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Bible Quotation For Today/You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’
Luke 10/25-28: "Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

Bible Quotation For Today/And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.
Acts of the Apostles 15/01-12: "Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.’ The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’ The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles."

LCCC Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 08-09/15
How Will our Region Look Come November 2016?/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/July 08/15
Erdoğan and Egypt/Ali Ibrahim/Asharq Al Awsat/July 08/15
Could an unlikely triangle alliance face Sinai militants?Yossi Mekelberg/Al Arabiya/July 08/15
Any decision on ISIS is too little too late/Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/July 08/15
The fate of a Saudi man who wants to escape poverty/Jamal Khashoggi/Al ARabiya/July 08/15
Saluting Tunisia’s human shield/Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/July 08/15
Boko Haram offers to swap detainees for kidnapped girls/Michelle Faul| Associated Press/July 08/15
Expulsion Of Coptic Families From Their Homes Sparks Uproar In Egypt/MEMRI/July 08/15

FPM Convoys Roam Streets on Eve of 'Fateful' Day, Army Says Will Protect Peaceful Demos
Naharnet /08.07.15/
Vehicles packed with supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement roamed the streets in several regions Wednesday evening, as the FPM continued to prepare for Thursday's street action, which FPM chief Michel Aoun has described as a “fateful battle.”“FPM supporters from all regions have started heading to the Nahr el-Mot area, where they will gather ahead of taking off in convoys” that will roam several streets, state-run National News Agency reported. “Our protests are peaceful and are part of preparing for the protest movements demanding the restoration of the rights of Christians,” said Hisham Kanj of the FPM's Metn department. “Wouldn't they do the same thing if their sect was aggrieved?” he asked. From Jbeil's souks to the coastal highway between Nahr el-Mot, Jal el-Dib, Antelias and Dbaye, FPM supporters organized massive convoys, raising Lebanese and FPM flags and blasting FPM anthems from the speakers of their vehicles. Protesters also gathered near the Mirna Chalouhi Center in Baouchrieh ahead of taking off in convoys that headed to the Tabaris area in downtown Beirut. “We will make our voice heard in a civilized and democratic way. We must be real partners in this government and we haven't asked our allies to be with us on the ground,” Education Minister Elias Bou Saab told reporters at the Baouchrieh gathering. NNA said FPM convoys also roamed the streets in the northern districts of Batroun and Koura and the Bekaa district of Zahle. The FPM has held a series of organizational meetings from Koura in the North all the way to Jezzine in the South, distributing flyers urging the Christian community to participate in rallies, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.The FPM has also held several meetings at its headquarters in Rabieh, and sources from the movement told the daily that the steps “will include specific targets that have a strategic painful effect.” The movement's chief MP Michel Aoun has called on his supporters to prepare for rallies to regain the “Christians rights.” He is waiting for the outcome of Thursday's cabinet session to give the green light for street mobility.
His supporters began preparing to stage anti-government rallies after the cabinet failed to discuss the appointment of high-ranking security and military officials. Flyers calling for the restoration of the Christians' rights and urging for the participation in the rallies have been distributed in universities and several regions, reports said. FPM sources told al-Joumhouria that the mobilization will start on Wednesday in all of Lebanon's regions, warning that “it is only the beginning and we will not accept to be distanced from the equation.” However, they stressed that the moves will be “peaceful, democratic and under the law,” keeping all options open for the shape that the demonstrations will take. Later during the day, Aoun met with his son-in-law Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil who stated afterward that there is no specific time set for the street action and that all the options are on the table. On the other hand, the army assured that it will protect “peaceful and civilized” rallies, acknowledging the civil rights to protest under the law, the newspaper said. However it will not allow assaults against citizens or public property, attempts to disturb security, or clashes in the streets among citizens.

Aoun’s protests a dead end: analysts
Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/ July 08, 2015
BEIRUT: MP Michel Aoun’s anti-government street protests will not lead to achieving any of his objectives, such as the appointment of his son-in-law as Army commander or his election as president, political analysts said Tuesday.
Instead, they said, Aoun’s escalating crusade against the government and the country’s political system would deepen divisions among the Lebanese and backfire on his popular base in Christian areas.
“Street demonstrations planned by the Free Patriotic Movement will harm the country’s security and economy, and will not achieve Aoun’s main goal, which is the appointment of his son-in-law as Army commander,” Simon Haddad, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, told The Daily Star.
“Aoun’s objectives have never been positive to the country. The regional atmosphere is not conducive for street protests and the bad economic situation cannot endure more setbacks. Furthermore, street demonstrations are bound to discourage foreign tourists from coming to Lebanon,” he said. Haddad said the FPM leader is using the same tactics – street demonstrations, public gatherings and political banners – he employed at the Presidential Palace in Baabda in 1989, a year after he was asked by then President Amine Gemayel at the end of his six-year tenure to form a transitional government to prepare for the election of a new president. “Without support from his allies, mainly Hezbollah, Aoun’s campaign will lead nowhere,” Haddad said. “Aoun will not be able to achieve his two main goals: being elected president or the appointment of his son-in-law as Army commander.”
Mario Abou Zeid, a research analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, concurred. “The street protests that Gen. Michel Aoun has been calling for are useless. For the time being, they would not have any result or impact before the government changes its policies toward the appointment of Army commander,” Abou Zeid told The Daily Star. “The main aim for Gen. Michel Aoun behind these protests was to force the government of [Prime Minister] Tammam Salam into appointing a new Army commander that is a close figure to Michel Aoun without taking into account other officers inside the Army who are higher in rank and entitled to lead the Army.”
Abou Zeid said the security situation in Lebanon is not favorable for such protests. “Lebanon has been suffering from the spillover of the Syrian conflict. Any such movement can easily destabilize the security situation in Lebanon,” he said.
Abou Zeid said the street campaign would backfire on Aoun. “If Gen. Aoun’s ally, Hezbollah, does not support the protests, it will definitely backfire on him as it will show a weakness in this alliance and the weakness of the Free Patriotic Movement inside the March 8 alliance,” he said. A similar view was echoed by Sami Nader, a professor of economics and international relations at Universite Saint-Joseph, who said Aoun’s drive would lead nowhere.
“Aoun’s campaign will destabilize the country and will widen the divide among the Lebanese at a time when Lebanon is in dire need of stability and unity,” Nader, who is also the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, a Beirut-based think tank, told The Daily Star. “Aoun’s street movement will eventually backfire on him. In addition to widening the split among the Lebanese, the campaign will shatter any hopes for Aoun to become a consensual candidate for the presidency,” he said.
Aoun has called on his supporters to stage street demonstrations against the government for passing a decree last week allotting $21 million to help export agricultural and industrial products by sea, while ignoring the FPM ministers’ demand to discuss the appointment of senior military and security officers.
Backed by their allies in Hezbollah, the Marada Movement and the Tashnag Party, the FPM’s ministers have insisted that they would not allow the Cabinet to discuss any topic before it approves appointments of new security chiefs, including the appointment of Aoun’s son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, the head of the Army Commando Regiment, as Army commander. In recent weeks, Aoun and another of his sons-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, have been harping on “lost Christian rights,” complaining that Christians have been marginalized in key public posts. They have branded their political opponents in the March 14 coalition as “political Daesh,” Arabic acronym for the militant group ISIS.
Nader said the yearlong presidential deadlock and the contentious issue of security and military appointments are interrelated.“The best way to overcome this problem – the presidential deadlock and the security appointments – is to abide by constitutional rules and go to Parliament to elect a new president,” he said. Nader said he agreed with Aoun’s push for the restoration of Christian rights in the public administration. “It’s true that in the post-Taif Accord era, there is a problem in Christian representation in state institutions, Parliament and the public administration,” he said.
“The remedy for regaining Christian rights is a new election law and the election of a strong president,” Nader said. “Lebanon needs a strong president who has the strength and capability to bring the Lebanese together because the very idea of Lebanon is [various sects] living together. So a strong president is the one who can embody the country’s sectarian coexistence formula.”
Both Nader and Haddad ruled out the possibility of Hezbollah’s participation in the FPM’s planned demonstrations. “Hezbollah, which is overstretched in the war in Syria, has no interest in joining the FPM in its protests,” Nader said.
Although the FPM’s demonstrations will not threaten civil peace or the country’s power-sharing system based on the Taif Accord, which Aoun had fiercely opposed when it was signed by Muslim and Christian lawmakers in the Saudi mountain city of Taif in 1989, Nader said the street action might trigger counter-protests.
“There is also the possibility of the FPM’s protests spinning out of control if some infiltrators joined them with the aim of inciting trouble,” he said.
Haddad, the AUB professor, said even if Hezbollah decided to back the FPM’s protests, this would not threaten civil peace or the Taif Accord. “Hezbollah’s participation in the street protests would only lead to the obstruction of the government’s work,” Haddad said. “Hezbollah has no interest in threatening civil peace.”
“There is a general agreement both internally and externally on the need for the Lebanese government to stay in place,” he added.
Mouna Fayyad, a writer and a psychology professor at the state-run Lebanese University, said Aoun’s campaign would take the country to “a major crisis,” but without threatening civil peace or the Taif Accord.
“I don’t think Aoun’s street protests will help achieve any of his two main goals: His election as president and the appointment of his son-in-law as Army commander,” Fayyad told The Daily Star.
“Instead, I expect Aoun’s campaign to backfire on his already dwindling popularity in Christian areas,” she added.
A harsh critic of Iran and Hezbollah, Fayyad, a Shiite, said ordinary Lebanese are expressing surprise and scoffing at the FPM leader’s moves. “They are asking whether Aoun’s moves are a politically wise measure amid a fragile security situation and a worsening economic situation in Lebanon,” she said.Describing the FPM’s protests as an act of “slaughter and suicide,” Fayyad said it is difficult for Hezbollah, which is embroiled in the 4-year-old war in Syria, to participate in these demonstrations.

Aoun puts Lebanon on cusp of political abyss
Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/July. 08, 2015
BEIRUT: Lebanon tottered on the verge of a major political crisis Tuesday after MP Michel Aoun vowed to forge ahead with his campaign against the government by calling on the Lebanese to participate in what he dubbed “a fateful battle” to regain Christian rights in the public administration. In a fiery speech ahead of anti-government street protests planned by his Free Patriotic Movement’s supporters, Aoun lashed out at Prime Minister Tammam Salam, accusing him of acting as if he were president.
“During the presidential vacuum, the president’s powers are shifted to the Cabinet combined. But today, the prime minister is exercising his powers and the president’s powers. This is unacceptable,” Aoun told reporters after chairing a weekly meeting of his parliamentary Change and Reform bloc at his residence in Rabieh.“We [in the Cabinet] agreed on a particular mechanism to assume the prerogatives [of the presidency], but ministers are now being eliminated,” he said, adding that violating the Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism would sideline the Constitution. The parliamentary Future bloc blasted the FPM’s insistence on obstructing the Cabinet’s work, saying the group’s street protests would destabilize the country.
“The FPM’s insistence on paralyzing the wheel of production unless the majority submits to the minority’s demands in the Cabinet constitutes a blatant attack on democracy, the Constitution and laws,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting.
Although the FPM’s hint at resorting to street demonstrations is a democratic right, the bloc said, “the protests in these politically and security dangerous and sensitive circumstances through which Lebanon and the region are passing would cause further damage and deterioration in the country’s stability, destroy the people’s interests and properties and increase the level of tension and extremism.”
Asked to comment on the FPM’s planned protests, Speaker Nabih Berri said he did not want to engage in a row with anyone. Referring to Aoun, who said Tuesday that he was the son of the state rather than the son of the political system, Berri was quoted as saying by visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence: “He who considers himself to be the son of the system or the son of the state cannot do anything that damages or harms the state.” Berri, according to visitors, underscored the need for all politicians to abide by the Constitution in the case of the Cabinet or other cases. In his statement, Aoun described the parliamentary majority as “illegitimate.” “We want the approval of an electoral law that ensures equality and true representation because this is the only way to solve the problem of the [political] system. The current majority [in Parliament], including myself, is illegitimate.”
“The current Parliament is illegitimate and does not have the right to elect a president,” he said. “After all the recent regional developments and the emergence of ISIS and Nusra ... we should at least refer to the people. It is unacceptable that this majority elects a president.”
Aoun spelled the death knell for the country’s power-sharing system, which is based on the 1989 Taif Accord, and half of state institutions. Aoun, a presidential candidate backed by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, called for holding parliamentary elections based on a new electoral law to be followed by the election of a president. Aoun has called on his supporters in the Free Patriotic Movement to stage street demonstrations against the government for passing a decree last week allotting $21 million to help export agricultural and industrial products by sea, while ignoring the FPM ministers’ demand to discuss the appointment of senior military and security officers.The FPM leader did not set the zero hour for his supporters to take to the streets, apparently waiting for the outcome of a Cabinet session Thursday to see whether Salam would again opt to discuss items on the agenda as he did last week, while neglecting the contentious issue of security and military appointments.Backed by their allies in Hezbollah, the Marada Movement and the Tashnag Party, the FPM’s ministers have insisted that they would not allow the Cabinet to discuss any topic before it approves appointments of new security chiefs, including the appointment of Aoun’s son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, head of the Army Commando Regiment, as Army commander. In recent weeks, Aoun and his son-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, have complained that Christians have been marginalized in key public posts and called for the restoration of “lost Christian rights.”
“I have called on the Lebanese to prepare for participation in this battle, which is a fateful battle,” Aoun said. MP Nabil Nicolas from Aoun’s bloc called on the FPM’s supporters to stay at home from 6 a.m. Thursday until the end of the Cabinet session to show “solidarity with the rightful [Christian] demands and in defense of participation [in governance] and genuine partnership.” Aoun read out a letter he had sent to the kings of Saudi Arabia and Morocco, and Algeria’s president on July 10, 2014, during the Arab summit.
In the letter, he argued that politicians ruling Lebanon since the early 1990s had failed to fully implement the Taif Accord, only choosing to follow those parts that marginalized Christians’ interests.
“Most politicians know and are declaring that the Taif [Accord] has not been implemented. There is talk among the politicians on the collapse of the Taif [Accord] and the need to think of other solutions,” Aoun said.

Security Council to Extend UNIFIL Mandate after Cabinet Approval
Naharnet /08.07.15/ The U.N. Security Council is set to extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Wednesday. The daily said that during a session, which was held last Thursday, the cabinet approved a request made by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil for a one-year extension of UNIFIL's mandate. The Foreign Ministry is set in the coming days to ask U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to extend the mission’s mandate until August 31, 2016, said al-Mustaqbal. Ban will likely call on the Security Council to convene next month to approve the extension. UNIFIL was established in 1978 to monitor the border between Lebanon and Israel. Its mission was extended and enlarged to include supporting Lebanese troops after the 2006 war between the Jewish state and Hizbullah.

Ban Warns Baabda Vacuum Hindering Lebanon's Capabilities to Confront Challenges
Naharnet /08.07.15/U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed his deep concern over the ongoing vacuum at Lebanon's presidential palace, urging all parties to help the government function, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday. In his semi-annual report on the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, Ban said the vacuum at Baabda Palace continues to limit Lebanon’s capabilities in confronting security, economic and social challenges. U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag traveled to New York on Tuesday to brief the Security Council on the report. But An Nahar said that it received a copy of it before it was officially released by the U.N. In the report, Ban hailed Prime Minister Tammam Salam for holding onto the unity of his cabinet. He urged all parties to work constructively so that the government can function effectively. The U.N. Secretary-General also urged all Lebanese leaderships to commit to the Constitution and the Taef Accord. He said the continued boycott of parliamentary sessions by some blocs hampers Lebanon's democratic tradition. Ban urged lawmakers to assume their responsibilities and head to parliament to elect a new president. The report also condemned the participating of Lebanese citizens in the Syrian conflict, in clear violation of the government's dissociation policy and the Baabda Declaration. He said Lebanese parties should back off from any involvement in Syria's war in accordance with their commitment to the dissociation policy. The report also touched on the situation in southern Lebanon. Resolution 1701, which ended the Hizbullah-Israel war in 2006, expanded the mandate of U.N. troops in the South, which was originally formed in 1978 after the outbreak of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. It imposed a strict embargo on weapons destined for Lebanese or foreign militias in Lebanon, and pressed Israel to end violations of Lebanon's airspace and to withdraw from northern Ghajar.

Salam Rejects to Become 'Guardian of Paralysis' amid Fears of Major Crisis
Naharnet /08.07.15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam intensified on Wednesday his efforts to avert a major political crisis over threats made by the Free Patriotic Movement to resort to the streets in defense of Christian rights. Al-Mustaqbal daily on Wednesday quoted Salam's sources as saying that the PM “rejects to engage in a row with anyone yet he cannot meet the demands of six ministers and ignore the requests of another 18 ministers.” Salam rejects to become the “guardian of paralysis,” they said, adding that he is eager to assume his responsibilities as the head of the 24-member government. On Tuesday, FPM chief MP Michel Aoun slammed Salam and accused him of acting as if he were president. Following the weekly meeting of his Change and Reform bloc, the lawmaker said Article 62 of the Constitution stipulates that the president's powers would be “delegated to the cabinet in the event of a presidential void.” “But today the ministers are breaching this jurisdiction and the premier has assumed two roles -- his role and the role of the president -- and this is unacceptable,” he added. Aoun called for a “fateful battle” and urged his supporters to resort to the streets. But such action depends on the outcome of Thursday's cabinet session. FPM ministers backed by their allies in Hizbullah, the Tashnag Party and Marada Movement want the government to discuss the appointment of high-ranking security and military officials. The failure to discuss the issue is threatening to paralyze the cabinet and further expanding Lebanon's political crisis which was caused as a result of the vacuum at the presidential palace last year and the parliamentary paralysis that ensued. In their remarks to al-Mustaqbal, Salam's sources said that so far 14 cabinet ministers, including two Christians, have signed on a decree to open an extraordinary parliamentary session.
But the PM wants the signatures of more Christian ministers to guarantee the right balance, they said. Despite the looming crisis, Salam's sources told al-Joumhouria daily that political parties would not topple the cabinet or any other constitutional institution. The premier is expected to hold more intense meetings to avert a showdown during Thursday's session.

Berri Rejects to Engage in Row with Anyone
Naharnet /08.07.15/Speaker Nabih Berri has reiterated that he rejected being involved in a dispute with any Lebanese politician while stressing that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun cannot not take any action that would harm the state. Al-Joumhouria daily on Wednesday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that “the person who considers himself 'the son of the (political) system or the son of the state' cannot do anything that would damage or harm the state.”Aoun said on Tuesday following the weekly meeting of his Change and Reform parliamentary bloc that he is the son of the state rather than the son of the system. Berri, according to visitors, stressed the need for all political parties to abide by the Constitution. His remarks came after Aoun's fiery speech in which he said he was adamant to prepare for a “fateful battle” to regain Christian rights. His supporters began preparing to stage anti-government rallies after the cabinet failed to discuss the appointment of high-ranking security and military officials. Aoun is waiting for the outcome of Thursday's cabinet session to give the green light to his supporters to resort to the streets. But later Wednesday, Berri denied that he had discussed the government situation as reported in some newspapers, stressing the need to discuss Lebanon's interests.

Jumblat Telephones Aoun to Clarify Media Claims and to Stress 'Positive Ties'
Naharnet /08.07.15/Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat telephoned on Wednesday Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun to clarify recent claims attributed to him by the media. Jumblat stressed to the lawmaker his “keenness on the positive ties between them,” said a PSP statement. He also stressed the need to maintain contacts “that have proven their effectiveness in recent phases in Lebanon.” As Safir newspaper on Tuesday reported that Aoun had accused Jumblat of “betraying him” regarding the appointments of security officials. The PSP statement on Wednesday deemed such claims as “inaccurate and false,” adding that Jumblat “had previously submitted a proposal over the appointments, but it had failed for various reasons.” The FPM is pushing for the government to discuss the appointment of high-ranking military and security officials and Aoun has been lobbying for the appointment of Commando Regiment commander Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief. Last week, the cabinet failed to tackle the issue and widened the divide among its different parties. Further disputes are threatening Thursday's cabinet session. The plan to hold the protests hinges on the session's outcome, FPM officials have said.

Sami Gemayel calls for safeguarding Cabinet
The Daily Star/ July 08, 2015
BEIRUT: Newly-elected Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel Wednesday urged officials to preserve what is left of state institutions, namely Cabinet."Officials should think more of the people," Gemayel said after talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.
Gemayel said he believed contentious issues should be left off the agenda of Cabinet, and expressed surprise over the strong rhetoric of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun who has threatened to call for street protests over the Cabinet's failure to discuss security appointments.Gemayel urged ministers to abide by the system for passing decrees, which requires unanimous support from all 24 ministers on Cabinet decisions. In a fiery speech Tuesday ahead of the protests planned by his supporters, Aoun lashed out at Salam, accusing him of acting as if he were president. Regarding the controversial appointments of high ranking security and military officials, Gemayel said that the tenure of Army chief Gen. Jean Kahwaji should be discussed at the Cabinet in September ahead of the end of his mandate.“There’s no need to rush and increase tension (in the country). Everything should be tackled at the right time.” Backed by their allies in Hezbollah, the Marada Movement and the Tashnag Party, the FPM’s ministers have insisted that they would not allow the Cabinet to discuss any topic before it approves appointments of new security chiefs. Gemayel reiterated his party's rejection to attend any parliamentary session amid the presidential vacuum. "The legislature is only an electoral body and (MPs) are compelled to elect a new head of state."Lebanon has been without a president since the tenure of President Michel Sleiman ended on May 25, 2014. Parliament hasn't held a legislative session since it voted to extend its term by more than two and a half years on Nov. 5, 2014.
The Lebanese Forces and FPM will only attend a session if the agenda included urgent draft laws. Gemayel’s talks with Salam were attended by the two Kataeb ministers, Economy Minister Alain Hakim and Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi, and Information Minister Ramzi Joreige, who is allied to Salam.

Jumblatt contacts Aoun over accusations of betrayal
The Daily Star/July 08, 2015 /BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt has contacted Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun to clarify statements published in As-Safir newspaper Wednesday in which Aoun accuses Jumblatt of betrayal.
Aoun explained that remarks published in the newspaper are "inaccurate and false," a statement issued by the PSP media office said Wednesday. As-Safir quoted Aoun as saying that Speaker Nabih Berri had "back stabbed" him, Future Movement leader Saad Hariri "deceived" him and Jumblatt "betrayed" him. The PSP statement said that Jumblatt is "keen to continue the positive relation (with Aoun) and to maintain the bilateral talks." Aoun staged a campaign against the Cabinet and politicians last week after the government endorsed a decree allotting $21 million to help export agricultural and industrial products by sea, while ignoring the FPM ministers’ demand to discuss the appointment of senior military and security officers.The decree was pushed by PSP minister Akram Chehayeb. FPM ministers have insisted that they would not allow the Cabinet to discuss any topic before it approves appointments of new security chiefs.

Lebanon Health Ministry accuses therapist of fraud
The Daily Star/July. 08, 2015/BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour Wednesday sought the arrest of a Lebanese man accused of pretending to be a therapist who practices alternative medicine at his clinic in the Beirut neighborhood of Dora.
A statement said the man, identified as Tony S., was referred to the public prosecutor’s office after the Health Ministry discovered he was impersonating a therapist. Tony has purportedly performed energy healing known as Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy on many patients with heart disease and cancer without a license, the ministry statement said. It said Abu Faour urged authorities to hunt down Tony for violating the health law.

FPM Prepares for Street Action, Army Says Will Protect Peaceful Rallies
Naharnet /08.07.15/The Free Patriotic Movement is putting the finishing touches on its preparations to take the streets, holding a series of organizational meetings starting from Koura in the North all the way to Jezzine in the South and distributing flyers urging the christian community to participate in rallies, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday. The FPM has held major meetings at its headquarters in Rabieh, and sources to the party told the daily that the steps “will include specific targets that have a strategic painful effect.”The party's chief MP Michel Aoun has called on his supporters to prepare for rallies to regain the “Christians rights.” He is waiting for the outcome of Thursday's cabinet session to give the green light for street mobility. His supporters began preparing to stage anti-government rallies after the cabinet failed to discuss the appointment of high-ranking security and military officials. Flyers calling for the restoration of the Christians' rights and urging for the participation in the rallies have been distributed in universities and several regions, reports said. Sources to the FPM told al-Joumhouria that the mobilization will start on Wednesday in all of Lebanon's regions, warning that “it is only the beginning and we will not accept to be distanced from the equation.”
However, they stressed that the moves will be “peaceful, democratic and under the law,” keeping all options open for the shape that the demonstrations will take. Later during the day, Aoun met with his son-in-law Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil who stated afterward that there is no specific time set for the movement’s mobility and that all the options are possible. On the other hand, the Lebanese army assured that it will protect “peaceful and civilized” rallies, acknowledging the civil rights to protest under the law, the newspaper said.
However it will not allow assaults against citizens or public property or disturbing security or clashes in the streets among citizens.

Bassil Warns of 'Fateful' Day on Thursday: Cabinet is Pushing us towards Confrontation
Naharnet /08.07.15/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil warned on Wednesday that the Free Patriotic Movement "will no longer tolerate the violations being committed against the position of the presidency" in Lebanon, accusing the government of taking “provocative” measures. He described Thursday as being a “fateful day,” adding that the situation in Lebanon before and after the FPM's planned protests will not be the same. He made his remarks after holding a meeting at the Foreign Ministry with delegates from its allies Hizbullah, the Tashnag party, and the Marada Movement. “The FPM and Hizbullah make up half of the country,” warned Bassil in reference to the protests against the role of the cabinet and its “usurpation of the role of the president.”Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. “We are seeking to safeguard the role of the president,” declared Bassil to reporters. He confirmed that the FPM ministers will attend Thursday's contentious cabinet session, adding: “We will play the role of the president and minister at government.”“I believe that some sides are pushing the government in a direction that places it in a confrontation with others,” he continued. “We are being provoked and we will retaliate at and outside cabinet,” stressed the minister. “We do not want things to escalate like this, but we are being pushed in this direction,” said Bassil. “We are unfortunately being faced with a fateful day on Thursday,” he stated. The FPM is pushing for the government to discuss the appointment of high-ranking military and security officials and Movement chief MP Michel Aoun has been lobbying for the appointment of Commando Regiment commander Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief. Last week, the cabinet failed to tackle the issue and widened the divide among its different parties. Further disputes are threatening Thursday's cabinet session. The plan to hold the protests hinges on the session's outcome, FPM officials have said.

There is no Lebanon without FPM, Hezbollah: Bassil
The Daily Star/July. 08, 2015/
BEIRUT: Thursday’s Cabinet session will be a “fateful” event, Free Patriotic Movement Minister Gebran Bassil said after meeting with March 8 ministers Wednesday. Bassil said he saw “two trajectories” for Thursday's scheduled session, which FPM ministers and their allies vowed to attend. “The FPM and Hezbollah, which represent half the country, would like to say this: There is no country without us, and there also won’t be a government or any Cabinet decision without us,” he said during a news conference.
“I would also like to say calmly and with utter insistence and power that tomorrow is a fateful day.”Criticizing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Bassil said that the same man is simultaneously exercising the powers of the premier and the president. He described the move as a “kidnapping” of the president’s prerogatives. The foreign minister also criticized Cabinet, saying it wasr moving away from consensus and toward provocation and incitement. “This phase of provocation will only take us into a place of power," he said. "And we are powerful both inside and outside Cabinet.”Wednesday’s meeting between members of the FPM, Hezbollah, the Marada Movement and the Armenian Tashnag party at the Foreign Ministry sought to unify their stances one day ahead the Cabinet session.
The meeting included FPM ministers Bassil and Elias Bou Saab, Hezbollah ministers Mohammad Fneish and Hussein Hajj Hasan, and Culture Minister Raymond Areiji representing the Marada movement, and Energy Minister Arthur Nazarian from the Armenian Tashnag Party. Members of the Amal Movement did not attend. Ministerial sources from the Amal Movement told LBC that they were not informed of or invited to Wednesday’s meeting. In response to a question regarding the exclusion of the Amal Movement from Wednesday’s session, Bassil said that the decision stemmed from the fact that the party did not share the same position as the FPM. “The meeting served to coordinate stances with parties who have previously adopted the FPM’s position,” he noted.
Aoun has called on his supporters to stage street demonstrations against the government for passing a decree last week allotting $21 million to help export agricultural and industrial products by sea, while ignoring the FPM’s demand to discuss the appointment of senior military and security officers. Salam has scheduled a Cabinet meeting for Thursday despite the conflict that erupted with the FPM’s two ministers over the passing of the decree. Backed by their allies in Hezbollah, the Marada Movement and the Tashnag Party, the FPM’s ministers have insisted that they would not allow the Cabinet to discuss any topic before it discusses appointments of new security chiefs.

Franjieh Says Aoun's Actions Coming at 'Wrong Time'
Naharnet /08.07.15/Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh has said his ally Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun is calling for street protests “at the wrong time.”
Franjieh, who visited Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Tuesday, told al-Joumhouria daily's reporter that he considers the FPM's actions “democratic.”But they are “not appropriate at the current stage,” said Franjieh, whose remarks were published in the newspaper on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the FPM chief, who heads the Change and Reform bloc, called for a “fateful battle” to what he terms giving back Christians their rights. His supporters are preparing for street protests against the government for failing to discuss the appointment of high-ranking military and security officials.

Patients Lash Out at 'Monster' Lebanese-born Cancer Doctor in U.S. Fraud Case
Naharnet /08.07.15/Telling stories of deep anguish, patients and their relatives described Tuesday how a Lebanese-born, Detroit-area cancer doctor wrecked their lives through excessive treatments and intentional misdiagnoses while he collected millions of dollars from insurers.A judge set aside nearly four hours to hear from victims of Dr. Farid Fata, who faces sentencing this week for fraud and other crimes. Some entered court with canes. Others wore elastic sleeves on their wrists, their joints weakened by years of unnecessary chemotherapy. They said they were betrayed by a soft-spoken doctor who won their trust but left them devastated. "Ten minutes just isn't enough time" to speak, said Laura Stedtfeld, who blames Fata for her father's death. "Farid Fata, I hate you," she said, her voice rising as she turned toward the doctor seated 10 feet away. "You are repulsive. You disgust me. You are a monster. ... Clearly you're a coward because you can't even look at me now. You poisoned, tortured and murdered my dad." Fata, 50, looked away, staring at the edge of the defense table, as two dozen people took turns speaking in court, just a fraction of the 553 victims identified by the government. A box of tissues and small bottles of water were available for anyone who needed to pause. More than 100 people who couldn't get in watched a video feed elsewhere in the courthouse, at times applauding. Prosecutors want Fata to be sentenced to 175 years in prison, while the Oakland County doctor is asking for no more than 25 years. His sentence likely will be ordered Thursday or Friday after U.S. District Judge Paul Borman hears from experts and a handful of people who are expected to praise Fata's skills. But Tuesday was reserved for patients or their relatives from all walks of life: a mechanic, a tool-and-die maker, even the daughter of a doctor like Fata. A few, like Robert Sobieray, were treated for cancer but didn't actually have it.
"Look at what's left of my mouth -- I have one tooth left," said Sobieray, who attributed his dental woes to 2 1/2 years of treatment using a powerful drug that wasn't needed. Christopher Sneary was referred to Fata because of testicular cancer. It was serious but easily treatable, he said, yet he still was given 40 days of chemotherapy and 37 rounds of radiation all over his body. Other doctors examined him after Fata's arrest and were "appalled" by the treatments, Sneary said. "They had no idea how I was sitting in their office. ... I will never be the same."The first to speak, Maggie Dorsey, said she can't comb her daughter's hair because of pain."Even though I am not dead, I am a shadow of my former self. ... I trusted him. He trusted my insurance and my co-payments," Dorsey said. After the courtroom emptied, defense attorney Christopher Andreoff objected to much of the testimony, saying Fata's legal team didn't have time to look at records to confirm the claims. Andreoff acknowledged the suffering but told the judge that some "information that has been presented to you may have been materially false."Associated Press

In advertising, Lebanese flourish abroad
Dana Halaw/The Daily Star/July. 08, 2015/BEIRUT: Many Lebanese proudly point to the success stories of their compatriots around the world in the fields of banking, tourism, real estate and telecommunication. However, one particular industry which probably did not receive fair media attention is advertising. The advertising business in Lebanon and the region grew rapidly, with many of these companies winning international acclaim and even reaping outstanding awards for creative and innovative ideas.TBWA/RAAD, headed by Group Chairman Ramzi Raad, is one good example of the many Lebanese advertising agencies that have succeeded in making it big outside their home country. Raad currently operates his business in over 14 markets including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and others with plans to expand to other countries as well. For Raad, Lebanese have more potential to succeed in the advertising industry outside their homeland for many reasons. For instance, he believes that Lebanese creative directors produce more successful advertising campaigns in markets outside Lebanon than locally. “Lebanese advertising agencies deliver high-quality campaigns when they work with foreign clients who are more professional and capable of giving proper briefs about their products,” he said. “If I want to do a successful campaign I have to meet with my clients to give me full details about the products they wish to advertise. On the contrary, most campaigns in Lebanon nowadays are done simply by writing a witty headline that is memorable,” he said. “This is not enough and more should be done to develop a sustainable brand image,” he added. Raad praised Lebanese advertising people for their creativity but he emphasized the need for strong cooperation with clients to achieve brilliant results. “The good campaigns are those that are created in partnership between the client and the agency. The client himself needs to have a vision and he has to know what he wants. Also, if the client wants a high-quality campaign he should be willing to pay for it,” he said.
Raad noted that companies can buy talents from the U.S. or Australia but these people think according to insights from their own markets. “They have to come and live for a long period in the Arab world to understand the culture and what can be said and what not in this region,” he said. “This is why the ideal heroes of this industry continue to be Lebanese.”Raad spoke in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star about the challenges facing the advertising industry in Lebanon.
Among the challenges facing the industry, Raad said, is the fact that advertising agencies in Lebanon are competing with each other by slashing their prices which prompts clients to opt for companies with less expensive services and thus sacrificing on the quality of their ads.
“This syndrome snowballed and the Lebanese market is now labeled as the discounted market where one cannot trust whatever is being said,” he noted. “There is no appreciation for the good quality work.”
Raad said that talent has also moved to other places such as the Gulf region in search for better salaries. Despite the challenges facing this industry in Lebanon, advertising spending rose to $535 million in 2014 from $518 million in 2013, according to rate card figures, with digital media making inroads into the market.Digital advertising in Lebanon has started to take a share of the market but it is still slow at this moment.
Among the main factors behind the slow development of online advertising in Lebanon, according to Raad, are the low-speed Internet connection and the lack of expertise within most advertising agencies.“We need advertising agencies to hire digital experts whether in terms of design or strategy,” he said. Raad believes that digital media in Lebanon has a great future but startups working in the field should be more professional and realistic about their profits. He said that Lebanese usually think of themselves as experts and they refuse to climb the success ladder one step at a time. “Graduates nowadays are not patient enough to learn and startups aim to become billionaires very quickly, which is not feasible.”Global statistics show that a lot of money is being moved from TV and printed media to digital media.
According to the global media trend report issued in 2014, digital advertising saw a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 15.6 percent globally between the year 2008 and 2013.The report added that digital advertising spending grew from $123 million in 2013 to $144.2 million in 2014 while it is expected to rise to $167.7 million in 2015.As for the CAGR for the period ranging from 2013 to 2018, it is expected to stand at 15.1 percent.The study said that just as digital spending has driven the overall media market, it has also propelled consumer spending.
It also continued: “Digital consumer spending will overtake traditional consumer spending in 2015 and will be 26 percent larger by 2018.” In addition to the previously mentioned challenges facing the advertising sector, Raad cites the excessive power cut as one factor impeding the operation of businesses in Lebanon including advertising. “Advertising industry in countries like Dubai is more successful because they have high-speed Internet and they don’t have to rely on generators to be able to operate,” he said. Raad also attributed the success of this industry in Dubai to the great number of multinational companies operating there. “These companies pay huge amounts on advertising which makes the sector in Dubai more professional and profitable,” he said. “In contrast, Lebanon should work hard on developing its infrastructure to attract multinational companies,” he added.Raad noted that Dubai was also capable of developing its own brands, which are successfully competing on the international scene. “These successful brands are heavy advertisers and any creative director would dream to work for them,” he said. “Why don’t we help our industries in becoming brands that are [exported] worldwide?” he asked. According to Raad, one very clear sign for the industry’s deterioration is the tendency to create campaigns for charities.
“The easiest thing to do is to create a campaign with no client while it’s more challenging to advertise for real clients,” he said.

Lebanon/Fiscal reforms needed to avoid Greek scenario
Osama Habib| The Daily Star/Wednesday, 8 July 2015
BEIRUT: One of the main lessons Lebanon should learn from Greece’s economic “tragedy” is that the country should avoid sinking deeper into the debt abyss and devise new ways to boost revenues and cut unnecessary spending. This was the general view of all economists and experts interviewed by The Daily Star as the embattled Greek government negotiates with international creditors to prescribe a less painful medication to economic and financial woes. Although the financial and monetary situation in Lebanon is still far better than Greece, the economists stress that the country should not sleep on a silk pillow and pretend that the country will not encounter such a storm. “We need to improve tax collection and rationalize public expenditures. We also need to end tax evasion, which according to our estimates is close to $3 billion a year,” Marwan Barakat, the head of Bank Audi research department and senior analyst, told The Daily Star. This view was also supported by Nassib Ghobril, the head of research at Byblos Bank, who advised the government to reduce its borrowing needs. “We don’t have a contagion effect but we still need to reduce the borrowing needs of the government, and tackle tax evasion in the country instead of imposing new taxes,” Ghobril argued. He also called for improving the pension system and cutting waste in the National Social Security Fund.One of the more serious issues facing Lebanon in recent years has been the failure of all successive governments to end or even reduce the size of tax evasion.
Experts note that the gray economy, or the parallel economy, has always evaded taxes and this is depriving the treasury of billions of dollars in revenues. The parallel economy is based on black money, or unaccounted money as some merchants and unlicensed industrialists run businesses in certain areas that are not subject to taxes. There are no official figures on the size of the parallel economy, although it is estimated at 30 percent of the actual size of the Lebanese economy. Barakat said improved tax collection could provide sufficient funds to the treasury. “Imagine that we had a $3.2 billion deficit in 2014 and we had $3 billion annual tax evasion. This is the sum of income tax evasion, electricity bills evasion, property tax evasion,” Barakat said. But he noted that Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil has started to improve tax collection, particularlyin the real estate sector. But despite the pressing need for reforms, all economists agreed it was wrong to draw a parallel between Greece and Lebanon in terms of the size of the public debt and the financial crisis, noting that Lebanon has not exploited its resources to properly adjust the fiscal deficit. “Many Lebanese ask, ‘Are we in the same situation as Greece?’ The answer is no,” Barakat said. Citing available statistics, Barakat indicated that Lebanon’s debt to GDP is lower than Greece by a good margin. In Lebanon, debt to GDP is 134 percent while in Greece it is 180 percent. Furthermore, in the last 10 years, the debt-to-GDP ratio has fallen by 50 percent, while in Greece this ratio went up by 74 percent. “The most important thing is that most of Greece’s debt is external [around 87 percent] while in Lebanon the foreign debt does not exceed 10 percent of the total debt,” Barakat said.
In 2014, Lebanon’s public debt reached $66.5 billion while in Greece this debt exceeded 320 billion euros ($350 billion). Lebanese banks and investors still hold the bulk of the public debt and this has enabled the country to remain relatively immune to volatile international financial markets. Experts stress that the domestic debt means Lebanon is not at the mercy of international creditors. “Lebanon also benefits from a good external position. The Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves, excluding gold, is $39 billion and if we add the gold reserve, this figure will reach $50 billion, almost two times the size of our foreign currency debt,” Barakat explained. Other statistics show that Greece’s real GDP growth since 2008 was minus 25 percent, and in Lebanon the real GDP growth was plus 30 percent.
Remittances to GDP in Greece are less than 2 percent and in Lebanon this figure is 18 percent, one of the highest ratios in the world. Primary liquidity in Lebanese banks has also exceeded those of Greece. The primary liquidity in Lebanese banks has reached 40 percent and in Greece this figure did not even exceed 10 percent. Experts and bankers also boast that even during the peak of war in Lebanon, there was no run on the banks to withdraw money in panic as was the case of Greece.
The Greek Central Bank has closed all banks in the country until Wednesday and put a small limit for withdrawals from ATM machines. Ghobril saw some positive benefits for Lebanon in the foreseeable future if the crisis in Greece persisted. “Oil prices fell by 8 percent yesterday and the euro currency depreciated in face of the U.S. dollar. This means that the allocations to buy fuel oil for Electricite du Liban will fall further than this, and the import bill will also drop if the euro remains low,” he added.

Official: U.S. to Cut 40,000 Soldiers from Army
Naharnet /08.07.15/The U.S. Army is to cut 40,000 soldiers from its ranks over the next two years at home and abroad, a defense official said Tuesday, in a move that will raise doubts about its ability to fight wars. Under the cost-cutting plan, the Army will be down to 450,000 soldiers at the end of the 2017 budget year, even though in 2013 it argued in budgetary documents that going below 450,000 troops might mean it could not win a war, USA Today said. By comparison, the Army swelled to 570,000 men and women during the peak of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the newspaper said. Some 17,000 civilians working for the Army will also be laid off, the official told AFP, confirming the USA Today report. The paper quoted a document it had obtained and said the cuts are being made to save money. It will affect virtually every Army post domestically and abroad, USA Today said The defense official told AFP that the Army plans to announce the cuts soon, with USA Today adding that the matter would be addressed this week. Across-the-board government budget cuts are due to kick in in October and if Congress does not avert these the Army will have to lay off another 30,000 soldiers on top of the 40,000, according to the document quoted by USA Today. It comes just a day after President Barack Obama said that the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group would step up its campaign in Syria, while cautioning a long battle remained. Brigades stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska will be among those downsized, USA Today said. Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, told the paper that the cutdown "makes no strategic sense." More than a year after IS fighters overran much of Iraq and Syria, the United States and its allies are struggling to turn the tide against the extremists in an air campaign known as Operation Inherent Resolve. The Pentagon last month said it was sending 450 additional U.S. troops to act as advisers to help Iraqi forces seize back control of the western city of Ramadi from jihadist fighters.
Speaking to reporters after a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday, Obama warned the war "will not be quick. This is a long-term campaign."He added that more needed to be done to train government forces and Sunni tribal fighters in Iraq, as well as moderate Syrian rebels. Agence France Presse

13 Syria rebels, 1 Hezbollah fighter killed in Zabadani clash
The Daily Star/08.07.15/BEIRUT: Hezbollah and Syrian army forces Wednesday advanced further into a northwestern region of a Syrian border town which has been the scene of fierce fighting over the past week, a source told The Daily Star. The source, who is close to Hezbollah, said at least 13 Syrian rebels and one Hezbollah fighter were killed in Wednesday's clashes in the resort town of Zabadani, located just 8 kilometers from Lebanon's eastern border. The clashes come one day after Al-Manar TV reported that residential areas had fallen to Hezbollah and the Syrian army in Zabadani's northwestern neighborhood of Zahra. The report added that Hezbollah and the Syrian army took control of a number of rebel positions that militants had previously used to launch attacks.Two Hezbollah fighters had been killed in Tuesday's fighting, according to The Daily Star's source. Wednesday's death brings the party's overall death toll in battle for Zabadani to seven. Hezbollah and the Syrian army’s offensive in Zabadani is largely considered an attempt by the two allies to bolster their control of land routes between Lebanon and Syria and cut rebel supply lines. Zabadani also bears strategic significance for Hezbollah since it once served as a logistical hub for supplying the party with Iranian weapons. It also served as a base for Hezbollah fighters and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The capture of the town would add to Hezbollah’s recent major field victories, which saw the party take large swaths of the Qalamoun hills since its offensive, backed by the Syrian army, began in the region last May.
The decision to launch the offensive in Zabadani came after negotiations with rebels failed to secure the militants’ withdrawal from the area, which is located 50 kilometers northwest of Damascus and 12 kilometers northeast of Lebanon’s Masnaa border crossing.

U.S. Says Only 60 Syrians Being Trained to Fight IS
Naharnet /08.07.15/Only about 60 Syrian rebels are being trained by the United States to take on the Islamic State group, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday, admitting it was far below the number hoped for. The disclosure is likely to add to criticism of the Obama administration's military strategy, with U.S. Senator John McCain saying that the United States was "losing" the fight against the extremists, who have overrun large areas of Syria and Iraq. Several lawmakers including McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, grilled Carter and the military's top general, Martin Dempsey, on topics ranging from Ukraine to the Middle East. America wants to train thousands of moderate Syrian rebels to fight IS forces, but Carter said only a few dozen had so far been approved for a program that is a central tenet of Washington's strategy to beat the IS group. Carter said the U.S. was training about 60 fighters as of last week. "This number is much smaller than we had hoped for at this point," he added, pointing to difficulties in vetting suitable candidates. "We know this program is essential. We need a partner on the ground in Syria to assure ISIL's (IS) lasting defeat."McCain criticized what he called "not a very impressive number." In January, the Pentagon said about 5,400 Syrian rebels would be trained and armed in the first year of the program and U.S. lawmakers have allocated about $500 million to the effort. McCain said the "reality" on the ground is that IS jihadists continue to gain territory in Iraq and Syria, while expanding their footprint across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. "There is no compelling reason to believe that anything we are currently doing will be sufficient to achieve the president's long-stated goal of degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL -- either in the short-term or the long-term," McCain said at the Senate Armed Services Committee, which he chairs. "Our means and our current level of effort are not aligned with our ends. That suggests we are not winning, and when you are not winning in war, you are losing."
'Self-delusion' -
The sometimes testy exchanges came a day after President Barack Obama spoke at the Pentagon and said the U.S.-led coalition battling IS jihadists was "intensifying" its campaign against the group's base in Syria, but cautioned the fight would be long. But McCain said the policy was unlikely to succeed, and called claims of success delusional. "When it comes to ISIL, President Obama's comments... reveal the disturbing degree of self-delusion that characterizes the administration's thinking," he said. Obama said more than 5,000 air strikes had been carried out against the group, eliminating "thousands of fighters, including senior ISIL commanders."In recent days, the coalition has bombarded IS in a series of heavy raids, particularly targeting its de facto Syrian capital Raqa.
Additionally, McCain also asked whether the U.S. military planned on providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, whose troops are fighting pro-Russia separatists in the east. "Yes, I haven't changed my views," Carter replied. But Carter stressed that sanctions against Russia and economic help to Ukraine, largely from Europe, are the "main event" in resolving the conflict.

Report: U.S., Turkey Discuss Stepping up Anti-IS Fight
Naharnet /08.07.15/A high-level U.S. delegation discussed with Turkish officials ways to step up the fight against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria during two days of talks in Ankara, sources said Wednesday. Retired general John Allen -- a U.S. presidential envoy -- and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth met Turkish military officials and foreign ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu in the Turkish capital. "We discussed ways of strengthening the fight against Daesh," a Turkish diplomatic source told AFP, asking not to be named and using an Arabic acronym for IS. "The parties had an exchange of views on reinforcing cooperation and coordination on this."A U.S. embassy official said the Washington delegation held two days of "constructive meetings" with Turkish counterparts. They discussed "our mutual efforts as part of a broad coalition to degrade and destroy ISIL," the official said, using another term for IS. Turkey -- NATO's only majority Muslim member -- has stayed out of active participation in the U.S.-led coalition assisting Kurdish forces in the fight against IS, causing irritation in Washington. According to Turkey's Hurriyet daily, the U.S. side at the meetings once again requested Turkey's permission to use the Incirlik base in the south of the country for air strikes against IS in Syria. Hurriyet said the Turkish government said it wanted to be kept informed of operations by the coalition in real time and that attacks on populated areas be avoided to prevent more refugees fleeing to Turkey. Analysts say that Ankara is keeping its distance from the U.S.-led campaign against IS as it is wary of aiding Kurdish forces and also fears that jihadists could launch revenge attacks inside Turkey. Ankara is wary of the creation of an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria, fearing the growing power of Kurdish forces there will embolden Turkey's own Kurdish minority. Turkey has reinforced its military presence on the volatile Syrian border over the past week, deploying tanks and anti-aircraft missiles there as well as additional troops. Reports last week said the Turkish military could push into Syria to create a buffer zone dozens of kilometers inside Syrian territory to ensure Turkish security and house some of the 1.8 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday ruled out any prospect of an immediate intervention in Syria, but said Turkey would respond if its security was threatened. Agence France Presse

IS Hackers' Take Down Website of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
Naharnet /08.07.15/Hackers claiming to be affiliated with the Islamic State group took down the website of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor on Wednesday and threatened its director. The group calling itself the Cyber Army of the Khilafah (Caliphate) replaced the front page of the war monitor's site with a photoshopped image of the Observatory's director and text threatening him. The Observatory is a Britain-based monitor of the war in Syria, and one of the few groups that has reported on violations by all sides in the conflict and documented its ongoing death toll. A screenshot of the hacked website provided by the Observatory showed an image of director Rami Abdel Rahman's face photoshopped onto the body of an IS hostage dressed in orange and seemingly about to be beheaded by a knife-wielding jihadist. The text claims that the "Cyber Army of the Khilafah broke into the computer systems of SOHR... seized control of its website, destroying it, and wiping out the data." Abdel Rahman confirmed the hackers had destroyed data on the Observatory's servers, but said "we have a copy of all the information that has been published and until the site is back up, we will publish on our Facebook and Twitter accounts."He said the Observatory had previously received similar threats from the Syrian government and al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front. "But we will continue to do our work and document what is happening in Syria," he told AFP. There was no way to verify that the hackers were linked to IS.
A similar hacking operation against a French television station this year may have originated in Russia. The April attack against France's TV5Monde was claimed by a group calling itself the "CyberCaliphate," but in June a judicial source said an investigation into the attack was focusing on a group of Russians. Hackers claiming to be affiliated with or supporters of the Islamic State group have previously hacked the Twitter account of US Central Command and other international websites. Agence France Presse

22 Dead in Arab-Berber Unrest in Algeria
Naharnet /08.07.15/At least 22 people have died in clashes between Berber and Arab communities in southern Algeria on the edge of the Sahara desert, the national news agency APS reported Wednesday. It was the bloodiest toll in two years of frequent clashes between the communities.APS said another 19 people wounded in two days of clashes between Chaamba Arabs and Mozabite Berbers in the M'zab valley had died of their injuries, raising the toll since Tuesday to 22. Dozens of other people were hurt in the Tuesday-Wednesday violence, the agency said, citing hospital sources and local officials. Homes, shops, public buildings, cars and palm groves were set on fire in the area of Guerrara and the region's main town of Ghardaia, 600 kilometers (370 miles) south of Algiers.
Interior Minister Nouredine Bedoui traveled to the stricken region, APS reported. A security source told AFP that police reinforcements were dispatched from Algiers. The latest round of clashes in M'zab broke out last week, prompting the deployment of anti-riot personnel who have fired tear gas to disperse crowds.Hundreds of homes and shops, mostly of Mozabites, have been ransacked in and around Ghardaia since centuries-old good ties between the area's Arabs and Berbers broke down in December 2013, mostly over property disputes and after vandals destroyed a historic Berber shrine in December 2013. Ghardaia is a UNESCO world heritage site renowned for its traditional white-washed houses and bustling market, selling jewelery, carpets and leather.Agence France Presse

Saudi Royal Visits U.S. Warship amid Regional Tensions
Naharnet /08.07.15/A U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf hosted one of Saudi Arabia's most powerful figures, official media said on Wednesday, as regional concerns mount over alleged interference by Iran. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also defense minister, boarded the USS Theodore Roosevelt which is operating in Gulf waters, the Saudi Press Agency said. "The visit comes in response to an invitation by the U.S. Department of Defense," it said, adding that Salman was briefed on the carrier's weapons and operations. The ship is operating in the area of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is based in Saudi Arabia's neighbor Bahrain. Salman's visit comes as Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states worry that Washington, their traditional defense partner in the region, is not taking seriously enough their concerns about what they consider Shiite Iran's "destabilizing acts" in the Middle East. Those concerns have grown as the United States, France, Britain, China, Germany and Russia try to finalize with Tehran an agreement to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon. Gulf states are worried that Iran could still be able to develop an atomic bomb under the emerging deal to end 12 years of nuclear tensions.
Saudi Arabia has been deepening ties with France and other major powers beyond its traditional U.S. ally, while also adopting a more assertive foreign policy of its own. A Saudi-led Arab coalition in March began bombing Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen. The United States has been assisting the coalition with aerial refueling and intelligence. Agence France Presse

Reports: Fearing New Syria Exodus Turkey Readies New Refugee Camp
Naharnet /08.07.15/Turkey's disaster management agency is readying a giant new refugee camp to house 55,000 people in the south of the country in anticipation of a new wave of migrants fleeing the civil war in Syria, reports said Wednesday. The head of Turkey's disaster management agency, Fuad Oktay, was quoted by local media as saying that as many as 100,000 more refugees could arrive in a 24-hour time span, given the increasingly fragile security situation in Syria. The new camp in the Turkish border town of Kilis is the largest yet to be built in Turkey, which is already hosting some 1.8 million refugees from the Syria conflict. "A new camp to house 55,000 people is being readied in Kilis," Oktay, head of the AFAD agency, was quoted as saying by Milliyet daily. "We would expect to receive 100,000 people in the first 24 hours in the case of a mass migration," he added. Turkey's preparations come as concerns grow of a major escalation in the Syrian province of Aleppo that would include Islamic State (IS) jihadists, rebels, government forces and Kurds. Turkish press reports have said that Ankara is considering a large-scale military incursion inside Syrian territory to create a security zone several kilometers deep that would protect Turkey. However, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has denied there is any such imminent plan. Turkey has bitterly complained of the lack of help it has received from the West in housing the refugees, who have benefited from an "open door" policy championed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In January, the authorities opened what until now has been the country's biggest refugee camp housing some 35,000 Syrian refugees in the town of Suruc close to the flashpoint Syrian region of Kobane. Turkey is accommodating several hundred thousand Syrians in refugee camps mainly in the southeast. But the vast majority of Syrian migrants live outside of the camps in major cities, where their presence has stoked tensions with locals. Agence France Presse

Iraq Court Sentences 24 to Hang over Tikrit Massacre
Naharnet /08.07.15/An Iraqi court on Wednesday sentenced 24 men to hang over the June 2014 massacre by jihadists and allied militants of hundreds of mostly Shiite military recruits in Tikrit. The central criminal court in Baghdad handed 24 of 28 defendants the maximum sentence over the "Speicher" massacre, named after the base from which the victims were captured before being executed. "After deliberations, the court finds that the evidence collected is sufficient to convict 24 defendants," said the judge. "The court decided they will be executed by hanging."All 24 denied any involvement in the massacre, committed during the first days of the Islamic State group's broad offensive in Iraq. The other four defendants were acquitted. Around 600 bodies of victims have been exhumed from burial sites in the Tikrit area. Footage released by IS last year shows some of the captured recruits were shot and pushed into the Tigris river. The defendants were brought into the courtroom blindfolded, handcuffed and chained by their feet.
Proceedings were conducted expeditiously.
Relatives of some of the Speicher massacre victims were heard by the court asking that the perpetrators of what is one of IS's worst atrocities be punished. A court-appointed defense lawyer spoke briefly to ask for leniency but did not challenge the evidence, which consisted mainly of confessions that the defendants themselves claimed were obtained under torture. The judge showed one defendant a grainy printout of a grab from the video footage of the massacre. "Is that you?," he asked. The accused answered negatively, as did several fellow defendants when the judge flashed confession documents and asked them to confirm their authenticity. Some defendants swore they were not even close to Tikrit on June 11 last year, others that they never saw a lawyer. According to rights watchdog Amnesty International, Iraq executed at least 61 people in 2014, ranking fourth among countries carrying out the most executions after China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Combined with a call by the country's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for Iraqis to take up arms against them, the Speicher massacre played a key role in the mass recruitment of Shiite volunteers to fight the jihadists. One of the spots where the Speicher cadets were executed is a police building in the sprawling Tikrit palace complex former president Saddam Hussein built in his hometown. The quay where the victims were shot in the head and pushed into the Tigris has, since Tikrit was retaken, been turned into an improvised shrine. Relatives, many of whom may never have a body to bury, have streamed to the site over the past two months along with fighters, delegations of officials, students and others. Agence France Presse

Mortar Round Kills Five Egyptians in Sinai
Naharnet /08.07.15/Five Egyptian civilians were killed on Wednesday when a mortar round hit a house in a North Sinai village where the army is battling jihadist insurgents, security officials said. It was not immediately clear who fired the projectile, which also wounded four people. Both soldiers and militants use mortars in skirmishes. The military said on Monday it had killed 241 militants in the Sinai between July 1 and 5, while losing 21 soldiers in jihadist attacks.The military has poured troops and armour into the peninsula where security forces have been fighting an Islamist insurgency since then-army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. The leading militant group in the peninsula, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Agence France Presse

Egypt Government to Meet on Disputed Anti-Terror Law
Naharnet /08.07.15/Egypt's government will meet on Wednesday to discuss a controversial draft anti-terrorism law under which reporters could be jailed for contradicting official statements, cabinet officials said. The government last week approved the law, which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi must ratify, but a senior judiciary council asked for changes to a provision that would set up anti-terrorism courts. The draft law has come under attack from the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate and political parties over a particularly controversial article that restricts press freedoms. The article stipulates a minimum two-year prison sentence for anyone who reports details of militant attacks that contradict official statements. Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind has told Agence France Presse that the measure is in response to coverage of a jihadist attack on soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. The military said 21 soldiers were killed in the attack, after foreign and local media reported much higher figures given by security sources. The attacks came two days after state prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bombing in Cairo, prompting Sisi to demand tougher laws and faster trials for alleged militants. A government official told AFP on Wednesday that the meeting would consider revisions to the law "with the goal of defending national security and prioritising the nation's interests".The mass circulation private daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the government was leaning towards amending the article because of the spreading backlash. Dia Rashwan, the former head of the Journalists Syndicate, told AFP he had proposed to the cabinet fines instead of prison sentences for offenders. His proposal would require courts to prove intent and malice in publishing "false" news on militant attacks, he said. "People I have spoken to on many levels (in the government) have expressed a willingness in resolving the matter," he said. Government officials would not confirm whether they intended to change the provision. The country has been fighting a jihadist insurgency in Sinai since the army, then led by Sisi, overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. The attacks have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, while more than 1,400 people, mostly Morsi supporters, have been killed in a crackdown on protests. Agence France Presse

U.S. House Approves Closer Military Ties with Jordan
Naharnet /08.07.15/U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday approved legislation that would ramp up military cooperation with Jordan, including accelerated arms sales to a Middle East ally contending with growing threats from Islamist extremism. Jordan has become a focal point in the fight against the self-described Islamic State because the Hashemite kingdom borders Syria and Iraq, two nations where large swathes of land have been claimed by IS extremists. U.S. forces are training a small group of vetted Syrian rebels in Jordan. A Jordanian pilot captured by IS in December was burned alive on video, in one of the jihadist group's most brutal executions. The House of Representatives passed the bill by voice vote and it now heads to the Senate for consideration. House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said the measure sends a "strong message of support" to a critical partner at a vital time. "Jordan sits on the front lines of the fight against ISIS (IS) and a refugee crisis in Syria where millions have been displaced," Royce said. "As a longtime key partner for peace and security in the region, it is important the U.S. support Jordan as it confronts these security challenges." House Speaker John Boehner, who visited Jordan in March, added that the legislation would "strengthen our ties with King Abdullah, a good friend and solid partner in the region."The measure adds Jordan, for a period of three years, to a list of countries that benefit from "expeditious consideration" of contracts for U.S. arms exports, benefits currently provided to members of the NATO alliance along with Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. In February Washington announced its intention to increase overall U.S. assistance to Jordan from $660 million to $1 billion annually for the 2015-2017 period. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, as of June there were 629,000 registered Syrian refugees in Jordan, most of whom live outside refugee camps. Agence France Presse

Iran says makes new proposal in nuclear talks, West unimpressed
Vienna, Reuters—Iran has offered “constructive solutions” to resolve disputes in nuclear talks with six major powers, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Wednesday, but Western officials suggested they had heard nothing new from Tehran.
Iran and the powers are in the last stretch of talks to reach a final agreement to end a more than 12-year standoff over the country’s disputed nuclear program. The goal is an agreement that would lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program for at least a decade. “Iran has presented constructive solutions to overcome the remaining differences. We will not show flexibility regarding our red lines,” the Iranian diplomat, who was not identified, told ISNA.
But Western officials indicated they have yet to see new proposals from Iran that could end the deadlock. The biggest sticking points include issues such as a United Nations arms embargo, UN missile sanctions, the speed of sanctions relief, and research and development on advanced nuclear centrifuges. “I haven’t seen anything new from Iran,” a Western diplomat close to the talks told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Another Western official echoed the remarks. Western countries accuse Iran of seeking the capability to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful. A successful deal could change balance of power in the Middle East, the biggest milestone in decades towards easing hostility between Iran and the United States, foes since Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
It would be a political success for both US President Barack Obama and Iran’s pragmatic President Hassan Rouhani, both of whom face skepticism from powerful hardliners at home. Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China gave themselves at least until Friday to negotiate an agreement, but a source from one of the powers said on Tuesday they had to wrap up in the next 48 hours. Speaking to reporters late on Tuesday, a senior US official suggested that the negotiations were approaching a moment of truth.
“I believe we will in the near term either get this deal or find out we can’t,” the US official said. Iran and the powers have a rough draft of an agreement with five technical annexes, which diplomats say adds up to around 80 pages. But the text contains many brackets highlighting areas of dispute. The disagreements over UN Security Council sanctions are among the most difficult, officials said. “Removing the remaining brackets, this seems to be very, very, very tough,” a senior Western diplomat told reporters.
Heated exchange
Russia and China, which have never hidden their dislike of sanctions, had indicated they would support the termination of the arms embargo on Iran and UN missile sanctions, both of which date back to 2006. In the end, however, Moscow and Beijing agreed not to break ranks with the Americans and Europeans who want to maintain the arms embargo and missile sanctions, given instability in the Middle East. “In the current context, it would be pretty obscene as a political message if we resolve the nuclear issue but then give them money and the capacity to import and export arms,” a senior Western official said. Russia is especially sensitive about sanctions, Western officials say, due to the fact that it itself is under US and European Union sanctions over allegations that it is supporting pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine, which it denies. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stayed behind in Vienna in an attempt to break the logjam while most of the other foreign ministers returned to their capitals. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who is coordinating the talks, also remained in Vienna to help find a compromise.
Kerry and Zarif were involved in a tense exchange of positions on UN sanctions on Monday night, diplomats said. Tehran says conventional weapons and missiles have nothing to do with the nuclear issue and bans should therefore be removed.
“There was no slamming of doors but it was a very heated exchange of views,” one of the senior Western diplomats said. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond are expected to return to Vienna on Wednesday evening.
US and European officials have indicated that they are prepared to walk away from the negotiations if there is not a deal soon, while the Iranians have said they are happy to continue negotiating. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the power to block a deal, last month ruled out either a long freeze of sensitive nuclear work or opening military sites to inspectors. Western officials say Khamenei’s “red lines” have made things more difficult for the Iranian delegation. “There is a sort of good-cop/bad-cop between Zarif and the Supreme Leader,” a Western official said. “Zarif is under a lot of pressure.” The latest extension of the talks to Friday left open the possibility an agreement would not arrive in time for the deadline to allow an expedited, 30-day review of a deal by the Republican-dominated US Congress.If a deal is sent to Congress between July 10 and September 7, Congress will have up to 60 days to review it. US officials fear that could provide more time for any deal to unravel.

Hadi to present 10-day Yemen ceasefire proposal to UN: source
Sana’a and Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi will on Thursday table a 10-day ceasefire proposal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to end the fighting currently gripping the country, a diplomatic source said. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat via telephone on Tuesday, the source, who requested anonymity, said the plan would see the ceasefire begin five days before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to end on July 17.
It proposes that all fighting between the Houthi movement currently in control of large parts of Yemen and Hadi loyalists cease for the specified 10-day period. Hadi, who has been residing in Riyadh since March, will also inform the UN secretary general that the Saudi-led coalition targeting the Houthis in Yemen will also halt airstrikes during the truce. The campaign has been ongoing since late March. The plan is conditional upon acceptance from the Houthis and ally and ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Houthis must also agree to allow humanitarian aid to reach different parts of the country. Reports have suggested the group has been blocking the delivery of medicines, food, and supplies to areas under their control and impeding the work of regional and international NGOs.
Hadi will also stipulate that as Yemen’s legitimate and internationally recognized president, he must announce the ceasefire in a televised address to the nation. The Houthis have taken control of several of the country’s media outlets since overrunning Sana’a last September, including local television networks and the country’s official news agency SABA.
The Houthis must also abide by UN Security Council Resolution 2216. The resolution, adopted by the Council in April, stipulates the Iran-backed group must vacate all cities and areas in Yemen currently under their control and cease all hostile action against civilians.
The Saudi-led coalition previously made a ceasefire offer to the Houthis in May. The group accepted the proposal and agreed to the conditions set forth, but immediately began targeting civilians and spreading its militias across different parts of the country again as soon as the truce began. UN Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is currently in Sana’a to hold talks with the Houthis and representatives of Saleh over a ceasefire in the country. The source said that that the UN and Western countries had been too trusting of the group.
“The new assurances the Houthis and Saleh’s followers have offered remain unclear until now and not known to the legitimate government [led by Hadi]. It is incumbent upon the United Nations, which seems to believe there has been a positive response from the Houthis [to the talks], to reveal these assurances so that they can be clearly seen by the international community,” the source said. When it came to pushing for the truce, the UN and the international community have put more pressure on Hadi and Yemen’s government than they have on the Houthis, the source said, despite Houthi aggression against civilians, as well as the group’s illegal occupation of large parts of the country and its delaying the delivery of humanitarian aid to those most in need.
Other sources speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat said Yemen’s government last week put forward another ceasefire proposal to the UN, stipulating the international community agree to a joint Arab force to oversee the Houthi withdrawal from cities and regions they have occupied. The Arab force would also help ensure the country’s security in the coming period until the beleaguered Yemeni army can be reformed, also helping to return people internally displaced due to the conflict in the country. Meanwhile, a Yemeni source close to the negotiations in Sana’a told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday there had been much “positive progress” on a number of details relating to the Houthis accepting the ceasefire proposal. The source said an agreement will be reached on the ceasefire within two days and that it will begin on Friday and last for 15–20 days. “This period should give all sides time to discuss the next steps,” the source said, in reference to restarting a genuine political process in the country, as per the Gulf Initiative accepted by all Yemen’s parties and factions following Saleh’s resignation from the presidency in 2012. “The expected upcoming talks between the warring Yemeni factions will be different from those that took place in Geneva during the middle of last month,” the source added. Representatives from Yemen’s government and the Houthis met in June in the Swiss city for UN-sponsored peace talks. No agreement was reached during the meetings. Nasser Al-Haqbani contributed additional reporting from Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia arrests three brothers over Kuwait Shi’ite mosque attack. Fourth brother fights with ISIS in Syria
Dammam, Asharq Al-Awsat—Security coordination between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has led to the arrest of three brothers in connection with the suicide bombing that hit a Shi’ite mosque in Kuwait last month, security bodies in both countries said on Tuesday. The three Saudi brothers were arrested after a joint investigation by Saudi and Kuwaiti authorities led to strong suspicions over their involvement in “the sinful terrorist bombing that targeted the Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait,” Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry spokesman said. Twenty-seven people, mostly worshippers, were killed and 227 injured in the bloodiest attack against Kuwait’s Shi’ite minority. Authorities in Kuwait have identified the attacker as a 23-year-old Saudi national who flew to Kuwait City hours before he carried out the bombing. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which considers Shi’ites to be heretics, said it was behind the bombing. “Two [of those arrested] were born in Kuwait and they have a fourth brother in Syria who is a member of the terrorist ISIS group,” Mansour Al-Turki said. “In coordination with the security authorities in Kuwait, one [of the brothers] has been arrested in Kuwait and preparations to turn him over to the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] are underway.” The second brother was arrested in Taif in western Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said, while the third was apprehended after a shootout with Saudi police. Two Saudi policemen were taken to hospital after sustaining injuries in the firefight. Mansour told Asharq Al-Awsat that the man arrested in Taif has no links to the attack that took place in the western city on Friday in which one policeman was killed and one injured. Two of the suspects carried the explosives for the attack to Abdul Rahman Sabah Al-Aidan, an illegal resident in Kuwait who is believed to have driven the attacker to the mosque and is now in custody, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said in a statement. Investigations have shown that the explosives were of the same type used in the suicide bombings of two Shi’ite mosques in eastern Saudi Arabia in May. Relatedly, none of the three suspects is on the most wanted list recently released by Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, a security source who preferred to remain anonymous told Asharq Al-Awsat. The fourth brother has planned the attack and coordinated between his brothers and the other members of the cell from Syria, the source added.

How Will our Region Look Come November 2016?
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat
Tuesday, 7 Jul, 2015
Against the backdrop of genocide committed by the rump of the Syrian regime against its people in the service of the agreed regional script for the Arab Mashreq (East), and the accelerating collapse of the concept of the “State” throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Lebanon becomes nothing more than a trivial sideshow. Why care anyway about what happens to Lebanon if those supposedly most in need of it, and were deemed the main beneficiaries for whom it was created . . . do not give a damn about it anymore? And why be keen to keep Lebanon if the international accords which created it as an independent country are now under review by the world powers?
The former main beneficiaries were those Lebanese Christians who always dreamt of living in a viable and permanent independent entity in the Arab Mashreq, although there are others who never felt the need for such an entity based on the conviction that the Christians were never “guests” in the region’s geography nor were they foreign to its heritage and history. Indeed, how could they be when two pre-Islamic Christian Arab kingdoms were founded in southwest Iraq and southern Syria by the major Yemenite tribes Lakhm and Ghassan respectively? Later, under Islam, the Muslims and Arabs refused to hold Christianity as a religion, or their Christian compatriots, responsible for the Crusades, which they called “Wars of the Firinja” (the Franks or Westerners), without any reference to Jesus Christ.
In any case, in 1920, Grand Liban, or Greater Lebanon, was created, and soon afterwards became Lebanon, an independent republic “with an Arab face”(!), while the two parallel sectarian mini-states also created under the French mandate, “the State of the Alawite Mountain” and “the State of the Druze Mountain,” were both dissolved and merged in the nascent Syrian Republic. For both the Alawite and Druze minorities the bond of “Arabism” was good enough a guarantee—indeed an assurance—for coexistence in a new state where Sunni Muslims make up more than 70 percent of the population.
The situation was a bit different in the new Lebanon where no single sect could claim to constitute a majority. Thus Lebanon’s political culture was based on fragile consensus and the fact-of-life acceptance of pluralism through mutual concessions between the two main religious blocs, the Muslims and the Christians. This went on until the uneven population growth and the various regional political and military developments combined to ignite the Lebanese Civil War between 1975 and 1990. Afterwards, rational Christian leaders became convinced that the Taif Accords, which formally established the 50/50 partition of political and civil service posts between Muslims and Christians regardless of population figures, and confirmed in writing the allocation of the presidency, the speakership and premiership after modifying their powers, provided the best long-term guarantees to the Christians.
Only Gen. Michel Aoun, the commander-in-chief, opposed the said accords, claiming they weakened the Christians’ position vis-à-vis that of the Muslims, especially the Sunnis. Aoun’s stubborn opposition made him a hero in Christian heartlands, where for hardliners he came to represent the Christian challenge to “Muslim hegemony,” as well as becoming the “champion” of liberating Lebanon from “Syrian occupation.”
Today, in spite of becoming the number one Christian ally of both the Syrian and Iranian regimes, Aoun is at it again threatening mass rallies “in defense of Christians’ Rights,” as a reaction to the Lebanese cabinet’s refusal to appoint his son-in-law to his old post—that of commander-in-chief of the army. In this instance he is forcing the Christian community into a tight corner as the Middle East suffers the tough polarization between the two extreme Sunni and Shi’ite versions of “Political Islam.”
Aoun, however, is not alone in underestimating the dangers of involving the Christian minority in a war that is not really its war. There are, actually, a few religious and political figures who have committed that error, which will only increase extremism and gift (self-proclaimed “Islamist”) groups a credibility they do not deserve.
It is worth recalling that when Ayatollah Khomeini’s insistence on “exporting” his “Islamic Revolution” to the Arab world sparked the Iran–Iraq War, and radicalized Arab fighters returned from Afghanistan, the whole region regressed into a cocoon away from openness and tolerance. Then things got worse as outbidding began in earnest between extremist Sunni and Shi’ite movements and groups culminating in the current poisonous polarization between the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)–Al-Qaeda camp and the velayat-e faqih–Karbala camp. This religious and sectarian situation has been and will be even more costly to the region, but one must recognize that underneath the religious and sectarian cloak there are nationalistic dimensions.
These nationalistic dimensions express themselves in two areas:
The first is the covert confrontation between Iran and Turkey; and the second, the confused calculations of religious, sectarian, and ethnic minorities.
Nationalist feelings in the Arab Mashreq—be they Lebanese, Syrian, or Arab—were never limited to Christians, but rather intensified within Muslim communities as an “Arab” reaction to the process of “Turkification”—or Turkish Nationalism—during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire; which was a non-nationalist Sunni Muslim caliphate. Iran too has never been immune from heightened nationalism, bearing in mind that for centuries it was ruled by non-Persian and even non-Aryan rulers. Today both Turkey and Iran are two large countries where the “major” ethno-linguistic constituent barely surpasses 50 percent of the total population, and hence for both attack is the best method of defense. This means neither of them contemplates defeat, nor would they hesitate to use others in their “grand confrontation” for regional supremacy. As for the “others,” be they Arabs, Kurds, or unattached minorities, they are available and ready to be used as cheap foot soldiers. Last week I saw a published map of Rojeva, or Western Kurdistan, extending along the Syrian–Turkish border and connected with Iraqi Kurdistan. Like many others, I have also been reading lately about the “useful Syria”—meaning the western part of Syria bordering Lebanon and overlooking the Mediterranean. Then of course there is ISIS dominating the desert inner curve of the Fertile Crescent, while southern Iraq is gradually becoming more-or-less an Iranian sector. I am not sure where the Christians and other minorities following their example will find themselves in all this mess; but I reckon using ISIS as an excuse or justification for the Iran–US deal is a very ominous step, and equally as ominous is preventing Turkey from defending itself against the consequences of the deal.
Given all of the above, can we imagine how our region will look like come November 2016?

Erdoğan and Egypt
Ali Ibrahim/Asharq Al Awsat/Wednesday, 8 Jul, 2015
Relations between Egypt and Turkey have never been easy since the Ottoman army entered Cairo and hung up the body of the Mamluk Sultan Tuman bay II at the city gate for three days in the wake of fierce battles that killed around 50,000 people and turned Egypt into an Ottoman province waiting for any opportunity to rise up against Constantinople. The early part of the 20th century has witnessed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Arab Revolt which basically erupted against Ottoman rule in the Levant. After Mustafa Kemal Atatürk modernized Turkey, rules of the game changed and Ankara, for several reasons, kept aloof from the Arab world, focusing instead on the EU. This remained the case until the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rose to power and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan struck up a friendship with the Syrian regime in Damascus that opened the doors of the Arab world to Ankara. Egypt has had no major contact with modern Turkey and it has been keen to maintain its ties with Ankara friendly. This became evident when former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak mediated between Ankara and Damascus to contain what seemed to be a military escalation over the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader who ended up arrested.
This remained the case until the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in Egypt. A rapprochement took place between the two countries due to similarities in the ideology of the AKP and Egypt’s new rulers. Nevertheless, there were also differences and they emerged on several occasions over their stances towards secularism. However, the real confrontation took place after the June 30 revolution that toppled the Brotherhood, with Erdoğan seizing every opportunity to issue firebrand remarks against Egypt. On the public level, there was, and remains to be, an admiration of the economic success Turkey has achieved over the past years. However, this has not prevented the public from voicing its anger at Erdoğan’s statements which are considered to amount to interference in the affairs of a sovereign country.
It is natural that Turkey’s ruling AKP has reacted negatively to the defeat of their Brotherhood ally. However, it is completely unacceptable for Erdoğan to continue his anti-Egypt rhetoric even after it became evident that the Brotherhood’s rule was irrevocably gone. Instead, an official as senior as the Turkish president should have responded to the developments in Egypt with some degree of diplomacy. Moreover, Ankara has been supporting a host of TV channels and other media platforms that instigate against Cairo at a time when terrorist groups have stepped up their attacks against Egypt. Bizarrely enough, there is no logical explanation for Erdoğan’s antagonism of Cairo as it would be in Ankara’s best interests to maintain good terms with Egypt, a major power and a pillar of instability in the region.
Many questions hover over Turkey’s foreign policy and whether it aims to create instability in the region and its neighboring countries, including Egypt.

Could an unlikely triangle alliance face Sinai militants?
Yossi Mekelberg/Al Arabiya/Wednesday, 8 July 2015
If proof was required the that the threat of ISIS militancy is not confined to Syria and Iraq, events last week in Kuwait, Tunisia and the latest bloodshed in the Sinai Peninsula provided ample such evidence. The emergence of the so called Islamic State Sinai Province opened another front in combating one of the most violent expressions of radical Islam the region has ever faced. The Sinai Peninsula which for decades, since a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel was signed in 1979, had been a peaceful demilitarised thinly populated territory, became a war zone against modern jihadists. The coordinated attack by militants of ISIS last Wednesday on fifteen Egyptian army and police positions, as well as the three suicide bombings was in clear defiance of the Egyptian state’s authority in the peninsula. Seventeen Egyptian soldiers and officers were killed in the assault, prompting a swift response by the Egyptian government. Nevertheless, the proximity to Israel and Gaza also presents massive challenges and opportunities to the rule of the Hamas in the Gaza Strip and to Israeli security. Militancy in the Sinai cannot be separated from events in Egypt where there are frequent terrorist attacks by militant groups
Lawlessness in the Sinai Peninsula is not an entirely new. Considering the decades-long neglect and discrimination of the indigenous Bedouin people living there and its geographical remoteness from the power centre in Cairo, it is not surprising that it became a breeding ground for extremism. In the four years of turmoil that Egypt has endured since the Tahrir Square days of 2011, the Egyptian security forces concentrated on events closer to main centres of population, especially Cairo and Alexandria. This left the Sinai desert wide open for the local Bedouins and jihadists to confront the Egyptian government in the more remote peninsula. The power vacuum created by a combination of the territory’s vastness, scarce population, distance from the Egyptian centre of power, and its low priority on the Egyptian agenda, together with immense strategic importance, was bound to draw in non-state radical movements.
Militancy in the Sinai
Militancy in the Sinai cannot be separated from events in Egypt where there are frequent terrorist attacks by militant groups, and the in my opinion the crushing of the opposition and human rights in the country by the government led by President Sisi. The main opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, may have suffered operationally, but this seems, nevertheless, to galvanise their determination and ideology. Sentencing hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members to death, including the Brotherhood’s Grand Mufti Mohammad Badie and former President Mohammad Mursi, indicates the current unbridgeable rift in the gap within the Egyptian society. The organisation that carried out the attacks in northern Sinai last week, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), pledged its allegiance to ISIS in November last year. It is regarded at present as the most active and dangerous terrorist group in Egypt. The vicious cycle of Islamist militancy and government abuse of human rights and due legal process feed on one another. Hundreds of security personnel have been killed by Islamists in recent years, and the assassination of top prosecutor Hisham Barakat, in a Cairo car bombing a day before the attacks in Sheikh Zuweid was a clear assault on the legal system in Egypt.
The powerful military response by air force and ground troops, which killed more than 100 militants, demonstrates the Egyptian government’s shock and anger. Not surprisingly, one of the major sources of support of these actions came from the decision makers in Israel. In addition to sending his country’s condolences to the government and people of Egypt “…for the fallen Egyptians slain by IS[IS] terror.” Prime Minister Netanyahu also linked the incident to his view about the global war on militant Islam. In his typical over simplistic and alarmist manner, he bundled together events in the Sinai with Syria and Iraq, as well as the role of the Hamas and Iran in the region.
Complexity of militancy
Regardless of this superficial understanding of the complexity of militancy in the region, developments in the bordering peninsula are understandably of grave concern to Israel. ISIS for Sinai Province took responsibility on Friday for the firing of two Grad rockets that landed inside the Israeli Negev region. This was the first incident of this kind. As efforts are made to prevent another round of hostilities with the Hamas in Gaza, opening a new front from the Sinai is an unwelcome new scenario for Israel. The country has built a rather sophisticated electric fence along the border with Egypt to prevent infiltration of either militants or African asylum seekers. Cooperating with the Egyptian security forces provides another pillar in securing the Israeli southern border.
In response to the new realities in the Sinai, Israel has withdrawn its demands that Egypt would abide by its commitment in the Camp David Accords to maintain the peninsula demilitarised. In fact Israel is encouraging the government in Cairo to send more troops in order to contain jihadists there. For the first time in 40 years, the Egyptian air force carried out strikes in Sinai, and this time with Israel’s blessing. The appearance of ISIS affiliated militants, brought Egypt and Israel closer together, more so than any other point in the past.
The convergence of the strategies of Cairo and Jerusalem regarding the threat posed to them by developments in the Sinai is only to be expected. Hamas’s approach is, however, somewhat more complex and the situation over the border presents the organisation with a real dilemma. Its obvious allegiance is with those who oppose and even resist militarily the current governments in Egypt and the Jewish state. Nevertheless, wider regional interests mitigate this support. Israeli sources claim that the military wing of the Hamas is assisting ISIS Sinai Province with organisation and armaments. It allegedly smuggles militants from Sinai into Gaza Strip hospitals for medical treatment. In addition there is understanding among the Hamas political leadership that an organisation such an ISIS is also a threat to them, and given the dire conditions in Gaza they might end up creating a monster that would come to haunt them as well. Yet, in the short term some sort of collaboration with ISIS in the Sinai, is quite a tempting proposition in an effort to break the blockade on Gaza.
New circumstances create new opportunities and new threats induce new alliances. The potential triangle of Egypt, Israel and the Hamas to confront ISIS in the Sinai is an uneasy one. It requires psychological as much as political acceptance that the danger posed by ISIS overrides other enmities. Surely the three sides, considering what we have witnessed elsewhere in the region, must understand that confronting anything resembling ISIS should take first priority.

Any decision on ISIS is too little too late
Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Estimations of the size of the ISIS army differs from 20,000 to 200,000 militants. What is clear is that the recruitment drive is intensifying. Recruiters fuel the ISIS forces coming both from the territories taken by ISIS and the web it effectively uses as its soft power.
ISIS–held territory is rich in natural recourses and the negligence of some players provides them with the financial capital needed to make their system function and to guarantee its relatively stable existence.
We should be ready to witness the new destruction of the World Heritage monuments, to witness and to “thank” world leaders for making all this nightmare possible through their lack of will
The recent trends show that ISIS recruitment doesn’t only seek to make people come to the territories of the self-proclaimed Caliphate, but to make each recruiter a terrorist cell himself: its leader, member and soldier.
There is no more need for sophisticated, expensive terrorist plans. After the Arab Spring, the Libyan collapse and the devastating consequences of the Syrian civil war and the Iraqi collapse, access to weapons that flooded the region became an easy matter.
Luring in vulnerable minds
The over-simplified scheme of luring in vulnerable minds with false religious promises is still being practiced in such places as Tunisia. For the most part, ISIS members are far from representatives of the prosperous, successful and well-educated circles of society. They emerge mostly from the most socially risky underprivileged classes, who have a limited future in the societies to which they belong, or just have a strong feeling of the unfairness of the world and system they live in. Some people are joining ISIS to achieve Paradise, some for money, some for equity that the supposed Islamic State also promises. So, ISIS has the most dangerous army, full of blind and thoughtless people with already washed out brains and a strong feeling of resentment and the will to fight for their miserable state.
Thus there are many scenarios of ISIS’ survival as a state or state-like structure and one can only guess at when it will collapse. And even its collapse also promises nothing good to the international community. Thus, both options have negative elements, one more than the other, either ISIS will stay or ISIS will fall. On the one hand we have the most probable development of the situation, in which ISIS will stay and all the current effort of the international community will collapse as it is ineffective and out-of-date in the face of the new challenges.
Tough realism
ISIS will stay as a state or a state-like structure at least at the territories it is occupying now. Only tough realism in the internal decision-making process and replacing rose-tinted idealism and liberalism can stop the global spread of ISIS. However, it will damage the foundation of civilized Western societies. Direct action should replace everlasting talks. This should include action on the enormous illegal migration flows in the Mediterranean – the problem that has a direct impact on ISIS’ spread and security, as according to the EU officials the Migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean and carrying the migrants looking for exile also bring ISIS fighters to European shores. That is why this problem needs strong and fast measures instead of the long unproductive debates that are taking place now.
But it is unlikely that the developed world will succeed in even stopping the spread of ISIS, especially in minds of people. For this we need not only to counter propaganda, but the severe restrictive measures at home, especially in the media freedom sphere. Moreover the totality of the problems started from the illegal immigration from hot spots in the Middle East; accommodation and society integration policies in Western countries create dangerous preconditions for the uncontrolled spread of extremism of all kinds. The rest of the world, and primarily the Middle Eastern countries, are also at a high risk of facing ISIS, primarily through the inevitable attacks of its individual recruiters.
The opposite of all this is if ISIS was to collapse. But if this happens, it will come from the inside only. The factors that can precondition its collapse are disillusionment of the people, a fight for power inside its system, the extreme unstoppable violence, witch-hunts and massive killing sprees of the supposed traitors. What is more, ISIS can be blown up by the international community from the inside, not from the outside. What would have the strongest impact on ISIS, pushing it to its destruction, is a cutting off of its financial flows, as money remains one of the fundamental reasons behind its attractiveness. The problem is that money rules and the needed measures to dry the financial resources of ISIS won’t be taken. Ideologically subversive activities would have a strong impact also, but can hardly be performed.
Idea of the Caliphate
But even if we suppose that ISIS will collapse, the idea of the Caliphate won’t disappear. It will stay and will continue to threaten stability and the future of the region and of the world, especially in the case of the continuing creation of an unfavorable climate and attitude towards the West among the Muslim communities all over the world. Moreover, ISIS’ collapse will lead to the return of ISIS foreign fighters back to their homelands, bringing the extremist ideas with them. What we have to accept for now is that ISIS exists and will exist. In the near future, the headlines of media agencies will be hit by reportages about the new attacks on tourists in the popular resorts in the Middle East with pointed attacks in the European land mass and Middle Eastern countries becoming more and more frequent, cruel and bloody. We should be ready to witness the new destruction of the World Heritage monuments, to witness and to “thank” world leaders for making all this nightmare possible through their lack of will and their inability to act in time. The time for taking sound decisions has passed.

The fate of a Saudi man who wants to escape poverty
Jamal Khashoggi/Al ARabiya/Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Saudi Arabia faces many external challenges. However, its internal problems are no less distressing and difficult, most notably those related to poverty and unemployment. Using black humor, Saudi artist Nasser al-Qasabi exposes in his famous sketch comedy show, “Selfie,” the life of poverty and misery of a Saudi security guard. The episode ends with the poor citizen bursting out in anger and shouting at wealthy businessmen who barely know who he is despite the fact that he had always worked for them. After all doors to get out of poverty were shut in his face, he lost his temper and rebelled against his employers in an unintentional outburst of anger. Back to the not-so-humorous reality, getting out of poverty in the kingdom is very difficult despite the country’s wealth and a compassionate government which allocates billions of dollars to social security aid. All these measures might provide the poor with the minimal necessary standards of living but will not get them out of the poverty circle. Why is that?
The Saudi labor market is distorted, occupied by millions of expatriates who are working in various jobs and landing all the low and mid-level positions
It is because the Saudi labor market is distorted, occupied by millions of expatriates who are working in various jobs and landing all the low and mid-level positions. The same jobs that are supposed to provide sufficiency to the poor and earn them a suitable position in a large “middle class” that constitutes the basis for any normal society. Perhaps, later on, some will find a way to reach the top and even get rich.
Will he succeed? If the uneducated security guard from the “Selfie” show had saved money or borrowed it and decided to try his luck in retail and sales just as his ancestors had done before, thus forming the Saudi middle class, will he succeed in doing so?
At first, he will start working like others in traditional projects; grocery stores, sweets stores, deliveries and building materials. Our friend will then discover that the market is occupied by foreigners who were there before him and therefore have better experience and knowledge. The latter have established a knowledge and services network among themselves. They are not citizens or members of his tribe or his city who will share their experience and give him advice or even lend him money like our ancestors used to do. They can’t even associate with him as he cannot speak their language and knows nothing of their culture and traditions. He has become a stranger in his own country.
I can imagine Nasser al-Qasabi playing the role of the security guard and wandering in Al-Batha in Riyadh with only fifty thousand riyals in his pocket, searching for a shop to rent or merchandises to buy at wholesale prices. He is completely alone and does not know the language of his interlocutors as if he was in Lahore or Dhaka. The camera moves away gradually to show the neighborhood then the city of Riyadh with its two famous skyscrapers, Al-Faisaliya and the Kingdom. The camera zooms in to one of the offices where some Saudis hold prestigious jobs. Those are the bilingual children of the elite. They have pursued their studies in foreign countries and hold advanced diplomas. The camera goes back to Nasser al-Qasabi who is now looking with lost eyes at Asians doing business with Saudis and foreigners, loading and unloading merchandise, signing contracts and exchanging money. Broken and defeated, he realizes that there is no place for him and he looks away toward the distant towers filled with businessmen as if to say: “What can I do if didn’t have the opportunity of education? Am I predestined to remain a security guard, getting paid very little without prospects of a real career growth? My raise does not exceed two hundred riyals every year or two. Is it time for me to start begging for a tip from any man or woman I open the door for?”No. It is time for us to liberate the entire Saudi retail market so that Saudis can turn to it when they have financial trouble or haven’t completed their studies. We must bear every frustration resulting from this measure for the next few years and stand by our Saudi sons and brothers while they acquire or regain the necessary experience. This applies to all the countries of the world and this is how the Saudi market should be.
We will see then the security guard in “Selfie” smiling as he takes his son with him to his shop and shout at him saying: “Take good care of the shop, kid. I am going to meet with your Uncle Sadaqa to talk about the new merchandise. Do you understand, son?”

Saluting Tunisia’s human shield
Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Seifeddine Rezgui killed dozens of tourists on a beach in Sousse, Tunisia, before trying to escape and being shot dead by security forces. Last summer, Israeli helicopters killed four Palestinian children as they played on a beach in Gaza. Cameras documented their innocent play as well as their tragic deaths. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) carried out a horrific mass execution on a Libyan beach. Beaches, which should be beautiful and friendly places, have become scenes of terror. The death of any innocent must be condemned and rejected, but why do certain cases receive more attention than others? Factors include the location, the victims’ nationalities, and media access.Videos showed a human shield formed by Tunisian men and women around tourists. These men and women must be remembered as a light amid the darkness. However, the Sousse attack garnered more interest because it was documented by survivors’ smartphones, so there was information, footage and emotional narration of what happened. All this helped deliver different journalistic material.
Rezgui was a fan of music and football, but adopted an extremist ideology. His biography, and the photo of him in shorts on the beach carrying a machinegun shows how ambiguous the line is between what we assume is an ordinary man and an extremist. However, the location – a beach – elevated the status of the tragedy. Several videos documented the massacre, so it would have been difficult for the media to ignore them and not provide expanded coverage. The Sousse attack was distinguished by videos of Tunisians trying to protect fleeing tourists and deter Rezgui. What happened in Sousse stirs anger and grief, but videos showed a human shield formed by Tunisian men and women around tourists. These men and women must be remembered as a light amid the darkness, a light that will keep our beaches beautiful and wash away memories of horror, which hopefully will become part of the past.

Boko Haram offers to swap detainees for kidnapped girls
Michelle Faul| Associated Press/July. 08, 2015 /LAGOS: Nigeria's Boko Haram extremists are offering to free more than 200 young women and girls kidnapped from a boarding school in the town of Chibok in exchange for the release of militant leaders held by the government, a human rights activist has told The Associated Press. The activist said Boko Haram's current offer is limited to the girls from the school in northeastern Nigeria whose mass abduction in April 2014 ignited worldwide outrage and a campaign to "Bring Back Our Girls" that stretched to the White House. The new initiative reopens an offer made last year to the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan to release the 219 students in exchange for 16 Boko Haram detainees, the activist said. The man, who was involved in negotiations with Boko Haram last year and is close to current negotiators, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters on this sensitive issue. "Another window of opportunity opened" in the last few days, according to Fred Eno, who has been negotiating with Boko Haram for more than a year. He said he could not discuss details but explained that the recent slew of Boko Haram bloodletting - some 350 people killed in the past nine days - is consistent with past ratcheting up of violence as the militants seek a stronger negotiating position. Presidential adviser Femi Adesina said Saturday that Nigeria's government "will not be averse" to talks with Boko Haram. "Most wars, however furious or vicious, often end around the negotiation table," he said.
Eno said the 5-week-old administration of President Muhammadu Buhari offers "a clean slate" to bring the militants back to negotiations that had become poisoned by the different security agencies and their advice to Jonathan. Two months of talks last year led government representatives and Eno to travel in September to a northeastern town where the prisoner exchange was to take place - only to be stymied by the Department for State Service, the activist said.
At the last minute, the intelligence agency said it was holding only four of the militants sought by Boko Haram, he said. It is not known how many Boko Haram suspects are detained by Nigeria's intelligence agency, whose chief Buhari fired last week.
The activist said the agency continues to hold suspects illegally because it does not have enough evidence for a conviction, and any court would free them. Nigerian law requires charges be brought after 48 hours.
Thousands of suspects have died in custody, and they might include some on a list from Boko Haram that Eno said he first received exactly one year ago. Amnesty International alleges that 8,000 detainees have died in military custody - some have been shot, some have died from untreated injuries due to torture, and some have died from starvation and other harsh treatment. In May, about 300 women, girls and children being held captive by Boko Haram were rescued by Nigeria's military, but none were from Chibok. It is believed the militants view the Chibok girls as a last-resort bargaining chip.In that infamous abduction, 274 mostly Christian girls preparing to write science exams were seized from the school by Islamic militants in the early hours of April 15, 2014. Dozens escaped on their own in the first few days, but 219 remain missing. Boko Haram has not shown them since a May 2014 video in which its leader, Abubakar Shekau, warned: "You won't see the girls again unless you release our brothers you have captured." In the video, nearly 100 of the girls, who have been identified by their parents, were shown wearing Islamic hijab and reciting the Quran. One of them said they had converted to Islam. International indignation at Nigeria's failure to rescue the girls was joined by U.S. first lady Michelle Obama. In a radio address in May 2014, she said she and President Barack Obama are "outraged and heartbroken" over the abduction.
Supporters of the girls, who continue to rally each day under the "Bring Back Our Girls" banner, on Wednesday marched to the presidential villa in Abuja to renew demands that the government bring the students home. There have been unconfirmed reports that some of the girls have been taken to neighboring countries, and that some have been radicalized and trained as fighters. At least three were reported to have died - one from dysentery, one from malaria and one from a snake bite. Last year, Shekau said the girls were an "old story," and that he had married them off to his fighters. Lawan Zanna, whose daughter is among the captives, said this week that 14 Chibok parents have died since the mass kidnapping, many from stress-related illnesses blamed on the ordeal. Some of the Chibok girls who managed to escape have been rejected by their community and now live with family friends, tired of hearing taunts like "Boko Haram wives."The assumption that all girls and women held by the group have been raped is a difficult stigma to overcome in Nigeria's highly religious and conservative society. Shekau had threatened in 2013 to kidnap women and girls if Nigeria's military did not release detained Boko Haram wives and children. The government freed them in May of that year, as a goodwill gesture ahead of peace talks, which failed.
Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds more - girls, boys, women and young men. Some have become sex slaves, while others are used as fighters, according to former captives. Nigerian opinion on negotiating with the extremists is mixed. Some say the group's crimes are too heinous to be forgiven: The 6-year-old Islamic uprising has killed more than 13,000 people and forced about 1.5 million from their homes. "A lot of people take a hard-line stance that you must never negotiate with a terrorist," said Sen. Chris Anyanwu. She called it a "very complex" issue, balancing the lives of more than 200 girls against the dangers of freeing extremists. The militants last year seized a large swath of northeast Nigeria and declared an Islamic caliphate. Nigeria and its neighbors deployed a multinational army that forced them out of towns and villages this year, but the bloodshed has risen at a fierce rate since Buhari's May 29 inauguration amid pledges to crush the insurgency. Eno said that as the president pursues a necessary military solution, he hopes Buhari also understands the need for negotiation. He said the latest overture comes through respected Islamic scholars and Muslim elders who were ignored by Jonathan's people but now have taken dangerous and courageous steps to engage the insurgents.

Expulsion Of Coptic Families From Their Homes Sparks Uproar In Egypt
MEMRI/July 8, 2015Special Dispatch No.6097
The expulsion of several Coptic families from Kafr Darwish in Beni Suef governorate in Egypt has recently caused a stir in the country. The families were expelled in attempt to ease severe tension between Muslims and Copts in the village; the tension was sparked after a member of one of the Coptic families who resides in Jordan posted on his Facebook page images and content that were deemed offensive to Islam and the Prophet. Enraged by his posts, Muslim teens in the village attacked his family and other local Copts. This prompted intervention by the security forces, who surrounded the homes of the Coptic families to prevent further violence.
The decision to expel the families was taken at a reconciliation assembly held on May 17, 2015, which was attended by Coptic and Muslim families, village dignitaries, and representatives of the security forces and local government. This solution was presented as a necessary evil that would prevent the greater evil of continued clashes between Copts and Muslims.[1]
The expulsion of the Copts sparked harsh criticism from Coptic and human rights activists in Egypt, who said that this measure – decided on as part of an informal arbitration procedure – was a flagrant violation of human rights and of the Egyptian constitution. Criticism was leveled especially at the local governor and local security officials, who had given their blessing to the move. Some even called upon Egyptian president ‘Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi to intervene in the matter.[2]Outrage was also voiced on social media, under hashtags such as “No to the expulsion of the Copts of Kafr Darwish.” Users condemned the move as an expression of racism and sectarianism, and criticized the custom of settling conflicts in informal frameworks such as reconciliation assemblies, rather than through the courts and the rule of law.[3]Articles in the Egyptian press likewise expressed disapproval, stating that the forced expulsion of the families was a reflection of the widespread persecution of and discrimination against Egypt’s Coptic community. The authors slammed the Egyptian authorities, stating that, under the pretext of preserving social order and preventing bloodshed, they took part in persecuting Coptic citizens instead of defending them. One of the articles, by former deputy prime minister Ziad Bahaa Eldin, noted that the issue of anti-Coptic discrimination by the state apparatuses is hardly discussed lately, since the current media discourse in Egypt labels any criticism of the state and its apparatuses as an attempt to destabilize the country and as support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
In light of the public outrage, the Coptic families were eventually allowed to return to their homes on June 5,[4] following a second reconciliation assembly under the aegis of the Egyptian presidency and Al-Azhar, attended by Coptic and Muslim dignitaries, the local governor and security chief, and a local representative of the Endowments Ministry.[5]
The following are excerpts from three Egyptian press articles condemning the expulsion of the Copts.
The family of the Coptic youth whose Facebook posts triggered the incident, which was expelled from its home in Kafr Darwish (image: YouTube.com, June 6, 2015)
Egyptian Journalist To President Al-Sisi: An ISIS-Like Phenomenon Is Emerging In Egypt
An especially scathing response was penned by journalist Magda Al-Guindy, editor of the literature supplement of the Al-Ahram daily and the wife of liberal activist Gamal Al-Ghitani, known for his interest in Coptic heritage. In her June 3, 2015 column, she appealed to President ‘Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi, urging him to deal with the disturbing phenomenon immediately. Al-Guindy called the perpetrators of the crimes against the Copts “an internal Egyptian ISIS” and accused the state of abetting the Copts’ expulsion. She wrote: “Honorable President, I know that the people you appointed are supposed carry out the law, but, pardon me, they are incapable of making decisions… at least in the matter about which I am writing to you. They are expelling Egypt’s Copts, sir. They are uprooting Egyptian [citizens] from their land, [ignoring] the constitution and the law, not to mention history and geography. Mr. President, Egypt’s national security is threatened not only by ISIS on the border. It is also threatened by internal elements who trample the law and are guided by a lie called ‘traditional solutions’ and [traditional] assemblies[that are outside the normal legal framework], which publicly tear Egypt apart and order the expulsion of Egyptian Copts from their homes. Mr. President, ISIS is right here in [Egypt]. You, and with you all the people, thirst for justice and understand that time is not working in our favor… This internal ISIS is slaughtering us; it is plotting against us and you and against the very existence of Egypt. Honorable President, our sons, brothers and fathers in the army are being killed every day so that Egypt will remain whole and undivided, [yet at the same time] the internal ISIS is burning houses of God and the homes of Egyptians just because they are Copts…
“Sir, when you visited the Egyptian Copts on [Christmas] Eve, you set people’s hearts at ease. You represented the one [unified] Egypt, you delivered the message [of unity]. [But] today, sir, they are slaughtering Egypt. You promised us [a state of] law, and we supported you. You went out on a limb the minute you realized that our existence, namely Egypt’s existence, is being targeted. [So] now that a new sword is placed on our neck –a sword that expels Egyptian [citizens]… a sword of fear and bloodshed –[please] remove [this sword], sir. Restore the law to us, dismiss the feeble and cowardly [functionaries] who are incapable of making timely decisions.
“I do not wish to compound your worries, so I will spare you the details of small, frightened children who were forced from their beds in the middle of the night, and of elderly men and women who,due to their [advanced] age, could only crawl when the authorities surprised them and ordered them to leave their homes otherwise they would be burnt [alive]… I know that you understand the implications of this matter better than me and that you will heed the call to maintain a united Egypt and carry out the law…”[6]
The second reconciliation assembly (image: masrawy.com, June 2, 2015).
Egypt’s Former Deputy Prime Minister : It Is Inconceivable That The State Should Be Complicit In Expelling Citizens From Their Homes
In an article titled “Forced Migration and the Role of State and Society,” published June 2 in the daily Al-Shurouq, former Egyptian deputy prime minister Ziad Bahaa Eldin, whose mother is of Coptic origin, attacked the state’s sponsorship of “reconciliation agreements “as part of which Coptic families are expelled from their villages. He called to pass laws banning discrimination and warned that, given the existing economic and cultural circumstances in Egypt, the latent civil war could erupt to the surface at any moment. The following are excerpts from the English version of his article, posted June 4 on Ahram Online:[7] “Yet again news comes of Coptic families expelled from their villages, this time in Beni Suef and Al-Minya, part of the terms of customary reconciliation agreements reached in meetings of local residents, clerics, and state representatives.
“The locals and clerics who take part in these sessions believe they’re doing the right thing because it protects families and villages in Upper Egypt by preventing a small-scale dispute from degenerating into a violent sectarian conflict. So they choose flawed solutions to ward off what they see as the greater evil. That’s why I don’t blame those who in fraught circumstances seek to defuse sectarian tension and shut down the strife before it begins. The state, however, is something else. State institutions should be censured for sanctioning the outcome of a customary reconciliation that compels a family to leave its village because one of its members may have done something shameful, provocative, or illegal.
“Expulsion from one’s village is not a penalty recognized by law. In fact, the Constitution considers it a crime so serious that it is not subject to a statute of limitations. Banishing an entire family because one of its members may have infringed social or moral codes or even committed a crime is also a flagrant violation of the constitutional principle of personal criminal liability…
“The state should not participate in, sanction, recognize, or implement any decision to expel any citizen from his hometown. Doing so is tacit recognition that the principle of citizenship is meaningless and that the state’s authority to protect its citizens is powerless before social pressure and hard line religious currents.
“These evictions are nothing new in Upper Egypt, although they have increased since the revolution due to the security vacuum, the spread of weapons, and the rise of religious extremists who feel empowered to enjoin the good and forbid the evil. The state often yields to reconciliation deals involving evictions to avoid confrontations, though in rare instances it has implemented the law, brought offenders from both sides to justice, and protected those who are not directly involved in the dispute.
“Currently, few Christian Egyptians doubt that the state and its institutions stand against the return of religious rule, or question the state’s zeal to protect the rights of Copts and their place in society. This was symbolized by the president’s greatly appreciated visit and speech at the St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasiya during the last Christmas mass. But prevailing media and official discourse views any criticism of the state as an attempt to undermine and destabilize the regime, support the Brotherhood, or weaken popular support for the president and the government.
“As a result, any talk of the failure to uphold citizenship or to protect Christians is viewed with apprehension – like talk of the constitution, justice, and liberties - and liable to draw accusations of sowing discord or breaking with the national consensus. Sadly, those who pay the higher price of this silence are poor residents of villages located far from the centers of government, power or influence.
“Sectarian tension exists and can flare up at any moment, fed by existing economic and cultural conditions. The gap between Muslims and Christians is real and has been fostered by decades of suspicion, superstition, and the conflict over limited resources. But the problem cannot be dealt with by remaining silent about violations or by relying on state agencies alone to manage the issue using the same means that created the problem in the first place.
“Society must confront the issue. Laws protecting equality and prohibiting discrimination must be issued, and the state must allow civil society to play its role in raising awareness, building bridges of trust, and creating early-warning systems that can monitor imminent sectarian conflict, address the root causes, and deal with its consequences.”
Deputy Director Of Al-Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies: The Security Apparatuses Benefit From Expulsion Of Copts
In a similar vein, on June 7, 2015, Dr. ‘Imad Gad, deputy director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, published an article in the Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm in which he sharply criticized the Egyptian authorities for failing to prevent the expulsion of Copts, and suggested that they derive economic and moral benefit from these acts. He added that the ongoing persecution of Copts diminishes the status of the Coptic Church and especially the status of the Coptic patriarch in the eyes of the community’s younger generation.
Gad wrote: “The state’s constitution mandates equality between citizens regardless of race, language, religion and gender. In practice, the coercive expulsion of Coptic citizens continues under direct threats by other citizens or following decisions by the customary law assemblies that are supervised by the security apparatuses and the authorities… Quite possibly, they [the security apparatuses and the authorities] derive economic and moral benefit from this – economic by receiving a share of the “booty” appropriated from the expelled families, and moral due to the satisfaction of expelling and punishing members of a different faith. [After all,] many state apparatuses are riddled with extremism, zealotry and fundamentalist ideas…
“During the 1970s we witnessed the flight of Coptic families from Upper Egypt, more precisely from the Asyout and Al-Minya districts, due to the crimes of extremist groups and their repeated attacks on the Copts, and also due to the imposition of taxes upon [the Copts] with the knowledge of the security apparatuses and the state institutions…
“The continued violation of the constitution and the law in all Copt-related issues is insufferable, especially considering[that it triggers] action by the younger generation of Copts, which pressures the church and disdains its position… to the extent of losing respect for the head of the church. Some have accused the patriarch of failing to intercede with the state to end these acts against the Copts, and others have described him as[actually] working for the state, thus undermining his status and weakening his ability to handle these events.
“The matter does not permit further delay. Article 63 of the Egyptian constitution[8] must be enforced, and senior officials in the security apparatuses and the executive branch must be instructed to carry out the law and dissolve the customary law committees [and clarify] that anyone involved in such acts [of expulsion?] will be dismissed and persecuted. As I have repeatedly said, the solution lies in a state of law that commands respect, and this [in turn] depends on political will. In other words, is there a genuine desire to implement the constitution and the law and deal with discrimination among Egyptian citizens? Or is the constitution meaningless, and therefore Egyptian citizens will continue suffering various forms of discrimination, with religious discrimination being the most dangerous of them?”[9]
Endnotes:
[1] Vetogate.com, June 5, 2015; Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), June 6, 2015.
[2]Al-Dustour (Egypt), May 29, 2015;Al-Bidaya (Egypt ), June 3, 2015.
[3] Dotmsr.com, June 1, 2015.
[4] Vetogate.com, June 5, 2015; Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), June 6, 2015.
[5] Masrawy.com, June 2, 2015; dotmsr.com, June 3, 2015.
[6]Al-Ahram (Egypt), June 3, 2015.
[7] English.ahram.org.eg, June 4, 2015.
[8]Article 63 states: “All forms of arbitrary forced migration of citizens are forbidden. Violations of such are a crime without a statute of limitations.” Constituteproject.org/constitution/Egypt_2014.pdf.
[9]Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), June 7, 2015.

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