأكيد، ينتهي على قائمة ضحاياه
Elias Bejjani/September 05/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/09/05/elias-bejjani-who-trusts-aoun-end-on-his-victims-long-list%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%AB%D9%82-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%8C-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3/
We, The Lebanese Maronites and all through our deeply rooted and very rich history of more than 1500 years, in beloved Lebanon and the Diaspora, never ever were badly and evilly hit by a plague, Moron and demagogue politician or leader like Michael Aoun, in all domains and on each and every social and national level.
The man according to all Maronite national and faith criteria is100 times worst than an Antichrist. He venomously entrapped and deceived many members of our community, and other communities’ members, invaded their thinking capabilities, poisoned their minds and controlled their political-national choices and affiliations.
Aoun dragged all his pries (supporters) to side with the Iranian occupier and with its armed terrorist Hezbollah militia.
He dragged them all to resist all that is common sense, self respect, rights, independence, freedom, democracy and sovereignty..
Sadly he succeeded in making them fierce enemies of their own country and of their own people.
Aoun on purpose and in a bid to serve his mere personal political agenda, he totally negated, marginalized and contradicted, both practically and rhetorically all our Maronite Patriarchate historical convictions that preserved, safeguarded, distinguished and pioneered Lebanon and the Lebanese positive roles in all aspects, locally, regionally and internationally.
For all of the above facts, and for piles of genuine fears, many intellectual and patriotic Maronites in particular, and many Lebanese communities’ members in general strongly oppose all efforts to elect Aoun as president.
In this context comes all our genuine, loud and harsh criticism for Dr. Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces Christian Party. We do not see eye to eye with him that his advocacy for Aoun’s presidency serves the interests of our people, or helps Lebanon to reclaim its Iranian confiscated independence in any way.
The Question is how could, Aoun the Iranian puppet and Trojan rescue Lebanon from Iran and its Hezbollah terrorist proxy!! No logic in this bizarre equation!!
Many who closely know Geagea believe that his advocacy for Aoun’s presidency is sincere and merely patriotic because according to his personal assessment this is the only left means to save Lebanon and its political system.
It could be very true when it comes to Geagea’s sincerity, but sadly the out come of his quest is a big zero. Meanwhile Geagea’s illogical support to Aoun is making things more difficult because Aoun is not mentally balanced and lives in a world of day dreaming and fantasy.
The only scene that Aoun sees and dreams about, and the only issue that controls his mind is the presidential Baabda Palace and its presidential chair and nothing else.
There is no doubt that all Geagea’s presidential pro Aoun advocacy that we oppose and denounce is not going any where, at least up till now, while in reality Geagea’s image of credibility, patriotism, and principles has been badly shaken and blemished.
Based on Aoun’s kind of sickening personality, thinking and agenda, there is no doubt that he will stab Geagea in the back when he does not need him any more as he always did to many of his close supporters, family members, numerous friends and politicians.
In Aoun’s chameleon dictionary, the term gratitude does not exist.
In conclusion, MP. Micheal Aoun can not be trusted and all those who did trust him have paid heavy prices. In this realm, we call on Dr. Samir Geagea to totally distance himself from all kinds of advocacy for Aoun and seriously look in other, safe, practical and patriotic presidential options.
To Dr. Samir Geagea: Dear, as the Lebanese proverb goes: “You did not die, but you did not see those who died”

National Dialogue Suspended after FPM Vows to Boycott Meetings
Naharnet/September 05/16/Speaker Nabih Berri refrained from setting a date for a new national dialogue session after the Free Patriotic Movement vowed during Monday's meeting that it would boycott the all-party talks, media reports said. FPM chief Jebran Bassil “threatened to boycott dialogue during the session, stressing that the FPM cannot tolerate the situation anymore,” the reports said. “When you only recognize the existence of others through words, dialogue becomes useless,” Bassil himself told reporters after the session. “During the session, we raised the issue of respecting the National Pact, because when we lose the National Pact we would be losing the country,” the FPM chief said. Berri hit back at Bassil in the meeting, saying: “It is not you who will score a point against me by suspending dialogue, I will suspend it.” “No one is more keener than me (on the country) and we are also suffering,” Berri added, according to media reports. Berri also called on the FPM's ministers to return to cabinet sessions “in order to prevent governmental vacuum amid the absence of the Christian component.” The session was held in the absence of FPM founder MP Michel Aoun, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and Syrian Social National Party chief Ali Qansou. Aoun was represented by Bassil while Jumblat was represented by former minister Ghazi Aridi.
“The dialogue session ended with a suspension of dialogue, which is an outcome that we do not want and do not accept,” Aridi told reporters after the session. “Despite everything that happened, we voiced stances during the session and all efforts and contacts must be focused on addressing what happened,” he added. “Despite everything that happened today, we must seek the activation of the work of the government and parliament and the election of a president,” Aridi went on to say. Reports had expected the meeting to focus on a suggestion to create a senate and an administrative decentralization law after conflicting political parties failed previously to reach a breakthrough with regard to the presidential impasse or an agreement on a new electoral law. On the eve of the dialogue, Berri told his visitors that the interlocutors would submit the names they propose for a commission that will be tasked with devising a parliamentary election law and creating a Senate and that he would task Deputy Speaker Farid Makari to head it, al-Joumhouria newspaper said. The daily added that Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemeyal will not designate his representatives to the Senate committee or to the committee on abolishing political sectarianism. He will instead carry a constitutional study developed by Kataeb lawyers showing the infeasibility of the aforementioned points before the election of a president and the holding of parliamentary polls. The FPM's latest boycott of the cabinet was linked to the thorny issued of military appointments. The movement has recently warned that the country might be plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.”

Franjieh, Bassil in War of Words over Christian Representation
Naharnet/September 05/16/Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil engaged in a heated exchange on Monday during and after the national dialogue session that was held in Ain el-Tineh. “Confining Lebanon to a sole presidential candidate is unacceptable and the decision to force the suspension of dialogue had been taken prior to the session,” Franjieh told reporters after the session following Bassil's announcement that the FPM would boycott the all-party talks. “We have the courage to say things directly to the other parties. The demands might be righteous but sometimes the approach does not lead to the required result,” the Marada chief said. “We are against any injustice against Christians and our Christian, national and Arab identity is well-known,” he added. “I will not eliminate myself” in the presidential race, Franjieh underlined, cautioning that “the coming period will witness a lot of controversy, especially after dialogue was suspended.” Hitting back at recent remarks by Bassil that the other parties in the cabinet represent only six percent of Christians, Franjieh added: “We acknowledge the FPM's representation but we represent a lot more than six percent. I don't know how the FPM's 'calculator' works.”“We don't need further obstruction in state institutions,” the northern leader added, noting that he prefers a new extension of Army chief General Jean Qahwaji's term over vacuum in the army's top post. Bassil for his part said he raised the issue of respecting the National Pact during the session, lamenting that “are practices in state institutions, administrative appointments and the cabinet are not respecting the National Pact.”
The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on balance between Muslims and Christians. “The situation cannot continue as it was between 1990 and 2005 when the Christian leaders were absent. Will the government continue functioning if the Progressive Socialist Party leaves it?” Bassil asked. “Disregard for the National Pact shakes our national belief in coexistence. It is useless to continue our participation in dialogue if they refuse to acknowledge our existence,” the FPM chief added. “We will not allow a repetition of the 1990s injustice against Christians,” he vowed. Several media outlets said the dialogue session witnessed a heated exchange of tirades between Bassil and Franjieh over the issue of the National Pact and Christian representation. “You were appointed as FPM director and you are not its chief since you were not elected,” Franjieh told Bassil, according to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5). “Who are you and what do you represent after you failed in the (Batroun district parliamentary) elections?” Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) quoted Franjieh as saying. The FPM's latest boycott of cabinet meetings is linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The defense minister has recently postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers. The movement fears that the extension of Kheir's term could pave the way for a new extension of Qahwaji's next month. The army chief's retirement had been postponed in September 2013 and his term was instead extended for two years. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, FPM founder MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Shehayyeb Says Waste Crisis 'Solution' Reached after Meeting FPM Officials
Naharnet/September 05/16/Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb announced Monday that a “solution” has been reached for the country's renewed waste management and collection crisis, following a meeting with two Free Patriotic Movement officials. “We have managed to reach a solution through negotiations,” said Shehayyeb at a joint press conference with Education Minister Elias Bou Saab of the FPM and MP Ibrahim Kanaan, the secretary of FPM's Change and Reform bloc. “I support any proposal that boosts the removal of garbage from the streets,” Shehayyeb, who is in charge of overseeing the government's emergency waste management plan, added. “Decentralization means that every region must become prepared for waste sorting and land-filling,” the minister said, noting that “decentralization does not mean that some towns can commit land-filling violations.” He also called on the Kataeb Party to “help us remove the garbage from the streets.”Kanaan for his part announced that “the ongoing debate over the waste file has started to reach a place that gathers all the parties concerned.””“The proposed formula involves both a temporary solution and a permanent solution. We are seeking to shorten the period of the temporary solution as much as possible until the municipalities become ready” to assume waste management responsibilities, Kanaan said. “This period ranges from six months to one year at the latest, but municipalities that become ready in a shorter time can leave the plan and treat their waste independently,” the MP added. “We have endorsed the proposal of setting up a supervision commission comprising the region's MPs and municipalities, the civil society and the executive authority,” Kanaan reminded, stressing that “there should be cooperation among everyone.”Bou Saab meanwhile announced that “it is possible to expedite the decentralized plan.”“Metn and Keserwan are ready to start sorting waste as of today,” he added. “Each municipality that becomes ready to receive waste and set up a sorting and composting plant can immediately start implementing the first phase of the plan we are trying to push forward,” the minister said. “We are trying to find a solution through decentralization in sorting and we can benefit from the funds that were supposed to go the firm that won the sorting tender,” Bou Saab explained, stressing that “it is necessary to treat and sort the (old) 'garbage mountain' in Bourj Hammoud as happened in Sidon and central Beirut.”According to media reports, the latest solution is based on reopening the Bourj Hammoud waste storage site and shortening the transitional period from four years to one year. Protesters from Kataeb and several environmentalist and civil society groups have been staging a sit-in outside the Bourj Hammoud site for several weeks and on August 11 students from Kataeb managed to force the suspension of works aimed at setting up a new seaside landfill. The protesters and activists have accused authorities of seeking to “land-fill the sea” with unsorted and unrecycled garbage in a manner that poses environmental and health risks and violates the Convention for Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution. The Bourj Hammoud Municipality has also prevented garbage trucks from accessing a temporary storage site in the area, accusing the government of failing to respect the agreement that preceded the emergency plan. The closure of the temporary storage site has prompted the Sukleen waste management firm to suspend garbage collection in several areas in Mount Lebanon and Beirut, which has resulted in a new pileup of trash on the streets. The country's unprecedented waste management crisis erupted in July last year when the country's central landfill in Naameh was closed amid the government's failure to find alternatives. The crisis saw streets, forests and riverbeds overflowing with trash for several months and triggered unprecedented street protests against the entire political class that sometimes turned violent.Experts have long urged the government to devise a comprehensive waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills.

Kataeb: Those Keen on National Pact Must Immediately Secure Quorum to Elect President
The Kataeb Party hit back at the Free Patriotic Movement on Monday, stressing that the election of a president must be the first step towards bolstering the National Pact. “The Kataeb Party emphasizes that the key to respecting the National Pact is the election of a president and that those keen on it must be keen on securing quorum in parliament for the immediate election of a president,” said the party in a statement issued after its political bureau's weekly meeting. The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on balance between Muslims and Christians. The FPM's latest boycott of cabinet meetings was linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments and the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president. The defense minister has recently postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers. On Friday, FPM chief Jebran Bassil announced that the FPM wants to “destroy” what he called the “corrupt structure” that ruled the country between 1990 and 2005.“Today, the FPM is the guardian of the National Pact. We should understand our role and realize that we are regaining power for all people and we are not shy about that... It is unacceptable for any of the Lebanese to undermine the National Pact, which is the basis of coexistence,” the FPM chief warned. Addressing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Bassil said “the son of late PM Saeb Salam must pay great attention when he says that the government is respecting the National Pact when it convenes in the presence of ministers representing only six percent of a main component of the country (Christians).”Bassil has also warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.”

Saniora to Geagea: Constitution Doesn't Say President Can be Imposed, Appointed
Naharnet/September 05/16/Al-Mustaqbal bloc chief ex-PM Fouad Saniora on Monday hit back at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea over the latter's latest speech, stressing that the constitution stipulates that the president of the republic must be “elected,” not “appointed” or “imposed.”“The constitution stipulates how the president must be elected and it does not mention that the president can be imposed or appointed. The designation of the prime ministers also has constitutional rules related to the binding parliamentary consultations and the issue is not an extraconstitutional distribution of shares,” Saniora said. “What would then prevent that the ministers and the ministerial statement be imposed on us? Wouldn't we be launching an irreversible course of deterioration?” the former premier warned. Responding to Geagea's statement that “the constitution is with us all and there is no justification for fear,” Saniora added: “How would the realistic implementation of the constitution protect us? Does it protect us in the presidential elections when a sole candidate is being imposed on us and the vote is being obstructed as is the case today?”“They are obstructing the implementation of the constitution, especially Article 74 that stipulates that the parliament must immediately convene to elect a president once the presidential post becomes vacant for any reason,” Saniora noted. “If the realistic implementation of the constitution is not protecting me now, how would it protect me in the future, knowing that we committed to the constitution when ex-PM Saad Hariri's government was toppled despite our dismay and anger,” the former premier went on to say. Geagea was quick to snap back on Monday. “My friend, ex-PM Fouad Saniora, regardless of my respect for all the general principles mentioned in your comments on my speech, which are at the core of my personal beliefs, I have to ask you a single question: what should we do now?” Geagea tweeted. In a speech commemorating “the martyrs of the Lebanese resistance” on Saturday, the LF leader had stressed that the only solution to the country's long-running presidential void crisis is the election of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun as president and the re-designation of al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri as premier. “The only practical solution to hold the presidential elections is supporting General Aoun's presidential nomination. Some might have questions regarding General Aoun's platform, alliances or performance, but let them give us feasible alternatives,” Geagea said. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
Hariri's move prompted Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Fayyad Blames Mustaqbal for Election Law Impasse
Naharnet/September 05/16/Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad blamed al-Mustaqbal Movement for impeding an agreement on a new electoral law, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday. The Hizbullah MP said: “Neither the AMAL movement nor the Free Patriotic Movement or Hizbullah are responsible for the impasse of an electoral law,” as he blamed Mustaqbal. “Although we believe in proportional representation, but we have always been willing to listen, debate and hold constructive interaction in the hope of reaching a common perception that provides just and effective representation,” he said.Furthermore, Fayyad reiterated the need for dialogue between Lebanese factions to be capable of addressing controversial issues.

Report: Fadel Shaker Wants Security Agencies' Assistance to Run to Qatar
Naharnet/September 05/16/Singer turned salafist Fadel Shaker, an affiliate of detained extremist cleric Ahmed al-Asir, has requested the security apparatuses to facilitate his travel to Qatar, As Safir daily reported on Monday. “Repentant singer and fugitive Fadel Shaker has asked the security agencies (in Lebanon) to facilitate his travel to Qatar,” reported the daily. Pop star turned fugitive, Shaker, was sentenced in February to five years in prison on charges of sectarian incitement. He was also charged with “harming Lebanon's ties with a fraternal Arab country” during an interview he conducted in the past few years. He was stripped of his civil rights and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. In May 2015, he was sentenced to four-and-half years in jail, but in June the Cassation Court nullified the verdict and ordered a retrial. He was released on bail in January. Around four years ago, he became affiliated with extremist Salafist movements linked to cleric Ahmed al-Asir, whose supporters waged deadly clashes with the army in the Abra area of the southern city of Sidon in 2013.

Syrian Man Kills Sister in Tyre
Naharnet/September 05/16/A Syrian man killed his younger sister after she was absent from her parent's house in Tyre, the National News Agency reported on Monday. An 18-year old man A.M. stabbed his sister R.M., 16, to death after she left her parent's home in the neighborhood of Qadmous-Jwar al-Nakhil north of Tyre, added NNA. The security forces arrested the assailant, and forensics experts were called in to inspect the crime scene.

Salam receives invitation to attend European Arab summit in Athens
Mon 05 Sep 2016 /NNA - Prime Minister Tammam Salam met on Monday with Raouf Abou Zaki, CEO of Al Iktisaad Wal Aamal Group, who invited him to attend the Euro-Arab summit in Athens upcoming November 3 and 4.

Fire extinguished in Jbeil district
Mon 05 Sep 2016/NNA - Civil Defense's firefighters managed to extinguish the flames that broke out earlier today in a green land in the Jbeil town of Hbalin, National News Agency correspondent reported on Monday.

Hezbollah condemns deadly blasts in Syria, Afghanistan
Mon 05 Sep 2016/NNA - Hezbollah sternly condemned, in a statement on Monday, "the criminal terrorist explosions that targeted Syria and made tens of martyrs and a huge number of wounded."The party also berated the suicide attack in the Afghani capital, Kabul. "Crimes in Syria, Afghanistan, and other Islamic countries, only highlight the obligation to eradicate terrorists and curb them from executing their criminal scheme that is backed by regional and international powers," the statement read.

Abu Faour from Dahr Ahmar: Dialogue suspension great setback to all
Mon 05 Sep 2016/NNA - Public Health Minister, Wael Abou Faour, deemed dialogue suspension a great setback to all political spectrums, saying that such a setback should be resolved through listening to the voice of wisdom. Minister Abu Faour's words came on Monday during his patronage of a graduation ceremony of outstanding students, at the behest of the Lebanese Canadian Modern School, at Rashaya's Dahr al-Ahmar town.
Abu Faour voiced adherence to the national pact and partnership.

ISF denies Roumieh inmate dying of carelessness
Mon 05 Sep 2016/NNA - The Internal Security Forces denied, in a communiqué on Monday, news claiming that an inmate at Roumieh jail had died due to a lack of care by the state facility, confirming that the condition of prisoners is a top priority. The ISF explained that inmate Mohammad Moussa Alyan had been treated by the jail's physician and given the required medication.
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 05-06/16

Death toll in deadly Syria bombings rises to 38
The Associated Press, DamascusMonday, 5 September 2016 /At least 38 people were killed in a string of bombings inside government territory in Syria, state media reported Monday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which maintains a network of contacts inside the country, put the toll at 47 dead. Conflicting casualty figures are common in the Syria war. The SANA news agency reported blasts in the coastal city of Tartus, the central city of Homs, the suburbs of the capital Damascus, and the northeastern city of Hasakeh. Attackers detonated two bombs at the entrance of the government stronghold of Tartus along the international coastal highway, SANA said, killing 30. A car bomb at the Arzoneh bridge was followed by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt who targeted the gathering crowd. The city, a stronghold of support for President Bashar Assad, is home to a major Russian naval base. The Observatory said the twin blasts killed 35 people, including an army colonel, and injured dozens more.The governor of Homs province said a car bomb struck a military checkpoint in the provincial capital, Homs, killing two soldiers and injuring four others, one critically. The city, Syria's third largest, is largely under government control, with only one neighborhood still under opposition control. Monday's bomb exploded in the government-held Bab Tadmor district, SANA said. The Observatory said four soldiers were killed.

Several missing after building collapse in Tel Aviv
AFP, JerusalemMonday, 5 September 2016/A building collapse in Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv left 18 people wounded and at least three others trapped under rubble Monday, with emergency units working at the scene, officials said. Details were still emerging of the incident at the construction site in northeastern Tel Aviv where an underground car park collapsed. Police reported 18 wounded, including one seriously, one moderately and 16 lightly. At least three others were trapped, and contact had been made with two of them, police said. The army said it sent search and rescue forces to "extract civilians". United Hatzalah medical service said “firefighters and rescue teams are working to extricate” those believed missing. “It appeared to me that the roof of a parking garage had collapsed in the building site,” United Hatzalah quoted one of its medics as saying. “While members of our ambu-cycle unit who arrived first on scene were treating the injured, reports came in of other people who were unaccounted for and likely still trapped inside.”

Afghan capital rocked by three deadly blasts
By AFP, Kabul Monday, 5 September 2016/A third massive explosion shook central Kabul late Monday, hours after a Taliban double bombing killed at least 24 people and left 91 others wounded, according to AFP reporters. The earlier carnage near the defense ministry came as the Taliban ramp up their nationwide summer offensive against the US-backed government. The two bombers on foot blew themselves up in rapid succession, in an assault apparently aimed at inflicting mass casualties as government employees left the ministry after work. Afghan authorities said they were trying to pin down the location of the blast and there was no immediate claim of responsibility from any militant group. “The first explosion occurred on a bridge near the defense ministry. When soldiers, policemen and civilians rushed to the scene, there was the second explosion,” defense ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told AFP. Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said the attack left 24 people dead and 91 others wounded, some of them seriously. “The casualties could rise still further,” Majroh said. The Italian-run Emergency Hospital in Kabul tweeted that it had so far received 21 injured people, four of whom died on arrival. President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of the victims. “The enemies of Afghanistan have lost their ability to fight the Security and Defense Forces of the country,” Ghani said in a statement. “That is why they are attacking highways, cities, mosques, schools and common people.”Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter that the defense ministry was the object of the first attack, while police were targeted in the second. The attack took place more than a week after 16 people were killed when militants stormed the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, in a nearly 10-hour raid that prompted anguished pleas for help from trapped students. Explosions and gunfire rocked the campus in that attack, which came just weeks after two university professors - an American and an Australian - were kidnapped at gunpoint near the school. Their whereabouts are still unknown and no group so far has publicly claimed responsibility for the abductions, the latest in a series of kidnappings in the conflict-torn country. The uptick in violence in the capital comes as the Taliban escalate nationwide attacks, underscoring the worsening security situation since NATO forces ended their combat mission at the end of 2014. Afghan forces backed by US troops are seeking to head off a potential Taliban takeover of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern opium-rich province of Helmand. The Taliban have also closed in on Kunduz - the northern city they briefly seized last year in their biggest military victory since the 2001 US invasion - leaving Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts. But NATO coalition forces have insisted that neither Kunduz nor Lashkar Gah are at risk of falling to the insurgents.
(Edited by Al Arabiya English)
 

Mass Protests in Brazil against Temer 'Coup'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 05/16/Tens of thousands took to Brazilian streets Sunday to support sacked leader Dilma Rousseff and protest the new government of Michel Temer, who has taken power and downplayed the protests. Demonstration organizers -- who have rejected Temer's ascendancy as a "coup" -- said some 100,000 protesters filled the major artery Paulista Avenue, many holding banners that read "Out with Temer!" and "Direct elections now!" The Senate voted Wednesday to convict Rousseff on charges of having illegally manipulated government accounts, stripping her of her office and replacing her with Temer, her bitter enemy and former vice president. The protest ended with clashes between demonstrators and police, who fired gas bombs, according to the news website G1. Temer, who after being sworn in promptly traveled to China for the G20 summit, said the protests were done by "small groups and predators.""These are small groups ... I don't have it numerically, but they are 40, 50, 100 people. It's nothing more than that. Out of 204 million Brazilians, I don't think it means much," media outlets quoted Temer as saying. The opposition dismissed the president's figures: "The coup president of Brazil said that our demonstration would have 40 people. Here are those 40 people -- we're already almost 100,000 on Paulista Avenue," said Guilherme Boulos, a member of one of the opposition groups that organized the protest. The demonstration was held in the late afternoon so as not to interfere with the passing of the torch from the Paralympic Games, a Rio event due to start within three days -- where another 2,000 people had demonstrated. Rousseff was Brazil's first woman president.

U.S., Russia Fail to Reach Syria Deal despite 'Productive' Talks, 'Some Alignment'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 05/16/Washington and Moscow failed Monday to agree on a deal to stem Syria's violence during talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in China. While speaking of "productive" talks and "some alignment" on Syria, the two powers failed to produce an expected deal to ease the violence in the war-torn country, where more than 290,000 people have been killed and more than half the population displaced since March 2011. Meanwhile, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday in China that he was working with Russia and the U.S. to have northern Syria declared a no-fly zone, a proposal that has failed to get off the ground in the past. Hopes had been raised that a U.S.-Russian deal would be announced over the weekend, but U.S. officials said it floundered after Russia backtracked. Despite the failure, Obama said Monday that a meeting with Putin on Syria had included "productive conversations about what a real cessation of hostilities would look like." Putin meanwhile said he felt there was "some alignment of positions and an understanding of what we could do to de-escalate the situation in Syria."He said a deal with Washington could be firmed up in the "coming days" but refused to give concrete details, saying that U.S. and Russian officials are still "working out some of our preliminary agreements."U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are expected to continue the talks in the coming days. Earlier in the day, a senior U.S. State Department official said a fresh round of crisis talks between Kerry and Lavrov on the margins of the G20 summit had ended without agreement. U.S. officials had hoped to build pressure on Moscow over its support for Assad's government during the Hangzhou summit and upcoming U.N. General Assembly. Washington has repeatedly said that Assad must step down in order for a lasting peace deal. Turning up the heat in recent weeks, the White House has gone as far as to suggest Moscow is complicit in war crimes. "You have the Assad regime which has been killing its own citizens with impunity, supported by the Russians and the Iranians," Obama said on Sunday. The failure to reach a deal is likely to heap pressure on Obama over his handling of the war in Syria. Obama came to office vowing not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor George W. Bush, who launched disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But as he prepares to leave office, critics say Obama's failure to intervene in Syria has had similarly bloody results, allowing the conflict to fester for years.

Netanyahu considering talks with Palestinian president in Moscow
Reuters, JerusalemMonday, 5 September 2016/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin to host talks in Moscow between the Israeli leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu’s office said on Monday. It said in a statement that Netanyahu, at a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, “presented Israel’s position whereby he is always ready to meet (Abbas) without preconditions and is therefore considering the Russian president’s proposal and the timing for a possible meeting.”There was no immediate Palestinian comment. The last Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.

Palestine’s Abbas agrees to Moscow talks with Israel's Netanyahu
By Reuters, Moscow Monday, 5 September 2016/Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to direct talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Russia, Interfax news agency cited the Palestinian embassy in Moscow as saying on Monday. Netanyahu’s office said earlier on Monday the prime minister was considering an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin to host the talks between the Israeli leader and Abbas. The last Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.

Britain appoints first ambassador to Iran since 2011
By Reuters, London Monday, 5 September 2016/Britain said on Monday it had appointed an ambassador to Iran for the first time since 2011 as it looks to improve cooperation between the two countries. Nicholas Hopton, a former British ambassador to Qatar and Yemen, will take up the role. It comes just over a year after Britain reopened its Tehran embassy, which was closed for nearly four years after it was stormed by protesters. “The upgrade in diplomatic relations gives us the opportunity to develop our discussions on a range of issues, including our consular cases about which I am deeply concerned,” Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement. “I hope this will mark the start of more productive cooperation between our countries, enabling us to discuss more directly issues such as human rights and Iran’s role in the region.”

Fighting in Yemen oil region kills 26
By AFP, Aden Monday, 5 September 2016/At least 26 fighters were killed in clashes on Monday between pro-government troops and rebels over control of an oil-rich region east of the Yemeni capital, military sources said. “Pro-government forces launched a military operation today to retake Sarwah,” a loyalist military source said of the only part of Marib province still held by the militia who have controlled nearby Sanaa since September 2014. Clashes and air raids by the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government “killed 16 rebels and left dozens wounded”, the source said. Ten pro-government soldiers were killed and 12 wounded in the fighting, he added. Loyalist forces recaptured hills overlooking Sarwah, military sources said. Marib province has seen fierce battles between forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Shiite Huthi militia and their allies.
If they controlled Marib, loyalist forces could advance from the east towards Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition which intervened in March last year against the Iran-backed rebels has forces based in Marib to support the loyalists. It has intensified operations since the suspension in early August of UN-brokered peace talks. The United Arab Emirates, which plays a key role in coalition operations, said Monday one of its soldiers had been killed in Yemen, in an armed forces statement published by the official WAM news agency. The Yemeni government’s sabanew.net said the Emirati soldier was killed during the Marib operation. More than 6,600 people have been killed in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015, according to the United Nations.Dozens of coalition troops have also died in the war.

Drone strike kills seven Qaeda suspects in Yemen
AFP, AdenMonday, 5 September 2016/A possible US drone strike killed seven suspected al-Qaeda operatives in central Yemen, a security official said. The official said a missile fired by what was "probably an American drone" hit an apartment building in the al-Wadi area of Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa, killing seven people late Sunday. The United States, which rarely acknowledges its years-long unmanned drone campaign in Yemen, is thought to have carried out dozens of strikes against what it says are al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) members. AQAP and ISIS have exploited a power vacuum created by the conflict between the government and Iran-backed rebels to expand their presence in the Arabian Peninsula country. The US has vowed to continue its campaign against AQAP, which it considers to be the al-Qaeda network's deadliest franchise. A Saudi-led Arab military coalition that backs the Yemeni government has also turned its sights on AQAP, targeting it with air strikes. The coalition is supporting pro-government forces which launched an offensive this year to retake several towns from AQAP.

European parliament committee backs visa-free travel for Georgia
By Reuters, Brussels Monday, 5 September 2016/A European Parliament committee voted on Monday to grant visa-free travel to the European Union from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, after worries over immigration to the bloc delayed the process earlier in the summer. The committee voted 44 in favor versus five against for liberalization, although the decision must still be approved in more negotiations between the parliament and EU states. Germany was among those to have voiced strong reservations. Brussels says that the country of 3 million had met the criteria for visa-free travel but, to Tbilisi’s frustration, the EU, shaken by a mass influx of migrants and refugees in 2015, put a brake on easing travel requirements for third countries before the summer. For Georgia and Ukraine, which is also seeking visa-free travel to the EU, the issue is part of a geopolitical tussle with Russia over ex-Soviet states with Western aspirations that Moscow still sees as its own backyard. Georgia was at the heart of international tensions in 2008 when a disastrous five-day war between Tbilisi and Moscow in August led to the previous sharp deterioration in ties between Russia and the West.

UN Security Council to meet Tuesday on N.Korea missile launches
The Associated PressMonday, 5 September 2016/The United Nations Security Council will discuss the latest missile launches by North Korea in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning at the request of the United States and Japan, diplomats said on Monday. North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Monday, South Korea’s military said, as the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies held a summit in China, the North’s main diplomatic ally. The isolated country has launched a series of missiles this year in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The 15-member Security Council has condemned the launches. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006. In March, the Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on the country in response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket in February.

Former French FM calls for international court to prosecute Iran regime for 1988 massacre in Iran
Monday, 05 September 2016/NCRI - Former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has called for the formation of an international tribunal to prosecute officials of the mullahs’ regime for carrying out the massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners in Iran in the summer of 1988.
The overwhelming majority of the victims of the 1988 massacre were affiliated to the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK).
Dr. Kouchner on Saturday, September 3, addressed a seminar on the 1988 massacre held at the Iranian Resistance’s headquarters north of Paris. “We now realize the result of the 1988 massacre. Some 33,000 people were killed,” Dr. Kouchner said. “We absolutely need the creation of a specific court, to avoid being told that the massacres happened too long ago and that it's too late. … We need a specific court to judge the mullahs' crimes.”Dr. Kouchner pointed out the mullahs’ regime continues to carry out mass executions in Iran. “Nothing has changed since the [nuclear] agreement. … Everybody rushed to sign contracts in Tehran. And then we realized that we had signed the contracts with the Revolutionary Guards. We now realize that [Iran’s] economy is in the hands of the Revolutionary Guards,” he added.
Background:
In the summer of 1988, the Iranian regime summarily and extra-judicially executed tens of thousands of political prisoners held in jails across Iran. The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regime’s then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini.
The facts:
• More than 30,000 political prisoners were massacred in Iran in the summer of 1988.
• The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by Khomeini.
• The vast majority of the victims were activists of the opposition PMOI (MEK).
• A Death Committee approved all the death sentences.
• Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, a member of the Death Committee, is today Hassan Rouhani’s Justice Minister.
• The perpetrators of the 1988 massacre have never been brought to justice.
• On August 9, 2016, an audio tape was published for the first time of Khomeini’s former heir acknowledging that that massacre took place and had been ordered at the highest levels.

Ahmad Montazeri charged with acting against ‘Iran national security’
Monday, 05 September 2016/NCRI - Monday, 5 September, Ahmad Montazeri (The son of the former heir to Khomeini), was summoned and interrogated for the seventh time and eventually charged with acting against national security interests due to publishing his father's audio files revealing new details about the massacre of political prisoners in 1988.
Ahmad Montazeri wrote in his telegram channel: "Following the publication of audio files of Ayatollah Montazeri regarding the executions in the summer of 1988, Today I was summoned in the clergy Court of Qom, they charged me with acting against national security and asked me to defend myself, I wrote in response that due to citations of numerous legal articles which is unclear for me I do not accept the charges and will respond after consulting with my attorney, then I was released on 700 million Rials ( almost $23000) bail and the next appearance date is scheduled for 07.09.2016.
Ahmad Montazeri was also summoned and interrogated by The Special Court of Clergy in Qom, for the sixth time on Sunday 4 September.
“Interrogators and judicial enforcement agents of Iran regime emphasized that the details of the interrogation must remain confidential,” The news channel of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri announced.
After the interrogations, Ahmad Montazeri stated: "Although the thoroughness of the conversations could have been useful for everyone, but because the authorities stressed on confidentiality, a more detailed explanation will be refused."
Background:
In the summer of 1988, the Iranian regime summarily and extra-judicially executed tens of thousands of political prisoners held in jails across Iran. The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regime’s then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini.
The facts:
• More than 30,000 political prisoners were massacred in Iran in the summer of 1988.
• The massacre was carried out on the basis of a fatwa by Khomeini.
• The vast majority of the victims were activists of the opposition PMOI (MEK).
• A Death Committee approved all the death sentences.
• Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, a member of the Death Committee, is today Hassan Rouhani’s Justice Minister.
• The perpetrators of the 1988 massacre have never been brought to justice.
• On August 9, 2016, an audio tape was published for the first time of Khomeini’s former heir acknowledging that that massacre took place and had been ordered at the highest levels.

Iran: 1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners and Responsibility of the International Community
Monday, 05 September 2016/NCRI - The recently revealed information on the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran is the subject of this valuable report which has been prepared by Mr Struan Stevenson. Recounting the events and the publicized content he offers practical and important suggestions among them: placing the 1988 massacre on the agenda of the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September 2016.
Following is the text of the full report.
Iran: 1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners and Responsibility of the International Community
[By Struan Stevenson] September 2016
The issue
In the summer of 1988, on the basis of a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the religious dictatorship in Iran, political prisoners were massacred in the most brutal manner. The victims were predominantly members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK). The massacre has been described by many international human rights bodies as a crime against humanity. Although a lot of information about it has been published, particularly by the PMOI, because of the Tehran regime’s extensive efforts to keep this crime a secret, its dimensions and details have been kept hidden from the world community.
On August 9th of this year, an audio file was published of a meeting which took place 18 days after the beginning of the massacre on August 15, 1988. The meeting was between Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Khomeini's successor at the time, and four members of the “death commission” responsible for implementing the decree. The audio file reveals some of the dimensions of this appalling crime, a crime that continued in the weeks and months after the meeting.
The United Nations and the effective powers within it, in clear conflict with the values of peace and human rights upon which the United Nations is built, have adopted a position of silence and inaction in response to this atrocity that by any definition is a crime against humanity. The publication of this audio file once again emphasizes the need for an investigation of this atrocity by competent authorities, such as the Human Rights Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Security Council.
Preliminary analysis of Khomeini’s fatwa
Irrespective of what happened on the ground, Khomeini’s fatwa leaves no doubt that he ordered a crime against humanity; therefore, all of the people who had a role in executing this decree were involved in a crime against humanity. Khomeini’s fatwa reiterates that “... Those who are in prisons throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the Hypocrites [MEK/PMOI] are waging war on God and are condemned to execution.” This clearly shows that the sentence of execution was decreed for adherence to a political movement and political/ideological outlook, and had nothing to do with actions taken. It is a collective judgment intended, as later clarified, to destroy anyone supporting the beliefs of the PMOI.
In his fatwa, before issuing his verdict, Khomeini recalled the reasons why the PMOI (PMOI members) were at war with God (Mohareb) and must be executed:
“The treacherous Hypocrites [PMOI] do not believe in Islam and their statements are rooted in deception and hypocrisy…”
“Their leaders have confessed that they have become apostates…
“They are engaging in classical warfare on the western, northern and southern fronts…
“They are collaborating with the Baathist Party of Iraq and spying for Saddam [Hussein] against our Muslim nation…
“They are tied to the World Arrogance…
“And in light of their cowardly blows to the Islamic Republic since its inception…”
Obviously, most of these claims are not true, but even if they could be proven, they are not crimes.
Elsewhere in his fatwa, Khomeini identifies the methods for implementing the carnage, writing:
“The task of implementing the decree in Tehran is entrusted to Hojjatol-Islam Nayyeri, the religious judge, Mr. Eshraqi, the Tehran prosecutor, and a representative of the Intelligence Ministry … In prisons in the provinces, the views of a majority of a trio consisting of the religious judge, the revolutionary prosecutor, and the Intelligence Ministry representative must be obeyed. It is naive to show mercy to those who wage war on God … Those who are making the decisions must not hesitate, nor show any doubt or be concerned with details…”
Thus, according to this fatwa, there was no need for any judicial procedure, even by the medieval standards of Khomeini’s regime. At the discretion of two out of three members of a 3-member panel, all of whom were well-known henchmen of the regime, political prisoners were to be executed.
In the final part of his fatwa, Khomeini gives practical guidance to the executioners:
"It is naive to show mercy to those who wage war on God. Decisiveness against the enemies of God is an undeniable principle of the Islamic regime. I hope that with your revolutionary rage and hatred towards the enemies of Islam, you will earn the approval of God Almighty.”
"The gentlemen tasked with deciding the issue should not doubt or be tempted; they should try to be hard on infidels".
"To doubt the judicial matters of revolutionary Islam is to ignore the pure and clear blood of the holy martyrs."
It does not end here. After the decree was issued, the head of the regime’s judiciary, Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili, asks three questions through Khomeini’s son, Ahmad:
1: Does the decree apply to those who have been in prison, who have already been tried and sentenced to death, but have not changed their stance and the verdict has not yet been carried out, or are those who have not yet been tried also condemned to death?
2: Those Hypocrites [PMOI] prisoners who have received limited jail terms, and who have already served part of their terns but continue to hold fast to their stance in support of the ‘Hypocrites’, are they also condemned to death?
3: In reviewing the status of the ‘Hypocrites’, prisoners, is it necessary to refer the cases of ‘Hypocrites’ prisoners in counties that have an independent judicial organ to the provincial centre or can the county's judicial authorities act autonomously?
In response to the above questions, Khomeini replied:
“In all the above cases, if the person at any stage or at any time maintains his [or her] support for the ‘Hypocrites’, the sentence is execution. Annihilate the enemies of Islam immediately. As regards the cases, use whichever criterion that speeds up the implementation of the verdict.” Khomeini thus unequivocally and brutally demands that the annihilation of the PMOI and all their supporters and relatives be carried out as soon as possible.
Reports published by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the PMOI and other relevant bodies affirm that in accordance with this fatwa and the responses to the follow-up questions, in Tehran and 24 provincial capitals, as well as in at least 50 other cities, panels comprised of three criminals were formed and subsequently began to mass murder prisoners in their cities with full authority. Prisoners called these panels “death commissions.” They were involved in the bloody cleansing of prisons from July to December 1988, and some even in 1989.
Human rights defenders declare massacre crime against humanity
In elaborating on some of the details of the massacre, the PMOI and many groups and human rights organizations have already described it as a crime against humanity:
Amnesty International in its November 2, 2007 report wrote: “Amnesty International believes these executions amount to a crime against humanity. Under international law, valid in 1988, crimes against humanity consist of widespread or systematic attacks against civilians on discriminatory, including political, grounds.”
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) wrote on September 20, 2013: “A quarter of a century ago, in the summer of 1988, thousands of Iranian political prisoners who had already been tried and were serving prison sentences, stood show summary re-trials and were executed. As of today, the Iranian authorities, some of whom were also in power at the time, have not acknowledged these crimes. In a report published today, ‘25 years on, and still no justice: 1988 prison executions remain unpunished’, FIDH and LDDHI qualify them as extrajudicial and arbitrary executions and crimes against humanity. While their extent remains unknown, it is certain that in the span of a few months, several thousand prisoners were executed. Iranian sources have managed to document the names and particulars of at least 4,672 victims so far.”
Human Rights Watch wrote on October 24, 2005: “The deliberate and systematic manner in which these extrajudicial executions took place constitutes a crime against humanity under international law.”
Canada’s Parliament adopted the following motion on June 5, 2013: “That the House condemn the mass murder of political prisoners in Iran in the summer of 1988 as a crime against humanity, honour the memory of the victims buried in mass graves at Khavaran cemetery and other locations in Iran, and establish September 1 as a day of solidarity with political prisoners in Iran.."
Audio tape emphasizes bitter truths
The publication of the audio tape of Mr. Montazeri's meeting with the chief perpetrators of the massacre in Tehran illuminates the scale of the disaster. To understand the dimensions of the carnage, we must first see what the conditions of this meeting were:
The meeting occurred on August 15, 1988, i.e. 18 days after the massacre began. That means that a smaller portion of prisoners had been executed to date, and that the rate accelerated after the meeting.
The participants in the meeting comprised only the death commission of Tehran and did not include people from other cities.
The participants tried to downplay the scale of the killings for fear of rebuke by an angry Montazeri, who was still Khomeini's successor.
It is clear from the content of this meeting that Montazeri had little information about the situation in other cities, referring only to reports from Ahwaz and a couple of other cities.
Considering the above mentioned points, we can deduce that the scale of the massacre that had so angered Montazeri was actually far greater than he knew.
Despite the points referred to in Article 11, seven important facts can be observed from this 40-minute audio tape of Mr. Montazeri's remarks and the responses of the henchmen:
The carnage was large scale and the mass murder had been planned several years earlier. In addition to Khomeini and his son, the MOIS had strongly supported the plan.
All factions of the regime were responsible for and participated in the massacre. The Chief of the Judiciary, whom Montazeri refers to as a liberal; the current Minister of Justice under Rouhani, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, and other people affiliated with Khamenei’s faction all participated in this crime.
During Khomeini’s lifetime, decision-making after Khomeini consisted of the heads of the three branches of government: Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, Speaker of the Parliament and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces; Ali Khamenei, President; and Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili , Head of the Judiciary; as well as in many cases Mir Hossein Moussavi, the Prime Minister. All undoubtedly were involved in the decisions relevant to the massacre. In addition to the fact that Khamenei’s name is mentioned in the audio, both Khamenei and Rafsanjani strongly supported the bloodbath in public speeches a few months afterwards.
In addition to prisoners, many people were arrested and executed in Tehran and other cities
Pressure on PMOI women was more brutal and women's resistance astounding. Examples of this pressure cited in the audio tape include the execution of pregnant women and girls as young as 15.
Montazeri and the henchmen explicitly and implicitly acknowledge that executions in other cities were much more brutal than in Tehran. Ahwaz and Kermanshah are specifically named.
The henchmen, who are currently top officials of the clerical regime, acknowledge their involvement in the crime, affirm that it was carried out on Khomeini's orders, and assert they had no choice but to implement it.
Mr. Montazeri’s remarks
In the context of the above points, some of Ayatollah Montazeri’s points are noteworthy:
“In my opinion, the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your names will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals.”
To Pour-Mohammadi: “In my opinion, this (the mass executions) is something that Intelligence was after, and had invested in, and Ahmad Agha [Khomeini’s son] has been saying for three or four years that the PMOI, even the ones who read their newspaper, to the ones who read their magazine, to the ones who read their statements – all of them must be executed.”
"This judge, that judge, in this town, in that town, have condemned someone to 5, 6, 10 or 15year sentences. Well now if we go and execute them without any new activity; that means of our entire judicial system is wrong."
“Now, without their having carried out any new activities (the prisoners), we go and execute them. This means that all of us screwed up, our entire judicial system is flawed. Isn’t that what it means?”
“This one guy, his brother was in prison. Eventually when, you know, he got caught up in this, they said his sister was also suspect. So they went and brought the sister. They executed the guy. The sister – it was only two days since they had brought her – when they told her (of the brother’s death), she said, well I liked these people. The sister was 15 or 16 years old. They said, now that her brother has been executed, and after what she said, execute her too, and they did.” “In the month of Moharram, at least in the month of Moharram, the month of God and the Prophet, it shouldn’t be like this. At least feel some shame before Imam Hussein. Cutting off all meetings and suddenly engaging in such butchery, dragging them out and Bang! Bang!!!”
“Simple belief does not make a person a Mohareb (Enemy of God) and rebellious.”
“Mr. Mousavi Ardebili whom I know is more liberal than others, goes to Friday prayers and says all of them have to be executed … He says in the Friday Prayers ‘hypocrite’ prisoners should be executed.”
“Executing them without (their having committed) any new activities brings into question all prior judges and judgements. How do you justify executing someone who was sentenced to something less than execution? “
“I saw several religious and wise judges who were sad and were complaining about the manner in which it was carried out, and said it was extremism. They gave many examples where unjustified executions took place.”
“The People’s Mojahedin (PMOI) are not individuals. In referring to a [feudal] landlord, we say we will kill him and we will get rid of him. But this is not an individual … it is a logic. And they have induced this logic in the minds of others … We had to obliterate this school of thought with another school of thought. Since we didn’t have anyone who could talk to them logically, should we execute them? Ultimately, the People’s Mojahedin are not individuals; they are a way of thinking and interpreting. They are a kind of logic. A faulty logic must be answered with a correct logic. Killing will not solve anything; it will spread it.
“I reminded Khomeini that according to the decrees of most religious experts, a woman, even if she is a Mohareb (enemy of God) must not be executed. But he did not agree, and said that women, too, must be executed.”
“For example, you go to Bakhtaran and they say, ‘My kid—whatever the hell he was, [in the end] he simply had an idea. Why did you execute him for his idea?’”
Nayeri (one of the executioners): “As for the girls, God is my witness as far as we could, we tried to bargain with them. I have very strong nerves, but day before yesterday when I saw only one of them ……. I was really shaken up. I started pleading with her to just write a couple of lines [of repentance] so we would send her back to the prison.”
Excerpts of Ayatollah Montazeri's dialogue with the officials responsible for the 1988 massacre are enlightening in terms of understanding the real dimensions of this hideous crime against humanity. On the one hand, the executioners seek to portray the executions as very limited in scope. On the other hand, they admit that they have been assigned to carry them out and assert that they, therefore, are not responsible. At the same time, they want Mr. Montazeri's endorsement to carry on with subsequent executions.
Ayatollah Montazeri to Nayyeri: “Tomorrow they will tell you, Mr. Nayyeri, why did you execute someone who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison? You must be able to answer. You'll have to say Mr. Khomeini told us to do so. But will you say that?”
Pour-Mohammadi: “We must say that Mr. Khomeini gave it in writing. This is what we are supposed to do.”
Nayyeri: “And you can be sure that if it were any group other than us, the number of those executed in Tehran would have been three times greater.”
Ayatollah Montazeri: “In other cities, they have done everything imaginable… and in Ahwaz it was really horrendous. Do you know that in Isfahan, there was a pregnant woman among them? In Isfahan, they executed a pregnant woman!”
Another Death Commission member: “At any rate, we had to make sure that the decree which has a firm backing would not be messed up. We had to protect it from excessive, extreme and unruly practices…
Ayatollah Montazeri: “It is the month of Moharram. For the sake of Imam Hussein, stop. It is enough!”
Nayyeri: “A few days ago, I told the gentlemen that we used to halt all court proceedings in the month of Moharram. I pleaded with them to finish our work before Moharram… “
Ayatollah Montazeri: “[You mean,] let's kill them off more quickly [before the month of
Moharram]…”
Death Commission members: (Loud laugh)
Nayyeri: “I insisted that our entire task be finished… We must hurry to finish everything that is left in a matter of a few nights. I was not here for the past few days…”
Morteza Eshraghi: “We had to start work early in the morning, Sir! And God is my witness that we stayed until 10 or 10.30 at night. “
Ayatollah Montazeri: “Have you thought of the families who come for visitation? What will you say? Who will answer the families?”…
Ayatollah Montazeri: “Two days have passed since the beginning of Moharram and today we must pay homage to Moharram…”
Nayyeri: “As for the month of Moharram, with your permission, we have brought some of these (prisoners) out of their cells to deal with them. We have dealt with them once, but have not yet issued our ruling… They are in solitary confinement for now. If we do not issue our ruling now, and they return to the ward, it will create some new problems. So, with your permission…”
Ayatollah Montazeri: “I do not give permission for anything….”
Nayyeri: “It is about 200 people that we have…. “
Ayatollah Montazeri: “I do not give any permission. Not even for one of them. I already told you that I disagree with this. You know it. I have already informed you of my opinion.”
Another Death Commission member: “With your permission, since the status of these [200] people remains undetermined, it is not possible to let them go back to their wards, because the situation is turbulent in some places and we cannot detain them in their cells.”
Ayatollah Montazeri: “No, I will not give any permission… Although I know that Mr. Khomeini wrote (the decree) and the order comes from Mr. Khomeini… I feel sorry for the revolution. I told Ahmad Agha [Khomeini's son] that I feel sorry for Mr. Khomeini, himself. It will be written in history that Mr. Khomeini was such a person. No one dares to say so now, but in future they will. I didn't want it to happen this way. People feel repulsed by the ‘Velayat-e Faqih’. I did not want [the principle of] ‘Velayat-e Faqih’ to end up like this.
Conclusions and demands
The facts indicate that not only did the executions not halt after this meeting, but their numbers actually increased significantly. The killing continued throughout the month of Moharram and the subsequent months. In many cities, the bloodbath continued until the end of 1988. Amnesty International published the testimony of an eyewitness regarding the Prison of Isfahan: “A former prisoner in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan said that almost every day between August and December 1988 prison guards came to his section of the prison and read out a list of up to 10 names. These people were then taken out of the cell, which generally housed between 150 and 300 people, and were never seen again. The prisoners did not know what was happening to those taken away, but the guards said that they were to be executed. Later, prisoners were transferred to Dastgerd Prison from other prisons and news of similar events in these prisons spread among the inmates in Dastgerd.”
On Sunday 28 August 2016, Pour-Mohammadi confirmed his role in the massacre: “We are proud we have implemented God’s order about the ‘Hypocrites’ (PMOI). We have stood against the enemy of God and people and confronted them with power.” A day later he added: “I didn’t even have one night of sleeplessness in all these years because I acted according to the law and Islamic Sharia.”
As the International Committee in Search of Justice cited the statute of the International Criminal Court and indicated in its report on 16 August 2016, the massacre of political prisoners in Iran is an example of both a crime against humanity and a genocide.
Rarely has there ever been an atrocity such as this which clearly contains so many parameters:
The motivation for the crime
The person who ordered the crime
The type of victims
The perpetrators in charge of carrying out the crime still in office and proudly defending their actions
The political perpetrators and backers of the crime and those who paved the way for it
The documents that reveal the nature and dimension of the crime
If we examine the background of major crimes presently under investigation by international courts, the above parameters have never been so clearly evident before the international investigations started.
Therefore, silence and inaction in the face of this unprecedented crime in history seem rather to emanate from political considerations combined with economic interests.
Based on international conventions, neither crime against humanity nor genocide are expired with the passage of time. It is the duty of the international community, including the Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to examine this case and bring its masterminds and perpetrators to justice, particularly that the officials responsible for the 1988 massacre still play active roles in the ruling clique and are among the main political, security and legal decision-makers in Iran.
In light of the above, the following actions are imperative:
The 1988 massacre should be placed on the agenda of the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September 2016;
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights must issue a call for an investigation in this regard;
The upcoming session of the General Assembly in New York (September – December 2016) must issue a resolution and call for an investigation into this massacre and refer its dossier to the Security Council;
The UN Security Council should form an international tribunal to examine this case and prosecute its masterminds;
The European Union and its Member States, the US government, and the UK must deploy all of their political and legal resources to investigate this case;
International organizations defending human rights should deploy their good offices to investigate the five articles stated above.
Struan Stevenson was a Member of the European Parliament from Scotland (1999 until 2014). He was chair of the Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup in the European Parliament and President of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq from 2009 to 2014.
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on September 05-06/16

What's Ankara Doing in Syria?
by Jonathan Spyer/The Jerusalem Post/September 05/16
http://www.meforum.org/6242/turkey-syria-intervention

Originally published under the title "Ankara's Next Move."
After its incursion into Syria, Turkey will have to decide whether to declare "Euphrates Shield" a success or to continue seeking to destroy the Kurdish-led SDF in the face of US opposition. The Turkish incursion into the north Syrian town of Jarabulus and its environs, which began on August 24, is the latest dramatic re-shuffling of the deck in a long and agonizing conflict. But what is its deeper significance? Does it represent a decisive Turkish entry into the broader effort to destroy the self-proclaimed Islamic State? Or is it, rather, the opening shot in a broader effort by Ankara to destroy the extensive gains made by Syria's Kurds and the putative federal entity they have established in the country's northeast? And what will it mean for US relations with both the Turks and the Syrian Kurds? As it currently appears, Turkey's intervention resembles previous foreign interventions into the Syrian war in the following way: It appears to have been more of an effort to stem an imminent unwanted outcome than an expression of a broader strategic plan. Turkish intervention appears intended more to avert an unwanted outcome than to realize a broader strategic plan.
Much as Turkey might like to, it does not currently have either the diplomatic or military ground prepared to embark on a wholesale campaign of destruction against the Syrian Kurds. It does, however, have the power to prevent further Kurdish expansion. It appears that it has just exercised this power. What will follow will depend on whether Ankara can content itself with this limited achievement. Observe: The Turkish incursion came following the taking by the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of the strategic town of Manbij. Manbij is of significance in the fight against Islamic State because it was the last exit the jihadists controlled into Turkey. Its loss is therefore an important step in securing the isolation of ISIS territory from the outside world and hence from sources of revenue and supply. Turkey, however, is less concerned about the pace of the war against ISIS. From Ankara's point of view, the taking of Manbij represented not a significant step in the war against ISIS, but rather a further advance by the Syrian Kurds, in the direction of uniting their cantons of Cezire, and Afrin along the Syrian-Turkish border, and thus achieving control of the entire long border between the two countries.
Turkey is determined to stop further Syrian Kurdish advances along its border.
Turkey is currently facing a renewed insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeast of the country.
The Syrian Kurdish YPG is closely associated with the PKK. A further advance by the SDF would mean the entirety of an international border falling into the hands of a hostile insurgent organization from a Turkish point of view. Turkey had hitherto been deterred from taking any such determined action against the Kurds because of the real possibility of Russian action against a Turkish incursion. Relations between the two countries were at a nadir following the Turkish downing of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber on November 24, 2015. Rapprochement of some kind with Moscow was thus a necessary prelude to any incursion. And rapprochement came with the meeting between Presidents Erdogan and Putin on August 9. The details and dimensions of any agreement reached between Moscow and Ankara remain unclear. The Russian media has been critical of the scale of the Turkish incursion into Jarabulus. But clearly the rebuilding of relations opened up enough diplomatic space for the Turks to dare to attempt the operation. Nevertheless, any expectation that Turkish-Russian rapprochement must involve a Turkish abandonment of the Sunni Arab rebels of northern Syria appears at least for now to have been incorrect. On the contrary, the rebels formed the main ground component in the Turkish push into Jarabulus. The US stance toward the Turkish move is perhaps most interesting of all. The Americans were apprised of an upcoming Turkish incursion. But the entry into Syria was earlier and on a larger scale than had been expected. The Americans, having supported the SDF's difficult fight for Manbij, appeared to change direction – calling for the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters to east of the Euphrates River and conditioning further US support on this action.
The US supplied close air support to the Turks in the first two days of the operation. This was withdrawn once the Turks began to capture ground and villages south of Jarabulus.
The subsequent clashes between Turkish supported rebels and the SDF constituted an indisputable case of fighting between two US client groups. The SDF is the main component in the US war against ISIS (it constitutes a "Kurdish- American juggernaut," in the words of one American analyst of Syria).
A Turkish-backed rebel stands guard in Jarabulus.
The rebels used in the Jarabulus operation, meanwhile, consisted specifically of groups vetted by the CIA and receiving American support via the Military Operations Center in southern Turkey. Were the fighting to spread, therefore, this would represent a disastrous situation in which two US proxies would be firing US supplied ammunition at one another. To prevent this, the US appears to have put pressure on both sides. The Kurds, first, were clearly told that they would be left to face Turkish armor and artillery without US support if they continued to push west. But US Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Monday noted that Washington also called on Turkey to "stay focused on the fight against ISIL and not engage Syrian Defense Forces." Carter called on the Turks to keep their forces north and west of Jarabulus. As of now, a tentative cease fire has been announced by the US between the Turks and the SDF-supported Jarabulus Military Council. It is not clear if this will hold, or indeed even if it exists. Turkish officials denied that any such truce has been agreed.
Much now depends on Turkish intentions. The Kurds and their allies expended much blood and effort in taking Manbij from Islamic State. It is beyond doubt that they will fight to defend it should the Turks and their Syrian rebel allies seek to conquer it. At the same time, if the Turkish intention is merely to prevent Kurdish efforts to push further west, toward Jarabulus and al-Bab and thence toward uniting the cantons, it is likely that for now at least a further deterioration can be avoided. US inconsistency left many Kurds furious. But the SDF is too successful an alliance to be entirely abandoned. Turkey would undoubtedly prefer a situation in which the rebel fighters under its sponsorship were chosen by the US as a replacement in the war against ISIS. This appears unlikely, however. The forces aligned with Turkey consist mainly of Islamist organizations, including hard-line Salafi jihadist groups ideologically close to al-Qaida.
Gen. Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command on Wednesday confirmed continued US support for the SDF. It is now Turkey's decision whether to declare Operation Euphrates Shield a success or to continue to seek to destroy the SDF, even in the face of US opposition, and with the presence of 300 US special forces personnel deployed with the SDF. Perhaps the Turks will conclude that the Obama administration's record in defending its allies so far suggests that its objections can be brushed aside. This would not be an entirely groundless assumption. But if Turkey acts on it, it will open a new and very costly front in its war against the Kurds. As of now, Ankara looks most likely to follow a more cautious path.
**Jonathan Spyer is director of the Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Iran: The Return of Ahmadinejad & Co.
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 05/16
September 5, 2016 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8864/iran-ahmadinejad
Iran's Supreme Leader and the senior cadre of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been vocally critical of the nuclear deal. They fear further diplomatic and political rapprochement between the US and Iran, now that they have already achieved their objectives of the lifting of the four major rounds of the UN Security Council's sanctions.
After the nuclear deal was implemented, polls showed that 63% of Iranians expected to see improvements in the economy and living standards within a year. But currently, in a new poll, 74% of Iranians said there had been no economic improvements in the past year.
Iran's former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying he wants to "redefine revolutionary ideals" set up by the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, appears to be launching a campaign to run in the upcoming Iranian presidential elections, in February, 2017.
Ahmadinejad was well-known for his incendiary and provocative speeches, which included denying the Holocaust. At the end of his presidential term, from 2005 to 2013, his approval rating was extremely low, and he managed to drive away most constituents across political spectrum, including the topmost hardline leaders. He also became the first Iranian president since 1979 to be summoned by the parliament (Majlis) to answer questions regarding his activities and policies.
After all of this, the common conception among politicians, scholars and policy analysts was that Ahmadinejad would never return to politics. It seemed that his retirement plan focused on founding a university and teaching, but his plan to open a university failed.
Despite his low popularity among people, however, the "principalists" (ultra-conservatives) were still on his side, due to his fierce anti-US, anti-Western and anti-Israel policies and rhetoric, as well as the fact that he remains a major figure in the coalition of several conservative groups, the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran.
After Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appointed him to the Expediency Council, Iran's highest political arbitration body, which arbitrates between the Guardian Council (the supervisory body over the parliament and elections) and the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament). The Expediency Council is predominantly made up of Iran's hardline clerics, and functions as an advisory institution to the Supreme Leader.
Although it seems that Ahmadinejad did not have any intention of returning after being out of the international spotlight for two years, other factors show that he never really left. Domestically, Ahmadinejad remained politically active, trying to unify and lead the hardliners. Since he left office, he has continued holding meetings with former ministers in Tehran.
In the last few months, however, Ahmadinejad's desire to launch his campaign more forcefully and determinedly has become clearer as, once again, he began attracting the international spotlight, such as when he wrote an open letter to US President Barack Obama, demanding the transfer of $2 billion to Iran.
To capitalize on the popular vote and the presidential elections of 2017, Ahmadinejad has been focusing on attracting constituents from around Iran by traveling to smaller cities and towns, giving lectures and speeches; supporters of Ahmadinejad have called for his return.
During his presidency, people enjoyed subsidies on items including petrol, natural gas and electricity, and his government distributed monthly cash handouts of about $17 to every person. These, as well as criticism of corruption, injustice, and capitalism, were appealing to the rural population and the less affluent.
Ahmadinejad has also been vehemently criticizing Hassan Rouhani, the current Iranian president, as incompetent, and questioning his economic and foreign policies, and pointing out that, "There will be bumps and satanic obstacles in our path... One should not forget that the US is our enemy."
The latest poll by the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland revealed that "Ahmadinejad now represents the single largest threat to Rouhani's re-election, and trails the once-popular incumbent by only eight points. Suddenly, the ex-president seems once again to be a real political contender."
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) can indeed be a viable contender against incumbent President Hassan Rouhani (right) in Iran's 2017 presidential election, and is more likely the choice of the Supreme Leader and hardliners.
This is a ripe environment for him for several reasons.
First of all, the nuclear deal has become a popular issue among the hardliners. The Supreme Leader and senior cadre of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been vocally critical of the nuclear deal. They fear further diplomatic and political rapprochement between the US and Iran, now that they have already achieved their objectives of the lifting of the four major rounds of the United Nations Security Council's sanctions.
Ayatollah Khamenei warned against any relations with the US, and he also questioned the economic benefits of the nuclear agreement: "Weren't the oppressive sanctions lifted so that the people would feel a change in their lives? Has there been a tangible effect on the people's lives in the past six months?"
Second, the popularity of the nuclear deal has been on a decline among the population as well. After the nuclear deal was implemented, polls showed that 63% of Iranians expected to see improvements in the economy and living standards within a year. But currently, in a new poll, 74%of Iranians said there had been no economic improvements in the past year.
Ahmadinejad can indeed be a viable contender against Hassan Rouhani, and is more likely the choice of the Supreme Leader and the IRGC leaders, and the candidate favored by the hardliners and principalists.
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, political scientists and Harvard University scholar is president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He can be reached at Dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu.
© 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.
 

The Invisible (Female) Palestinians
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 05/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8861/palestinian-women
Instead of referring to the female candidates by name and publishing their pictures, the electoral lists are using the terms "the wife of" or "sister."
"It is disgraceful for any Islamic, national or independent list to scrap the names of the women. If they are not willing to recognize the woman's name, how will they accept the role of the women after they are elected? ... I'm against the participation of women in this manner. Let men participate in the election alone." — Nahed Abu Taima, Media Development Center at Bir Zeit University.
Dr. Walid Al-Qatati, a writer and analyst specializing in Islamic affairs, said that the move reminded him of wedding invitations that are sent out without naming the brides.
When Palestinian women carry out attacks against Israelis, Palestinian society glorifies them as heroes. Then the names and photos of these women are plastered across billboards. Yet it appears that when the women wish to work for life rather than for death, their identities are not fit for public consumption.
In a move that has outraged Palestinian women and various Palestinian factions, a number of Palestinian lists contesting the upcoming local elections, scheduled to take place on October 8, have decided to omit the names and photos of female candidates.
Instead of referring to the female candidates by name and publishing their pictures, the electoral lists are using the terms "the wife of" or "sister."
Critics have denounced the move as a "sign of retardation, extremism and bigotry." Other Palestinians have gone so far as comparing the removal of the female candidates' names and photos from the lists to the cruel pre-Islamic practice of infanticide (wa'd).
The decision to conceal the names and photos of female candidates is seen in the context of the increased "Islamization" of Palestinian society, which is already considered highly conservative.
Apart from being a severe blow to the struggle of Palestinian women for equality, the move is in violation of the 2005 Palestinian Local Election Law, which stipulates that candidates must be fully identified by name, age, address and registration number in the electoral list.
This anti-woman undertaking is not taking place only in the Gaza Strip, under the control of the Islamist Hamas movement. It is also baring its fangs in some parts of the West Bank, which is ruled by the Western-funded Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by Mahmoud Abbas.
Yet Palestinian women's names and pictures have been hidden from electoral lists before. In the previous local election, for example, which took place in 2012 only in the West Bank after Hamas decided to boycott the vote, female candidates' names and photos were replaced with images of a rose or pigeon.
Nahed Abu Taima, gender unit coordinator in the Media Development Center at Bir Zeit University, expressed resentment over the disappearance of females from the electoral lists and called on women to boycott the vote:
"I'm against the participation of women in this manner. Let men participate in the election alone. Either we have an honorable appearance or we don't want this fake appearance, which ignores the reality of women. The Palestinian Election Commission is not fulfilling its role as required. It is disgraceful that they are using the terms 'sister', 'daughter of' and 'wife of'. Women are not nobody, so as to be hidden or have their names removed or replaced with the names of their husbands. This is the pinnacle of betrayal and repudiation."
Another prominent Palestinian female activist, Nadia Abu Nahleh, strongly condemned the misogynistic move:
"We consider this action a grave regression in our performance as Palestinians because we are proud of our women's major and basic role in society. Our women have always been partners in our national life. Therefore, it is disgraceful for any Islamic, national or independent list to scrap the names of the women. If they are not willing to recognize the woman's name, how will they accept the role of the women after they are elected? If our names are 'awra [the part of the body of a Muslim that is required to be covered] then our votes should not go to those lists that conceal the names of women."
In Islam, a woman's 'awra is the whole of her body except her face and hands. However, some Islamic clerics have ruled that the entire body of the woman is 'awra, including her nails. By contrast, the 'awra for men includes the area from the end of the navel down to, and including the knee. Exposing the 'awra is unlawful in Islam and is regarded as a sin.
Many Palestinians took to social media to denounce the practice of hiding the women's names and pictures. On Twitter, activists launched a hashtag entitled, "Our names are not 'awra."
"It is deplorable that we have to resort to social media to prove that our names are not 'awra," wrote Palestinian blogger Ola Anan in a post on Twitter.
"It is very piteous that a there are people today who are ashamed to mention the names of their mothers or wives. It is deplorable to see that our society is not marching backward, but is in fact living behind. Months, years and decades pass by and our society does not want to move forward from this 'backward' attitude - not even one step."
Palestinian experts and activists are in agreement that the anti-woman move is both illegal and immoral. "What some of the lists did against women is a violation of human rights and the rights of women, as well as a breach of equality," protested Najat Al-Astal, a Fatah female member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. "All women must reject this practice by some of the lists because the conditions for running in the election include publishing the name and identity of all candidates, including females."
Karm Nashwan, a lawyer and legal rights activist, said that the removal of the women candidates' names and photos was a breach of the Palestinian law. He added that the move was in the context of attempts to marginalize the role of women in Palestinian society. Female activist Intisar Hamdan condemned the move as being "part of the culture that is ashamed of women's names."
Some men have also come out against the move. Furthermore, the Palestinian Central Election Commission has ruled that the move is in violation of the law and its regulations. This is good news for those women who are now threatening to boycott the upcoming election. But the lists that removed the women's names and photos from the public eye do not seem to be deterred by the outcry and protests. While they did submit the full details of their female candidates to the commission, the lists continue to conceal the names and pictures of the women in their public election campaigns, most of which are taking place on social media.
Dr. Walid Al-Qatati, a writer and political analyst specializing in Arab and Islamic affairs, said that the move reminded him of wedding invitations that are sent out without naming the brides:
"The name of the bride has become a letter or an image and those invited to the wedding can only guess who it is. It is as if this is a new form of female infanticide. During the jahiliyyah [pre-Islamic period of ignorance and barbarism], females were being buried alive. Today, they are also being buried alive, but above the soil. They are being buried as human beings first and as women second."
Another Palestinian man, Hassan Salim, noted the hypocrisy of those Palestinians who often boast of the progress women have made in Palestinian society:
"What kind of hypocrisy is this that while they boast of the role and struggle of women, describing them as angels, we are at the same time ashamed even to mention their names and we replace their pictures with images of roses? ... This degradation of women requires a boycott of these lists."
Some Palestinian political groups have also come out against the move. One of them, the Palestinian People's Party (formerly the Communist Party), said in a statement: "The humanity of a woman is not 'awra, the name of a woman is not 'awra, the voice of a woman is not 'awra." Calling on the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Central Election Commission to dismiss the "alien and aberrant phenomenon," the party warned against attempts to "drag the Palestinians back towards the Stone Age or even worse than that."
When Palestinian women carry out attacks against Israelis, Palestinian society glorifies them as heroes. Then the names and photos of these women are plastered across billboards for all to see and applaud. Yet it appears that when the women wish to work for life rather than for death, their identities are not fit for public consumption.
When Palestinian women carry out attacks against Israelis, Palestinian society glorifies them as heroes. Then the names and photos of these women are plastered across billboards for all to see and applaud. Yet it appears that when the women wish to work for life rather than for death, their identities are not fit for public consumption.
Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Turkey expands assault on independent media
Week in Review/Al-Monitor/September 05/16
Police target journalists on "Army Day"
Mustafa Akyol writes that the attempted military coup in Turkey on July 15 and subsequent crackdown by the Turkish government has “opened a whole new chapter in the nation’s history. The followers of Fethullah Gulen, seen by most political groups and ideological camps as being behind the coup, have become the national 'enemy within.' This perspective, of course, has quite worrying consequences, for it leads to collective demonization and punishment, and the Gulen community includes many innocent people who are unaware of the group’s darker side. How to uphold the rule of law in the face of hysteria over a powerful threat is a challenge that should concern everyone.”
The collective demonization and punishment described by Akyol includes independent media and journalists. Even before July 15, Turkey ranked 151 out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders “Press Freedom Index,” which described a campaign by the Turkish government in which “journalists are harassed, many have been accused of 'insulting the president' and the Internet is systematically censored. The regional context — the war in Syria and Turkey’s offensive against the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] Kurds — is exacerbating the pressure on the media, which are also accused of ‘terrorism.’”
The report adds that “the media and civil society are nonetheless resisting [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s growing authoritarianism,” as is well-known to readers of Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse.
Reporters Without Borders noted less than one month after the coup attempt that Turkey had achieved the nefarious distinction of “world leader in imprisoned journalists.” And, believe it or not, it may be getting worse. Cengiz Candar reports that on Aug. 30, historically celebrated as “Holiday of Victory” or “Army Day” in Turkey, there were no such celebrations and parades, reflecting the grim and tense mood of a society dominated by accusation and purge. Instead of parades, the holiday ushered in another round of crackdowns on prominent journalists for alleged ties to the Gulenist movement. Candar writes, “Replacing the fanfare of previous years was a surprise: a new wave of intimidation and suppression of independent journalism. The day began with police raids on the homes of various world-renowned journalists.”
Candar explained that the failed coup merely provided the catalyst and context for the government to intensify its already wide-reaching campaign against independent media. “The matter of suppressing freedom of press is getting very serious,” Candar concludes after speaking with journalists now facing intimidation and harassment, including Hasan Cemal, a former editor-in-chief of the daily Cumhuriyet and the senior columnist of Milliyet. “Cemal was summoned to police headquarters along with eight others for being at the Ozgur Gundem offices in May to display solidarity, months before the coup and the ban on the daily.”
Turkish reset on Iran and Russia
Russia and Iran appear to benefit from a deterioration in US-Turkish relations over Syria, the US response to the failed coup and Ankara’s request for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen.
Semih Idiz writes, “The failed coup in July appears to have also strengthened Erdogan’s hand in Syria against the United States. Russia and Iran condemned the coup attempt outright, without waiting to see its outcome, which is the opposite of what the West did in Turkish eyes.”
He added, “The result is that many Turks consider Russia and Iran to be more reliable than Western countries. After Turkey reset its Syria policy, Ankara is also closer to Moscow’s and Tehran’s positions regarding the future of Syria. Ankara is better poised now to get Russian and Iranian support for its approach to Syrian Kurdish aspirations.”
Complicating matters further, Idiz notes, is “the perception that the United States is reluctant to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the alleged mastermind of the attempted coup, has also resulted in a sharp increase in anti-American sentiments among Turkish government officials."
Fehim Tastekin argues that even if Erdogan is resetting Turkey’s Syria policies, the next steps are all high risk. According to Erdogan, the military operations are to continue “until the YPG [People's Protection Units] is no longer a threat," which will lead to further tension with the United States.
Tastekin explains, “It won't be easy for Turkey-supported armed groups to hold the de facto buffer zone. Their capabilities and capacity are limited. They can advance or hold on to a position only if there is an army like the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces] behind them. If the buffer zone is to be secured by increasing TSK's presence on the ground, that would put Turkey in the position of occupier, ushering myriad of problems it would have to cope with both on the ground and in the international arena. … Building a town for refugees without coordinating with the Syrian administration will only consolidate Turkey's occupier status. Moreover, settling refugees in a risky area is bound to provoke humanitarian and legal arguments.”
Aleppo: Battle for "undivided" Syria
An Iranian military source told Ali Hashem that the “battle of Aleppo is not a battle for a city or a province, it is a battle to keep Syria undivided.”
Hashem writes that despite the huge stakes in Aleppo for the Syrian government, “Turkey is enjoying a Russian-Iranian blind eye and minimal Syrian condemnation, as the objectives of this specific battle serve their agendas: solidifying the stance of the Syrian regime and ending the ambitions of Syrian Kurds for a state. Never mind that in the long run, a Turkish victory with the help of opposition fighters could have dire consequences for the battle in the center of Aleppo.”
A field commander told Hashem that if the Syrian government and its allies retake Aleppo, “the province will be next. … The battle seems to be over a passage, but this passage is as important as the whole province.”
Iran and Russia likely to expand "tactical" ties over Syria
Ali Omidi reports from Iran that despite historic tensions in Russia-Iran relations, the tactical alliance between Tehran and Moscow in support of the Syrian government is likely to grow. “Strategic cooperation with governments that share Iran’s interests in Syria would not be difficult to forge,” Omidi writes. “Indeed, the decision to allow the Russians on Iranian soil was made by the Supreme National Security Council, consisting of representatives from all pillars of power in the country. Given this, the opposition expressed by 20 lawmakers in the 290-member parliament is insignificant by comparison and cannot be the reason for Russia’s sudden departure from Hamedan.”

Why Rouhani may become Iran's first one-term president
Saeid Jafari/Al-Monitor/September 05/16
TEHRAN, Iran — With only eight months left of his current term, President Hassan Rouhani and his potential rivals are gearing up for Iran's May 2017 presidential election. Rouhani, who came to power in 2013 promising to resolve the nuclear issue, has fulfilled this key pledge with a comprehensive agreement with world powers. But is the nuclear deal enough to guarantee his victory in the upcoming elections? The most likely answer is "no," considering the challenges he faces in domestic politics, cultural issues and, most importantly, the economy.
The cultural policies pursued by the Rouhani administration have, from the start, been close to the Reformist line of thought, prompting hope for change among Iran's cultural community. However, dissatisfaction continues to linger partly due to issues such as the numerous cancellations of music concerts. In the past two years, an estimated 50 concerts have been canceled by the police or judiciary, despite having the necessary permits.
Most recently, controversial remarks by Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, the ultraconservative Friday prayer leader of the northeastern city of Mashhad, are the latest hindrance to the government's pursuit of its cultural agenda. Alamolhoda stated in mid-August that concerts cannot be held in Mashhad, given that it is where Ali al-Ridha (Reza) — the eighth Shiite imam — is buried, and that anyone who wants to attend a concert should go and live elsewhere. His statement was met with an outcry from a range of prominent Iranian figures. Baran Kosari, a celebrity who won the Best Actress award at the 2015 Fajr Film Festival in Tehran and played an active role in Rouhani's presidential campaign, is among those who have criticized the government and asked that it play a more effective and constructive role in the cultural arena. Kosari said, "As a person who both voted for this government and helped gather votes for it, I want to ask that it respect our demands. Simply saying that they [the government] are under pressure is not acceptable."
Another key part of Rouhani’s campaign agenda back in 2013 was the release of detained opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Until now, this promise has failed to materialize. The only response provided by Rouhani and his deputies on this issue has been, "We are trying. This issue requires a national consensus. The government is committed to its promises to the people." As for freedom of speech and media, though the situation has improved compared to what it was under previous President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the banning of newspapers continues, while even pro-Rouhani websites are now filtered.
Iran's ailing economy is perhaps the biggest challenge that Rouhani and his administration face. What has made this challenge even more difficult is Ahmadinejad's legacy, which was marked by the Mehr low-income housing project, monthly cash subsidy payments and smart cards for purchasing monthly rations of subsidized gasoline. In an attempt to reduce the negative impact of these measures, Rouhani has tried to encourage Iranians to turn down government cash handouts. Moreover, while critical of the Mehr housing scheme, the president has also promised to complete the project. As for subsidized fuel, the Iranian parliament has voted to stop gasoline sales via these smart cards.
Prominent Iranian economist Saeed Laylaz says he doesn't believe any of these three elements of Ahmadinejad's legacy are a challenge for the Rouhani administration. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Laylaz said, "Over the years, people have realized the ineffectiveness of the Mehr housing project and the problems associated with it. Also, the issue of allocating subsidies belongs to an era of abundance and not today when we are dealing with $40 per barrel oil."
Laylaz thinks the chances of Ahmadinejad returning to power are zero. "The Iranian public has passed the stage of Ahmadinejad's populism and will not fall into this trap again. This is not to mention that Ahmadinejad will no longer have access to massive funds to repeat the spending habits of his previous terms." However, of note, unlike Laylaz, many readers of Iranian news sites have thanked Ahmadinejad for making them homeowners as seen by the comments they post below articles related to the Mehr housing project.
Speaking about the nuclear deal, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Aug. 1, "Was it not agreed that the unjust sanctions be lifted to have [positive] effects on people's lives? Is any tangible impact seen on people's lives after six months?"
Day by day, it appears that Khamenei's viewpoint is gaining more and more momentum across Iran. Rouhani's critics are continuously asking why the sanctions have not been lifted in effect. Parliamentarian Mohammad Soleimani, who served as minister of communication and information technology under Ahmadinejad, has said, "The government must explain to the people why sanctions and threats have not been removed and are becoming more intense every day." On a similar note, in an interview on Iranian state television, Mehdi Mohammadi, a member of the team of former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, said, "None of the big European banks will work with us. They have zero dealings with us. At the moment, no dollar transaction is being conducted with Iran, and this has created problems in all of our business dealings."
But to what extent are these sentiments shared among the Iranian public? Laylaz, the economist, said, "Very little. The Iranian people, in the [Feb. 26] parliamentary elections, once again voted in favor of Rouhani's discourse. This shows that they are content with his management. Therefore, the opposition's criticism of the nuclear deal and its economic achievements is not serious."However, anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise, and especially among the lower classes. Phrases such as "Rouhani hasn't been able to do anything either" or "the nuclear deal has had no effect on people's livelihoods" are quite common among the Iranian public these days. As such, it remains to be seen whether Rouhani, in the last eight months of his term, will succeed in convincing the West to give Iran more incentives in regard to the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions. If not, the West may risk the emergence of another radical — maybe even Ahmadinejad — returning to power in Iran.

Confronting Islam: Pope Francis vs. Saint Francis
Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/September05/16
When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the new Catholic pope in 2013, he chose the name of Francis to indicate that his pontificate would be one of mercy and compassion for the poor and needy—for such is the reputation of his eponym, Saint Francis of Assisi: “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” explained Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, as to why he chose that name. St. Francis (1182-1226) is indeed known for all those qualities. But he was known for something else that his modern day namesake fails to live up to: unapologetically confronting Islam.
According to St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims by Frank M. Rega:
Fully aware of the dangers, Francis was determined to go on a mission to the unbelievers of the Muslim nations. The primary sources are in agreement that he was now ready to sacrifice his life and die for Christ, so there can be little doubt that the intent of his journey was to preach the Gospel even at the risk of martyrdom (p. 43).
Along with saving souls, he sought to save lives as well; to help bring peace to the turbulent world he lived in, where Christians, responding to centuries of Islamic invasions and conquests of Christian lands, had gone to war with Islam, that is, the Crusades:
Converting the Muslims by his preaching was the ultimate goal of Francis’ efforts, and a peaceful end to the war would be a consequence of their conversion. In the words of scholar Christoph Maier, “Francis, like the crusaders, wanted to liberate the holy places in Palestine from Muslim rule. What was different was his strategy…. He wanted their total submission to the Christian faith” (p. 63).
In 1212, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis and a fellow monk traveled to the Middle East and sought audience with Sultan al-Kamil—despite al-Kamil’s vow that “anyone who brought him the head of a Christian should be awarded with a Byzantine gold piece” (p. 57). St. Francis’ contemporaries also warned him that Muslims “were a mean people who thirst for Christian blood and attempt even the most brazen atrocities,” (p. 34). The determined monks continued their journey, only to experience the inevitable:
The early documents are unanimous in agreeing that the two Franciscans were subjected to rough treatment upon crossing Muslim territory. The men of God were seized in a violent manner by the sentries, assaulted, and bound in chains. Celano reports that Francis “was captured by the Sultan’s soldiers, was insulted and beaten” yet showed no fear even when threatened with torture and death (p. 58).
Eventually brought before Sultan al-Kamil, the monks sought to “demonstrate to the Sultan’s wisest counselors the truth of Christianity, before which Mohammed’s law [Sharia] counted for nothing: for ‘if you die while holding to your law, you will be lost; God will not accept your soul. For this reason we have come to you.’”
Intrigued by the cheeky monks, “the Sultan called in his religious advisers, the imams. However, they refused to dispute with the Christians and instead insisted that they be killed [by beheading], in accordance with Islamic law (p. 60).”
The sultan refused: “I am going counter to what my religious advisers demand and will not cut off your heads… you have risked your own lives in order to save my soul.”
During their disputation and in reference to “the centuries-old Muslim conquest and occupation of lands, peoples, and nations that had once been primarily Christian,” Kamil sought to trap the monks with their own logic: if Jesus had taught Christians to “turn the other cheek” and “repay evil with good,” he inquired, why were “Crusaders … invading the lands of the Muslims?”
Francis quipped by also quoting Christ: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
Francis then explained: “That is why it is just that Christians invade the land you inhabit, for you blaspheme the name of Christ and alienate everyone you can from His worship”—a reference to Islam’s dhimmi rules which, along with debilitating Christian worship, make Christian lives so burdensome and degrading that untold millions had converted to Islam over the centuries to ease their sufferings.
There are more interesting aspects concerning St. Francis’ encounter with Sultan Kamil, including those that find parallels in the modern world, such as Sharia’s strict bans on blasphemy against Islam and evangelizing for Christianity (often seen as one and the same) and call for the execution of apostates from Islam. They are discussed in this brief article.
For now, consider some important differences between St. Francis and his modern day namesake, Pope Francis.
While the saint accused Islam of persecuting Christians, and sought to bring them succor—to the point of putting his life on the line—Pope Francis refuses to confront Islam. When he has the attention of the world he habitually fails to condemn or even shed light on the nonstop Muslim persecution of Christians, including millions of Catholics.
Last year he delivered a nearly hour long speech before the United Nations. Only once did Francis make reference to persecuted Christians—and he merged their sufferings in the very same sentence with the supposedly equal sufferings of “members of the majority religion,” that is, Sunni Muslims. In reality, of course, Sunnis are not being slaughtered, beheaded, enslaved, and raped for their faith; are not having their mosques bombed and burned; are not being jailed or killed for apostasy, blasphemy, or proselytization. That’s because the terrorists—whether al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, or ISIS—are Sunnis.
And before that Francis issued his first encyclical—an important document meant to be relayed to the world’s Catholics—with no mention of persecuted Christians.
More recently, after a journalist asked Pope Francis about the slaughter of an 85-year-old priest in France, and how he was clearly “killed in the name of Islam,” the pope disagreed and proceeded to offer a plethora of absurd and silly rationalizations in defense of Islam.
Nor did St. Francis preach passivity before aggression:
A foremost expert on Francis and the Fifth Crusade, Professor James Powell, wrote: “Francis of Assisi went to Damietta [Egypt, where Sultan Kamil was] on a mission of peace. There can be no question about this. We should not however try to make him a pacifist or to label him as a critic of the crusade.” Another leading crusade scholar, Christoph Maier, was even more explicit: “Francis thus accepted the crusade as both legitimate and ordained by God, and he was quite obviously not opposed to the use of violence when it came to the struggle between Christians and Muslims.” At one time Francis had remarked to his friars that “… paladins and valiant knights who were mighty in battle pursued the infidels even to death…” Francis admired the deeds of such brave men because “… the holy martyrs died fighting for the Faith of Christ” (p.70).
This is why those who know the true biography of St. Francis deplore his modern day transformation into some sort of Medieval “hippy”—or, in Pope Francis’ words, “the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.” In 1926 Pope Pius XI issued the following statement:
What evil they do and how far from a true appreciation of the Man of Assisi [St. Francis] are they who, in order to bolster up their fantastic and erroneous ideas about him, image such an incredible thing … that he was the precursor and prophet of that false liberty which began to manifest itself at the beginning of modern times and which has caused so many disturbances both in the Church and in civil society!
In the context of confronting Islam, Rega laments that, “for the revisionists, the ‘real’ Francis was not a bold Evangelist, but a timid man, whose goal was to have the friars live passively among the Saracens [Muslims] and “to be subject to them” (p.95).
A final important point: while St. Francis did not mock Muhammad—though apparently not enough to dissuade the pious from calling for his head—he unequivocally portrayed the Muslim prophet’s message as false. Unlike the diplomatic Pope Francis, who never seems to preach Christ to Muslims but rather confirms them in and validates their religion, the sincere saint was actually more concerned with the souls of Muslims, to the point of putting his own life on the line. This used to be one of the chief concerns of all popes, the “Vicars of Christ.” But apparently not for Pope Francis.
In short, there’s a fine line between St. Francis’ compassion and Pope Francis’ cowardice—or worse, complicity. When it comes to confronting Islam and standing up for the faith and persecuted Christians, Pope Francis woefully fails to live up to the brave monk whose name he appropriated.

A G20 summit in turbulent times
Talmiz Ahmad/Al ARabiya/September 05/16
Marco Polo described Hangzhou as “the most splendid city in the world”. Over the centuries, this city has attracted poets inspired by its natural beauty. Visitors today are lured by its position as the centre of Chinese entrepreneurship, the home, among others, of Ali Baba, the world e-commerce giant. During the last few days, this venue has played a new historic role with the leaders of the G20 gathering here for their annual summit. The G20 is a unique forum in that it brings together the world’s richest economies from the G7 and the dynamic emerging economies represented by the BRICS members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It also has seven other unaffiliated members: Mexico and Argentina from Latin America, and Australia, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Saudi Arabia from Asia. The Kingdom is the only Arab country and the only OPEC member at this forum. G20 members account for 85 percent of the global GDP.G20 leaders, meeting since 2008, assemble to address ways to coordinate action to strengthen the global economy, reform international economic and financial institutions and improve and standardize global regulatory mechanisms. Summit meetings are preceded by a series of preparatory meetings where the summit agenda is fine-tuned. This year’s summit is taking place when the global economic and political scenario is particularly turbulent due to conflict and terror in West Asia, the flow of thousands of refugees to western shores, the uncertainties due to Brexit and the US presidential elections, and the ongoing global economic crisis, with low growth rates, collapse in oil prices, rising inequalities and market volatilities. There is also increasing disenchantment with globalization, which, many believe, threatens their livelihood and living standards, while benefiting the rich and the powerful, a conviction that is turning many in the West towards populist politics. The Hangzhou summit will not just initiate the re-definition of the global economic order; it will also announce that Saudi Arabia will be an active contributor to the shaping of the new economic era
The twin challenges
This G-20 summit thus faces the twin challenges of addressing effectively the immediate need to stimulate global growth while also putting in place long-term initiatives to reform and re-structure the global economy and promote greater cooperation among the principal global players. Both these are daunting challenges. The first concern is to promote growth: the IMF has just downgraded its global growth forecasts by 0.1 percent to 3.1 percent for 2016 and 3.4 percent in 2017; this is the sixteenth downgrade in IMF growth projections since January 2012. Over the last three summits, G20 members have focused on coordinating fiscal and monetary policies and structural change, including tax reform and enhanced spending on infrastructure. There has been little success, with the world experiencing a global trade slowdown, increased protectionist measures and an uninspiring investment climate. West Asian oil producers have been hurt by the massive decline in oil prices, largely due to sluggish demand in a low-growth environment. But, it is long-term reform that is likely to be emphasised at Hangzhou. China is proposing the approach of “incremental change” which will take the G-20 from being a “crisis-management committee” to what the Chinese scholar, Ye Yu, has called a “steering committee”. It has identified four priorities for the G-20: a new path for growth; more effective economic and financial governance; robust global trade and investment, and inclusive and inter-connected development. To achieve these goals, China has put forward a 10-point action plan that includes: innovative growth; enhanced trade; global investment policies; reform of the international financial architecture; promotion of entrepreneurship; implementation of the Paris Accord on climate change; effective anti-corruption measures, and a renewed focus on the industrialization of Africa and the least developed countries.
Welcome resonance
Every one of these proposals will find a welcome resonance in West Asia, particularly among the GCC countries. It is appropriate that Saudi Arabia will be represented at the summit by Mohammed bin Salman, the Deputy Crown Prince, who has shaped and is personally spear-heading the nation’s Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Plan, which are expected to wean away the country from dependency on oil revenues, provide a diversified economy and make it a vibrant global economic power. At the summit, the prince will make an effective presentation of his country’s ambitious plans to reform and restructure itself, while building up the skills and capabilities of its youth so that they become stake-holders in the re-invention of their nation. Prince Mohammed will seek the partnership of the world’s major economies in the radical transformation of his country. An exciting area for him to focus on will be that of “innovative growth” that includes: pursuing innovation to achieve a digital economy and ultimately herald the fourth industrial revolution.
Thus, the Hangzhou summit will not just initiate the re-definition of the global economic order; it will also announce that Saudi Arabia will be an active contributor to the shaping of the new economic era.

Why Russia sees Bahrain as a partner in the Middle East
Maria Dubovikova/Al ARabiya/September 05/16
The King of Bahrain arrives in Moscow on Monday for his second such visit of 2016. This visit is important considering, in a way, Bahrain is playing the role of the GCC’s ambassador. Its unique position in the region, its capabilities and role permit the country deliver indirect messages to the Russian government. Russia listens to Bahrain attentively as it knows the val-ue of the messages that are delivered and is interested in building strong ties with Bahrain as it considers the country a door to the Gulf and the wider Middle East. The visit coincides with the ARMY-2016 international military-technical forum in Moscow, where the Bahraini delegation will reportedly ink a military cooperation agreement with Russia. Bahrain is interested in Russia’s Mi-8/17 and Mi-26 helicopters as well as in the opening of the regional helicopter service center. The signing of the cooperation agreement does not guarantee contracts. But the agreement opens up new opportunities for bilateral cooperation. There is no doubt that during his visit, the king will discuss issues of an economic and political nature.
Vital interest
For the Russian side, cooperation with Bahrain is of vital interest. Having avoid-ed severe recession, Russia’s economy is still drastically affected by the deep crisis, the pro-spects of which are unclear until now. The main medium-term risk for Russia’s economy is the continued slump and lack of investment. The significant loss of investment from Western countries makes an investment from the East warmly welcome. Russia is turning East is search of new markets and allies as its relations with the West have been drastically affected by se-vere tension over many issues on the international agenda and Russia’s newly active foreign policy. While its capacities in terms of investments are quite limited, the Russian market is looked upon warmly by foreign investors. However, it should be admitted that investments are quite risky.
Russia’s strong involvement in the fate of the Middle East and its return to the region make it an important partner . The risk is not the only reason cooperation can be tricky. Russian business is notoriously slow and irresponsive to neither challenges nor to opportunities. Business, political and decision-making circles have little understanding of the way things work in the Middle East and how to cooperate with it. The Bahraini case is not an exception. Thus it is important for Middle Eastern countries and for Bahrain to work on how they are perceived by Russian society and seek out suitable partners. As for political issues, the common agenda has significantly extended in the past years. Russia’s strong involvement in the fate of the Middle East and its return to the region make it an important partner. The Western policy of imposing its will and its treatment of the Middle East as the third world is no longer acceptable for regional powers. Middle Eastern countries have accumulated enough power to permit them to claim independence on the world stage.
A point of convergence
The Syrian crisis can also become a point of convergence for Middle Eastern powers and Russia, despite the contradictions in positions regarding this issue. There is no need to expect a breakthrough or any significant agreements to be reached between the two countries during this visit. Russia-Bahraini relations will witness a strong boost in the near future, as the bilateral agenda is more than positive. There is hope that this positive example will stimulate a further strengthening of ties between the other GCC countries and Russia.

Is political Islam an obstacle to peaceful coexistence?
Samar Fatany/Al ARabiya/September 05/16
News of the brutality of Da’esh (the self-proclaimed ISIS) and the latest discovery of massive graves of thousands of innocent people in Iraq and Syria murdered in cold blood is alarming and devastating. What makes it worse is the fact that these atrocities were committed by people who claim to be Muslims and say that their cause is to advance Islam. Can any sane person believe that they have good intentions or have a noble cause? The Arab and the Muslim world remain the real victims of these atrocities. Muslims all over the world have condemned this terrorist brutality yet the bigoted rhetoric of Islamophobes continues to fuel hatred against Muslims in the West while the frustrations of Muslims over the situation in Iraq and Syria is fueling further rage and mistrust against the war policies of Western superpowers in the region. Muslim radicals use religion as a political justification to publicize their terrorist propaganda. They have politicized Islam and distorted its teachings to promote their own selfish agendas. Islam is a religion of peace and compassion and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent to perfect good manners. Politicizing Islam has distorted its message of peace and compassion. Politics are based on deception and selfish agendas for military and economic gains. Religious leaders who have politicized Islam claim that they are the true defenders of the faith and that it is their duty to preserve the teachings of Islam. However, in reality what they advocate is contrary to the Islamic principles of peace, mercy and compassion toward mankind. Their distorted ideology is based on bigotry and intolerance. Although Western media is full of doomsday scenarios for the region and many economists and global experts remain very skeptical, opinion leaders in the Arab world have a responsibility to inspire hope and change for a better future
Impediments to peace
Political Islam has no place in our world today as it is an obstacle to peaceful coexistence and an impediment to global prosperity. It has alienated Muslims everywhere and continues to threaten the lives of innocent believers all over the world. Rejectionist voices who maintain a negative stand and impose their ultraconservative interpretations of Islam to gain power are impediments to peace in the region. Religious leaders failing to overcome theological differences have not been able to provide spiritual grounding to help people hold on to their own religious truths, without disrespecting the religious truths of others. Sound grounding in religious education can help people differentiate between right and wrong, recognize the truth and reject the distortions. The Kingdom continues its efforts to unite leading religious figures from different sects not only at home but in Yemen, Syria, Libya and elsewhere. However, hardline scholars persistently refuse to accept the other and the threat of sectarianism still prevails. The Council of Senior Ulema, which represents the consensus of officially recognized senior Islamic scholars, has a responsibility to reject ultraconservative interpretations that influence ongoing divisions between sects. It is critical to preach mutual respect and dignity among all Muslims, denouncing incitement, violence and intolerance. The religious environment can become dangerous when unqualified scholars promote sectarian discord. Wider acceptance and tolerance of diversity of opinions is the key to our regional prosperity. It remains critical for reformers to engage different religious sects in dialogue to end divisions and establish a commitment to coexistence between all nations. The silent majority should not remain complacent. It is time to mobilize a moderate front with more commitment and resolve to defeat the evil that has spread like cancer destroying the homes of the innocent and killing their loved ones. The level of frustration among young people is very high due to inadequate opportunities for social mobility and their limited participation in social, cultural, economic and political life.
Civic institutions
There is an urgency to promote a viable civil society and to build strong civic institutions to complement economic goals and targets. It is critical to develop a sense of optimism among the Arab masses and promote meaningful change. The region needs to strengthen the role of NGOs to promote nonviolence and prepare for peace building. Moreover, peace could be achieved if more women were encouraged as decision-making partners in international security assistance programs. They can be agents of change and the driving forces to stabilize an insecure and troubled region. Although Western media is full of doomsday scenarios for the region and many economists and global experts remain very skeptical, opinion leaders in the Arab world have a responsibility to inspire hope and change for a better future. The global community can also play a bigger role by initiating a more serious and constructive dialogue with community leaders around the world. This could expose the global enemies of peace and curb the escalating conflicts that exist and continue to be a threat to humanity and global prosperity. Enough blood has been shed, politicians and religious leaders need to change the direction of existing religious and war policies through peaceful global initiatives and regional social development. There is an urgent need to invest in peace and development to end the global terrorist threat and the raging civil and proxy wars in the Middle East.
**This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on Sept. 03, 2016.

Delight in Japanese good manners
Turki Aldakhil/Al ARabiya/September 05/16
I spent five days in Japan in a visit that was not a first to this marvellous country. Japan is known for its technology, but it is not the only thing that dazzles you about the country.Trains and vehicles operate in such an orderly manner that if a train is delayed by just a few minutes, it will make breaking news, and apologies, investigations, dismissals and resignations will ensue.
Morals
What impresses me most is Japanese public morals. People bow their heads in respect, and hail one another with statements of kindness, tenderness, respect and good manners. When Japanese give you their business card, they must stand up and give it you while holding it in both hands and bowing their head.
The Japanese are raised on good manners and kindness from an early age, so society can benefit from ethics that refine the soul, elevate man’s status and add serenity to public life.
I asked a Saudi man who spent years in Japan if all Japanese are this kind and good-mannered, or if this is exclusive to a certain category. He laughed and said: “Ethics are the basis in Japan.
Polite phrases overwhelm you, and you must use them from the second you wake up until you sleep again to be natural here. If you dream of them, it confirms you’ve begun to understand Japanese culture.”
**This article was first published in Okaz on Sept. 5, 2016.