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LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 22/15

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins05/english.june22.15.htm

Bible Quotation For Today/You received without payment; give without payment.
Matthew 10/08-15: "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town."

Bible Quotation For Today/Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah
Acts of the Apostles 09,19b-30: "And after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ All who heard him were amazed and said, ‘Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? ’Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah. After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus."

Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 21-22/15
Five ISF members arrested for torture/Philip Issa/Hashem Osseiran/The Daily Star/June. 22/15
The Arab world and the future of Africa/Afshin Molavi/Al Arabiya/June 21/15

Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 21-22/15
Iran MPs curtail own power to veto nuclear deal
German prosecutors meet over detained Al-Jazeera journalist
ISIS militants plant mines and bombs in Palmyra: activists
Bombings kill at least 5 people near Iraqi capital
Sunni tribes, abandoned by Iraq, key to fight against ISIS
When the Saudi Shoura Council rejects a national unity protection proposal…
Syrian refugees torn between death and refuge
One Dead in Suicide Bomb in Syria Kurdish City
Palestinian shot after stabbing Israeli policeman in Jerusalem
The nature of the Mahmoud Abbas regime
France urges Jordan 'respect' in Paris attack suspect extradition
Austrian city in shock after deadly street rampage
Greece presents new financial proposals to European leaders
Spain's Socialist name party leader Sanchez candidate in race for PM
One Dead, Nine Wounded in Shooting at Detroit Party
Kuwait court orders female activist jailed for criticising Emir
Three al-Shabaab militants killed’ in attack on Somali intelligence base
South Africa ministers ‘plotted to protect Sudan’s Bashir’
Afghan Taliban offer govt workers ‘hotline’ number to defect
The Arab world and the future of Africa

Jehad Watch Latest Reports And News
Fistfight breaks out at Yemen peace talks
UK: Husbands of Muslimas who fled to ISIS say UK police “radicalized” their wives
Pamela Geller: Michelle Obama “sees herself” in UK Muslim women
Islamic Republic of Iran: 74 lashes, prison for eating in public during Ramadan
Jihad families used UK welfare benefits to fund flight to the Islamic State
Spain: Car driven at 235 km per hour “hiding Islamic State suspect”
Islamic State lays explosives in Syria’s Palmyra ruins
Islamic State offers female slaves as top prizes for Qur’an competition
UK: Imam accused of recruiting for jihad group doesn’t have to wear electronic tag — it breaches his human rights
India: Muslim murders 17-year-old daughter in honor killing

Those who are rounded & dragged To Aoun's resident Every Sunday are herds of sheep
Elias Bejjani/21.06.15/Sadly all those Lebanese citizens who are dire victims of Micheal Aoun's treason, delusions and day dreaming are acting like herds of sheep and are totally alienated and detached from reality and actual facts. They are covering stupidly Aoun's Evil devastating role that targets Lebanon and all the Lebanese. They are unable to understand that Aoun is executing an evil role in blindly serving the anti Lebanese Axis of evil (Syrian-Iranian) stone age and expansionist schemes. These blinded herds are rounded every Sunday and pushed to Aoun's residence at Al Rabia where in their presence he delivers his satanic, instigating, sickening and hostile speeches. Why herds of sheep? Simply because they foolishly and naively support a derailed politician whose agenda is merely personal, narcissistic, staunchly negates all that is Lebanese and disrespects our martyrs and their sacrifices. Faith wise Aoun is a replicate of the Antichrist and all that he is doing aims to mislead our people, kill their desertion and drag them out of all that is faith, wisdom, common sense, patriotism, freedom and self respect. Let us pray that all those blinded victims of temptation will wake up and start to see things as they are and act accordingly.

FPM will rally to restore Christian rights: Aoun
FPM will rally to restore Christian rights: Aoun/The Daily Star/Jun. 21, 2015/BEIRUT: The Free Patriotic Movement will mobilize across Lebanon to demand the restoration of Christian rights, FPM chief Michel Aoun warned Sunday. “We are suffering from a grave problem and it is the role of Christians in Lebanese government,” Aoun told a group of his supporters at his residence in Rabieh. “It seems we have lost our primary role and we will not get it back unless we demonstrate our existence.”“The FPM may meet from all over Lebanon to demand the return of our rights,” he added. Aoun also lambasted the possibility of extending the term of Army Commander Gen. Kahwagi, who is set to retire in September, accusing the government of using unconstitutional mechanisms to keep the military head in place. Kahwagi’s term was already extended once before in 2013. Aoun wants his son-in-law Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, commander of the Army’s elite force, to succeed Kahwagi. Roukoz, a widely acclaimed military figure, was credited with the Army’s victory over jihadis in the deadly battle in Arsal last year. Aoun said Sunday that the government rejected naming Roukoz as the country’s military chief only because he is the FPM leader’s son-in-law. He also reiterated his call for the election of a strong president, arguing that a consensual head of state would only prolong the ongoing crisis in the country.

‘No restraint’ in next Lebanon war: Israeli general
The Daily Star/June 21, 2015/BEIRUT: The Israeli army will show ‘no restraint’ in attacking civilian centers in south Lebanon and Beirut should another war break out with Hezbollah, a senior Israeli military official told the German Die Zeit newspaper. Israeli Air Force chief Major-General Amir Eshel warned Hezbollah in a recent interview picked up by The Jerusalem Post Saturday that Israel would not hesitate to attack military command centers situated in civilian buildings in Lebanon. "[The Israeli Army] would not show restraint due to the immoral war tactics of our enemies,” he noted. "Years ago, they (Hezbollah) began to transfer military infrastructure to residential areas, thereby turning the population into a human shield,” Eshel said, reiterating recent claims made by several Israeli officials. "Many villages in Lebanon are built anew to turn into army bases with underground missile sites and ammunition storages. This is how things are in some areas of Beirut as well," he added. "What are we supposed to do? Sit quietly?” The Israeli military official said that the Israeli army would use various means to warn civilians about impeding attacks, including sending text messages in order to give them a chance to seek shelter in a safe area. "We will also warn civilians by using small light explosives prior to an attack," Eshel said. The controversial practice of firing a small mortar onto the roof a building to warn of an impeding missile strike, known as "roof-knocking," was a widely employed Israeli tactic during the 2014 Gaza War, in which more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed, most of whom were civilians. Eshel’s comments comes less than a month after an Israeli military official claimed that Israel would seek to evacuate south Lebanon of more than one million people - roughly the entire population - should another war break out with Hezbollah. Israel killed about 1,200 people during its 2006 invasion of Lebanon, the overwhelming majority of them civilians. The report appeared to respond to a widely-criticized New York Times story published last month citing Israeli officials who accused Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields and suggesting that "many Lebanese civilians will probably be killed [in a future war], and that it should not be considered Israel’s fault."In a 2008 interview, then-Israeli Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, who is now Israel's military chief, declared that if a new war with Hezbollah was to erupt, “what happened in the Dahiyeh quarter in Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on.”Dahiyeh refers to the southern suburbs of Beirut which were reduced to rubble during the 2006 war.

Five ISF members arrested for torture
Philip Issa/Hashem Osseiran/The Daily Star/June. 22, 2015
BEIRUT: Five members of the Internal Security Forces are under arrest after videos surfaced showing them severely beating prisoners held in Lebanon’s notorious Roumieh prison as the interior minister vowed to prosecute aggressors.“I assume full responsibility for what occurred,” Nouhad Machnouk told reporters during a news conference Sunday.
The videos, published on social media sites over the weekend, show ISF members beating a handful of handcuffed and kneeling prisoners with a baton, and groping them and kicking them in the face. They were in a sun-lit room with several other quiet, kneeling prisoners.Machnouk said at least four other guards had participated in the torture, in addition to the two whose faces appeared in the video and have been arrested.
Later Sunday night, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi announced that five ISF personnel involved in the torture episodes were arrested. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called both Rifi and Machnouk, condemning the acts of torture and demanding that all those involved be held accountable. According to a statement from Hariri’s office, Rifi and Machnouk informed Hariri that investigations into the case “will be carried out until the end to uncover perpetrators and prosecute them.”Hariri described the torture videos as “inhumane acts” and called for severe punishments for all those involved. “Their acts and behaviors tarnish the reputation of the state, the government and the Internal Security Forces,” he said.
Machnouk said he would not permit such abusive treatment “under any circumstances or for any reason,” but said it was “not strange” that it had happened. He said the video was shot during last April’s prison revolt, when prisoners blocked entrances, set mattresses on fire, and took 20 guards hostage. “We must take into consideration that hundreds of security forces had entered a facility that was housing at least 1,000 inmates,” he said. “So it is not strange that four or six officers did this.”The interior minister vowed to take all legal measures against those found guilty of misconduct, asserting that such abuse has not recurred since. Rifi added separately, “This crime cannot go unpunished. I’ve asked the Prosecutor General to pursue the investigation to its very end.”The video has drawn renewed attention to overcrowding and mistreatment in Lebanon’s prisons.
A United Nations report published last year described torture as widespread and systemic. “Torture in Lebanon is a pervasive practice that is routinely used by the armed forces and law enforcement agencies,” it said. The U.N. Committee Against Torture documented abuse at Beirut’s Hobeish detention center, Baabda’s women’s prison, Roumieh and unofficial detention centers in the capital’s southern suburbs. It said women prisoners were subjected to sexual violence, and noted that inmates in Roumieh were “severely tortured” by ISF or military interrogators.
In a statement, the ISF sought to cast the incidents captured in the videos as anomalous. It affirmed its commitment to human rights and promised to carry out a complete investigation. But Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch said prison abuse in Lebanon is “rampant.”“Lebanon pays lip service [to its human rights commitments], but in practice it isn’t protecting its prisoners,” he said. “Every few months something comes to the surface,” he added. Machnouk admitted that the conditions in Roumieh before the April revolt “were very bad,” owing especially to overcrowding. He noted that Lebanon’s prisons have space for just 2,500 inmates but hold 7,000.
The revolt occurred in Roumieh’s Block D. Prisoners had demanded to be transferred back to Block B, where they had enjoyed considerable autonomy before the ISF forcibly relocated them to stricter quarters in January. It took the ISF days to quell the riots. But Machnouk said conditions improved considerably afterward, when the prison was able to return some of its inmates to the newly renovated Block B.
The videos that surfaced on YouTube Saturday showed over a dozen Roumieh prisoners crouching on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs. The men, who were stripped shirtless, were beaten severely with a long green rod. One guard was shown groping a prisoner before hammering his back with repetitive blows. The victim was writhing and wailing in pain as his back turned red from the beating. The guard then made his way to the opposite corner of the room where he began striking another tattooed prisoner. A follow-up video showed another prisoner, wearing only his underwear, crouching in the corner as a guard approached.
The guard questioned the inmate on the charges against him, to which prisoner replied he was incarcerated for “transporting terrorists.” The guard then struck him several times with the same green rod on the face, back and legs. The guard then ordered the prisoner to kiss his feet and subsequently kicked him in the face with his boot. Pro-Islamist Twitter pages identified the beaten prisoners as Sheikh Omar Atrash from the northeastern border town of Arsal, Qatibah al-Asaad from the Lebanese border area of Wadi Khaled and Wael al-Samad from the Dinnieh town of Bakhoun in north Lebanon.
But Machnouk denied that the abusive agents had singled out Islamists. He said the video showed the agents “picking prisoners [to beat] at random.” Machnouk emphasized the fairness of the prison system. “I am responsible for the human rights of each prisoner, regardless of his affiliation.”“These incidents happen, but I stress: We are the only Arab state that has referred officers who mistreated prisoners to the military court,” he said. He added he would meet with the three victims Monday to hear their version of the story. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian said the video should prompt long overdue prison reform.

Rifi, Mashnouq Vow to Punish Culprits as Roumieh 'Torture' Videos Surface
Naharnet/June 21/15/The ministers of justice and interior pledged accountability Sunday after videos of Internal Security Forces guards abusing and torturing Roumieh prison inmates went viral on social networking websites. In a press conference he held after a meeting with a Muslim Scholars Committee delegation, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi described the conduct as a “crime at the national and humanitarian levels.” “We will continue the investigations until the end and this crime cannot go unpunished,” Rifi vowed, revealing that two of the perpetrators have been detained. “I contacted the state prosecutor and asked him to carry on with the investigations until the end,” the minister added. In a telephone interview with state-run National News Agency, State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud confirmed that “two ISF members who tortured a detainee at the Roumieh prison are currently being interrogated.” Earlier on Sunday, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's press office issued a statement saying the videos were filmed “during the latest riot and raid at Roumieh prison's Block D.” “After the interior minister reviewed the videos, he instructed the relevant security authorities to carry out a transparent and immediate investigation,” the statement added. “The culprits were referred to the relevant judicial authorities to face the severest penalties. As the interior minister condemns this incident, he vows that he will not hesitate to take all the legal measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts,” his office said. It noted that Mashnouq called the justice minister and agreed with him on the need to “coordinate the investigations in such cases” and to “implement the law in Lebanese prisons in a manner that fully preserves the inmates' humanitarian rights.”The interior minister is scheduled to hold a press conference at 5:00 pm to discuss the issue. Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks and escalating riots in recent years as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment. Islamist prisoners who were being held at Roumieh's Block B transferred to a new ward following increased lawlessness and worsening conditions. In January, security forces took full control of the notorious Block B after storming the building and seizing illegal items from Islamist prisoners.Around 800 to 900 inmates, most of them Islamists, were transferred to the new Block D.

Rifi: Two guards arrested for torturing inmates
The Daily Star/ June 21, 2015/BEIRUT: Two prison guards accused of torturing Roumieh inmates have been arrested, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said Sunday, one day after online footage showed the perpetrators beating prisoners with a plastic rod. Rifi said he was informed of the arrests by Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk. "The criminals will be punished," he added during a news conference, asserting that anyone who is proven to have participated or covered the crime will be subject to arrest. "I pledge to pursue the investigation until the last perpetrator is in custody." State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud, who was tasked by Rifi to investigate the incident, said Sunday that he is currently interrogating two officers from the Internal Security Forces who were taped beating prisoners. The videos that surfaced on Youtube Saturday showed over a dozen Roumieh prisoners crouching on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs. The men, who were stripped shirtless, were beaten severely with a long green rod. One guard was shown groping a prisoner before hammering his back with repetitive blows. The victim was writhing and wailing in pain as his back turned red from the beating.The guard then made his way to the opposite corner of the room where he began striking another tattooed prisoner. He then proceeds to kick the victim. A follow up video showed another prisoner, wearing only his underwear, crouching in the corner as a guard approached. The guard questioned the inmate on the charges against him, to which prisoner replied he was incarcerated for "transporting terrorists." The guard then struck him several times with the same green rod on the face, back and legs.The guard then ordered the prisoner to kiss his feet and subsequently kicked him in the face with his boot. The videos were circulated heavily on social media and met with a heavy outcry from critics about the prevalence of torture at Lebanon’s largest prison. The footage that surfaced Saturday was shot when security forces quelled inmate riots that rocked the prison’s Block D in April, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday in a statement released by his news office. Machnouk responded by condemning the torture of inmates, asserting that he would not hesitate to take all legal measures to ensure that such an incident would not be repeated. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt took to Twitter to denounce the torture footage, likening it to “a scene from a Syrian prison.” Syrian prisons are notorious for their torturous practices and their mistreatment of inmates.Pro-Islamist Twitter pages have identified the prisoners as Sheikh Omar Atrash from the northeastern border town of Arsal, Qatibah al-Asaad from the Lebanese border area of Wadi Khaled and Wael al-Samad from the Dinnieh town of Bakhoun in north Lebanon.

Machnouk: At least 4 officers accused of inmate torture
The Daily Star/June. 21, 2015/BEIRUT: There are more than just two security officers accused of torturing inmates in Roumieh Prison, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday, after online footage showed two ISF officers beating prisoners with a plastic rod. “These two officers are not alone,” Machnouk said in a news conference held only hours after the arrest of the two men was announced. “At least four others also committed mistakes and I have referred them to the judiciary,” he added. In addition to those who were arrested, the interior minister said that other officers accused of torturing inmates have been kicked out of the ISF. Though only the faces of two prison guards appear in the Youtube video that surfaced Saturday, Machnouk said that “there are more men but their faces don’t appear in the footage.”The interior minister, who noted that the incident took place when security forces raided Roumieh prison to quell inmate riots last April, said that he “assumes full responsibility for the mistake.”He vowed to take all legal measures against those found guilty of misconduct, asserting that the incident has not recurred since it first took place two months ago. After expressing his condemnation of the brutal acts carried out on prisoners, the interior minister said that “it was not strange” that this incident happened. “We must take into consideration that about 100 security forces entered a facility that was housing at least 1000 inmates,” he said. “So it is not strange that four or six officers did this.”
“These incidents happen but I stress: we are the only Arab state that has referred officers who mistreated prisoners to the military court,” he added. Responding to his critics, Machnouk said “I inherited this prison, I inherited the prisoners and I inherited these conditions, I did not impose this.” The videos that surfaced on Youtube Saturday showed over a dozen Roumieh prisoners crouching on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs. The men, who were stripped shirtless, were beaten severely with a long green rod. One guard was shown groping a prisoner before hammering his back with repetitive blows. The victim was writhing and wailing in pain as his back turned red from the beating. The guard then made his way to the opposite corner of the room where he began striking another tattooed prisoner. A follow up video showed another prisoner, wearing only his underwear, crouching in the corner as a guard approached. The guard questioned the inmate on the charges against him, to which prisoner replied he was incarcerated for "transporting terrorists." The guard then struck him several times with the same green rod on the face, back and legs. The guard then ordered the prisoner to kiss his feet and subsequently kicked him in the face with his boot. The videos were circulated heavily on social media and met with a heavy outcry from critics about the prevalence of torture at Lebanon’s largest prison.Pro-Islamist Twitter pages have identified the prisoners as Sheikh Omar Atrash from the northeastern border town of Arsal, Qatibah al-Asaad from the Lebanese border area of Wadi Khaled and Wael al-Samad from the Dinnieh town of Bakhoun in north Lebanon. Machnouk said Sunday he would meet with the three victims in Roumieh Monday to hear their version of the story.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch rejects federalism in Lebanon
The Daily Star/June 21, 2015/BEIRUT: The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X Yazigi said that he rejects any form of federalism in Lebanon or the Arab world, asserting his belief in a nation that hosts all religions, according to a report published by the Al-Mustaqbal newspaper Sunday. “We do not accept federalism in Lebanon or in any other Arab country,” Yazigi told the Lebanese daily. “We do not accept the notion of a Sunni state and a Shiite state and a separate Christian state because this doesn’t solve the problem.”The patriarch said that he believed in a unified state that is open to all faiths and religion, while relaying his belief in coexistence between Muslim and Christians Yazigi’s comments come one day after he presided over the annual Holy Synod at Our Lady of Balamand Convent in north Lebanon.

Hezbollah claims Israel targeted crashed drone in Bekaa
The Daily Star/ June 21, 2015/BEIRUT: An explosion that was heard Sunday in the western Bekaa Valley was caused by an Israel airstrike targeting a drone that crashed in the western Bekaa Valley, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar. The drone crashed overnight Sunday near Mount Saghbin, according to the report. However, photos of the reported drone published on media websites show Cyrillic script on a piece of the wreckage, indicating that the drone may have been manufactured either in Russia or Eastern Europe.
Early Sunday, a security source told The Daily Star that the explosion was caused by a drone that crashed on the outskirts of the town of Saghbin. Media reports also claimed that military planes were seen flying over the Rashaya towns of Kfar Qouq and Aija minutes before the explosion was heard nearby. Eye witnesses in the area reported that the planes came from the direction of Mount Hermon. The Lebanese Army has dispatched soldiers to the area to inspect the site. No casualties have been reported. Israel has in the past targeted its spy equipment in Lebanon. Last September, an Israeli jet struck a spy device planted on Hezbollah's telecommunications network in south Lebanon, killing a member of the party. Residents said they spotted an Israeli plane hovering over the southern region near Adloun minutes before the explosion took place.

Bassil Calls for Raising Defenses to 'Confront Imminent Wave of Terrorism'
Naharnet/June 21/15/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil warned on Sunday of the “imminent wave of terrorism” that is headed towards Lebanon. He therefore called on all sides “to raise the lines of defenses to protect Lebanon against any foreign threat.”“We may be entitled to request foreign assistance against external threats, but we have no right to demand help to fight each other,” he added. “All we ask is for the external forces to leave us alone and stop pressuring us because we know our internal interests,” stressed the minister from Batroun where he inaugurated a medical center. Since the uprising in Syria took a violent turn, Lebanon has been facing the growing threat of extremists from the neighboring country. One of the main causes of the threat is Hizbullah's fighting alongside the Syrian regime against the rebels. Jihadists from Syria have carried out a number of bombings against Hizbullah targets in Lebanon. They have also engaged in battles with the Lebanese army along the porous Lebanese-Syrian border.

Jreij: Efforts Underway to End Cabinet's 'Vacation'
Naharnet/June 21/15/Information Minister Ramzi Jreij doubted that the cabinet's failure to hold a session will last after the holy month of Ramadan, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday. He told the daily: “Ministers are exerting great pressure on the prime minister so that the period of his consultations would not be prolonged.”“PM Tammam Salam's efforts are very important,” he added, while hailing his caution in tackling this issue. “A time will come however when he will be forced to call cabinet to session as he cannot wait forever,” said the minister. Salam suspended cabinet sessions last week over a dispute on the appointment of high-ranking military and security officials. He has been stalling in calling for a session to avoid a bigger dispute.Free Patriotic Movement ministers haven't also backed down on their demands. They have warned that they would boycott any session whose agenda is not topped by the appointment of the high-ranking officers.

German prosecutors meet over detained Al-Jazeera journalist
Agence France Presse/June 21, 2015/DOHA: A prominent Al-Jazeera journalist spent the night in German custody while prosecutors considered whether to extradite him to Egypt or set him free. Dozens of supporters protested Sunday in front of the Berlin court building where he was being held, demanding his release. Ahmed Mansour, 52, a well-known journalist with the Qatar-based broadcaster's Arabic service, was detained at Berlin's Tegel airport Saturday on an Egyptian arrest warrant, his lawyers said. Mansour, who holds dual Egyptian-British nationality, was trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha, the station reported. His lawyer called Sunday for Mansour's immediate release, saying Germany was getting involved in a politically tainted case.
Mansour's detention is the latest in a long series of legal entanglements between Egypt and its satellite news channels. The station said he had been sentenced in absentia in Egypt to 15 years in prison over allegedly torturing an unnamed lawyer in Tahrir Square in 2011, a charge both he and the channel rejected. "Mansour is accused (in the warrant) of having harmed the reputation of Egypt massively," and of having committed torture, said lawyer Fazli Altin. "It's unacceptable for the freedom of press and embarrassing for Germany that Mansour is being held here on these clearly political allegations." A second lawyer, Patrick Teubner, said the arrest warrant would be read out to Mansour later Sunday. "This case has clearly taken on a political dimension and there are currently lots of background talks and various consulates are also involved," Teubner said, adding that Mansour had been traveling on his British passport when he was detained. A U.K. spokesman said British authorities were providing consular assistance. Both of the journalist's lawyers expressed surprise that Mansour had been detained at all. They said they thought Interpol had put out a note on Mansour, which would show up at passport controls, that Interpol had not officially asked for the arrest of Mansour.
"According to our knowledge, Interpol refused to initiate an international arrest warrant on Mansour, so it's not really clear why he was detained at all," said Altin. The German prosecutor's office could not immediately be reached for clarification on the issue and the German border patrol refused to say on what specific allegations Mansour had been detained.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelattie, however, told The Associated Press that Germany arrested Mansour based on the red flag put for him by the Interpol. He said Egyptian judicial authorities, including the chief prosecutor in Cairo, were speaking with German authorities to clarify what crimes he is wanted for. Asked about the lack of an extradition treaty between the two countries, Abdelattie said it's not needed if the German government decides to send him to Cairo. Germany's justice ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the Berlin prosecutor's office, said prosecutors would hold several meetings Sunday and "of course there can be at any time also a decision to set him free again." He added, however, it would be very unlikely to have a decision on a possible extradition of Mansour on Sunday. A post on Mansour's Facebook page called for a "Freedom for Mansour Ahmed" protest outside the Berlin courthouse. A video of Mansour was also posted to Facebook after he was questioned in which he lashes out at German authorities for detaining him. "Regrettably, they told me that the request to arrest me is a German request and it is not based on Interpol," he said, accusing Germany of being complicit with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government in Egypt.
It wasn't immediately clear who was posting to Mansour's Facebook account, or who made the video. Mansour, who is known for his "Without Borders" program, recently conducted an interview with the head of the Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda branch fighting in Syria's civil war, which aired last month from an undisclosed location in Syria. German media reported that Mansour was in Germany for an interview he conducted here for his show. About 80 protesters gathered outside the Berlin courthouse Sunday, holding up his picture and shouting "Free Mansour!" "We don't understand why Mansour was detained in Berlin," said Ali Alawady, a member of the German-Egyptian Union for Democracy who helped organize the protest. "He is an innocent journalist who is unrightfully persecuted in Egypt."

ISIS militants plant mines and bombs in Palmyra: activists
Mariam Karouny| Reuters/June 21, 2015/BEIRUT: ISIS has planted mines and bombs in the ancient part of the central Syrian city of Palmyra, home to Roman-era ruins, an activist group monitoring the war said Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said it was not immediately clear whether the group was preparing to destroy the ancient ruins or planted the mines to deter government forces from advancing towards the city, also known as Tadmur. "They have planted it yesterday. They also planted some around the Roman theater, we still do not know the real reason," Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the Observatory, told Reuters. Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria's head of antiquities, told Reuters that the reports of ISIS planting bombs in Palmyra "seems true.""The city is a hostage in their hands, the situation is dangerous."The ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim group in May seized the city of 50,000 people, site of some of the world's most extensive and best-preserved ancient Roman ruins. ISIS has proclaimed a caliphate to rule over all Muslims from territory it holds in both Syria and Iraq. Its militants have a history of carrying out mass killings in towns and cities they capture and of destroying ancient monuments which they consider evidence of paganism.

The Arab world and the future of Africa
Sunday, 21 June 2015
Afshin Molavi/Al Arabiya
When the 22 countries of the Arab League met in their Cairo headquarters last month to discuss common security concerns, there were 10 African representatives in attendance. In discussions of the Arab world, one unmistakable factor is often missed: the Arab world is heavily African. Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia are all Arab and African states.
Last week there was another gathering in Egypt, of 26 African leaders who signed the historic Tripartite Free Trade Agreement. The accord links nearly half of African countries with a collective GDP of $1.3 trillion and a population of some 565 million in a customs union that will ease trade barriers and potentially set the stage for a larger continent-wide free trade agreement over the next few years.
After decades as a global laggard, Africa has joined the most important geo-economic movement since the industrial revolution: the rise of emerging markets, the growth of a new global middle class, and rapid urbanization. These three powerful economic drivers will continue to dramatically transform our world over the next several decades, lifting millions from poverty, reshaping global trade patterns and altering geopolitical alliances.
Consider that in the year 2000, the entire continent had a collective GDP of $600 billion, roughly equivalent to the economic output of Spain that same year. Today, Africa’s collective GDP stands at some $2.2 trillion.
Africa has seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world. Its population now exceeds 1 billion and rising. By 2030, one in five people in the world will live in Africa, which will be the youngest continent on earth. By 2040, 25 percent of the global workforce will be there. Africa’s importance to the global economy will only rise.
Of course, tremendous challenges remain. Thirty of Africa’s 54 countries are among the least developed, according to the United Nations, and far too many rely on food imports and therefore price volatility.
Weak infrastructure - from chronic electricity shortages to dilapidated roads and ports - remains a major impediment to sustained growth. Some argue that this will handicap trade agreements from the get-go. Furthermore, the continent is diverse, and the catch-all “Africa” fails to distinguish between countries with radically different histories and levels of development.
Egypt’s prominent role in the negotiations that led to the free trade agreement demonstrates its role as an African bridge state - one that can leverage its commercial and diplomatic networks, particularly across the Arab world, toward greater integration between the Middle East and Africa.
Opportunity
The African growth story has largely been missed by most non-African Middle East states, and by a Middle East media focused more on the multiple crises in the region, U.S. foreign policy and the Iran nuclear talks.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the exception. It has emerged as a key trade and investment partner for Africa. Investments by UAE state-owned entities in sea port infrastructure (DP World) and telecommunications (Etisalat) have supported the continent’s connectivity both internally and with the world. UAE-based power companies have invested in electricity supply in a small but growing number of African markets.
UAE-based airlines - Emirates, Etihad and FlyDubai - are growing their African networks. Emirates in particular has emerged as the most important foreign carrier in several of the continent’s largest markets. Dubai International Airport has become a virtual “Africa hub,” and the city has emerged as a key logistics and financial gateway linking Asia to Africa.
Other Middle East states should follow suit, joining China, India, Turkey and the UAE in viewing Africa as a tremendous opportunity for trade growth and investment, rather than a continent to be “saved.”
Crossroads
Many African states stand at a crossroads, driven by a rising and increasingly urbanized middle class, steady growth and greater global integration. “Across Africa, we’re seeing more and more countries ‘open for business,’ with a more amenable policy and regulatory environment,” said Peter Lewis, director of the Africa Studies program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
The African growth story has largely been missed by most non-African Middle East states
“We’re also seeing much lower debt loads, better budget balances, realistic exchange rates, low inflation rates, and in most countries in Africa the macroeconomic picture has been much more favorable and pragmatic.... Urban economies are not only bringing up a lot of growth in the informal sector, but they’re generating formal sector gains as well.”
However, several African states face the tremendous challenge of terrorism. The rise of Boko Haram represents a setback to Nigeria and parts of central and West Africa, but also a setback to humanity: the group’s depravity rivals that of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), to which it has pledged allegiance.
Middle East and African governments and civil societies thus have a common enemy, so security and intelligence cooperation should become an integral part of their engagement. The Arab world and the broader Middle East should take a more active role in the momentous developments reshaping Africa, as well as the dangerous movements trying to turn back the clock.

The nature of the Mahmoud Abbas regime
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, "Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative"
"Israel Hayom," June 19, 2015, http://bit.ly/1TAPtqS
Contrary to Western conventional wisdom, the nature of Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority – which is burdened by a mere 17% favorability in the US, compared with Israel's 70% - has turned most Palestinians against Mahmoud Abbas, has led most Jerusalem Arabs to prefer Israeli sovereignty, and catapulted Hamas to prominence on the Palestinian Street.
The nature of the KGB-graduate Mahmoud Abbas regime has been defined by a rare combination of endemic corruption, kleptomania ("Mr. 20%" is Mahmoud Abbas' nickname), nepotism, hate-education, incitement, terrorism, anti-US and pro-Venezuela, Russia and China worldview, non-compliance with internal and external agreements, and egregious violations of civil liberties, which has fueled Muslim emigration and the flight of Christian Arabs from Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Ramallah.
The nature of the Palestinian Authority has been shaped - since its establishment in 1993 - by Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinians, who were imported from terrorist camps in Sudan, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia, imposing themselves ruthlessly upon the indigenous Arabs of Judea and Samaria. In 2003, I was rebuked by a prominent Palestinian: "We shall never forgive the Jewish State for imposing upon us the Tunisia-based PLO Sodom and Gomorrah!"
Irrespective of the nature of the Palestinian Authority, the US has been, by far, its largest single-state donor (averaging $500mn, annually, in economic and security assistance), in addition to leading the pack of donors to UNRWA ($250mn in 2014), which has not reduced the threat of incitement and hate-education-driven Palestinian terrorism. It has not inclined Palestinians towards peaceful coexistence with the Jewish State, nor has it advanced the cause of democracy and human rights in the Palestinian Authority.
In September 1993, on the eve of the conclusion of the Oslo Accord, Elias Freij, the Christian Mayor of Bethlehem, and additional Christian leaders from Bethlehem and Beit Jala, (unsuccessfully) implored Prime Minister Rabin to refrain from transferring both towns – which were included in the Jerusalem District during the Ottoman, British and Jordanian rule - to the emerging Palestinian Authority. They expected severe repression of Christian Arabs, by the Palestinian Authority, which would cause Bethlehem and Beit Jala to be "top heavy on churches, but very low on Christians." And indeed, Bethlehem's Christian majority has been reduced to a 15% minority.
Before the signing of the Oslo Accord, I introduced the New York Times' William Safire to a former mayor of Beit Jala, Farah al-Araj, who predicted that "the current state of affairs will produce a larger community of Beit Jala Christians in Belize, Central America than Christians left in Beit Jala." In 2015, Christian emigrants from Beit Jala achieve prominence in Belize, politically and financially, while those remaining in Beit Jala are repressed religiously and physically.
Mahmoud Abbas' stashed accounts and nepotism were highlighted by the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian Stephen Lendman, who accused Abbas of "bribes, secret investments and hidden bank accounts…. earning $1mn monthly…. Abbas holds several Jordanian accounts… not under any national or international scrutiny…. Abbas urged Moscow to supply him with a new advanced presidential jet…. His sons, Tarek and Yasser, profit handsomely from all PA projects…." According to Jonathan Schanzer, "the conspicuous wealth of Abbas' own sons, Yasser and Tarek, has become a source of quiet controversy in Palestinian society…. Yasser enjoys a monopoly on the sale of US-made cigarettes…. Chairs a Palestinian engineering conglomerate… boasting $35mn annual revenues…. Tarek is just as ambitious in the business world…."
Bassam Eid, the founder of the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, concludes that "the Palestinians need strong democratic institutions and an end to human rights violations…. [However,] Abbas runs a corrupt dictatorship, using international funds to consolidate his own administration, rather than to develop the Palestinian economy. In East Jerusalem, the PA is so mistrusted that most Palestinians would prefer to live under Israel rule…."
American interests, morality and common sense behoove the US Congress to precondition further foreign aid, to the Palestinian Authority, upon dramatic transformation of its conduct.
Wishing you Shabbat Shalom and a rewarding weekend,
Yoram Ettinger, Jerusalem, "Second Thought: a US-Israel initiative"
For speaking engagements and media interviews: YoramTex@gmail.com
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