LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 23/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.september23.16.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006
Bible
Quotations For Today
It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of
God
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10/17-27/:"As Jesus was
setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him,
‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’Jesus said to him, ‘Why
do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments:
"You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You
shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and
mother." ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’Jesus,
looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own,
and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come,
follow me.’When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had
many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard
it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the
disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again,
‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the
kingdom of God.’They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who
can be saved?’Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but
not for God; for God all things are possible.’"
Beware, the devil is about to
throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you
will have affliction
Book of Revelation 02/08-11/:"‘To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These
are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life: ‘I know
your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander
on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue
of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about
to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you
will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of
life. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the
churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death."
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 22-23/16
Iran Must
Stop Meddling in Arab Affairs/Saad Hariri/The New York Times/September 22/15
Hezbollah soliciting aid from wealthy Lebanon Shiites: report/Now
Lebanon/September 19/1
France: Human Rights vs. The People/Yves Mamou/Gatestone Institute/September
22/16
London Mayor Sadiq Khan to U.S. Immigrants: Don't Assimilate/Raheem Kassam/Middle
East Forum/September 22/16
An Inside Look at Israeli National Security Strategy/Moshe Yaalon/The
Washington Institute/September 22/16
Crown prince highlights Saudi Arabia’s global role/Abdulatif Al-Mulhim/Al
Arabiya/September 22/16
On the BBC correspondent and the siege in Syria/Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/September
22/16
On the way to Manhattan/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/September 22/16
Bringing honor to our National Day/Faisal Al-Shammeri/Al Arabiya/September 22/16
Can the UN General Assembly save Yemen/Abdullah Hamidaddin/Al Arabiya/September
22/16
Which country has the fastest-growing church in the world/Carey Lodge/Christian
Today Journalist/22 September 2016
Titles
For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September
22-23/16
Salam before UN General Assembly: Lebanon is no eternal
asylum but country for Lebanese only
Salam to Al Arabiya: We will not accept integration of displaced Syrians
Hezbollah soliciting aid from wealthy Lebanon Shiites: report
Iran Must Stop Meddling in Arab Affairs
Berri Calls Parliament to Session on Sept. 28 to Elect President
Report: Cabinet Will Convene, Qahwaji's Term on Agenda
At U.N., Salam Urges Lebanon 'Friends' to Help End Presidential Void
Bassil Blames Arab Countries for Aggravating Refugee Crisis
Army Arrests Ain el-Hilweh IS Emir
Hizbullah Bloc Urges Efforts to Return FPM to Cabinet, Resume Dialogue
Palestinian Delegation Meets Ibrahim amid Ain el-Hilweh Unrest
Armed Clashes Renew between Fatah and Islamist Members
Rifi, Chamoun stress need to elect President
Gemayel Reiterates Refusal to Vote for Presidential Candidate Endorsing 'March 8
Project'
Shorter inaugurates Sidon waterfront solar system project: It is 1 of 90
projects funded by United Kingdom
We Want Accountability' activists call for electoral law based on
proportionality
Meeting for Palestinian phalanges confirms keenness on national security
Situation back to normal in Ein Helwe
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on on
September 22-23/16
Canada outraged by attacks on medical workers and aid
convoy in Syria and urgently calls for demonstrable commitments to viable
ceasefire
Assad: Syria war part of global, regional conflict
Overnight bombardment kills 45 in eastern Aleppo: doctor
UN resumes Syria aid delivery after attack
Hassan Rowhani: Syria doesn’t have a military solution
Opposition 'Minister' among 12 Dead in Syria Car Bomb
Raids Set Rebel Areas of Syria's Aleppo Ablaze as Fighting Rages
Kuwait Shiite MP Gets New Jail Term for Insults
Greece Rejects Asylum Claim of Turkish 'Coup' Officer
UK to give Iraq $52 million in aid ahead of Mosul offensive
Abbas: Israel destroying two-state solution hopes
Jordan’s Brotherhood back in parliament
Iraqi MP: ‘Purging’ Finance Ministry of graft not over
19 dead in clashes with ISIS in Libya’s Sirte
Houthis accuse detained American of spying
Egypt arrests 4 in connection with migrants boat disaster
Drone strike kills three Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Indonesia seizes fertilizer ship in Bali, suspecting bomb plot
Belgian PM pokes fun at Donald Trump
Morocco detains four ‘dangerous’ ISIS suspects
Links From Jihad Watch Site for on
September 22-23/16
New York: Muslim indicted for death threats against SUNY
professor
Dallas Morning News: “Islamophobia” leads to high cholesterol, obesity, and
cancer
Ethiopia: “Her clothes were covered with blood…Her husband was shouting that she
should die for forsaking Islam”
Federal complaint against NYC jihad bomber omits his journal’s references to the
Islamic State
Robert Spencer: After Muslim stabs non-Muslims in Minnesota mall, Minnesota
Muslims play the victim
NYC jihad bomber was flagged twice in 2014, but passed scrutiny
Children Who Will Never Have Time To Become Adults
Video: My Escape From Islam’s Rape and Death Sentence — a Lejla Colak Moment
Islamic Republic of Iran threatens to “turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust”
State Dept admits jihadis have posed as refugees to enter US, still plans to
admit more
UK spy top dog: Jihad terror “will certainly be with us for our professional
lifetime”
Despite references to jihad in NY bomber’s journal, investigators say they’ve
found nothing linking him to terror groups
FBI hunting for two who placed IED on Manhattan street
Robert Spencer in PJ Media: ‘Aid and Comfort’: Clinton Suggests
Trump Committed Treason
Links From Christian Today Site for on
September 22-23/16
Dead' man revives in southeast Asian village when Christians pray
over him
Mexico: Pope sends condolences as mourners pack church at funeral of murdered
priest
10 times C.S. Lewis made the case for Christ
Which country has the fastest-growing church in the world?
Bad news for Hillary: Religious 'nones' are on the rise, but they aren't voting
for her
Burnt and charred ancient Bible scroll resurrected by computer science
Aleppo: Warplanes and artillery bombard rebels, dooming ceasefire hopes
Magistrates can refuse to marry gay couples in North Carolina, judge rules
After centuries of separation, evangelicals and Catholics look to shared future
ISIS could become an 'international movement', MPs warn
Trump says he is 'very troubled' by police shooting of pastor Terence Crutcher
Pakistan: Drunk Muslims beat up Christians in their own homes
Christians in Egypt urge Coptic Church to stay out of politics
Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September
22-23/16
Salam before UN
General Assembly: Lebanon is no eternal asylum but country for Lebanese only
Thu 22 Sep 2016/NNA - Prime Minister Tammam Salam delivered Lebanon's word
before the United Nations General Assembly, whereby he assured that Lebanon is
not an everlasting refuge, but a State for all its sons, and a small country
waging an open battle against terrorism.
"Lebanon, which emphasizes the need to revitalize the General Assembly to render
it more effective in addressing issues of concern for humanity, regrets the fact
that the Security Council has failed repeatedly to address the conflicts
afflicting many countries, particularly in our region, and thus stresses the
importance of reforming this Council in a way that reflects the political,
economic and demographic realities emerging in the world," Salam said.
"My Lebanon is enduring a severe political crisis; the most prominent headline
for it is our Parliament's inability, for more than two and a half years now, to
elect a President of the Republic. The crisis has led to an almost complete
paralysis of the legislative power, as well as to slowing the work of the
executive authority, not to mention the negative impacts of all this on the
economic situation," Salam went on in his address before the conference's
attendees.
"All the sisterly and friendly countries, and all the insiders, know the
specificity of the political reality in our country, and the extent of external
factors' influence, foremost the sharp regional tension which has become an open
conflict across the area," Salam explained, hence implying that the current
status-quo required admitting that "ending the presidential vacuum in Lebanon is
not in the hands of Lebanese parties only."
"I appeal to all Friends of Lebanon, and to all those who are keen on avoiding
the emergence of a new tension spot in the Middle East, to help the Lebanese
elect a president of the Republic, in order to restore balance in our
constitutional institutions, and protect the Lebanese model of co-existence
which is one the few surviving experiences of pluralism in the East," Salam
urged.
"We have said before on this podium, and we repeat today, that the painful
Syrian war has produced a major displacement crisis that brought to Lebanon
burdens exceeding its capacities. We are a small country hosting numbers of
displaced Syrians equivalent to one-third of the Lebanese population. We are
fulfilling our humanitarian duty towards them with limited capabilities, fed by
insufficient international aid. We are actually disappointed with the level of
international response to our needs as a host country; a response that does not
commensurate with the promises made, or with the goodwill that has been
expressed in more than one event," the Premier went on.
"Lebanon, which has stopped receiving new displaced persons, calls on the United
Nations to set a full vision to restore a dignified and safe return for
displaced Syrians to their homeland," he said, urging the UN to work with
concerned parties to turn this plan into reality one as soon as possible.
"Awaiting the crystallization of this arrangement, we highlight the 'temporary'
aspect of displaced Syrians' presence on Lebanese soil, and we announce that our
country is not one of permanent asylum, but a final homeland for the Lebanese,
and only them."
"Lebanon is still suffering the risk of terrorism. It is engaged in open
confrontation with that terrorism and it dearly pays the lives of military
elements, civilians and children as price in this battle," Salam went on,
declaring, once again, Lebanon's commitment to fighting this scourge, and
stressing the importance of regional and international cooperation at this
level.
"We consider that communities closing on themselves, retreating behind buffer
walls, and promoting Islamophobia (...) is not a panacea for terrorism. It is
rather a recipe for violent, extremist and racist tendencies that democracies
have shunned long ago," the Prime Minister said to his audience, assuring that
facing terrorism is a long course that requires multi-level efforts.
"The first step on this course lies in the quest to address the roots [of
terrorism] and everything that fuels it, by ending deprivation and injustice,
which are an incubator for extremism, and by meeting the just demands of peoples
for freedom, dignity and equality, and rejecting all forms of violence and
exclusion."
"On the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the 1701 Security Council
Resolution, Lebanon reaffirms its commitment to this decision with all its
stipulations, and calls on the international community to compel Israel to stop
violating the Lebanese sovereignty, and to cooperate fully with the United
Nations peacekeeping troops for the demarcation of the rest of the Blue Line and
for its troops' withdrawal from northern Ghajar, the Shebaa farms and Kfar Shuba
Hills."
"Lebanon fully clings to its right for water and natural wealth of oil and gas
in its exclusive economic zone," he added.
The Premier also condemned Israel's continuing occupation of Palestine,
stressing the need for a fair and comprehensive solution to the conflict and
highlighting the importance of Palestinian refugees' right to return to their
land.
"We renew our call upon all major powers to end this state of uncertainty and
indecision and assume their responsibilities by doing everything in their
capacity to stop the bloodshed and restore security and stability to our region.
We appeal to everyone to make sincere and effective efforts in the fight against
this obscurantist terrorism, and we warn against the dangers of tampering with
maps, demolishing existing entities, changing the demographic nature of
communities, or threatening social cohesion and religious diversity in them," he
concluded.
Salam to Al
Arabiya: We will not accept integration of displaced Syrians
Thu 22 Sep 2016/NNA - Prime Minister Tammam Salam said in an interview with Al-Arabiya
TV channel "We will not accept the integration of displaced people in Lebanon.
The priority is to repatriate them.""The United Nations meetings have not made
any breakthroughs in solving the Syrian crisis," he said, stressing that
"Lebanon is among the most concerned sides in terms of resolving the Syrian
crisis."The Premier pointed out that "Lebanon receives about 1.5 million Syrian
refugees," thus urging "infrastructural aid through international support,
because the assistance that is being delivered is limited compared with the
number of refugees in Lebanon."He also listed the accumulated repercussions of
the non-election of a President of the Republic, highlighting the semi-paralysis
in the legislative authority, and stressing that this imbalance caused by the
presidential vacancy would lead Lebanon into total collapse. "In 1989, there was
the Taif agreement. But now, amid lack of stability in the region and the world,
who will be at our rescue?" he wondered. Commenting on his meeting with French
President Francois Hollande, Salam explained that "it came as a follow-up to
meetings held in the past. We discussed the possibility of a get-together for
the group of international support for Lebanon, which used to be held annually,
but we preferred to postpone this matter.""This meeting will be held in Paris
between the months of November and December," he added, noting that "it will
require consultations between the French and the other parties in order to make
of the meeting a success."Salam finally assured that "the security situation in
Lebanon is under control," pointing out that the security forces are working
hard to absorb any tension and prevent security-related repercussions.
Hezbollah soliciting aid from
wealthy Lebanon Shiites: report
Now Lebanon/September 19/16/
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/09/22/hezbollah-soliciting-aid-from-wealthy-lebanon-shiites%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%85%D9%88%D9%84%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B9%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A3%D9%86/
Officials from the party have allegedly requested well-to-do residents of the
Bekaa and South to sponsor children of party fighters killed in Syria.
BEIRUT – Hezbollah has allegedly requested wealthy Lebanese Shiites to support
the children of the party’s fighters killed in combat in Syria, according to a
Lebanese daily. Al-Mustaqbal, the official newspaper of the Future Movement that
opposes Hezbollah, reported Sunday that the party was undertaking “secret
efforts” to solicit financial support from wealthy residents of the Bekaa Valley
and south Lebanon, where Hezbollah draws on considerable popular support.
“Information leaked by a number of these wealthy [people] indicates that
Hezbollah officials visited them in their homes bearing [lists] of the names of
children of [fighters] that fell in Syria,” the report claimed. The Hezbollah
officials purportedly asked the well-to-do residents to sponsor the children,
including those of wounded Hezbollah fighters, and provide for their education
and clothing.
“If you have one child you now have two, and if you have two, you now have
three,” the Hezbollah representatives reportedly said during their
visits.Al-Mustaqbal noted that the party has never made such a request before,
even during its long periods of active combat operations against Israel.
The report comes amid reports Hezbollah is suffering from a financial crisis,
with the US pressing stringent banking sanctions against the party which have
forced Lebanese banks to take action. While the the sanctions have angered
Hezbollah, party chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah insisted in a June 24 speech that
Hezbollah’s entire budget is bankrolled by Tehran.“As long as there is money in
Iran, we will have money,” he said defiantly.
Despite his claim that the sanctions would not hurt Hezbollah, Nasrallah added
that his party was angry over Lebanese banks closing down accounts of charities
and private individuals for their purported support for the party. “This is
irresponsible, aggressive behavior,” Nasrallah said in a broadside aimed at the
country’s banking sector. Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said earlier in
June that 100 Hezbollah-linked bank accounts had been shut down in the country,
prompting an angry riposte from Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc later that day,
which said Lebanon’s “monetary policy has lost its sovereignty.”
A US law passed on December 18, 2015 mandates the strictest sanctions yet
against Hezbollah as well any individual or organization affiliated with it and
any financial institution anywhere in the world that “knowingly facilitates a
transaction” for it. In response, the Lebanese Central Bank issued Circular No.
137 on May 3, calling on Lebanese banks to abide by the US legislation, action
has already been taken by banks against numerous Hezbollah officials. The
sanction law and the Lebanese banking sectors adherence to it has enraged
Hezbollah, with on of the party’s minister in the government, Hussein al-Hajj
Hassan, saying in a mid-May cabinet session the sanctions “transgressed all red
lines” and represented part of a “war of elimination.”However, Hezbollah on May
18 praised a directive by Salameh calling on banks to consult with the Central
Bank before shutting accounts down. Information leaked by a number of these
wealthy [people] indicates that Hezbollah officials visited them in their homes
bearing [lists] of the names of children of [fighters] that fell in Syria.
Saad
Hariri In The New York Times: Iran Must Stop Meddling in Arab Affairs
مقالة لسعد الحريري يكتب في «نيويورك تايمز» عنوانها: على إيران وقف تدخلها في
الشؤون العربية
Iran Must Stop Meddling in Arab Affairs
Saad Hariri/The New York
Times/September 22/15
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/opinion/saad-hariri-iran-must-stop-meddling-in-arab-affairs.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=0
On Feb. 14, 2005, a massive bomb killed
the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, my father, along with 22
other Lebanese. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon at The Hague identified five
Hezbollah operatives as suspected collaborators in the murder. If proved, that
would mean his assassination was carried out by Iran’s allies in Lebanon, who
are financed and controlled by the regime in Tehran.
Three years later, in 2008, Hezbollah moved to occupy Beirut, and after many
years of promising that its vast, Iranian-supplied arsenal was intended only to
protect Lebanon from Israel, turned its weapons against the Lebanese people.
More recently, Hezbollah has prevented Lebanon from electing a new president and
has imposed a devastating gridlock on the country’s government in order to
blackmail the citizenry into accepting its demands.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has sent thousands of young Lebanese men to fight and die
in Syria to defend the odious regime of Bashar al-Assad, the brutal dictator
condemned in the United Nations and around the world for presiding over the
deaths of at least a quarter million of his own people. Mr. Assad — with the
help of Iran; its Revolutionary Guards and its proxies; Hezbollah and militias
in Iraq and Afghanistan — has created the worst refugee problem since World War
II, ruthlessly displacing millions of people into neighboring countries and
Europe.
We Lebanese are all too familiar with the violence, discord, sectarian hatred,
brutality and terrorism that Iran and its allies inflict on other countries,
whatever Iranian officials might try to claim to the outside world. Iran has
been the world’s greatest state sponsor of terrorism since the late 1970s.
We have not forgotten the taking of Americans, and other Westerners, as hostages
in the 1980s by Iranian proxies in Lebanon. We have not forgotten the bombing of
the Marine barracks at the Beirut airport, which killed 241 United States
Marines, sailors and soldiers. The amnesia in much of the world about these
events, let alone what is happening today in Syria and elsewhere, leaves us
dumbfounded.
In Syria, the disaster that has befallen its people began when Iran and its
allies intervened to prop up the brutal dictatorship of Mr. Assad against a
popular, and originally nonviolent and nonsectarian, pro-democracy uprising. The
Syrian people were merely asking for the reform of a vicious and corrupt system
by a government that rules by brute force. Now Lebanon is overwhelmed by some
1.3 million Syrian refugees driven from their homes by this remorseless regime.
Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter
Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, the Times
editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.
Receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products
and services.
The tragedy in Yemen, too, began when the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel militia
began its battle against its own people in a coup condemned by the United
Nations Security Council. They did this simply to menace and threaten the
stability of Saudi Arabia and the other Persian Gulf Arab states.
In Iraq, Iran has promoted and funded brutal proxy militias that have spread
sectarian hate in the country and are now undermining efforts to defeat the
Islamic State.
Iranian officials brazenly boast that their country is now in control of four
Arab capitals — Beirut, Baghdad, Sana and Damascus — and gloat over their
hegemony. Such bluster is an obvious threat, which we in Lebanon know to take
very seriously, that Iran wants to expand its influence in the Middle East by
sowing discord, promoting terrorism and sectarian hatred, and destabilizing the
region through proxies, while pretending to be bystanders.
Contrast this with what Saudi Arabia has done for Lebanon. In the 1980s, while
Iran was busy directing its proxy militias in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia helped the
country reach a historic agreement to end its civil war. The Taif Accords, named
after the city in Saudi Arabia where the Lebanese Parliament met, ended 15 years
of carnage.
As Lebanon was trying to rebuild its economy after the civil war, Saudi Arabia
stepped in with crucial assistance to the Paris conferences for the financial
reconstruction of Lebanon, contributing more than $1.5 billion in aid.
How many schools and hospitals has Iran built in Lebanon? How much help has it
provided for Lebanon to rebuild itself? The answer, of course, is little to
none, and any such Iranian aid is structured entirely to the political benefit
of Hezbollah.
Iran has a unique opportunity to help those who are really fighting extremism in
the Arab world. But to do that, it must stop meddling in Arab affairs, from
Yemen and Bahrain to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. It must stop feeding Sunni
resentment, which only encourages a fringe minority to think terrorism is the
answer. And Iran can force militias from Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Iran to
leave Syria. That would be a great first step to clear the last tactical hurdle
facing those who are really fighting extremism in the Muslim world.
Iran can be part of the solution. But it must accept the extended Arab hand, led
by Saudi Arabia, for normalized, neighborly relations, allowing Sunni Arabs to
get down to the real task of getting rid of extremism.
Saad Hariri is a member of the Lebanese Parliament and served as prime minister
between 2009 and 2011. **Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook
and Twitter (@NYTOpinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
Berri Calls Parliament to
Session on Sept. 28 to Elect President
Naharnet/September 22/16/Speaker Nabih Berri called the parliamentarians for a
meeting on September 28 to elect a head for the Lebanese republic after they
failed over 44 sessions to achieve the goal. Berri said the meeting will take
place at 12:00 p.m. in a bid to fill the over two years vacuum at the post. The
parliament failed during its latest session on September 7 to elect a president
over lack of quorum. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of
Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and
Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's
electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement
leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative
in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the
presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main
Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. 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.
Report: Cabinet Will Convene,
Qahwaji's Term on Agenda
Naharnet/September 22/16/Prime Minister Tammam Salam will call the cabinet for a
meeting as soon as he returns from a U.N. meeting in New York, to address a
pending agenda that was postponed from an earlier gathering including delaying
the term extension of Army commander General Jean Qahwaji and Chief of Staff
Maj. Gen. Walid Salman, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday. Ministerial
sources spoke on condition of anonymity and asserted to the daily that Salam
will call the cabinet to session next Thursday to discuss an agenda that was
postponed after it was boycotted by ministers of the Free Patriotic Movement and
Tashnaq party. It is planned to address other issues that surfaced. Delaying the
term extension of the Army commander is expected to be a key subject at the
meeting, shall it be held. Defense Minister Samir Moqbel is expected to extend
Qahwaji's term even if the cabinet did not convene, the sources told the daily.
Ad Diyar daily quoted Moqbel as saying: “The terms of Qahwaji and Chief of Staff
Maj. Gen. Walid Salman end on September 29 at midnight, and the last cabinet
session is scheduled on the same day. It is up to the Premier to call the
cabinet for session. If he does, then I will suggest (new names) the appointment
of successors shall the two-thirds of the council of ministers approve the
appointments. But if we fail, then I will use my constitutional jurisdictions
based on national responsibilities and will take the appropriate decision.”
Moqbel had in August last year postponed the retirement of Qahwaji and Salman
extending their terms by one year, after the political forces failed to reach an
agreement on security and military appointments. The army chief's term has been
extended twice since 2013 despite political objections, especially from the Free
Patriotic Movement, which says it rejects term extensions for any military or
security official.
At U.N., Salam Urges Lebanon
'Friends' to Help End Presidential Void
Naharnet/September 22/16/Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Thursday urged Lebanon's
friends to help in ending the long-running presidential vacuum, noting that the
solution “is not in the hands of the Lebanese alone.”“The sharp regional
polarization has turned into an open conflict across the region. Therefore,
realism obliges us to admit that the solution to the presidential void problem
in Lebanon is not in the hands of the Lebanese alone,” Salam told the annual
meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. “I send out an appeal to all
of Lebanon's friends and to all those who are keen on preventing the emergence
of a new tense zone in the Middle East to help Lebanon elect a president in
order to restore the balance of our state institutions and protect the Lebanese
model of coexistence,” the premier added. Turning to the refugee crisis, Salam
underlined that "the Syrian presence in Lebanon is of a temporary nature." “We
declare that our country is not a country of permanent asylum and that it is a
final country for the Lebanese exclusively,” the PM emphasized. Earlier in the
day, Salam stressed that Lebanon will not accept the “integration” of Syrian
refugees into the Lebanese society while reassuring that security in the country
is “under control.” “We won't accept the integration of the refugees in Lebanon
and the priority is for reintegrating them in their country,” Salam said in an
interview with Al-Arabiya's al-Hadath news channel. Separately, the prime
minister warned that Lebanon faces the threat of “collapse” should the
presidential vacuum continue. He however reassured that the security situation
in the country is “under control,” noting that “no major security incidents have
been recorded since a long time.” “All security agencies are united to contain
any tensions and prevent any security deterioration,” he added. On Monday, Salam
had urged the United Nations to devise a plan for the “safe return” of Syrian
refugees from Lebanon to their country. “This huge and sudden influx of refugees
is posing dangerous risks to our stability, security, economy and public
services,” said Salam during the first-ever U.N. summit on refugees in New York.
“This detailed plan must be devised within three months and it must detail the
transportation needs, the places of departure and the financial cost,” Salam
added. “Collecting the funds needed for this plan must begin immediately so that
it can be quickly implemented once the circumstances allow,” he urged. Five
years into the Syria conflict, Lebanon hosts more than one million refugees from
the war-torn country, according to the United Nations.
More than a third live in the Bekaa valley near the Syrian border.
Bassil Blames Arab Countries
for Aggravating Refugee Crisis
Naharnet/September 22/16/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil blamed the Arab
countries for the worsening refugee crisis as he pointed out that “terrorism has
surpassed all boundaries,” the National News Agency reported on Thursday. Bassil
highlighted the simmering refugee crisis, he wondered whether encouraging
migration and losing diversity in the region was what Arabs really wanted.
"Where is the Arab position from all this?" Bassil said addressing the annual
Arab Foreign Ministers meeting on the sidelines of the 71st United Nations
General Assembly meeting in New York. He went on to question whether a swift and
just solution in Syria was possible in the absence of its nationals, who should
personally contribute to their country's resurrection, as well as political and
social reform. "Where is the Arab voice concerning our immigrant nationals and
the pressing need to have them stay in their homeland?" Bassil said in a solemn
plea for Arab leaders to listen and take action. Highlighting the rampant state
of terrorism worldwide, Bassil regretted that it had trespassed all the possible
boundaries. He also highlighted the importance of foiling attempts to poison
western minds with Islamophobia. The Minister welcomed any solution to the
Syrian crisis, saying that a cease fire will not only bring peace, but will
allow Syrians to return to their homeland. "The refugees' right to return to
their homeland is the main condition en route to a just and peaceful solution,"
he added. Finally Bassil deemed Lebanon the best example of coexistence in the
face of terrorism. "We're not asking for support or for money, but we're asking
for those concerned to understand our extraordinary situation to avoid being
bogged down in the struggles of regional and world adversaries," Bassil added.
"We love peace and we wish to remain loving and helpful to our Arab brethren."
Army Arrests Ain el-Hilweh IS
Emir
Naharnet/September 22/16/The army intelligence arrested on Thursday the
so-called emir of the Islamic State group in Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian Refugee
camp Imad Yassine, the National News Agency reported. “Following close
surveillance and followup and in a special operation, a force from the
Intelligence Directorate managed this morning to arrest the Palestinian Imad
Yassine, who is known as the emir of the IS group in Ain el-Hilweh,” an army
statement said. It said Yassine was arrested in Ain el-Hilweh's al-Tawari
neighborhood. “Yassine, who was wanted on multiple arrest warrants, had been
plotting prior to his arrest to stage several terrorist bombings against army
posts, vital and touristic facilities, shopping centers, popular gatherings and
residential areas in several Lebanese regions,” the army added. “He was tasked
with his missions by terrorist organizations based outside the country,” the
military said. It was reported in July that Yassine had received orders from IS
foreign operations chief Abu Khaled al-Iraqi to stage major "Iraq-like bombings"
across Lebanon. Palestinian factions in the camp have asserted that they will
not allow perpetrators to use the camp as a conduit to trigger sedition. They
stressed cooperation with the security forces to that end. By long-standing
convention, the army does not enter the twelve Palestinian refugee camps in
Lebanon, leaving the Palestinian factions themselves to handle security. That
has created lawless areas in many camps, and Ain el-Hilweh has gained notoriety
as a refuge for extremists and fugitives. But the camp is also home to more than
54,000 registered Palestinian refugees who have been joined in recent years by
thousands of Palestinians fleeing the fighting in Syria. More than 450,000
Palestinians are registered in Lebanon with the U.N. agency for Palestinian
refugees UNRWA. Most live in squalid conditions in 12 official refugee camps and
face a variety of legal restrictions, including on their employment.
Hizbullah Bloc Urges Efforts
to Return FPM to Cabinet, Resume Dialogue
Naharnet/September 22/16/Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc on Thursday called for
“serious efforts” to secure the return of the Free Patriotic Movement to the
cabinet's sessions and to resume the suspended national dialogue. “All political
forces must exert more serious efforts in an atmosphere of positive keenness in
order to resolve all the obstacles that are preventing the participation of all
Lebanese components in the government's meetings,” the Loyalty to Resistance
bloc said. The bloc also noted that the resumption of national dialogue is a
“national necessity” amid “the critical phase that the country is going
through.”Dialogue had been suspended following a decision by the Free Patriotic
Movement to boycott the meetings. The FPM, which has the biggest Christian bloc
in parliament, has also suspended participation in cabinet sessions over claims
that the other parties in the country 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 and stipulated balance among the sects. On
Tuesday, the FPM emphasized that it “will not back down” from its promised
escalation, warning that “the abolition of the National Pact is equivalent to
the abolition of Lebanon.”FPM chief Jebran Bassil has 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.”The FPM has
also announced that it will resort to street protests to press for its demands.
Palestinian Delegation Meets
Ibrahim amid Ain el-Hilweh Unrest
Naharnet/September 22/16/A Palestinian delegation held talks Thursday with
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. The delegation was led by
Mohammed Yassine, the secretary of the Factions of the Palestinian Alliance in
Lebanon, state-run National News Agency said. “Talks tackled the situations in
the Palestinian camps, especially the security situations at the Ain el-Hilweh
camp in light of the incidents of the past two days,” NNA said. The delegation
also thanked Ibrahim for “addressing the situations of the Palestinians who fled
from Syria to Lebanon.”Gunbattles had renewed earlier on Thursday in Ain el-Hilweh
between the Fatah Movement and members of an Islamist group led by Bilal Badr.
Later on Thursday, media reports said Badr was inciting his supporters to attack
Lebanese army posts at the camp's entrances amid a warning by the military
against any such move. The fighting had first erupted overnight Wednesday in
connection with the killing of a taxi driver in the camp on Monday. Cautious
calm has prevailed in the camp and a committee has been formed to investigate
the man's assassination in order to apprehend the killers, a top Palestinian
official has said. Also on Thursday, the army managed to arrest the dangerous
fugitive Imad Yassine, the so-called emir of the Islamic State group in Ain el-Hilweh.
Yassine, who was wanted on multiple arrest warrants, had been plotting prior to
his arrest to “stage several terrorist bombings against army posts, vital and
touristic facilities, shopping centers, popular gatherings and residential areas
in several Lebanese regions,” an army statement said. It had been reported in
July that Yassine had received orders from IS foreign operations chief Abu
Khaled al-Iraqi to stage major "Iraq-like bombings" across Lebanon.
Armed Clashes Renew between
Fatah and Islamist Members
Naharnet/September 22/16/Gunbattles renewed on Thursday between the Fatah
Movement and members of an Islamist group led by Bilal Badr in the southern
Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh. The sounds of intermittent shooting
continued early on Thursday between the fighting parties, NNA said. Later on
Thursday, media reports said Badr was inciting his supporters to attack Lebanese
army posts at the camp's entrances amid a warning by the military against any
such move. Badr's incitement coincided with the hurling of a stun grenade
towards one of the army's posts.Armed clashes had erupted Wednesday night
between Fatah fighters and members of the extremist group led by Badr, where
machine guns, bombs and rocket propelled grenades were used between a vegetable
market and the camp's al-Fawqani street. The gun battles erupted against the
backdrop of a killing incident that left cab driver, Simon Taha, dead on Monday.
Relatives of slain Taha attempted to block al-Fawqani street in protest to their
son's killing, which escalated to an armed clash with gunmen. Major General
Munir al-Maqdah, Head of the Palestinian Joint Security Force, which is
responsible for security inside Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps later told
NNA that calm has prevailed and added that a committee has been formed to
investigate into the assassination of Taha in order to apprehend the killers.
For two consecutive days, residents of the camp began a general strike on
Tuesday in protest to the recurrent killings the latest was against Taha who was
killed in al-Fawqani street.
Rifi, Chamoun stress need to elect
President
Thu 22 Sep 2016/NNA - Resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi visited the National
Liberal Party Headquarters and met with MP Dory Chamoun and member of the
Supreme Council, Camil Chamoun, with talks touching on the current situation.
Conferees stressed that the election of a President of the Republic is the only
solution to restore confidence in Lebanon and revive the practice of democracy.
"It is the means to restore Lebanon's sovereignty, to absolutely reject all
illegal weapons on Lebanese territory, and to hold the parliamentary elections
with the possibility of drafting an electoral law," conferees said, stressing
the rejection of "any candidate close to the Syrian regime, including the
current two candidates."
Gemayel Reiterates Refusal to
Vote for Presidential Candidate Endorsing 'March 8 Project'
Naharnet/September 22/16/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel reiterated Wednesday
that his party cannot vote for any presidential candidate endorsing the March 8
camp's political vision for the country. “We refuse to vote for any candidate
endorsing March 8's project,” said Gemayel when asked during an MTV interview
about reports that he supports the nomination of Marada Movement chief MP
Suleiman Franjieh. As for the nomination of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP
Michel Aoun, Gemayel called on the head of the Change and Reform bloc to “return
to his 2005 stances.”“We must all return to our roots. We belong to the school
of the Lebanese Front, the school of nonnegotiable sovereignty,” Gemayel added.
“Should Aoun or Franjieh commit to the principles that we are calling for, we
would support any of them, but if they keep covering up for Hizbullah's project
in Lebanon we won't elect any of them, because that would contradict with our
history and struggle and with what our martyrs died for,” the Kataeb chief
stressed. “National sovereignty is not a small detail in political life,” he
underlined. Commenting on the rapprochement agreement between the FPM and the
Lebanese Forces, Gemayel said: “Does (Lebanese Forces leader) Dr. (Samir) Geagea
approve of Hizbullah's attempt to impose things on the Lebanese? MP Mohammed
Raad has said that Hizbullah wants Aoun as president because the General shares
Hizbullah's vision for Lebanon's sovereignty.” “Before the FPM and the LF take
to the streets, let them first agree on the same electoral law,” Gemayel added
when asked about possible street protests by the two parties over the issue of
Christian-Muslim partnership. “We must choose a competent candidate for the
presidency who is not one of the top four Maronite leaders,” Gemayel added,
referring to Aoun, Franjieh, Geagea and former Kataeb chief Amin Gemayel. “We
want a president who can neutralize Lebanon in the Sunni-Shiite conflict and who
would reject dragging Lebanon into regional conflicts,” he went on to say. And
admitting that Aoun “represents half of the Christians,” Gemayel emphasized that
“he cannot impose himself as president.” “Aoun is the head of a large bloc but
he must abide by the Lebanese principles of sovereignty.”As for the FPM's
planned escalation over claims that the other parties in the country are not
respecting the 1943 National Pact, Gemayel added: “You cannot speak of the
National Pact while you are blocking the election of a president, seeing as
respect for the National Pact starts with the election of a president.”“The
second condition for achieving partnership is devising an electoral law while
the first condition is the election of a president,” he 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. 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 ex-PM's move prompted Geagea to
endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of
political rapprochement talks between the two parties. 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.
Shorter inaugurates Sidon waterfront
solar system project: It is 1 of 90 projects funded by United Kingdom
Thu 22 Sep 2016/NNA - British Ambassador Hugo Shorter inaugurated the Sidon
waterfront solar system project funded by the United Kingdom, in the presence of
mayor of Sidon Mohamed Saudi, director of the United Nations Development Program
in Lebanon, Luca Randa, and National Coordinator of the project to support
Lebanese host communities within the Ministry of Social Affairs, Suhair Al-Ghali.
The United Nations Development Program said in a statement that "the project by
which 115 Solar lampposts have been installed aims to revitalize the waterfront
in the old Sidon city and transform the coastal side to a popular destination
for thousands of residents, visitors and local vendors." Ambassador Shorter
delivered a word on the occasion in which he said "This project is one of 90
others funded by the United Kingdom over 49 municipalities throughout Lebanon.
We are aware of the need for significant assistance, and we will continue to
support similar initiatives in cooperation with local and international
partners." For his part, Randa said the project gathered modern technology and
old designs to fit the old aspect of Sidon waterfront. He stressed that it would
contribute both to improving security and preserving the beauty of the area. "We
are pleased to see yet another project implemented within the ongoing
cooperation between us and Sidon municipality. We are particularly grateful to
the United Kingdom for funding this project and for its strong commitment to
supporting the Lebanese communities, in collaboration with the United Nations
Development Program and the Ministry of social Affairs," he said.
We Want Accountability'
activists call for electoral law based on proportionality
Thu 22 Sep 2016/NNA - The "We Want Accountability" campaign conducted a convoy
reaching Beirut Down Town, mainly the vicinity of the Parliament, where
activists raised Lebanese flags and banners calling to hold corrupt politicians
accountable for their acts. The campaign confirmed in a statement read by one of
its members that "the Parliament siege today is to express rejection of the
extension of the deputies' terms." The statement demanded "an electoral law
based on proportionality," rejecting all forms of corruption and forced
immigration of young Lebanese. Participants urged the Lebanese judiciary to
"assume its responsibilities in the face of all political interventions and to
review the dossiers put forward by the civil rights movement."
Meeting for Palestinian phalanges
confirms keenness on national security
Thu 22 Sep 2016/NNA - A meeting for the political command of Palestinian
phalanges in Lebanon on Thursday took place at the Palestinian Embassy in
Beirut, in presence of Palestinian Ambassador Ashraf Dabbour, whereupon
discussions focused on the condition of Palestinian camps and on the keenness of
the phalanges on national security in Lebanon. The attendees underscored the
necessity to boost the Lebanese Palestinian relation, saying that the security
of camps "is part of Lebanese and Palestinian securities and a factor of
stability and national peace." A statement issuing from the meeting said that
the Palestinian Command decided to form a delegation to meet with Lebanese Army
Intelligence senior in the South, Brigadier Khodr Hammoud, in order to confirm
cooperation with the army in favor of anchoring and preserving security in the
camps and neighbouring regions and preventing the camps from becoming a channel
to disturb the Lebanese Palestinian relation. The Command also tasked the higher
security committee and joint security forces to follow up on the implementation
of issued decisions serving security.
Situation back to normal in
Ein Helwe
Thu 22 Sep 2016/NNA - Calm returned to Ein Helwe following the unrest that
occurred in the wake of the arrest of Daash emir in said camp. Army
manifestations in Taware' neighborhood were pulled out, calling on citizens to
return to the camp.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 22-23/16
Canada outraged
by attacks on medical workers and aid convoy in Syria and urgently calls for
demonstrable commitments to viable ceasefire
September 21, 2016 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable
Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie,
issued a statement following yesterday’s attack that killed medical workers from
the International Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations and Monday’s
attack on a United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy in Syria:
“At a meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) yesterday in New
York City, I expressed to Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria,
Canada’s outrage at the brutal airstrike on a humanitarian aid convoy in Syria,
near Aleppo, on September 19, 2016,” said Minister Dion. “On behalf of Canada, I
offer my sincere condolences for the resulting loss of life.”
Ministers Dion and Bibeau added, “Over the last five years, the Assad regime has
repeatedly targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure, including aid
workers, convoys and facilities. Canada has consistently condemned, in the
strongest terms, these unlawful and despicable attacks.
“In the last days, we have met with world leaders, including at the UN General
Assembly, the ISSG co-chaired by Russia and the United States, the G7 foreign
ministers meeting, and with Dr. Riyad Hijab and other members of the High
Negotiations Committee of the Syrian opposition to discuss with urgency the
crisis in Syria. During these meetings, we condemned violations of international
and humanitarian law in the strongest terms.
“We consistently reminded all parties that we are at a dangerous crossroads and
called upon Russia, the Syrian regime and elements of the opposition to make the
difficult decisions in the next days that demonstrate their commitment to a
viable ceasefire that can be implemented and monitored. This is the only way to
prevent a worsening of the senseless loss of life and suffering that has
characterized this brutal war.”
Assad: Syria war part of global,
regional conflict
Associated Press, Damascus Thursday, 22 September 2016/President Bashar Assad
rejected US accusations that Syrian or Russian planes struck an aid convoy in
Aleppo or that his troops were preventing food from entering the city’s
rebel-held eastern neighborhoods, blaming the US for the collapse of a
cease-fire many had hoped would bring relief to the war-ravaged country. In an
interview with The Associated Press in Damascus, Assad also said deadly US
airstrikes on Syrian troops last week were intentional, dismissing American
officials’ statements that they were an accident. Assad said the US lacked “the
will” to join forces with Russia in fighting extremists. Assad, who inherited
power from his father and is now in his 16th year in office, cut a confident
figure during the interview - a sign of how his rule, which once seemed
threatened by the rebellion, has been solidified by his forces’ military
advances and by the air campaign of his ally Russia, which turned the tables on
the battlefield last year.
He said his enemies alone were to blame for nearly six years of devastation
across Syria, and while acknowledging some mistakes, he repeatedly denied any
excesses by his troops. He said the war was only likely to “drag on” because of
continued external support for his opponents “When you have many external
factors that you don’t control, it’s going to drag on and no one in this world
can tell you when” the war will end, he said, insisting Syrians who fled the
country could return within a few months if the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and
Qatar stopped backing insurgents.
He spoke Wednesday in Damascus’ Muhajireen palace, a white-stone building where
he often receives guests, nestled among trees on the foothills of Qasioun
Mountain. The Syrian capital, seat of Assad’s power, has stayed relatively
untouched throughout the conflict, spared the devastation inflicted on other,
opposition-held areas of the country. In recent months, Assad’s forces have
taken rebel strongholds in suburbs of the capital, bolstering security and
reducing the threat of mortar shells. The attack on the aid convoy outside
Aleppo took place Monday night, hitting a warehouse as aid workers unloaded
cargo and triggering huge explosions. Footage filmed by rescuers showed torn
flesh being picked from the wreckage.
Witnesses described a sustained, two-hour barrage that included barrel bombs -
crude, unguided explosives that the Syrian government drops from helicopters.
How could they (ISIS) know that the Americans are going to attack that position
in order to gather their militants to attack right away and to capture it one
hour after the strike? President Bashar al-Assad speaking on air strike
targeting Syrian Army air base. A senior US administration official said the US
believes with a very high degree of confidence that a Russian-piloted aircraft
carried out the strike. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the
matter and asked for anonymity. Assad dismissed the claims, saying whatever
American officials say “has no credibility” and is “just lies.” Like Syria,
Russia has denied carrying out the convoy bombing.
Syria and the United States have been at loggerheads since the Sept. 17 US
airstrike last week that hit Syrian troops in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
US officials said the attack - its first direct hit on Syrian forces since the
civil war began - was accidental and that the warplanes thought they were
targeting Islamic State group positions. Russia said the strikes killed more
than 60 Syrian troops, and afterward, ISIS militants briefly overran government
positions in the area until they were beaten back. Assad said he did not believe
the American account and said that attack targeted a “huge” area constituting of
many hills.“It wasn’t an accident by one airplane... It was four airplanes that
kept attacking the position of the Syrian troops for nearly one hour, or a
little bit more than one hour,” Assad said in the interview. “You don’t commit a
mistake for more than one hour.”“How could they (ISIS) know that the Americans
are going to attack that position in order to gather their militants to attack
right away and to capture it one hour after the strike?” Assad asked. “So it was
definitely intentional, not unintentional as they claimed.”The strikes
contributed to the collapse of the ceasefire, which had already been marred by
numerous violations on both sides of the conflict. They also cast serious doubt
on chances for implementing an unprecedented US-Russian agreement to jointly
target militants in the country.If there’s really a siege around the city of
Aleppo, people would have been dead by now
President Bashar al-Assad
Assad said the United States lacked the will to work with Russia against
extremists in Syria. “I don’t believe the United States will be ready to join
Russia in fighting terrorists in Syria,” he said. Despite extensive evidence to
the contrary, Assad repeatedly denied that his forces were besieging
opposition-held eastern Aleppo, which has become a symbol both of resistance and
also the high price civilians are paying in the war. He flatly denied claims of
malnutrition and a chronic lack of medical supplies. “If there’s really a siege
around the city of Aleppo, people would have been dead by now,” Assad said,
asking how rebels were able to smuggle in arms but apparently not food or
medicine. The ancient city, now partly destroyed, has been carved out into rebel
and government-controlled areas since 2012. Rebel reinforcements broke a hole in
the blockade in August. But in heavy bombardment over the following weeks, more
than 700 civilians were killed. Earlier this month, Syrian troops backed by
Russian airstrikes retook the roads and the siege resumed. Since then, the UN
has accused Assad’s government of obstructing aid access to the city, despite an
agreement to allow aid in during the weeklong cease-fire. During the brief
cease-fire, trucks carrying aid sat idle by the nearby Turkish border, awaiting
permits and safety guarantees. Throughout the conflict, Assad’s forces have been
accused of bombing hospitals and civilians and choking opposition cities.
Millions have fled Syria, some of them drowning at sea in the Mediterranean.
The war has been defined by gruesome photos and video posted in the aftermath of
bloody attacks or documenting the plight of children in particular. Hundreds of
thousands of people have been killed, and once thriving cities have been
ravaged, with entire blocks reduced to rubble. The images have galvanized public
opinion worldwide -- but Assad, while acknowledging that the war had been
‘savage,’ said eyewitness accounts should not be automatically believed. Those
witnesses only appear when there’s an accusation against the Syrian army or the
Russian (army), but when the terrorists commit a crime or massacre or anything,
you don’t see any witnesses... So, what a coincidence,” he said. Assad scoffed
at the idea that Syria’s “White Helmets” - civil defense volunteers in
opposition held areas seen by many as symbols of bravery and defiance - might be
considered for a Nobel Peace Prize after a nomination earlier this year. “What
did they achieve in Syria?” he said. “I would only give a prize to whoever works
for the peace in Syria.”The group shared this year’s Right Livelihood Award,
sometimes known as the “Alternative Nobel,” with activists from Egypt and Russia
and a Turkish newspaper, the prize foundation announced Thursday. Asked about
his methods, including the use of indiscriminate weapons, Assad said “when you
have terrorists, you don’t throw at them balloons, or you don’t use rubber
sticks for example. You have to use armaments.”
Overnight bombardment kills
45 in eastern Aleppo: doctor
Reuters , BeirutThursday, 22 September 2016/Overnight bombardment of rebel-held
eastern districts of Aleppo city killed 45 people, director of al-Quds hospital
Dr. Hamza al-Khatib told Reuters on Thursday. Warplanes mounted the heaviest air
strikes in months against rebel-held districts of Aleppo overnight, rebel
officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier.
UN resumes Syria aid delivery
after attack
ReutersThursday, 22 September 2016 /A “clearly marked” UN convoy was due to
deliver aid on Thursday to besieged areas near the Syrian capital after a
48-hour suspension to review security guarantees following an attack on relief
trucks near Aleppo, a UN spokesman said. The United Nations suspended land
deliveries after the convoy attack, which the Syrian Arab Red Crescent says
killed a staff member and around 20 civilians. US officials believe Russian
aircraft were responsible for the strike, but Moscow has denied involvement and
the Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday a US Predator drone was in the
area when the convoy was attacked. “We are sending today an inter-agency convoy
that will cross conflict lines into a besieged area of rural Damascus,” Jens
Laerke, spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), told Reuters. “We will advise on the exact locations once the convoy has
actually reached those locations.” Elizabeth Hoff, the World Health Organization
(WHO) representative in Syria, told Reuters on Wednesday that the U.N. health
agency planned to deliver medical supplies on Thursday to the rebel-held
besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiya, subject to the normal security risk
assessments. “It’s important to understand that the security situation in Syria
is not one situation, it’s a patchwork of different levels of security or
insecurity, it’s a patchwork of multiple actors and armed groups, and we need to
take that into account when we evaluate on a case-by-case basis,” Laerke said.
Hassan Rowhani: Syria doesn’t
have a military solution
Staff writer, Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 22 September 2016/It is extremely
important to understand that Syria doesn’t have a military solution and the
country’s problems must certainly be resolved politically, Iranian President
Hassan Rowhani has said. In an exclusive interview to NBC News, the Rowhani
said: “The rule of the ballot box and the rule of the Syrian people and the will
of the Syrian people should be the sole determinant of the future of the
country.”When asked about the future of the nuclear deal after a new American
president takes charge, Rowhani said that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
is an international agreement approved by the security council. “So all of the
administrations and the United States are united in having reached this
agreement,” The President said that no one can say that, ‘I don’t accept this
agreement. I want to renegotiate it.’ This has purely an electoral benefit
effect for some.”Rowhani refused to speculate about enjoying a similar
relationship with the next American president as he has had with President
Obama. “Everything is dependent upon the conditions when we get to that point in
time. In any fashion, if the future administration of the United States wishes
to continue its animosity towards Iran, then, of course, it will receive the
appropriate response,” he said. On the United States releasing money to Iran,
Rowhani clarified that there are two different issues. “One of them were the
sums of monies belonging to the nation of Iran left in the United States, seized
in the United States,” he said. Rowhani further said that there are still
considerable sums of money in the United States that belong to Iran. “And we’re
currently conducting conversations and various dialogues in order to return this
money to Iran. Some things that we could not agree upon, there are ways to
address those in the international court system,” the president said.
Opposition 'Minister' among 12 Dead
in Syria Car Bomb
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 22/16/A "minister" in Syria's opposition
government was among at least 12 people killed in a car bomb attack in the south
of the country on Thursday, the body's spokesman said."Twelve people, including
the (opposition) provisional government's local administration minister, Yaacoub
al-Ammar, were killed" and dozens more were wounded, Shadi al-Jundi told AFP by
telephone. The attack targeted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a local police
station in Inkhil, in Syria's southern province of Daraa. The victims included
"opposition figures, rebels, and local officials," Jundi said.
The provisional government was formed in late 2013 and manages institutions in
some rebel-held parts of Syria. It is led by Jawad Abu Hatab, elected by the
opposition-in-exile National Coalition. Daraa was the cradle of Syria's uprising
in 2011, when demonstrators took to the streets to call for President Bashar
Assad's ouster. The conflict has since evolved into a brutal multi-front war
that has killed more than 300,000 people and forced millions to flee their
homes.
Raids Set Rebel Areas of
Syria's Aleppo Ablaze as Fighting Rages
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 22/16/Heavy fighting gripped the
outskirts of Syria's second city Aleppo on Thursday after air strikes pounded
rebel-held districts through the night triggering major fires. Opposition
activists accused the Syrian government and its Russian ally of dropping
incendiary bombs as volunteer firefighters battled to contain the blazes in the
already devastated city. An AFP correspondent in the rebel-held east of the city
reported that his entire street had been in flames following the pre-dawn
strikes. An alliance of jihadists and Islamist rebels has been battling to break
the government's siege after sustaining a major reverse earlier this month.
Fierce fighting rocked the Ramussa district on the southwestern outskirts where
the rebels briefly opened a relief line last month, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said. Rebel mortar fire hit government-held neighbourhoods,
the Britain-based monitoring group said. It had no immediate word on any
casualties. Air strikes on east Aleppo on Wednesday killed 12 civilians, two of
them children, the highest death toll in the city since the collapse of a
week-long ceasefire earlier this week. The failure of the truce brokered by
Moscow and Washington has seen a surge of fighting on all of the major
battlefronts of Syria's five-year-old civil war. An AFP correspondent in the
rebel-held eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus reported shelling and air
strikes early on Thursday. Fighting was also reported in the central provinces
of Homs and Hama. Russia and the United States were to co-chair a meeting of the
23-nation International Syria Support Group in New York later on Thursday in a
last-ditch bid to salvage the failed ceasefire.
Kuwait Shiite MP Gets New
Jail Term for Insults
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 22/16/A Kuwaiti court on Thursday
sentenced Shiite lawmaker Abdulhameed Dashti to 11 years' jail in absentia for
insults against the emirate's ruler and its neighbor Saudi Arabia. Any criticism
of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah can result in charges of insulting him,
and dozens of opposition activists have been jailed for the offense in the past
few years. The verdict against Dashti, announced in a court statement, comes two
months after he was sentenced to 14 years and six months for a similar offense.
Dashti has been living abroad for several months, after leaving Kuwait in March
to seek medical treatment in Britain. In the latest ruling, the criminal court
in Kuwait City deemed as offensive his remarks about the emir and neighboring
Saudi Arabia. The outspoken lawmaker was also convicted in July of endangering
ties with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and for calling on people to join Lebanon's
Hizbullah. Dashti confirmed the latest court ruling on Twitter, saying he
expects more sentences that could amount to 100 years' jail as he is facing
about a dozen similar cases. The verdicts are not final but Dashti can only
challenge once he returns to the oil-rich emirate. He has not said when he will
go back. Dashti is a staunch supporter of Iran and Syrian President Bashar Assad
and a critic of the royal families of both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He
denounced as an "invasion" the 2011 Saudi military intervention in Bahrain to
support the government against Shiite-led protests. The next ruling against him
is scheduled for October 10. There are nine Shiite lawmakers in the 50-seat
parliament of Kuwait, and the minority comprises about 30 percent of the
country's native population of 1.3 million.
Greece Rejects Asylum Claim
of Turkish 'Coup' Officer
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September
22/16/Greece has rejected the asylum claim of a Turkish military officer who
fled after the failed coup of July 15, his lawyer said Thursday, vowing to
appeal the decision. Lawyer Stavroula Tomara told Agence France Presse that an
asylum committee on Wednesday had "rejected" the officer's request and "frozen"
those of two others. A judicial source said this meant the court had ruled the
two officers' arguments against extradition inadmissible. Tomara said she would
appeal against the rejection and request a re-examination for her other two
clients, which she said could be done in the next nine months. She represents
eight Turkish officers, who are seeking asylum in Greece after landing a
military helicopter in the northern city of Alexandroupoli in July, four days
after Turkish army units attempted a government takeover. Wednesday's decision
does not mean the immediate deportation of any of the officers, a Greek
government source told AFP, adding that that the asylum claims of the other five
officers is still under examination. Turkey has formally requested the
extradition of the men -- two commanders, four captains and two sergeants -- on
suspicion of involvement in the failed coup. The men deny the accusations. In
late July, the court of Alexandroupoli sentenced the eight -- who face a
military trial in their homeland if sent back -- to suspended two-month prison
terms for illegal entry. The men were subsequently relocated to Athens and are
in police custody. The eight say they will not receive a fair trial in Turkey,
where the authorities have detained thousands of people over the coup, including
top generals. If sent home, their lives could be in danger, one of their lawyers
has said. Rights group Amnesty International has said it has "credible evidence"
of the abuse and torture of people detained in sweeping post-coup arrests --
something Ankara has denied. The case threatens to strain ties between the
uneasy NATO allies, with Ankara labeling the eight "terrorists".
UK to give Iraq $52 million
in aid ahead of Mosul offensive
By Lin Taylor Thomson Reuters Foundation, London Thursday, 22 September
2016/Britain said on Thursday it will give 40 million pounds ($52 million) in
humanitarian aid to Iraq, anticipating a wave of displaced people as government
forces prepare to recapture the northern city of Mosul from ISIS. The advance on
Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city which fell in 2014 to the militant group,
could begin as soon as next month. The United Nations says the Mosul offensive
risks triggering a major humanitarian crisis, with one million or more people
potentially fleeing the city.
“New UK support will put in place critical stocks and supplies for basic life
support such as food, shelter, sanitation facilities, and protection assistance
ahead of Mosul military operations,” said Britain’s international development
secretary, Priti Patel, in a statement. The funding announced on Thursday is in
addition to the 169.5 million pounds the UK government has already spent on aid
in Iraq since 2014. This commitment comes a week after the United States pledged
to give Iraq $181 million (£138.7 million) in humanitarian aid ahead of the
Mosul assault. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, on Monday
appealed for more funding to help people displaced by the conflict. “We’re very
worried that we won't be able to prepare in time” for the Mosul battle, she said
in a statement. The United Nations estimated it would need $284 million to
respond to the expected displacement of civilians from Mosul, and up to $1.8
billion to deal with the aftermath of the offensive. US and Iraqi officials are
also concerned there has not been enough planning for how to manage Mosul,
Iraq’s second-largest city and a mosaic of ethnic and sectarian groups, if and
when ISIS is kicked out.
Abbas: Israel destroying two-state solution hopes
AFP, United NationsThursday, 22 September 2016/Palestinian president Mahmud
Abbas told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that Israel’s settlement
expansion in the occupied West Bank was destroying any hope of a two-state
solution. Abbas, who has been Palestinian president for 11 years, urged
countries at the gathering to recognize Palestine as a state and once again
offered the hand of peace, albeit slamming Israel’s intentions. “What the
Israeli government is doing in pursuit of its expansionist settlement plans will
destroy whatever possibility is left for the two-state solution along the 1967
borders,” Abbas said. The Palestinian leader said his officials would “exert all
efforts” to get the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on settlements and
the “terror of the settlers.” “The settlements are illegal in every aspect,”
Abbas said. “We are undertaking at the moment extensive consultations with Arab
countries and other friendly countries on this matter,” he said. Washington said
on August 31 that it was “deeply concerned” following an announcement that
Israel had approved the construction of 463 homes for Jewish settlers in the
occupied West Bank. The approvals mostly involved new housing units, but a
retroactive green light was also granted to 179 existing homes in the Ofarim
settlement, said the Peace Now organization. Nickolay Mladenov, the UN
coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the Security Council in
August that Israeli settlement expansion had surged in the past two months. The
recent report by the diplomatic Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the UN
and the United States -- said construction of settlements on land earmarked to
be part of a future Palestinian state is eroding the possibility of a two-state
solution. “Those who believe in the two-state solution should recognize both
states, and not just one of them,” Abbas, who was first elected president in
2005, told the General Assembly. “We extend our hands to those who want to build
peace. But the question remains and persists: is there any leadership in Israel,
the occupying power, that desires to make a true peace?” he asked. “It is
Israel’s breach of the agreements it has signed and its failure to comply with
the obligations that have led us to the deadlock and stalemate that we remain in
now.”
Jordan’s Brotherhood back in
parliament
AFP, AmmanThursday, 22 September 2016/Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood has made a
return to parliament after winning 16 seats in the 130-member house, according
to results announced Thursday by the country’s electoral commission. The
Brotherhood’s Islamic Action Front (IAF) contested Tuesday’s polls after having
boycotted two previous parliamentary elections in the kingdom, in 2010 and 2013,
in protest at the electoral system and alleged voting fraud. As in past
elections, most seats went to businessmen and tribal figures close to the
monarchy, the preliminary results showed. The election came as Jordan, a key
ally of Western countries, wrestles with the spillover of wars in neighboring
Syria and Iraq and the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees. As
well as the performance of the IAF, attention was focused on the low turnout,
with just 1.5 million voters out of a 4.1-million strong electorate casting
ballots. Experts say the figure reflected a lack of enthusiasm among voters for
a parliament with limited power to affect government policy. King Abdullah II
can appoint and sack Jordan’s military and intelligence chiefs, senior judges
and members of parliament’s upper house without government approval. Latest
results on Thursday for seats in Jordan’s parliament with a four-year mandate
showed at least 21 women were elected, six above the quota reserved for women.
Nine Christians also won seats reserved for their minority community, alongside
three each for the Arab state’s Circassian and Chechen minorities.
Final results are expected next week.
Iraqi MP: ‘Purging’ Finance
Ministry of graft not over
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Thursday, 22 September 2016/The Iraqi
parliamentarian behind grilling the country’s Finance Minister Hoshyer Zebari,
which saw the sacking of the top official on Wednesday, said in an interview
that the “purging” of the ministry is not over. “The course for reforms and the
purging of the Finance Ministry does not stop after the sacking of the former
minister but it will continue,” Iraqi MP Haitham al-Jubouri, who himself
questioned Zebari in an open session in parliament in late August, told the
local Al-Sumaria news website in an interview published Thursday. Jubouri said
he has more documents and evidence proving “embroilment” of a “big portion of
leadership” in the ministry. He also said “we will form committees to
investigate.”The powerful Iraqi Kurdish politician’s sacking comes after the
removal of the country’s Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi in late August after
grilling the latter over a corrupt arms deal. Since assuming office in September
2014, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pressed for reforms but political
squabbling and divisions obstructed his path to pursue anti-corruption steps.
Zebari is expected to speak with reporters at a press conference on Thursday
evening local time.
19 dead in clashes with ISIS
in Libya’s Sirte
AFP, TripoliThursday, 22 September 2016/Ten militants and nine pro-government
fighters died in clashes on Thursday around the last positions of the ISIS group
in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte, medical and military sources said. “Our
forces are advancing on the last holdouts of Daesh” in the only district of
Sirte still held by ISIS, said the media office of the pro-government fighters.
Three car bombs driven bythe militants were destroyed before reaching their
targets, it said.
Stronghold
Sirte was an ISIS stronghold before forces loyal to the country's Government of
National Accord launched an offensive against the militants in May. The hospital
in Misrata, a town half-way between Sirte and Tripoli, to which casualties are
ferried, said on Facebook that nine pro-GNA fighters were killed and 40 wounded.
Loyalist military sources said at least 10 ISIS militants also died in the
latest bout of the four-month-old battle. Suicide bombings and sniper fire from
the cornered militants have slowed the offensive to retake Sirte, 450 kilometers
(280 miles) east of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
More than 450 members of the loyalist forces have been killed and around 2,500
wounded since the operation began. Losses in ISIS ranks remain unknown.
Houthis accuse detained
American of spying
AFP, SanaaThursday, 22 September 2016/Yemeni militias and their allies charged
Thursday that an American detained in the capital this week had provided target
coordinates for air strikes by their foes in a Saudi-led coalition. Masked
gunmen wearing the uniform of the militias’ national security service seized
Peter Willems on Tuesday from the principal’s office of the Exceed Language
Center he heads. Students described scenes of panic as he was hauled off without
any immediate explanation. “Here is the American spy Peter Willems, director of
the Exceed Language Center,” a member of the rebels’ Revolutionary Committee,
Nayef al-Qanes, tweeted alongside a photograph of the detained school head. “He
was arrested in Sanaa after it was established that he was providing
coordinates” to the coalition, Qanes added. The same accusation was levelled by
a close aide of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose supporters in the
army helped the militias capture Sanaa in September 2014. “He was providing
information and coordinates to the coalition,” tweeted Ibrahim Saryi, chief of
staff of Saleh’s powerful son Ahmed. Willems is not the first American to be
detained by the militias. In April, a US citizen was flown out of Sanaa to
Muscat after successful negotiations for his release by Oman, the only Gulf Arab
state which is not part of the Saudi-led coalition battling the militias. Last
November, Oman evacuated three Americans who had been detained for spying by the
militias. And in September last year, Oman helped to negotiate the release of a
Briton, two Americans and three Saudis. Hostility to Washington has long been a
key part of the rhetoric of the Houthis. They chant the same “Death to America”
slogan at their rallies as used by the Shiite regime in Iran. The hostility has
increased since the Saudi-led coalition launched its military intervention in
support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in March last year with
reconnaissance and refueling support from Washington. Western embassies have
long since quit the capital, with most diplomats now based in neighboring
countries. Only a small number of Westerners remain in Sanaa.
Egypt arrests 4 in connection
with migrants boat disaster
The Associated Press, Rosetta, EgyptThursday, 22 September 2016/Egyptian
authorities have arrested four people in connection with the death of at least
42 migrants whose Europe-bound boat capsized off Egypt's Mediterranean coast.
Officials say the four, whom they did not identify nor specify their link to the
incident, have been remanded into police custody for four days pending further
investigation. The Egyptian military said the boat was 12 nautical miles off the
coast near the town of Rosetta when it capsized Wednesday. Egypt's official news
agency said the boat was carrying 600 people when it sank. Thousands of illegal
migrants have made the dangerous sea voyage across the Mediterranean in recent
years, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East.
Egypt has in recent months seen an uptick in the number of migrant boats leaving
its Mediterranean shores.
Drone strike kills three
Qaeda suspects in Yemen
AFP, AdenThursday, 22 September 2016/An apparent US drone strike killed three
suspected al-Qaeda members Thursday in Yemen, including a mid-ranking commander,
security officials said. A missile destroyed a vehicle which the three suspects
were using in the region of Sawmaa in central Baida province, the officials
said. One security official said militants had recently sought refugee in the
vicinity following military operations against the extremists in nearby
Hadramawt, Abyan and Lahj provinces. Two suspected al-Qaeda members were killed
Wednesday in a similar strike in central Marib province. The United States has
been involved in a years-long unmanned drone campaign in Yemen and is thought to
have carried out dozens of strikes against what it says are members of al-Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AQAP and the ISIS group have exploited a power
vacuum created by the conflict between the government and Iran-backed Houthi
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 against the Huthis 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.
More than 6,600 people have been killed in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015,
the UN says.
Indonesia seizes fertilizer
ship in Bali, suspecting bomb plot
Reuters, Denpasar (Indonesia)Thursday, 22 September 2016/Indonesian authorities
on the resort island of Bali on Thursday detained a ship from Malaysia carrying
around 30 tonnes of fertilizer which police believe may have been intended for
making bombs. Customs and police were questioning the crew and investigating the
material for potential links to radical
networks as the world's largest Muslim-majority nation remains on high alert for
militant attacks. Bali police official Hendra Suhartiyono said authorities were
looking into whether the material was on its way to the eastern island of
Sulawesi, a region known for militant violence. “We are not closed to the
possibility that this chemical material ... could also be for the benefit of
terrorist groups in Sulawesi to make low-impact and high-impact bombs,” he said.
Indonesia's most-wanted man, a militant called Santoso, was killed by security
forces in Sulawesi earlier this year. Santoso, who had pledged allegiance to
ISIS, cultivated a small radical network in the Poso area, which has now been
severely weakened by a lengthy security operation.
Shipped from Malaysia
“At the moment the crew are being intensively examined on explosive material
ammonium nitrate that was carried, shipped from Malaysia,” Bali customs official
Thomas Aquino said. “They confessed that the boat was rented to be shipped to
Sulawesi. They thought the material in the sacks was fertilizer. We will detain
the ship crew to be processed legally.”Indonesia saw its first militant attack
in several years in January in which four people were killed. The gun-and-bomb
assault in the heart of the capital Jakarta was claimed by Islamic State. Last
month, authorities tightened security in Bali after reports of a suspected
militant plot on the island. A nightclub bombing on the island in 2002 carried
out by home-grown militants killed 202 people, mostly Australians, and prompted
a nation-wide security crackdown.
Belgian PM pokes fun at
Donald Trump
ENEXThursday, 22 September 2016/The Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel
(Francophone liberal) has poked fun at the comments made by the Republican
candidate in the US presidential elections Donald Trump. He did so during a
speech at the Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce in New York. After the 22
March attacks in Brussels, Trump called our capital city a “hell hole”. Speaking
on Wednesday evening, Michel told his audience of businesspeople “Ladies and
gentlemen. I always forget his name, but there is a presidential candidate that
has called Brussels a hell hole. He wanted to be here tonight with us, but we
cancel his invitation”. The intention of the speech was to try and attract
investors to Belgium. "Brussel is many things, but it is above all an
international of the World’s third most globalized economy”. Michel didn’t call
Mr Trump by name, but let it be known that he was not impressed with the
presidential candidate’s comments. The event was attended by many Belgian
business people that are attractive in the United States and Belgian
businesspeople with links to Belgium. Michel travelled to New York for the
General Assembly of the United Nations that took place earlier this week.
Morocco detains four
‘dangerous’ ISIS suspects
AFP, RabatThursday, 22 September 2016/Moroccan police have arrested four
"dangerous" suspected militants linked to the ISIS group who were planning
attacks across the country, the government said on Thursday. Investigators
apprehended an individual on Wednesday in the northern city of Meknes who had
been "planning terrorist attacks in Morocco," according to a statement from the
interior ministry. The suspect had "acquired vast experience in the manufacture
of remote-detonated explosives" and was "about to procure essential materials to
make" a bomb, it added. Last week three suspected extremists were arrested
around Tangiers, in northern Morocco, reportedly in the process of preparing
"extremely serious terrorist acts", the statement said. The head of the cell had
allegedly been contacted by a Moroccan ISIS member and had planned to travel to
join the militants in Iraq or Syria. Rabat says more than 150 "terrorist cells"
have been uncovered since 2002, including dozens in the past three years with
ties to militants in Iraq and Syria. A study by the US-based Soufan Group said
last December that at least 1,200 Moroccans had travelled to fight alongside
ISIS in Iraq and Syria in the previous 18 months.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on September 22-23/16
France: Human
Rights vs. The People
Yves Mamou/Gatestone Institute/September 22/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8941/france-human-rights
French politicians seem to believe they are elected NOT to defend French people
and the French nation, but to impose a "human rights ideology" on society.
The rule of law is there to protect citizens from the arbitrary actions of the
State. When a group of French Muslims attacks the entire way society is
constructed, the rule of law now protects only the perpetrators.
For Western leaders, "human rights" have become a kind of new religion. Like a
disease, the human rights ideology has proliferated in all areas of life. The UN
website shows a list of all the human rights that are now institutionalized:
they range from "adequate housing" to "youth." At least 42 categories of human
rights fields are determined, each of which are split into two or three
subcategories.
With what result? More than 140 countries (out of 193 UN members) engage in
torture. The number of authoritarian countries has increased. Women remain a
subordinate class in nearly all countries.
"Saudi Arabia ratified the treaty banning discrimination against women in 2007,
and yet by law subordinates women to men in all areas of life. Child labour
exists in countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. Powerful western countries, including the US, do business with grave
human rights abusers." — Eric Posner, professor at the University of Chicago Law
School.
Human rights, originally conceived of as an anti-discrimination tool, became a
Trojan horse, a tool manipulated by Islamists and others to dismantle
secularism, freedom of speech and freedom of religion in European countries.
On August 13, the Administrative Court in Nice, France, validated the decision
of the Mayor of Cannes to prohibit wearing religious clothing on the beaches of
Cannes. By "religious clothing," the judge clearly seemed to be pointing his
finger at the burkini, a body-covering bathing suit worn by many Muslim women.
These "Muslim textile affairs" reveal two types of jihad attacking France: one
hard, one soft. The hard jihad, internationally known, consists of assassinating
journalists of Charlie Hebdo (January 2015), Jewish people at the Hypercacher
supermarket (January 2015) and young people at the Bataclan Theater, restaurants
and the Stade de France (November 2015). The hard jihad also included stabbing
two policeman in Magnanville, a suburb of Paris, (June 2016); truck-ramming to
death 84 people in Nice on Bastille Day (July 14), and murdering a priest in the
church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, among other incidents. The goal of hard
jihad, led by ISIS, al-Qaeda, and others, is to impose sharia by terror.
The soft jihad is different. It does not involve murdering people, but its final
goal is the same: to impose Islam on France by covering the country in Islamic
symbols -- veils, burqas, burkinis and so on -- at all levels of the society: in
schools, universities, hospitals, corporations, streets, beaches, swimming pools
and public transportation. By imposing the veil everywhere, soft Islamists seem
to want to kill secularism, which, since escaping the grip of the Catholic
Church, has become the French way of "living together."
Scenes from the "hard jihad" against France; the November 2015 shootings in
Paris, in which 130 people were murdered by Islamists.
No one can understand secularism in France without a bit of history.
"Secularism is essential if we want the 'people' be defined on a political
basis" wrote the French historian, Jacques Sapir.
"Religious allegiance, when it turns into fundamentalism, is in conflict with
the notion of sovereignty of the people. ... the Nation and State in France were
built historically by fighting feudalism and the supranational ambition of the
Pope and Christian religion. ... Secularism is the tool to return to the private
sphere all matters that cannot be challenged comfortably .... Freedom for
diversity among individuals implies a consensus in the common public sphere. The
distinction between the public sphere and the private sphere is fundamental for
democracy to exist."
And this distinction is secularism.
The Problem Now is Political
French politicians seem to believe they are elected NOT to defend French people
and the French nation, but to impose a "human rights ideology" on society. They
also seem unable to understand the challenges that common people in the streets
are currently facing. They are also unable or unwilling to defend the country
against either hard or soft jihad.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, for instance, said in a July 29 interview
for Le Monde:
"We must focus on everything that is effective [to fight Islamism], but there is
a line that may not be crossed: the rule of law. ... My government will not be
the one to create a Guantanamo, French-style."
Only Yves Michaud, a French philosopher, dared to point out that the rule of law
is there to protect citizens from the arbitrary actions of the State. When a
group of French Muslims attacks the entire way society is constructed, the rule
of law now protects only the perpetrators.
The same is true for French President François Hollande. After the murder by two
Islamists of the Father Jacques Hamel in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in July 2016,
he said: "We must lead the war by all means in respect of the rule of law."
Elisabeth Levy, publisher of the French magazine, Causeur, wrote in response:
"We need to know: by all means? ... Or in respect of the rule of law? What is
this rule of law that authorizes a judge to release an Islamist interested in
waging jihad in Syria and, because he could not go to Syria, was free while
wearing an electronic bracelet, to walk the streets to slit the throat of a
priest?"
She concluded: "If we want to protect our liberties, it might be interesting to
take some liberties with the rule of law."
The ideology of human rights is common to all European countries. Because
authorities in European countries act, speak and legislate on the basis of human
rights, they put themselves in a position of weakness when they have to name,
apprehend and fight an Islamist threat.
In Sweden:
A 46-year-old Bosnian ISIS jihadi, considered extremely dangerous, was taken
into custody by the Malmö police. The terrorist immediately applied for asylum,
the Swedish Migration Agency stepped in, took over the case -- and prevented him
from being deported. Inspector Leif Fransson of the Border Police told the local
daily newspaper, HD/Sydsvenskan: "As soon as these people throw out their trump
card and say 'Asylum', the gates of heaven open. Sweden has gotten a reputation
as a safe haven for terrorists."
In Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a press conference, at the end of
July 2016, that her mission was not to defend German people and German identity
but "to fulfill humanitarian obligations [towards migrants]." She added it was
"our historic task... a historic test in times of globalization."
For Western Leaders, Human Rights Has Become a New Religion
The human rights movement was born in 1948 with the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, launched by Eleanor Roosevelt. For 70 years, nine major "core"
human rights treaties were written and ratified by the vast majority of
countries.
Like a disease, the "human rights ideology" has proliferated in all areas of
life. The United Nations website shows a list of all the human rights that are
now institutionalized: they range from "adequate housing" to "youth" and include
"Food", "Freedom of Religion and Belief", "HIV/AIDS", "Mercenaries",
"Migration", "Poverty", "Privacy", "Sexual orientation and gender identity",
"Situations", " Sustainable Development", "Water and sanitation." At least 42
categories of human rights fields are determined, each of which are split into
two or three subcategories.
With what result? More than 140 countries (out of 193 countries that belong to
the UN) engage in torture. The number of authoritarian countries has increased:
"105 countries have seen a net decline in terms of freedom, and only 61 have
experienced a net improvement" reported the NGO, Freedom House, in 2016. Women
remain a subordinate class in nearly all countries. Children continue to work in
mines and factories in many countries.
Professor Eric Posner of the University of Chicago Law School, writes:
"Saudi Arabia ratified the treaty banning discrimination against women in 2007,
and yet by law subordinates women to men in all areas of life. Child labour
exists in countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the
Child: Uzbekistan, Tanzania and India, for example. Powerful western countries,
including the US, do business with grave human rights abusers."
What is disturbing is not that the "religion" of "anti-discrimination" has
become a joke. What is disturbing is that human rights, originally conceived of
as an anti-discrimination tool, became a Trojan horse, a tool manipulated by
Islamists and others to dismantle secularism, freedom of speech, and freedom of
religion in European countries. What is disturbing is that human rights and
anti-discrimination policies are dismantling nations, and placing States in a
position of incapacity -- or perhaps just unwillingness -- to name Islamism as a
problem and take measures against it.
The Religion of Human Rights as a Tool of Europe's Muslim Brotherhood
Jean-Louis Harouel, Professor of the History of Law at the Paris-Panthéon-Assas
University, recently published a book entitled, Les Droits de l'homme contre le
peuple (Humans Rights against the People). In an interview with Le Figaro, he
said:
"Human rights, are what we call in France 'fundamental rights'. They were
introduced in the 70's. The great beneficiaries of fundamental rights were
foreigners. Islam took advantage of it to install in France, in the name of
human rights and under its protection, Islamic civilization, mosques and
minarets, the Islamic way of life, halal food prescriptions, clothing and
cultural behavior -- Islamic laws even in violation of French law: religious
marriage without civil marriage, polygamy, unilateral divorce of wife by
husband, etc.
"Through the assertion of identity, Islamists and mainly UOIF [Union of Islamic
Organizations of France -- the French branch of the Muslim Brotherhood]
exploited human rights to install their progressive control on populations of
Northern African descent, and coerce them to respect the Islamic order. In
particular, they do all that they can to prevent young [Arab] people who are
born in France from becoming French citizens."
The human rights and anti-discrimination "religion" also gave Islam and
Islamists a comfortable position from which to declare war on France and all
other European countries. It seems whatever crime they are committing today and
will commit in the future, Muslims and Islamists remain the victim. For example,
just after the November 13 terrorist attacks in France, in which more than 130
people were murdered by Islamists at the Bataclan Theater, the Stade de France,
cafés and restaurants, Tariq Ramadan, an Islamist professor at Oxford
University, tweeted:
"I am not Charlie, nor Paris: I am a warrant search suspect".
Ramadan meant that because of the emergency laws and because he was a Muslim, he
was an automatic suspect, an automatic victim of racism and "Islamophobia."
In another example, just after the terrorist attack in Nice on July 14, when an
Islamist rammed a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, killing at least
84 people, Abdelkader Sadouni, an imam in Nice, told the Italian newspaper Il
Giornale: "French secularism is the main and only thing responsible for terror
attacks."
Global Elites against the People
The question now is: have our leaders decided to cope with the real problems of
the real people? In other words, are they motivated enough to throw the human
rights ideology overboard, restore secularism in society and fight Islamists?
The problem is that they do not even seem to understand the problem. What Peggy
Noonan, of the Wall Street Journal, wrote about Angela Merkel can apply to all
leaders of European countries:
"Ms. Merkel had put the entire burden of a huge cultural change not on herself
and those like her but on regular people who live closer to the edge, who do not
have the resources to meet the burden, who have no particular protection or
money or connections. Ms. Merkel, her cabinet and government, the media and
cultural apparatus that lauded her decision were not in the least affected by it
and likely never would be.
Nothing in their lives will get worse. The challenge of integrating different
cultures, negotiating daily tensions, dealing with crime and extremism and
fearfulness on the street — that was put on those with comparatively little,
whom I've called the unprotected. They were left to struggle, not gradually and
over the years but suddenly and in an air of ongoing crisis that shows no signs
of ending — because nobody cares about them enough to stop it.
The powerful show no particular sign of worrying about any of this. When the
working and middle class pushed back in shocked indignation, the people on top
called them "xenophobic," "narrow-minded," "racist." The detached, who made the
decisions and bore none of the costs, got to be called "humanist,"
"compassionate," and "hero of human rights."
So the fight against Islamism might first consist of a fight against the caste
that governs us.
**Yves Mamou, based in France, worked for two decades as a journalist for Le
Monde.
© 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.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan to U.S.
Immigrants: Don't Assimilate
Raheem Kassam/Middle East
Forum/September 22/16
Cross-posted from Breitbart
http://www.meforum.org/blog/2016/09/sadiq-khan-immigrants-shouldnt-assimilate
Originally published under the title "London's Islamist-Linked Mayor Tells U.S.
Audience: 'Immigrants Shouldn't Assimilate'."
Sadiq Khan narrowly won London's mayoral election in May.
London's Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan has continued his pro-Hillary Clinton tour of
the United States by declaring that immigrants into the West should not be
forced to assimilate.
His comments come hot on the heels of the Chicago press exposing his connections
to radical Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Mr. Khan, who was elected to be London's mayor in May 2016, has also used his
trip to claim that Republican candidate Donald Trump is "playing into the hands"
of the Islamic State.
His trip runs contrary to the U.S. visit from former UK Independence Party
leader Nigel Farage, who presented an upbeat message of defeating the political
establishment on stage with Donald Trump.
Instead, Mr. Khan insisted: "One of the lessons from around the world is that a
laissez-faire or hands-off approach to social integration doesn't work. We need
rules, institutions, and support to enable people to integrate into cohesive
communities and for the avoidance of doubt, I don't mean assimilation, I mean
integration, and there's a difference."
He added: "People shouldn't have to drop their cultures and traditions when they
arrive in our cities and countries."
The United Kingdom, and especially areas of East London which overwhelmingly
voted for Mr. Khan, is currently suffering from Muslim ghettoisation, horrific
employment rates for Muslim women, an internal debate surrounding the banning of
the burka, and ongoing issues such as female genital mutilation, anti-Semitism,
and homophobia within Muslim communities.
Under Mr. Khan's plans, none of these "cultures and traditions" would need to be
dropped for Muslim migrants to Western countries.
According to VOA News, Mr. Khan called himself a "big fan" of Hillary Clinton,
adding: "We play straight into the hands of those who seek to divide us, of
extremists and terrorists around the world, when we imply that it's not possible
to hold Western values dear and to be a Muslim."
Mr. Khan has been repeatedly criticised for connections with former Guantanamo
Bay detainees, as well as known Muslim extremists in the United Kingdom. His
appearances have been widely covered by Britain's media, but are routinely
ignored by the political establishment.
He has also pledged to ban images of women not covered up from advertisements on
the London Underground (Tube).
Recently, Breitbart London revealed that Mr. Khan appointed an extremism-linked
advisor to his City Hall team.
Raheem Kassam is a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum and
editor-in-chief of Breitbart London.
An Inside Look at
Israeli National Security Strategy
Moshe Yaalon/The Washington Institute/September 22/16
Below the Video Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AowVyrKZ9zg
Former Israeli defense minister Moshe "Bogie" Yaalon offers his views on the
Iran nuclear deal, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and what he hopes (and
expects) from the next U.S. president.
On September 15, former Israeli defense minister and military chief of staff
Moshe "Bogie" Yaalon addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. The
following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks.
The ongoing earthquake in the Arab world over the past five years has reoriented
the political landscape and contributed to deep instability that will likely
persist for the foreseeable future. This realignment is due to the collapse of
the nation-state system imposed by colonialist powers, with artificially
constructed states such as Syria, Iraq, and Libya breaking apart and creating
dangerous power vacuums. These broken states are unlikely to put themselves back
together again; instead, they will probably be reconstituted into ethnically
homogenous cantons or loose confederations.
Israel must be sober and realistic in addressing its dangerous neighborhood, and
its response should follow a few clear principles. First, it should not engage
in wishful thinking or patronizing behavior by trying to impose democracy or a
nation-state framework onto countries that are unwilling to accept such
arrangements. Real democracy means more than just holding elections -- it
requires a long process of education and socialization, which these countries
have yet to undertake.
Second, Israel does not wish to intervene in internal Arab conflicts, though it
will act decisively when its interests are threatened and retaliate in clear,
predictable ways. It learned this lesson in part from the events that followed
its support for Lebanese president Bashir Gemayel during the 1982 war. Today,
the Israeli government has deliberately adopted a neutral stance by not taking a
public position on whether Bashar al-Assad should remain in power in Syria. At
the same time, it will not allow violations of its sovereignty in the Golan
Heights, delivery of advanced weapons to its enemies, or delivery of chemical
weapons; the Israel Defense Forces have already demonstrated that they will
respond firmly to such actions. In tandem with this strategy, Israel also
provides humanitarian aid in Syria, including food, medical treatment, and fuel,
in order to ameliorate the difficult conditions for victims of violence and
prevent the refugee problem from growing worse.
Israel has employed a similar approach with Hamas: retaliating after rockets are
fired, but otherwise seeking to avoid escalation and provide humanitarian
support to the people of Gaza, including water and electricity. Elsewhere,
Israel's unprecedented strategic cooperation with Egypt and Jordan contributes
to its overall security in the region.
Altogether, this strategy has led to a fairly calm security situation despite
the regional turmoil. Hezbollah has been reluctant to pursue conflict with
Israel, and there has not been a single cross-border attack by Sunni jihadists
in Syria, including the Islamic State. Moreover, since Israel has been holding
Hamas responsible for all rocket fire from Gaza, such attacks are now
infrequent; the wave of stabbings that began a year ago has largely dissipated
as well.
Israel's biggest threat comes from further afield, in Iran. Although the nuclear
deal lengthened Tehran's timetable for building a bomb, it came with a host of
negative consequences too. The Iranians will retain some of their nuclear
infrastructure, and thus the capacity to build a weapon in the next ten to
fifteen years. They also continue to make regular conventional weapons
deliveries to terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, including Hezbollah,
radical Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen. In all,
Iran has helped establish terrorist infrastructure on five continents -- a fact
that belies its portrayal as moderate under the leadership of President Hassan
Rouhani. Some see Tehran as part of the solution to the roiling regional
conflicts because of its willingness to fight the Islamic State. Yet its
opposition to that Sunni jihadist group should not be viewed as anything more
than a ploy to remove an ideological rival and gain a greater foothold in the
region.
Despite these threats, the geopolitical earthquake has created opportunities for
Israel as well. Currently, the Middle East is divided into four broad camps:
Iran's Shiite axis, including the Assad regime, Hezbollah, and Yemen's Houthis;
the Muslim Brotherhood camp, led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but
also encompassing elements in Egypt and Hamas; the global jihadist camp,
including the Islamic State and al-Qaeda; and the Sunni Arab camp, which
comprises Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and
others. Israel and the latter camp share several common adversaries, and while
their cooperation is already robust (albeit quiet), it is in their mutual
interest to increase it even further.
The United States should join Israel in publicly aligning with the Sunni Arab
camp. One recent step in this direction was the signing of a bilateral
Memorandum of Understanding in which Washington will grant Israel $38 billion in
military assistance over the next decade. Yet Sunni states have echoed Israel's
frustration with the Obama administration for not addressing their concerns
about the nuclear deal, for allowing Iranian proxies to stir up trouble in the
region, and for wavering in its commitment to Sunni leaders, including Hosni
Mubarak and Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in the wake of Egypt's revolutions. To be sure,
these states are not asking the United States to deploy ground troops to the
region -- they just want Washington to be more engaged by supporting partners on
the ground with airstrikes and intelligence and making their alliances known
more openly.
Finally, while the world's focus has largely shifted to wider Arab issues in
recent years, the Palestinian question still occupies a good deal of attention.
Solving the conflict would be ideal, but it is not solvable at this time.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the core of the conflict does not stem from the
disputed territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war, but from the fact that
the Palestinians are not willing to accept the presence of Israel as the
nation-state of the Jewish people. As long as they are unwilling to recognize
Israel's legitimacy, there is no value in making territorial concessions. This
line of reasoning also dispels the idea that unilateral Israeli withdrawals
would create the political momentum for a peace plan.
Since the gaps are too wide to bridge at this time, Israel should manage the
conflict rather than trying to solve it. To move toward a political resolution,
Israel should focus on building Palestinian society from the bottom up by
improving economics, infrastructure, law enforcement, and governance in the
Palestinian Authority. Ultimately, the Palestinians will also have to make
sweeping changes to their education system, stop demonizing Jews, and concede
that Israel has a right to at least some of the land. In other words, they
cannot advance the cause of peace while also claiming that Tel Aviv is a
settlement. These broad changes to Palestinian society are a prerequisite to
real negotiations.
**This summary was prepared by Aryeh Mellman.
Crown prince highlights Saudi
Arabia’s global role
Abdulatif Al-Mulhim/Al Arabiya/September 22/16
The world is full of conflicts and violence and as a consequence, there are more
refugees, displaced people, human trafficking and civil causalities. In
contrast, Saudi Arabia is at least one country, which is known for its
stability, prosperity and a unique lifestyle based on close relations among its
society members and based on family values. It strives to ensure a secure life
to its people.
This is one reason that has made the country one of the safest places to live
in. These inherent social values and close family relations have become a
positive reflection of how to look at others in need especially when they come
from outside the Saudi border.
One-third of the Saudi population is expatriates living and working in the
Kingdom. This is why the Saudi establishment considers the refugee situation in
the neighborhood unbearable, the number of which is reaching levels that it is
becoming an international dilemma and a cause of internal stability issue for
many countries. The refugee issue is one of the main topics of the latest UN
summit.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif who is leading the Saudi delegation to the 71st
session of the UN General Assembly in New York spoke at the summit for refugees
and migrants. He outlined in his speech the Saudi efforts for the care of
refugees.
In his main address at the UN on Wednesday, he said: The Kingdom was “one of the
first” countries that suffered from terrorism, way before the deadly Sept. 11
attack in New York in 2001.
“Combating terrorism should be a ‘joint international responsibility’…we call
for cooperation as per the international law and principles on which the UN was
built, which equates the sovereignty of all nations,” the crown prince said. He
also denounced the Israeli aggression on Palestinians and urged a two-state
solution with Jerusalem being the capital of Palestine.
Saudi Arabia spends one of the highest per capita in the world to assist others
in need. The UN efforts in this summit is a step in the right direction provided
that all countries contribute their fair
The crown prince also called for political solution to Syrian crisis and the
implementation of Geneva I accord, which stipulates a transitional government.
On Yemen, he reiterated the Saudi position over UN Resolution 2216 requiring the
Iran-backed Houthi militias and their allies to withdraw from areas they
occupied in 2014. In addition, the crown prince met many world leaders and
highlighted Kingdom’s global role.
Since UN’s establishment, as also other world organizations, Saudi Arabia has
been at the forefront in making efforts by means of donations and other
contribution for the cause of refugees and those who sought safer and better
lives. In his earlier speech on refugees, the crown prince presented statistics
regarding the Kingdom’s role on refugees. Since its establishment in 1932 it has
been a safe place for many from around the world.
History of accepting refugees
The country has seen people streaming into the Kingdom following colonization of
several Arab countries; it welcomed Palestinian refugees during the 1948 war
between the Arabs and Israelis; took care of those fleeing Iraqis during the
liberation of Kuwait in 1991; and during the Arab Spring, Saudi Arabia again
became a center of attraction for many who came for shelter.
But, there is something different in Saudi Arabia in the way we treat refugees
or displaced people. We simply don’t call them refugees. We don’t build tent
cities for them and make them isolated. They are living among us and with us as
guests. Besides, the Kingdom takes all the burdens on itself without any UN or
other international organizations’ aid. We pay for all the expenses from the
Saudi national budget.
Saudi Arabia has received millions of refugees from Syria and Yemen in the past
few years. They are enrolled in our schools and being treated in our hospitals.
The world still remembers the care we provided to the hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis who were in the Kingdom for many years and later on many of them returned
to Iraq and many went to other countries. The crown prince has stressed the
point that Saudi Arabia has given more than $139 billion in assistance to
others.
The refugee issue will indeed continue as long as there are wars and conflicts,
but at least Saudi Arabia always goes the extra mile to lend a helping hand and
to make great monetary contributions to various international organizations.
Saudi Arabia spends one of the highest per capita in the world to assist others
in need. The UN efforts in this summit is a step in the right direction provided
that all countries contribute their fair share and this is what Saudi Arabia had
done for a long time.
The crown prince spoke with transparency and had all the facts about the Saudi
contributions to make the world a safer place, more stable and more prosperous.
We Saudis hope the world needs similar spirit to implement all the agreements
and pacts that the world organizations like the UN have reached to make the
world a safer place to live in. They have to look closely for the well-being and
care for the refugees.They have been subject to all kinds of abuse and
mistreatment and the summit had outlined all the obstacles and the measures to
overcome them, but, only through collective efforts and genuine good intentions
to help the refugees will the crisis be resolved. In Saudi Arabia we don’t call
them refugees, we call them guests.
**This article first appeared on Arab News on September 22, 2016.
On the BBC correspondent and
the siege in Syria
Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/September 22/16
A recent photo of BBC Arabic’s correspondent showed him posing near army
officers in Syria immediately after the battle to besiege eastern Aleppo ended.
The Syrian regime is directly responsible for the siege, starvation and murder
of thousands of Syrians. Many residents were forced to flee their city. Will
this photo affect the credibility of BBC Arabic?
The answer is self-evident. Many global TV stations have terminated their
contracts with prominent presenters and journalists because they have take a
stance toward a certain party on social media. Of course, any journalist or
institution can cover an event or pursue a party for a story regardless of how
violent or negative this party’s practices are. However, the question is how to
do so professionally.
Bias toward the regime
The photo reflects direct bias toward the regime, and there have been many
examples of this while the correspondent covered developments from inside Syria.
They have been monitored by observers and BBC Arabic employees. The
correspondent had portrayed the siege of Daraya as the responsibility of the
Syrian opposition. This is a flagrant error that is refuted by facts and by
reports from international organizations.
The channel itself once had to apologize for wrongly reporting that the
opposition was shelling Aleppo. It had used footage from rebel-held areas and
said they were regime-held areas. After this incident, it aired a report saying
44 civilians had been killed by rebel shelling of regime-controlled areas in the
city. However, it had used footage of massacres committed by the regime and
Russia air forces in neighborhoods controlled by the opposition.
This in addition to the correspondent’s field reports that often camouflage and
whitewash the regime’s role in atrocities. Some justify these practices by
citing the station’s desire to be present inside Syria, even if according to the
regime’s conditions. This is a pitiful excuse.
The BBC presents itself as independent. It is on this basis that we must raise
questions about neutrality while covering complicated and significant matters
such as Syria
Sense of responsibility
When factions such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Jabhat
Fateh al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front) commit a crime, the channel attributes
it to them - this is necessary. However, it does not do so when the regime
commits crimes. For example, a news headline at the bottom of a TV screen may
report the death of 100 Syrians in raids in Aleppo, but it would not say the
victims were killed by regime shelling.
This ambiguous situation causes even more resentment when it is by a global TV
station such as the BBC, which presents itself as independent. It is on this
basis that we must raise questions about neutrality while covering complicated
and significant matters such as Syria.
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Sept. 19, 2016.
On the way to Manhattan
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/September 22/16
While on the airplane to New York, the literal Arabic translation of the city’s
name - “the new city” - crossed my mind. Every time I visit it, it is like I
book a ticket to cross over from the old world to the new. The Hudson River
flows through New York and empties into New York Bay, a natural harbor, then
into the Atlantic Ocean. Frank Sinatra sang about New York. It is the city that
never sleeps. It is people’s destination for thousands of reasons.
When people visit it they buy everything they need, yet leave still wanting to
buy more. It has the oldest port in America. It is where the Dutch fought the
Red Indians, where the Irish arrived, and where black people immigrated to write
the most beautiful songs in Harlem's bars. New York, which is like Baghdad in
the 6th century, does not turn anyone away, but it maintains its distance from
everyone; I am everyone’s friend, but I have no friend!
I adore New York because a sixth of the global publishing market’s work,
journalism and media are produced here. This is where the news wakes up, where
spicy news bulletins are made, and where a successful investor roams in his
luxurious car while a drunken painter sways in the train heading to the Bronx or
Brooklyn at night. New York loves the color green, unlike many other cities in
the US.
New York, which has a thousand faces every hour of the day and night, makes you
feel lost regardless of how well you know it
Art and civilization
Visit it, and when you are tired of walking, walk a little more to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art and learn about civilization. The museum is a few
meters away from Central Park. It is as if nature is the loyal sister of
history. East and west are both present there. Buying a ticket to the museum is
like a passport to several areas across the world.
Renaissance artists have been immortalized via paintings hung on the wide walls.
There are paintings of knights, and a beloved looking out from a window. The
colors are so vivid, you would think the horse is real and about to neigh. The
museum captures special moments of sleep and dreams.
There is a room about Damascus, and you would shed a tear when entering it as
you remember the fountains that shelling has destroyed. You then read the
prophet’s statement about Yemen: “The people of Yemen have come to you, and they
are gentle and soft-hearted. Belief is Yemenite and wisdom is Yemenite.” I
grieve as I recall that Damascus is no longer the same due to the butcher’s
shelling, and that Yemen is no longer wise after becoming a jewel in the hands
of a coal miner.
New York, which has a thousand faces every hour of the day and night, makes you
feel lost regardless of how well you know it. All people are noble and equal
before the law. If someone bumps into you, he or she apologizes. Enjoy your trip
in the new world. New York is still new at all times.
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Sept. 22, 2016.
Bringing honor to our
National Day
Faisal Al-Shammeri/Al Arabiya/September 22/16
Sept. 23 deserves a special place in Saudi hearts. That day in 1932 their
country was established, in a far different world than we see today. It was
founded at the height of empires and colonialism, during the depths of the Great
Depression, when Hitler and his National Socialist Party was on the verge of
assuming power in Germany, and when Stalin was beginning his quest for absolute
power in Russia.
In 1932, the foreshadowing of World War II was beginning to show itself in
northeast Asia, with Japan’s conquest of Chinese Manchuria. In the year of our
first Saudi National Day, authoritarian powers were beginning their bids for
global domination. In our region, France was in Morocco, Algeria and the Levant,
Italy was in Libya, Somalia and Eritrea, and Britain was in Egypt, Palestine and
Iraq.
When we see what has transpired since Sept. 23, 1932, it is beyond remarkable to
see what has been created in our homeland. Let us give honor to our National Day
by looking at the path we have traveled, how the world has changed, and where we
find ourselves today.
The kingdom, founded by King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman al-Saud, has outlasted
Bolshevik Russia, Hitler’s supposed 1,000-year Reich, the British Empire and the
Cold War. Very few people, if any, at the time of our first National Day would
have taken that bet. In the 21st century, Saudi Arabia finds itself at the
forefront of the global community, with a large presence in the region and
beyond.
What we have today comes with great responsibility, and awareness of who we are,
where we have come from and where we can be. This must be impressed upon Saudi
youths
Then and now
If we had told our grandparents and great grandparents then what we would be
today, they would have found it hard to believe. Riyadh went from a provincial
capital to a hustling metropolis with global stature. King Abdulaziz had his
first meeting with the US president on a naval vessel to begin Saudi-American
relations. Now US presidents visit Riyadh as partners of the highest strategic
order, for both sides.
Saudi Arabia was among the first signatories of the UN Charter, established in
the last months of World War II. One of the largest companies the world has ever
seen, Saudi Aramco, is just one of the fruits of this relationship that has
developed since 1932. We are one of the richest countries civilization has ever
known.
People from all over the world work in the kingdom in highly-skilled
professions, for salaries that sometimes exceed what they can make in their home
countries. We are emerging as a source of manufacturing, petrochemicals and
technology. We began this journey on Sept. 23, 1932.
Today, we have a region of instability, in some cases submerged in extreme pain,
despair, sadism and death. Saudi Arabia stands at the forefront against
belligerent agitators who offer pain and death to the region’s peoples. The
kingdom is at the forefront of humanity, partnered with countries that are among
the most important in today’s geopolitical order.
Under the leadership of King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif and Deputy
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is vaulting into the 21st century
under Vision 2030. Today, we are the bridge from Europe to the Middle East and
Asia. The kingdom on this National Day would be unrecognizable to our
grandparents and great grandparents.
What we have today comes with great responsibility, and awareness of who we are,
where we have come from and where we can be. This must be impressed upon Saudi
youths. French Emperor Napoleon once said: “It’s just a step between the
ridiculous and the sublime.” He was right. Folly and complacency create the
bridge between the ridiculous and the sublime.
Today, we honor our National Day, Prophet Mohammed, the holy mosques of Makkah
and Medina, our forefathers and ancestors, King Salman, Mohammed bin Naif,
Mohammed bin Salman, our brave soldiers fighting in Yemen for our peace and
security, members of the armed forces and National Guard, and our parents. We do
that by never forgetting where we have come from, and by knowing where we are
today and the possibilities for our future if we honor and respect our past.
Can the UN General Assembly
save Yemen?
Abdullah Hamidaddin/Al Arabiya/September 22/16
If there is one thing Yemenis will not be expecting from the UN General Assembly
(UNGA), it is a positive outcome to the conflict raging in their country. With
more than 10,000 killed, according to the UN, there is no end in sight or
confidence in the organization’s ability to bring peace to Yemen. The UN was
able to provide international legitimacy to Operation Decisive Storm, but it is
helpless in bringing an end to the war.
The organization has lost credibility with Yemen’s internationally recognized
government, as well as with the rebel alliance that took power forcefully almost
two years ago. The UN envoy has been accused by all the warring parties of bias,
and his statements evoke little confidence from key stakeholders in Yemen and
the region. There is nothing new here. Almost half a million Syrians have been
killed while the UN has watched helplessly. One cannot blame its leaders or
mediators, but rather the way it operates, and the paralyzing constraints of the
great powers.
Stalemate
Yemen’s conflict has reached a stalemate. As far as Yemenis are concerned, it is
no longer about legitimacy, but about old regional and tribal powers trying to
retain lost authority, and new ones carving themselves a place in the country.
The UN can provide a space for negotiations, but sadly it cannot ripen
conditions for successful talks. This is one thing only Yemenis can do
Moreover, Yemen’s social fabric is too intertwined - one cannot speak of two
distinct camps, but rather a mosaic of alliances and animosities. A group may be
with the legitimate government on one front, but against it on another; with the
rebel alliance in Taiz, but against it in Mareb.
Then there is the economy of war. A thriving black market has created a major
disincentive to ending the conflict. There is also fear of reprisals. With peace
comes accountability for the wanton destruction and loss of lives. For many
fighters, war is their best option as it postpones justice. The UN can provide a
space for negotiations, but sadly it cannot ripen conditions for successful
talks. This is one thing only Yemenis can do.
Perhaps the key obstacle for a solution in Yemen is providing a face-saving
formula. The war could go on for years simply because no side wants to lose
face. Face-saving can only come via institutions that derive legitimacy from
tradition - this is something the UN cannot provide. There is one international
organization that has a foot in both the modern international order and in
tradition: the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is able to present
a formula for ending the war by appealing to Islamic and Arab practices of
arbitration and values of compromise, while framing the formula according to the
nation-state world order. To save Yemen, the UNGA should engage the OIC and give
it a leadership role in ending the conflict.
Which country has the
fastest-growing church in the world?
Carey Lodge/Christian Today
Journalist/22 September 2016
Christians in Iran face relentless persecution. Ranked ninth on Open Doors' list
of countries where it's most dangerous to be a Christian, open churches are
forbidden and converting from Islam – the state religion – is punishable by
death for men, and life imprisonment for women. Last year more than 100
Christians were arrested or imprisoned and allegations of torture have emerged.
And yet, the church in Iran is thriving.
In 2015, mission organisation Operation World named Iran as having the fastest
growing evangelical population in the world, with an estimated annual growth of
19.6 per cent. According to Mark Howard of Elam Ministries, an organisation
founded by Iranian church leaders with the purpose of expanding the church in
Iran, more Iranians have become Christians in the last two decades than in the
previous 13 centuries combined.
"In 1979, there were an estimated 500 Christians from a Muslim background in
Iran," he says. "Today, there are hundreds of thousands – some say more than one
million. Whatever the exact number, many Iranians are turning to Jesus as Lord
and Saviour."
So what's causing this growth?
The problems for Iranian Christians began in 1979. The Iranian revolution of
that year resulted in the creation of a hard-line Islamic regime with a very
strict interpretation of Shia Islam. Since then religious minorities, including
Christians, Baha'is and Sunni Muslims, have been targeted by successive
governments.
"Religious minorities are generally viewed with suspicion and treated as a
threat to the regime," a country expert told Christian Today.
The source, a researcher for religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW), who remained anonymous for security reasons, said minorities
regularly face harassment, imprisonment, torture and even death.
Article 23 of the Iranian constitution states that "the investigation of an
individual's belief is forbidden and no one may be molested or taken to task
simply for holding certain beliefs", but the reality for religious minorities is
very different.
"Iran considers the Twelver school of Islam the official religion of the
country, and therefore adherents to different sects or faiths are usually
discriminated against," the source said. "The Iranian Constitution recognises
Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians as protected religious minorities, but the
government has designed and continues to use special religious laws to oppress
reformers, political activists, human rights defenders and religious minorities.
So although religious freedom is somehow protected in the constitution in
theory, in practice this doesn't happen."
Under President Hassan Rouhani, human rights violations – including the right to
freedom of religious belief – have rapidly deteriorated. Iran executes more
people per capita than any other country in the world, and a large proportion of
those executed belong to religious minority groups.
In total, around 120,000 people are believed to have been executed since 1981
for their political or religious beliefs, 2,500 of whom have been hanged since
Rouhani came to power in 2013. He promised to protect human rights and equality
for all citizens of Iran, but has ostensibly failed to do so.
Campaigners have regularly urged international governments to hold Iran to
account over its human rights violations, but so far feel their voices have gone
unheard. Of particular contention was the absence of any mention of the
worsening climate from Iran's landmark nuclear deal with the US secured last
year.
This was "absolutely a failure," CSW's researcher said. "Because of that deal,
Iran was able to get hold of a huge amount of funds – after the lifting of the
sanctions, lots of Iranian money and assets that had been frozen were made
available to the authorities. We're talking about billions of dollars. That deal
has made it much easier for the Iranian regime to continue its unacceptable and
appalling behaviour towards religious minorities, and not only religious
minorities, but to all Iranian people, because they are held hostage by this
religious dictatorship."
Reuters
Women worship as part of Iran's Christian community, which is growing despite
persecution
President Obama received particular criticism for having failed to use the
nuclear deal to secure the release of jailed US citizens in Iran, including
Saeed Abedini – a high profile case that saw the Christian pastor become a
poster child for religious freedom activists, and especially among the religious
right in America.
He was eventually released as part of a prisoner swap in January this year, but
his imprisonment and torture in Iran is not a unique case, and many more
Christians remain behind bars. His colleague Maryam Naghash Zargaran is
currently serving a four-year sentence in connection with her work at an
orphanage alongside Abedini.
Christians in Iran typically face charges including actions against national
security or espionage – that was the case with Pastor Saeed. Other typical
allegations include enmity of God, apostasy and blasphemy. "These are the usual
charges used by Iranian authorities to crackdown on religious freedom and
freedom of speech in general," the CSW researcher said.
These allegations are usually "totally fabricated", he added. Judges have a list
of "standard charges that... [they] pick and choose from". In some cases, the
source said, the intelligence services order judges to choose a particular
charge to suit their intentions. The whole process is controlled by the security
services, an am of the government which is "heavily influenced by the clerical
establishment".
Not all Christians end up in jail, of course, but just living as a Christian in
public is "difficult and intimidating," the source said. They regularly face
having their property confiscated, and some have even been arrested for using
wine during Communion. Christians from a Muslim background face especially harsh
punishments.
"It is dangerous and unpredictable," the source said. "You never know when the
security services might arrest you, and you never know what you could be charged
with."
Within that context, the growth of Iran's Christian population is remarkable.
Though it is difficult to measure because of restrictions put in place by the
regime, "Iranians are becoming Christians in their thousands, so I would say yes
– it probably is the fastest growing church in the world," CSW's researcher
said.
This growth isn't limited to Iran. The church is also growing within the Iranian
diaspora – in countries such as the UK, the USA, Turkey, Germany and Canada –
where Iranian Christians are very active through media. There are a number of
satellite TV channels that broadcast the gospel message in Farsi, which has led
the Iranian government to crackdown on citizens with satellite receiver dishes.
The source attributed this rapid growth to the difficulties Christians in Iran
face.
"Historically, the church flourishes in times of persecution and danger, and
Iran is definitely a place of persecution for the church, so it's not a surprise
for me that the church is growing in Iran," he said.
"Another factor would be the ugly image that the Mullah regime has given about
Islam. With all the restrictions on freedom of speech, women's rights, violence,
cracking down on human rights and journalists, it all gives a very unpleasant
image about Islam, so this probably triggered lots of Iranians, especially
younger generations, to search for an alternative, to search for the truth, and
to question Islam."
The future of the church in Iran, he says, looks bright.
"The Iranian church will continue growing and eventually Iran will open up. They
cannot keep going like this forever – they have to [open up]. If they want to be
accepted and integrated within the international community then they have to
introduce changes, and once they start introducing changes, the whole structure
will crumble down. One thing will lead to another."
He continued: "It is our human nature to seek freedom and freedom of speech,
religion and belief, and to be open to the outside world. I think the process
may take time, and may be a long one, but I am sure that this will happen... and
the church will be victorious in the end."