LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 14/15

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins05/english.november14.15.htm 

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do
John 14/08-14: "Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it."

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
Second Letter to the Thessalonians 02/13-17//03/01-05: "We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you, and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 13-14/15
To Whom It May Concern: Maronites Are Fighting for their Right Of Existence/Elias Bejjani/November 13/15
ISIS attack (in Hezbollah's MiniState) is a message to Sunnis no less than Shiites/Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/November 13/15
Victims, not martyrs/Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/November 13/15
A Suggestion for the Islamic State Book Club: Barbarian history buffs should read about their origin/Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/November 13/15
Not a Conspiracy/Thomas Joscelyn/The Weekly Standard/November 13/15
Dr Iryani and Yemen’s need to fill the void/Manuel Almeida/Al Arabiya/November 13/15
Rivalry between hardliners and Rowhani: Who wins/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/November 13/15
The Kohinoor: Diamonds are forever/Zaid M. Belbagi/Al Arabiya/November 13/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on November 13-14/15
To Whom It May Concern: Maronites Are Fighting for their Right Of Existence
ISIS attack (in Hezbollah's MiniState) is a message to Sunnis no less than Shiites
Lebanese Killed In Hezbollah's Mini State explosion Yesterday/Ana Maria Luca: Victims, not martyrs
Lebanon Mourns Victims of Bomb Attack in Hizbullah Stronghold amid Wave of International Condemnations
Salam Chairs Urgent Security Meeting over Bourj al-Barajneh Bombing
Lebanese Parliament Passes Draft Laws Except for Municipal Funds as Berri Urges Electing President
IS Claims Bourj Barajneh Bombing, Identifies its Attackers
Geagea Urges 'Protecting Lebanese' by Controlling Border, Electing President
Jumblat Decries 'Costly' Legislative Session, Says Next One 'Doomed to Fail'
Report: Salam Urged to Convene Cabinet to Follow up on Security Situation
Hollande Expresses 'Horror' over 'Despicable' Dahieh Blasts
Bombings in Lebanon since 2011
The advantages of Christian consensus in Lebanon

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 13-14/15
Phares to Fox BC: "After Jihadi John will come other Jihadi Johns"
At Least 39 Dead, Dozens Held Hostage as Simultaneous Shootings, Blasts Rock Paris
Paris attacks: France shutting borders after deadly attacks, hostage-taking
ICRC News Release No. 15/187
Iraq Kurd Chief Announces 'Liberation' of Sinjar from IS
Putin Says Has No 'Right' to Ask Assad to Leave Power
British FM Says Assad 'Has to Go' as Part of Transition
U.S. Has 'Contained' Islamic State Group, Obama Says
Tony Blair Launches New Middle East Peace Initiative
Kerry Warns IS 'Days Numbered' after 'Jihadi John' Hit
U.S. Air Strike Targets 'Jihadi John' in Syria
Two Israelis and One Palestinian Killed near Hebron
Iran Deputy Foreign Minister to Attend Vienna Talks on Syria

Links From Jihad Watch Site for November 13-14/15
Paris: Muslims screaming “Allahu akbar” murder at least 60, take 100 hostages
Death toll now 60 in Paris jihad massacre

To Whom It May Concern: Maronites Are Fighting for their Right Of Existence
Elias Bejjani/November 13/15
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/11/13/elias-bejjani-to-whom-it-may-concern-lebanese-maronites-are-fighting-for-their-right-of-existence/
Maronites in Lebanon, are fighting peacefully and only peacefully for their right of existence and not for their religion, as well as all the Christian minorities in the Middle East. Can any one name one country in the whole world where Christians are killing followers of other religions or trying to convert by force non Christians to Christianity? While the others and particular Muslim fanatics are openly and proudly are do so all over the world. We do not as Christians practise the kind of atrocities that the other fanatics from other religions are currently doing. There is no logical way for comparison when the matter is the Maronites' fear on their existence in Lebanon and religious and denomination Jihad wars that others are waging. The Druze leader, Walid Jumblat when he had the opportunity he did what ISIS is doing now. We, the Maronites did turn the page, but apparently he did not deep in his mind and that's why we hear or read his unconscious comments of hatred every now and then. In conclusion, bigotry means rejection of others that are different in every thing. Maronites are not so and never were in any way. Look on the demographic Lebanese map and you will realize this reality, they live with all the Lebanese sects when others don't. Maronites are patriotic and not fanatics except when their existence right is threatened. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and to praise those who curse use. This is exactly our approach in regards to Mr. Jumblat's on going hatred rhetoric that targets us.

Hezbollah aiming at seizing Tripoli's port
Walid Phares/Face book/November 13/15
According to sources in Beirut, Hezbollah is planning on a move to seize the port of Tripoli in North Lebanon to "cut off circulation of ISIS and Salafi Jihadists" into Lebanon. Sources also note that the "Jihadists are aware of Hezbollah's moves." Hezbollah may attempt to have the Lebanese Army implement the move on its behalf. A confrontation over the Tripoli port could lead to impredictible developments in northern Lebanon.

ISIS attack (in Hezbollah's MiniState) is a message to Sunnis no less than Shiites
Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/November 13/15
As well as being a horrific tragedy and loathsome atrocity, the ISIS double-bombing of south Beirut’s Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood yesterday – the deadliest attack of its kind in the capital since the civil war ended in 1990 – poses something of an analytical puzzle.
That ISIS should wish to kill a large number of Shiite civilians is, of course, no mystery in itself. Murderous enmity toward Shiite Muslims is a cornerstone and sine qua non of the group’s ideology. Shiites are “the insurmountable obstacle, the lurking snake, the crafty and malicious scorpion, the spying enemy, and the penetrating venom,” wrote Abu Mus`ab al-Zarqawi, ISIS’s ideological godfather, in a 2004 letter. Deeming them “more cunning than their Crusader masters,” and more threatening to Sunni Muslims than even George Bush’s America, Zarqawi later declared “total war” on the sect. ISIS’s current leader, the Zarqawi protégé Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, called on followers earlier this year to “withdraw your swords” and put them “first of all to the Rafida [a pejorative term for Shiites] wherever you find them.”
Why ISIS should strike now in particular, however, having only done so once before in Lebanon, almost two years ago (a January 2014 car bomb in south Beirut that killed four), is less straightforward. Most commentary so far has interpreted the attack simply as a resumption of a previous bombing wave, which ran roughly from the summer of 2013 to the summer of 2014, carried out by various jihadist groups who declared they were retaliating for Hezbollah’s paramilitary intervention in aid of the Bashar al-Assad regime in neighboring Syria (“Thanks to God, a response was made to the massacres of the Party of Iran against the children of Syria,” read a typical claim of responsibility by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra). While this may seem intuitively persuasive, there is reason to treat ISIS’s attack as a separate and novel case, based on different calculations.
For a start, previous bombings were generally tied by their perpetrators to explicit political demands. From the withdrawal of Hezbollah’s fighters from Syria to the release of Sunni inmates from Lebanese prisons, tangible objectives were listed by the militants as requirements for the explosions to stop.
The claim of responsibility attributed to ISIS for Thursday’s bombings, by contrast, states no demands, and offers zero possibility of truce or mercy. Instead, it speaks in purely theological terms of the “Rafida polytheists” and “apostates,” and of “aveng[ing] the honor of the Prophet […] and his Companions” (the latter bearing the clear imprint of Zarqawi, who wrote furiously in his 2004 letter of Shiites “calling the Companions infidels”). Nor does the statement make any mention of Hezbollah’s fighting in Syria at all. This is less surprising when one considers that, unlike Al-Qaeda, whose affiliates claimed 12 of the 15 attacks on predominantly Shiite and Alawite areas in Lebanon between July 2013 and January 2015, ISIS only rarely engages in direct combat with Hezbollah, whether in Syria or elsewhere.
On its face, then, there would be seem to be no logical objective – no concession sought, no quid pro quo tabled – to the violence: ISIS acted solely out of sheer sectarian zeal and venom. Yet there is always method in ISIS’s madness, and in this case it may lie not in the message sent to the Shiite community, but rather the hardline Sunni one.
Previous bombings of Lebanese Shiite-majority areas, as stated above, were almost entirely carried out by Al-Qaeda subsidiaries, not ISIS. The prestige this earnt Ayman al-Zawahiri’s cadres on the Sunni jihadist street was considerable; Hezbollah being the spearhead of hated Iran’s regional phalanx, believed by many to be almost single-handedly responsible for the survival of the Assad regime. It must have grated ISIS – a bitter rival of Al-Qaeda’s, despite their many similarities – a good deal to have been so decisively outclassed on the Lebanese front. Add to this Al-Nusra’s ever-rising star in Syria, where as a major component of the Gulf- and Turkey-backed Jaish al-Fatah coalition it has taken prime territory off the regime’s hands in recent months, and ISIS’s need to reassert itself before its constituents is all the more pressing. Yesterday’s attacks will have vividly illustrated to the Bin Ladenist underworld that Al-Qaeda – which has failed to score a strike in Lebanon for almost a year now – no longer hold the monopoly in Beirut, and the real mujahideen have arrived to handle business properly.
This is, of course, only a hypothesis – there may well turn out to be entirely different dynamics behind the attacks, or the ISIS claim may be found to be spurious. That the use of an explosives-laden motorcycle on Thursday matches the modus operandi used in a mysterious bombing in the border town of Arsal last week will undoubtedly be of interest to investigators. That the Arsal bomb, which killed a number of Sunni clerics, was blamed by one obscure group on the Hezbollah-linked Resistance Brigades militia raises the outside possibility that yesterday was simply a tit for the other’s tat. If, however, the above reading is correct, it suggests Lebanon may now be the theater of a grotesque competition between the world’s leading two jihadist organizations – a competition, incidentally, by which the jihadists’ purported enemies – Hezbollah, Tehran and Damascus – would only be strengthened. Whether this can be averted depends on whether the cool heads, as the cliché goes, of the public at large can triumph – as they have in the past – over the cold hearts of the fanatics.

Lebanese Killed In Hezbollah's Mini State explosion Yesterday/Ana Maria Luca: Victims, not martyrs
Victims, not martyrs
Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/November 13/15
Martyr: someone who suffers persecution and/or death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, and/or refusing to advocate a belief or cause of either a religious or secular nature.
“My cousin was martyred last night,” the taxi driver said this morning. He was somewhat resigned to it, as if his cousin had died for a just cause; as if his cousin had made the choice willingly, understanding the risks.
The driver’s cousin was in the Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood of Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburb, when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the midst of a crowded square, 200 meters apart on Thursday night. His cousin was among the 45 Lebanese killed in the explosions, which were later claimed by the Islamic State. But the man was not angry. His cousin had been martyred, he said, and now he was in a better place: the paradise where martyrs go when they die for their cause.
About an hour after the bombings, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab said: “Following consultations with the prime minister, it has been decided to close all public and private schools, universities and technical institutes tomorrow in solidarity with the souls of the innocent martyrs.”
The word ‘martyr’ travels quickly after an explosion in Lebanon. It’s a very deceiving word. It makes people believe that their relatives have died a great death; that it was not in vain; that it was for a cause and that their souls have gone to paradise. It makes people forget their anger; it makes them feel empowered and not helpless.
This word is more than deceiving — it’s pure propaganda. Civilians in Lebanon are helpless. When they die in bombings and assassinations they are innocent victims, not martyrs. The idea of martyrdom in the face of an outrageous act like a terrorist bombing strips people of their agency — it puts everything in God’s hands rather than demanding accountability from those responsible.
The Lebanese who died on Thursday night are victims in every way possible. Before becoming the victims of a terrorist, they were victims of a political system that is based, and in deed thrives, on sectarian divisions that keep the same people in power, year after year, decade after decade.
The roots of radicalism
There is always a political reason behind terrorism. In Lebanon, it’s not the creation of a caliphate, but a fight against oppression. The security agencies have been hunting for terrorists for the past two years, arresting scores of people. Most of them are from Sunni neighborhoods in Tripoli and villages in the Bekka Valley and North Lebanon. Others come from the Islamist corner of the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.
There are always radical elements in any community, but in Lebanon in the past few years this radicalism has flourished. Nobody in the government wanted to have a serious talk about the real reasons. It’s the Syrian spillover, they said. But the roots of radicalism and sectarian hatred were here all along.
For one radical group to grow in a sectarian community and go to war with another radical group fostered by another sectarian community, there should be deep, structural reasons. There should be competition over resources, as well as a chosen trauma or unresolved mourning that the group hasn’t had the time or the opportunity to deal with. Then the group builds an image of the enemy — the enemy is dehumanized and demonized, which leads to the ability to kill that enemy without remorse.
The Sunnis and Shiites of Lebanon were subjected to all of these after 2005: they competed over political rights, they dealt with assassinations, and their political leaders blamed each other without allowing justice to follow its course. Hezbollah talks to its constituency about takfirisandthe end of days,and sends young men to Syria to die for a strictly Shiite cause — Sayyidah Zainab. Fundamentalist Sunni sheikhs talk about Hezbollah as the enemy that kills their Sunni brothers in Syria and ask for jihad as a duty for young Sunni men.
In the meantime, because the Lebanese system is based on patron-client relationships and everybody tolerates this, a large number of Shiites depend on Hezbollah for their daily needs and a large number of Sunnis depend on charities. Both leaderships are fundamentalist, Islamist forces and they cannot leave their ideologies behind. Many people are forced to listen not because there’s a gun pointed at their heads, but because they’re poverty-stricken.
A weak and disorganized state
For radicalism and terrorism to rise, the state also has to be failing. The Lebanese security agencies don’t really work together and are politically aligned. At first, while Salafist political activism was on the rise and Hezbollah was sending its fighters into Syria, the Lebanese security forces did not interfere. Then, when things got ugly in Bekaa Valley on the Syrian border and bombs started killing civilians in Beirut and Tripoli, they decided to crack down on Sunni terrorism, hunting down Salafists, Syrians and Palestinians suspected of having any relations with Syrian opposition groups.
Radical movements are never a majority. There is definitely a strong anti-Hezbollah sentiment in the Sunni community in Lebanon. But there is definitely a strong anti-ISIS sentiment, too. Islamic State adepts in Lebanon probably number in the tens. There were also some Al-Qaeda militants — Jabhat al-Nusra supporters and some other factions — but many of them were already caught and jailed. The radical sheikhs in Tripoli have been quiet for months now. Quiet is more dangerous than loud political voices who can be convinced to shape a direction of thought among the angry poor followers.
Now, the new ISIS militants have all the space in the world to act and cause damage because they have no one with authority to tell them otherwise. They find in Hezbollah a dehumanized enemy. The question is: how did Lebanon get here?
What the Lebanese security apparatus did in 2014 was absolutely pointless and dangerous: it designed localized security plans for Tripoli, Bekaa and, apparently, a formal security plan in Dahiyeh to appease Sunni fundamentalists who were being hunted. But nobody fell for that narrative — Sunnis still perceived the state as protecting Hezbollah’s people.
Moreover, some of the really dangerous Sunni radicals who had the real connections and training fled from one region to another. Young Salafists from Tripoli who fought in Syria — becoming radicalized and toughened in one of the cruelest and bloody wars the Middle East has ever seen — moved to Ain al-Hilweh, where Lebanese security forces have no jurisdiction and where an attack by the Lebanese Army would cause more civilian casualties than would kill radicals.
During the security plans, scores of Sunni Islamists were arrested and videos of them being tortured were leaked from Roumieh prison. According to a Sunni cleric in Tripoli, security forces arrested many of the older leaders of armed groups in the neighborhoods, leaving room for the unexperienced, uneducated and angry youths to act as they saw fit. The Islamic State only had to reach out to them. These young men were ready to do what they asked.
At war
Things aren’t going to get better in our daily lives, either. Companies in Beirut were closed on Friday morning because Shiite employees got into fights with Sunni employees. On construction sites, Shiite technicians tried to beat up Syrian and Palestinian workers. This hatred springs from the fact that everyone has his own martyrs, because many people don’t think beyond the ideology that’s offered to them by sectarian entrepreneurs. It’s not for a sacred cause that people die because they happen to pass through a crowded square at 6 pm on a Thursday. This is not God’s doing. Politics makes victims.
Innocent victims are not martyrs. Martyrs die because they believe in something; because they are oppressed; because there is an injustice they oppose. The people who died last night were not martyrs. They were collateral in a regional political match fought not only in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, but now also on the streets of Lebanese cities. The streets of Beirut, the streets of Tripoli, the streets of Arsal, the streets of Hermel.
**Ana Maria Luca tweets @aml1609.

Lebanon Mourns Victims of Bomb Attack in Hizbullah Stronghold amid Wave of International Condemnations
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/Lebanon was holding a day of mourning Friday for 44 people killed in twin bombings on a busy shopping street in southern Beirut, the bloodiest such attack for years which was claimed by the Islamic State group. Around 239 people were also wounded, many of them seriously, by the explosions in a narrow shopping street in the Bourj al-Barajneh neighborhood that is a bastion of the Hizbullah movement. The attack appeared to mark a return to the campaign against the group between 2013 and 2014, ostensibly in revenge for its military support of regime forces in neighboring Syria's civil war. Two men wearing suicide vests carried out the attack, said the army, while the body of a third who had failed to detonate his explosive device was found at the scene of the second blast. Schools and universities will be shut across Lebanon on Friday after Prime Minister Tammam Salam announced a national day of mourning, local media reported. The street is normally home to a market, was stained red with blood according to an Agence France Presse photographer, who saw bodies inside nearby shops. Surrounding buildings were badly damaged by the blasts and security forces were trying to cordon off the scene and keep people from gathering. Sunni jihadist group IS claimed the attack, saying its "soldiers of the Caliphate" detonated explosives planted on a motorbike on the street, in an online statement. "After the apostates gathered in the area, one of the knights of martyrdom detonated his explosive belt in the midst of them," the statement added, without referring to Hizbullah's involvement in Syria, much of which is under IS control. The statement could not be independently verified, but it followed the usual format of IS claims of responsibility and was circulated on jihadist online accounts. The wounded were evacuated to several hospitals in the area, including the Bahman hospital in neighboring Haret Hreik. "We've received dozens of wounded people and they're continuing to arrive," a doctor there told AFP. World leaders condemned the bombings, which French President Francois Hollande called "despicable".The White House offered its condolences for what it described as the "horrific terrorist attacks", vowing that "such acts of terror only reinforce our commitment to support the institutions of the Lebanese state".U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on Lebanon to "not allow this despicable act to destroy the relative calm that has prevailed in the country over the past year". Moscow said “the attack in Beirut stresses the need to form a regional and international front to combat terrorism.” Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the bombing, reiterating “support for the Lebanese state and its people.” The Special Tribunal for Lebanon offered its condolences. UNIFIL in Naqoura drew their flags at half-mast in mourning of the victims of the bombings. The attacks were the deadliest to hit a Hizbullah stronghold since the group entered Syria's civil war in support of President Bashar Assad. Between July 2013 and February 2014, there were nine attacks on Hizbullah throughout Lebanon, mostly claimed by extremist groups. Despite ostensibly targeting Hizbullah, the victims of the attacks have been overwhelmingly civilians.The deadliest in southern Beirut was in 2013, when 27 people were killed by a car bomb in the Rweiss district. The attacks were claimed by several different groups, but all cited Hizbullah's role in the conflict in Syria.

Salam Chairs Urgent Security Meeting over Bourj al-Barajneh Bombing
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam held an urgent security meeting on Friday over the backdrop of the twin bombings that targeted Bourj al-Barajneh south of Beirut a day earlier, the National News Agency said. Several Ministers attended the meeting including Defense Samir Moqbel, Finance Ali Hassan Khalil, Health Wael Abou Faour, Interior Nouhad al-Mashnouq and Justice Ashraf Rifi in addition to Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji, Higher Defense Council chief Mohammed Khair, Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous, Lebanese Army Intelligence Chief Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel, Information Branch chief Brig. Gen. Imad Othman, State Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud, and Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr. After the meeting Minister Rifi said: “The military public prosecution will take the necessary measures to refer the twin Dahieh bombings to the Judicial Council.”For his part, Minister al-Mashnouq said: "Political issues will be overcome after the Bourj al-Barajneh attack and this will be evident at the legislative session."“The security forces are on high alert and cooperation is ongoing between security agencies. We call for a political cover for these forces,” stated Minister Abou Faour. The security meeting issued a statement afterward saying: “Security measures must be intensified in all Lebanese regions and the highest levels of vigilance must be maintained. “Terrorism has never ceased planning to inflict harm and trigger strife in Lebanon,” the statement added. State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr visited the site of the blast, he said: “Two suicide bombers were behind the attack and claims of a third one are inaccurate. The bomb weighed 7kgs and the second weighed 2kgs.” At least 43 people were killed in a twin bombing claimed by the Islamic State group, the bloodiest such attack in years. The Red Cross said at least 239 people were also wounded, several in critical condition, in the blasts that hit a busy shopping street in the Bourj al-Barajneh neighborhood, a stronghold of Hizbullah party. The army said the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers, and that the body of a third who failed to detonate his explosive device was found at the scene of the second blast. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying that three suicide bombers were behind the attack. It identified them as Syrian Khaled al-Khaled and Palestinians Hamed al-Balegh and Ammar Salem al-Rayyes, the Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said.

Lebanese Parliament Passes Draft Laws Except for Municipal Funds as Berri Urges Electing President
Naharnet/November 13/15lThe parliament approved on the second day of its legislative session Friday most of the draft laws that were on its agenda except for one on municipalities' telecom revenues, as Speaker Nabih Berri hailed the Dahieh region for its “awareness” after Thursday's deadly bombings.
“The parliament has approved a law obliging those entering Lebanon to declare the amount of money they're carrying if it exceeds $15,000,” al-Jadeed television said. The legislature also passed a law on exchanging tax information with other countries and other financial bills. A dispute, however, erupted over the draft law on distributing mobile networks' revenues to municipalities, which was part of the so-called settlement that led to the parliament's return to legislation after around a one-year interruption. But an exit was reached after Prime Minister Tammam Salam advised those who submitted the bill to resort to the decree that the government is currently studying, "because it almost serves the same purpose," LBCI television said. Al-Mustaqbal bloc chief ex-PM Fouad Saniora told Berri during the debate that Mustaqbal "was not part of the agreement" that was reached between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces on the issue of municipalities earlier this week, al-Jadeed TV said. Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat meanwhile warned that his bloc "will strip the session of its quorum if there is an inclination to pass the municipalities law," al-Jadeed said. The legislature had approved 24 items during its Thursday session, including the food safety law, the law on granting nationality to emigrants of Lebanese origin, the law on providing the army with “urgent equipment and infrastructure” and around 20 urgent financial bills. Berri opened the session by stressing that “the awareness of Dahieh's residents” was stronger than “the malice of the aggressors.” Two Islamic State suicide bombers blew themselves up Thursday in a busy street in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 44 people and wounding 239 others, in the bloodiest such attack in years. Urging the Arab League to “declare war against terrorism,” Berri noted that Lebanon currently requires “a domestic roadmap based on consensus, which should start by the election of a president.” The speaker also revealed that he has received phone calls from Hamas' top leaders Ismail Haniya and Khaled Meshaal, who confirmed to him that “the Palestinians who allegedly blew themselves up in Bourj al-Barajneh were not registered in Lebanon as refugees” and that the reported names are those of “two individuals who were killed two years ago in Syria.” “The terrorist groups circulated the terrorists' identities to sow strife between us and our (Palestinian) brothers,” Berri pointed out. Prime Minister Tammam Salam meanwhile told parliament that the fight against terrorism “does not only require security measures but also national unity,” expressing his confidence that “the members of the government will cooperate with me to resolve the crisis.”

Lebanese Parliament OKs Law on Travelers Cash Carrying Limit as Berri Urges Electing President
Naharnet/November 13/15/The parliament began the second day of its legislative session Friday by approving a law on the cash carrying limit that travelers entering Lebanon must abide with, as Speaker Nabih Berri hailed the Dahieh region for its “awareness” after Thursday's deadly bombings. “The parliament has approved a law obliging those entering Lebanon to declare the amount of money they're carrying if it exceeds $15,000,” al-Jadeed television said. The legislature has several other financial draft laws on its agenda. It had approved 24 items during its Thursday session, including the food safety law, the law on granting nationality to emigrants of Lebanese origin, the law on providing the army with “urgent equipment and infrastructure” and around 20 urgent financial bills. Berri opened the session by stressing that “the awareness of Dahieh's residents” was stronger than “the malice of the aggressors.” Two Islamic State suicide bombers blew themselves up Thursday in a busy street in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 44 people and wounding 239 others, in the bloodiest such attack in years. Urging the Arab League to “declare war against terrorism,” Berri noted that Lebanon currently requires “a domestic roadmap based on consensus, which should start by the election of a president.” The speaker also revealed that he has received phone calls from Hamas' top leaders Ismail Haniya and Khaled Meshaal, who confirmed to him that “the Palestinians who allegedly blew themselves up in Bourj al-Barajneh were not registered in Lebanon as refugees” and that the reported names are those of “two individuals who were killed two years ago in Syria.”“The terrorist groups circulated the terrorists' identities to sow strife between us and our (Palestinian) brothers,” Berri pointed out. Prime Minister Tammam Salam meanwhile told parliament that the fight against terrorism “does not only require security measures but also national unity,” expressing his confidence that “the members of the government will cooperate with me to resolve the crisis.”

IS Claims Bourj Barajneh Bombing, Identifies its Attackers
Naharnet/November 13/15/The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Friday for the Bourj al-Barajneh bombing, saying that three suicide bombers were behind the attack, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5).
It identified them as Syrian Khaled al-Khaled and Palestinians Hamed al-Balegh and Ammar Salem al-Rayyes. General Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud and State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr later confirmed that the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers, but added that the possibility of a third attacker is still being investigated. Conflicting media reports had emerged on the number of bombers behind Thursday's blast in Beirut's southern suburbs of Bourj al-Barajneh, a Hizbullah stronghold. Some claimed that three bombers were at the scene, two of whom succeeded in detonating their explosives vests, while the third failed and was killed by Hizbullah members at the scene, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday. Other reports said that there were only two bombers. Al-Joumhouria added that a fourth attacker was present, but he fled the area. Hamas deputy chief Ahmed Abdul Hadi denied later on Friday the involvement of Palestinians in the Bourj al-Barajneh attack. He said that the alleged names of the suicide bombers are of Palestinians killed in Syria, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5). Twin suicide bombings rocked a busy shopping street Thursday in Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 43 people and wounding 239 others, in the worst such attack in years.

Geagea Urges 'Protecting Lebanese' by Controlling Border, Electing President
Naharnet/November 13/15/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called Friday for “protecting the Lebanese” in the wake of twin blasts that hit the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh and left 44 people dead and 239 hurt. “Nothing can save us from the tragedies of the ongoing wars in the region other than this general Lebanese solidarity,” Geagea said during an LF ceremony. Voicing his “surprise” that the government has not convened despite “this huge incident and disaster,” the LF leader stressed that “only the rise of an actual Lebanese state can salvage the Lebanese.”“Such a state would have control over all decisions and steps and nothing can protect the Lebanese other than protecting Lebanon's border very well and sealing it permanently in both directions,” Geagea added, referring to the crossing of fighters from Syria into Lebanon and from Lebanon into Syria. The rise of a real state, according to Geagea, also requires “the rise of Lebanese state institutions, topped by the presidency.” “This tragic incident must push the boycotters to head to parliament as soon as possible to elect a president, after which a new government would be formed and new parliamentary polls would be organized,” Geagea added. Two Islamic State suicide bombers blew themselves up Thursday in a busy street in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 44 people and wounding 239 others, in the bloodiest such attack in years. The blast is the first to target Beirut's southern suburbs since June 2014. But prior to that, a string of attacks targeted Hizbullah strongholds throughout the country. Between July 2013 and February 2014, there were nine attacks on Hizbullah bastions, most claimed by jihadist extremists. The groups claimed the attacks were in revenge for Hizbullah's decision to send thousands of fighters into neighboring Syria to support President Bashar Assad's forces against an Islamist-dominated uprising.

Jumblat Decries 'Costly' Legislative Session, Says Next One 'Doomed to Fail'
Naharnet/November 13/15/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has criticized the much-awaited legislative session that was held on Thursday and Friday, saying it was “too costly at all levels.”The session “exhausted all efforts, capabilities and the capacities of the human mind in order to be held,” said Jumblat in an editorial on his party's al-Anbaa online magazine, referring to the strenuous negotiations and political wrangling that eventually secured the convention of the parliament. “What a costly and expensive session at the financial level, seeing as the parliament has approved earmarking around $1.5 billion for equipping the army,” Jumblat added. “We innocently ask why weren't these supplies listed as part of the $1 billion Saudi grant whose implementation is being overseen by ex-PM Saad Hariri or the $3 billion Saudi-French agreement in order to spare the treasury additional expenses,” he explained. Jumblat also blasted the parliamentary blocs for “disregarding the dramatic rise in public debt, which has started to threaten the financial foundations of the entire state.” He also noted that the next legislative session is “doomed to fail” because “it will be impossible to agree on an electoral law.” “We can be reassured that the next session will not cost billions of dollars,” he added. During the much-anticipated session on Thursday, the parliament approved the food safety law, the law on granting nationality to emigrants of Lebanese origin, the law on providing the army with “urgent equipment and infrastructure” and around 20 urgent financial draft laws and proposals. The last legislative session was held in November 2014. It was followed by a controversy over whether or not the parliament can legislate amid a presidential vacuum.

Report: Salam Urged to Convene Cabinet to Follow up on Security Situation
Naharnet/November 13/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam received on Thursday a series of calls urging him to hold cabinet to session in order to stay abreast the latest security developments in Lebanon in wake of the Bourj al-Barajneh bombing, reported An Nahar daily on Friday. Ministerial sources told the daily that the premier received numerous calls demanding that the government urgently convene to confront the repercussions of Thursday's bombing. Salam responded that he will carry out the necessary consultations before taking any measure. The prime minister had held closed-door talks with Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday on the margins of the legislative session as soon as news of the bombing broke out. The officials addressed the possible measures that need to be taken to confront the attack that may jeopardize the internal harmony that was achieved in recent days that led to holding the legislative session, said the sources. Twin suicide bombings rocked a busy shopping street Thursday in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 43 people and wounding 239 others, in the worst such attack in years. The attack was carried out by two suicide bombers who blew up their explosive vests in the Ain al-Sikkeh street. The Islamic State extremist group later claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Hollande Expresses 'Horror' over 'Despicable' Dahieh Blasts
Naharnet/November 13/15/French President Francois Hollande on Thursday condemned as "despicable" the twin bomb attack that killed 43 people and injured 239 others in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh. "The president of the republic expresses his indignation and horror after the attack that killed several dozen people this afternoon in the Bourj al-Barajneh neighborhood of Beirut," he said in a statement issued by the presidency. "The French share in the national mourning of the Lebanese. France is more than ever committed to peace, unity and stability in Lebanon," Hollande said.
The twin attack was carried out by two suicide bombers who blew up their explosive vests. The army said the dead body of a third attacker who failed to blow himself up was found on the scene of the second blast. The blast, which was claimed by the extremist Islamic State group, is the first to target Beirut's southern suburbs since June 2014. But prior to that, a string of attacks targeted Hizbullah strongholds throughout the country. Between July 2013 and February 2014, there were nine attacks on Hizbullah bastions, most claimed by jihadist extremists. The groups claimed the attacks were in revenge for Hizbullah's decision to send thousands of fighters into neighboring Syria to support President Bashar Assad's forces against an Islamist-dominated uprising.

Bombings in Lebanon since 2011
Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/The violent fallout from the Syrian conflict has increasingly taken the form of bombings
Since October 2012, the violent fallout from the civil war next door has increasingly taken the form of deadly vehicle explosions
(NOW)Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in early 2011, Lebanon has witnessed a multifarious deterioration in security, as tensions between domestic supporters and opponents of the Bashar al-Assad regime have sporadically broken out into armed clashes, assassinations, rocket attacks and roadside bombings.Moreover, since October 2012, the violent fallout from the civil war next door has increasingly taken the form of deadly vehicle explosions, including suicide bombings. After almost a year of calm since a double suicide bombing in Tripoli in January 2015, attacks resumed in November, with two in the space of one week in the border town of Arsal and south Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood. Many of the bombings have been claimed by extremist Islamist groups with links to al-Qaeda, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, who have framed their attacks on predominantly Shiite civilian population centers as retaliation for Hezbollah's paramilitary intervention in Syria. The most recent attack, which killed at least 43 residents of south Beirut, was claimed by al-Qaeda's rival, ISIS. In all, a total of 205 people have been killed so far by 29 explosions.
Editor's note: This article was last updated on 13 November 2015, to include the Burj al-Barajneh bombings.

The advantages of Christian consensus in Lebanon
Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/November 13/15/The Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces’ rapprochement ends a dark chapter in relations between the two Lebanese Christian parties. Tensions between them had negative repercussions on Christian society. However, there are fears that cooperation will remain limited to obstructing institutions' work, and thus hindering the legislation required to run the state and citizens’ affairs. The Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces’ rapprochement ends a dark chapter in relations between the two Lebanese Christian parties. The best course of action has been expressed by Change and Reform bloc MP Farid al-Khazen, who on Sunday called on Christian blocs to agree on the major details of a draft electoral law so they can discuss it with Muslim parties and eventually approve it in parliament. Without a consensus, there is no point including the draft law on the legislative session’s agenda.
Obstruction
Everyone has wasted time since parliament’s term has been extended. Each party had its reasons and concerns. Some had their domestic and regional calculations to take into account. Therefore no one has managed to finalize an electoral law that all parties can agree on. The ball is now in the Christians’ court, as Christian parties must respect the constitution, adhere to the Taif Agreement, and prepare draft laws that harmonize with it. Otherwise, other parties may exploit the situation to link our domestic reality to regional affairs, leading to dangerous repercussions.
As such, good intentions should be translated into positive practises that avoid confrontation with other parties and obstruction of institutions’ work. Affairs should be finalized to serve the Christian community and higher national interests.

Phares to Fox BC: "After Jihadi John will come other Jihadi Johns"
Walid Phares//Face book/November 13/15
In an interview on Fox Business Channel Dr Walid Phares said "serving justice to the Jihadi butcher of innocent people is the normal thing to do, this is a message that the nations of slaughtered hostages cannot but send. Short of such reach to the terrorists will only enbolden them. But at the same time let there be no illusions. After 'Jihadi John' there will be other 'Jihadi Johns.' What the Atlantic alliance should have learned since 2001 is that eliminating Jihadi terrorists alone isn't a comprehensive response. There need to be an effort to defeat the ideology that creates the Jihadists. ISIS beheaders are acting on behalf of an ideology, even if the individual terrorists have different personal backgrounds"

 At Least 39 Dead, Dozens Held Hostage as Simultaneous Shootings, Blasts Rock Paris
News Agencies/November 13/15
At least 39 people were killed in an "unprecedented" series of bombings and shootings across Paris on Friday. Police said at least 15 people were killed at the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris, only some 200 meters from the former offices of Charlie Hebdo which were attacked by jihadists in January.
Hostages were taken and at around 2335 GMT, police stormed the venue accompanied by a series of explosions. At least three people were killed near the Stade de France stadium which is situated in the north of the capital, where France were playing Germany in a football match watched by President Francois Hollande. An AFP journalist heard multiple explosions. One explosion was a suicide attack, several sources said. A source close to the investigation said at least 39 people had been killed. "Terrorist attacks of an unprecedented level are underway across the Paris region," Hollande said in an emotional televised message. "There are several dozen dead. It's a horror," he said. One witness at the Bataclan described a scene of carnage at the concert hall. "I saw 20 to 25 bodies lying on the floor and people were very badly injured, gunshot wounds," Julien Pierce told Europe 1 radio.
"Some of them were dead. Some of them were very badly wounded, but it was a bloodbath."Hollande declared a state of emergency across the entire country and said the borders had been closed. The military had been mobilized to reinforce police and ensure no further attacks took place, he said. Another attack was reported at a Cambodian restaurant called Petit Cambodge, not far from the Bataclan venue in northeast Paris.
Counter-terrorism prosecutors said they had opened a preliminary investigation.
'They opened fire'
At the Stade de France, Hollande was attending the match and had to be hastily evacuated. Spectators flooded the pitch as news of the attacks spread before organizers started an evacuation. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, called for residents to stay at home. "We heard gunfire, 30 seconds of fire, it was interminable, we thought it was fireworks," said Pierre Montfort, who lives near rue Bichat, where the Cambodian restaurant is located. "Everyone was on the floor, no one moved," said another eyewitness who had been at the Petit Cambodge restaurant. "A girl was carried by a young man in his arms. She appeared to be dead." The toll "will be much heavier" than the initial confirmed deaths, a security source said. Camille, 25, said: "My sister is in the Bataclan. I phoned her. She said they opened fire. And then she hung up." An AFP reporter outside the Bataclan said there were police carrying machine-guns and more than 20 police wagons with their lights flashing around the scene. Hollande traveled to the interior ministry to set up a crisis cell with other ministers. "The president of the Republic, the prime minister, the interior minister are in a inter-ministerial crisis cell," the government said in a statement. The president's office said an exceptional council of ministers would be called at midnight. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Union chief Jean-Claude Juncker said they were "deeply shocked" by the attacks. France has been on high alert since the jihadist attacks in January against the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket that left 17 dead. Several other attacks have been foiled through the year. More than 500 French fighters are thought to be with Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, according to official figures, while 250 have returned and some 750 expressed a desire to go there.The government announced last week that it was restoring border checks as a security measure for U.N. climate talks that start in Paris at the end of this month.

Paris attacks: France shutting borders after deadly attacks, hostage-taking
CBCCBC – CANADA NEWS »13.11/15
Gunfire and explosions are being heard outside a Paris concert hall where several people were killed and dozens taken hostage as part of multiple deadly attacks around the French capital on Friday that killed that least 35. French President François Hollande said security forces are assaulting one of the sites hit by Friday's attacks, but didn't provide details. Earlier reports said around 100 people were being held hostage at Bataclan, a concert venue in the 11th arrondissement in central Paris and that at least 15 people had been killed at the site. The series of attacks prompted Hollande to announce the country was shutting its borders and declaring a state of emergency. Hollande announced he had deployed military around Paris. Exact death tolls were still changing and ranged from 35 to 60, with Hollande saying several dozen people had been killed. "It's a horror," Hollande said in a televised statement.
He said the country needs to stand in solidarity and remain calm despite the attacks.  In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement saying he was "shocked and saddened that so many people have been killed and injured.""As the situation continues to unfold, Sophie and I join all Canadians in extending our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed. It is our sincere hope that the hostages are freed unharmed as soon as possible," the statement said. "We also wish a speedy recovery to all those who have been injured. "Canada stands with France at this dark time and offers all possible assistance. We will continue to work closely with the international community to help prevent these terrible, senseless acts. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France and we mourn their loss."
Several attack sites
The attacks occurred at multiple sites in several neighbourhoods in the French capital. At least two explosions were heard near the Stade de France stadium, north of Paris, where a France-Germany friendly soccer match was taking place. According to reports, Hollande was at the game and was evacuated from the stadium soon after reports of the attacks emerged. There was another report of a shooting happening at Les Halles, a shopping mall in central Paris. A police official said 11 people were killed in a restaurant in the 10th arrondissement. An Associated Press reporter who was in the stadium Friday night heard two explosions loud enough to penetrate the sounds of cheering fans. Sirens were immediately heard, and a helicopter was circling overhead. The attack comes as France has heightened security measures ahead of a major global climate conference that starts in two weeks, out of fear of violent protests and potential terrorist attacks. Emilioi Macchio, from Ravenna, Italy, was at the Carillon bar near the restaurant that was targeted, having a beer on the sidewalk when the shooting started. He said he didn't see any gunmen or victims, but hid behind a corner then ran away. "It sounded like fireworks," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama described the incident as "outrageous attacks" on "our closest ally." "Obviously, those of us here in the United States know what it's like. We have gone through these kinds of episodes ourselves. "And whenever these kinds of attacks happened, we've always been able to count on the French people to stand with us. They have been an extraordinary counter-terrorism partner. And we intend to be there with them in that same fashion."

ICRC News Release No. 15/187
13 November 2015
Syria: Vienna talks must focus on respect for International Humanitarian Law
Geneva (ICRC) - As major powers gather in Vienna for fresh talks to try to end the conflict in Syria, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called on states to intensify efforts to ease the Syrian people’s suffering by increasing respect for International Humanitarian Law.
“We welcome these talks as a positive step in the right direction. We urge those taking part to redouble their efforts and make real progress towards ending the horror that has gripped Syria for nearly five years,” said the president of the ICRC, Peter Maurer. “So many have been forced to flee their homes, embarking on desperate journeys in search of a safe haven. The suffering of the Syrian people must be at the heart of these talks.”
Access for humanitarian organisations such as the ICRC to populations in desperate need of help continues to be extremely complex. Meanwhile, health care facilities and personnel continue to be targeted in violation of their protected status, in Syria as in many other conflicts worldwide.
“The end to this conflict will not come overnight. But as they work towards this goal, the parties must take measures to respect the basic principles of humanity and the law of war. Ensuring access for medical and humanitarian missions and stopping the use of heavy, explosive weapons in populated areas would help reduce the suffering of those caught up in this conflict. Practical and concrete measures such as these can help pave the way for a political solution,” added Mr Maurer.
In an unprecedented joint statement at the end of October, the President of the ICRC and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, called on States, both individually and collectively, to do more to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
This body of law, of which the ICRC is a key custodian, seeks to reduce the suffering of civilians caught up in conflict. It emphasises such principles as the prohibition on indiscriminate targeting of populations, the need for proportionality of military action and for combatants to take precautions to protect civilian lives.
For further information, please contact:
Ewan Watson, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 73033 45 or + 41 79 244 64 70
Dibeh Fakhr, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 37 23 or +41 79 447 37 26
or visit our website: www.icrc.org

Iraq Kurd Chief Announces 'Liberation' of Sinjar from IS
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani announced the "liberation" of Sinjar from the Islamic State group Friday in an assault backed by U.S.-led strikes that cut a key jihadist supply line with Syria. The operation was led by the Iraqi autonomous Kurdish region's peshmerga forces and also involved fighters from the Yazidi minority, a local Kurdish-speaking community targeted in a brutal IS campaign of massacres, enslavement and rape. The success of the Sinjar drive is the latest sign that IS, which won a series of victories in a stunningly rapid offensive in Iraq last year, is now on the defensive. "I am here to announce the liberation of Sinjar," Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, told a news conference near the northern town. Barzani's remarks also made clear that political conflict over Sinjar would likely follow the military battle for the town. "Sinjar was liberated by the blood of the peshmerga and became part of Kurdistan," Barzani said. Baghdad, which has long opposed Kurdistan's desire to incorporate a swathe of disputed northern territory, is unlikely to welcome the idea of Sinjar becoming part of the Kurdish region.
Flags, celebratory gunfire
On Friday morning, hundreds of Kurdish fighters, dressed in camouflage uniforms and armed with assault rifles and machineguns, moved into the town on foot, an AFP journalist reported. They entered carrying the autonomous Kurdish region's flag, firing in the air and shouting "Long live the peshmerga!" and "Long live Kurdistan!" Inside Sinjar, many houses and shops, a petrol garage and the local government headquarters had been destroyed.
Burned out cars sat in the streets, while barrels apparently containing explosives had been left behind. The huge task remains of clearing Sinjar of bombs planted by IS remains, and there is also the possibility of holdout jihadist fighters, who have kept up attacks even after other areas in Iraq were said to have been retaken. The Kurdish region's security council said "peshmerga forces entered Sinjar town from all four directions to clear remaining (IS) terrorists from the area."Sinjar has been pounded by U.S.-led air strikes and Kurdish artillery fire targeting IS positions, which sent massive columns of smoke drifting up from the town on Thursday. The coalition carried out 36 strikes against jihadists in the Sinjar area on Wednesday and Thursday, and 15 more across the border in al-Hol, where Syrian Kurdish forces and their Arab allies are battling IS. In a rare admission on Thursday, the Pentagon said U.S. ground forces advising the Kurds on their offensive were close enough to the front to identify IS targets and call in strikes.
Key IS supply line
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters most of the U.S.-led coalition troops were behind the front lines working with Kurdish commanders. But "there are some advisers who are on Sinjar mountain, assisting in the selection of air strike targets." "They're not directly in the line of action, but they might be able to visibly see it," he added. On Thursday, Kurdish forces cut the key highway that links IS-held areas in Iraq and Syria. "Sinjar sits astride Highway 47, which is a key and critical resupply route" for IS, said Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the international operation against IS. "By seizing Sinjar, we'll be able to cut that line of communication, which we believe will constrict (IS') ability to resupply themselves, and is a critical first step in the eventual liberation of Mosul," said Warren, referring to the jihadists' main hub in Iraq. IS overran Sinjar in August last year, forcing thousands of Yazidis to flee to the mountains overlooking the town, where they were trapped by the jihadists. The United Nations has described the attack on the Yazidis as a possible genocide, and on Thursday the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum echoed that assessment in a report detailing allegations of rape, torture and murder by IS against the minority. Aiding the Yazidis, whose unique faith IS considers heretical, was one of Washington's main justifications for starting its air campaign against the jihadists last year.

Putin Says Has No 'Right' to Ask Assad to Leave Power
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/President Vladimir Putin said in an interview released Friday that Russia has no "right" to ask Syrian leader Bashar Assad to leave power. His remarks came just days before leaders from the world's top 20 industrial powers gather in Turkey for a summit which begins Sunday and is likely to be dominated by the Syrian conflict. But Putin, who hosted the embattled Syrian leader for surprise talks at the Kremlin last month, said Russia could not and would not ask him to quit. "Let's think just how legal and ethical our behavior would be if we invited to Moscow the head of a friendly state and at the same time raised the issue of him leaving power? "Syria is a sovereign country, Bashar Assad is a president elected by the people. So do we have the right to discuss with him these issues? Of course not," Putin said in an interview with the Interfax and Anatolia news agencies. World powers are to hold another round of talks on the Syrian conflict in Vienna this weekend. Putin reiterated that Russia's bombing campaign in Syria would last for the duration of an offensive by the Syrian army. "So the duration of our military's stay will be determined solely by the implementation of this goal," Putin said. The Russian president also said the "possible risks and consequences" of Russia's Syrian intervention have been addressed multiple times. On September 30, Russia launched a bombing campaign in Syria, saying it needed to target Islamic State jihadists, but the West has accused Moscow of seeking to prop up Assad's regime and hitting moderate rebels. A month later, an Airbus A321 charter plane carrying 224 people, mostly Russian tourists, crashed over Sinai, killing everyone on board. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in an apparent act of revenge for Russia's Syria intervention. Sources close to the probe have told AFP that experts involved in the investigation "strongly favor" the theory of a bomb on board the plane but Moscow has not yet given any definitive cause for the disaster. Separately, the Russian military said on Friday that its warplanes had struck 289 "terrorist" targets in 107 sorties over the past two days. Moscow said it had destroyed 34 terrorist command center and three training camps, among other targets.

British FM Says Assad 'Has to Go' as Part of Transition
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/President Bashar Assad "has to go" as part of a transition in Syria, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday on the eve of the Syrian talks in Vienna. "Bashar Assad has to go as part of the transition in Syria, but we recognize that if there will be a transition he may play a part up to a point in that transition," Hammond said in Prague. "We are very clear that we are not seeking to destroy the institutions of government in Syria, in fact we are very clear that we want to maintain these institutions." Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview released Friday that Russia has no "right" to ask the Syrian president to leave power. The weekend talks in Vienna will bring together around 20 countries and international bodies to hammer out a roadmap for peace to end Syria's more than four-year civil war. Western officials have already dismissed a Moscow-authored political reform plan touted for the meeting -- the second in Vienna in less than a month -- saying it does not clarify what will happen to Assad. Previous attempts to end the civil war, which has killed more than 250,000 people and forced millions from their homes, have stumbled over his fate. The West insists he must go, while Russia and Iran support the regime. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have gathered pace since Russia launched air strikes in Syria in late September.

U.S. Has 'Contained' Islamic State Group, Obama Says
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/The United States has halted the course of the Islamic State group, President Barack Obama said in remarks broadcast Friday, calling for a stepped up drive to "completely decapitate" the militants' operations. The ABC News interview was recorded Thursday at the White House, hours after the start of a major operation by Iraqi Kurdish forces, backed by U.S.-led strikes, to drive IS out of the northern town of Sinjar. "I don't think they're gaining strength," said Obama. "From the start, our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them. They have not gained ground in Iraq.""And in Syria -- they'll come in, they'll leave. But you don't see this systematic march by ISIL across the terrain," he said, using an alternate acronym for IS. Obama gave the interview before news broke of a U.S. air strike in Syria targeting "Jihadi John," a masked British militant who appeared in a string of graphic execution videos. IS has seized large chunks of territory in Iraq and Syria. "What we have not yet been able to do is to completely decapitate their command and control structures. We've made some progress in trying to reduce the flow of foreign fighters," Obama said. "Part of our goal has to be to recruit more effective Sunni partners in Iraq to really go on offense rather than simply engage in defense."The president warned that regional strife will persist "until we get the Syria political situation resolved.""Until Assad is no longer a lightning rod for Sunnis in Syria and that entire region is no longer a proxy war for Shia-Sunni conflict, we're going to continue to have problems," he said. "I would distinguish between making sure that the place is perfect -- that's not going to happen anytime soon -- with making sure that ISIL continues to shrink in its scope of operations until it no longer poses the kind of threat that it does."

Tony Blair Launches New Middle East Peace Initiative
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/ Former British prime minister Tony Blair launched a new campaign for a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians in Jerusalem on Friday. Blair, who was an envoy for the Middle East peacemaking Quartet, said he was now acting as a private citizen to push for a negotiated settlement. "What I will do both here and throughout the region is work through this Initiative for the Middle East, as I call it, to try and push and promote...a political process in the framework of the Arab peace initiative, major change on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank, and Palestinian unity on the basis of peace," he said. The Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- appointed Blair to support the Palestinian economy and institutions in preparation for eventual statehood. But his eight-year tenure failed to produce a meaningful breakthrough, with talks between Israel and the Palestinians being frozen since April 2014. Blair said his new role allowed him added freedom to hold frank discussions with all sides. Israeli media reports in recent weeks have suggested Blair has been meeting with the leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, but Blair refused to publicly confirm such talks. "I am not going to comment on those other than to say that what I have found since leaving the Quartet role is it has been easier to have conversations of complete frankness with people," he said. "Since I have the relationships people may be prepared to be more forthcoming than when they think you are representing (the Quartet)," he said.

Kerry Warns IS 'Days Numbered' after 'Jihadi John' Hit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday warned the Islamic State jihadist group its "days are numbered," following an American strike in Syria targeting British militant "Jihadi John.""The coalition forces conducted an air strike targeting...Jihadi John," whose real name is Mohammed Emwazi, he said on a visit to Tunis. "We are still assessing the results of this strike but the terrorists associated with Daesh need to know this: Your days are numbered and you will defeated," said Kerry, using the Arabic acronym for IS. "There is no future, no path forward" for IS, the secretary of state said. The Pentagon said the U.S. military conducted an air strike Thursday targeting Emwazi, the masked IS militant with a British accent seen in grisly videos executing Western hostages. "We are assessing the results... and will provide additional information as and where appropriate," said spokesman Peter Cook. The Pentagon said the air strike took place in Raqa, the IS' de facto Syrian capital. CNN and the Washington Post, citing officials, reported that Emwazi was targeted by a drone.

U.S. Air Strike Targets 'Jihadi John' in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/A U.S. strike on Syria that targeted British militant "Jihadi John" was "an act of self defense", Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday while acknowledging his death was "not yet certain". Cameron said the operation against Mohammed Emwazi, who appears in a string of graphic videos showing the execution of Western hostages, was a combined British-U.S. effort. "We cannot yet be certain if the strike was successful," Cameron said in a statement delivered outside his Downing Street office. If it was confirmed, it would be "a strike at the heart of Isil," he said, using an alternative term for the Islamic State militant (IS) group. But analysts said the impact of his death would likely be symbolic rather than tactical for the jihadist group which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria and is known for perpetrating widespread atrocities. The Pentagon said Thursday's air strike hit Raqa, the group's de facto capital in war-torn Syria."Emwazi, a British citizen, participated in the videos showing the murders of U.S. journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, U.S. aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages," the Pentagon said. CNN and the Washington Post, citing officials, said Emwazi was targeted by a drone. He was last seen in the video showing Goto's execution in January. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said four people were killed in a strike in Raqa late on Thursday."The car was hit in the center of town, near the municipality building," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, quoting sources who said one of the victims was a "senior British member of the group".
Executioner with an accent
Emwazi, a London computer programmer, was born in Kuwait to a stateless family of Iraqi origin. His parents moved to Britain in 1993 after their hopes of obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship were quashed. Dubbed "Jihadi John" by British and US media, he first appeared in a video in August 2014 showing the beheading of Foley, a 40-year-old American freelance journalist who was captured in Syria in November 2012. Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in an orange outfit resembling those worn by prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Emwazi is dressed entirely in black and wears a mask. Foley's mother Diane told ABC News that if Emwazi's death were confirmed, it would be "small solace" to his family. "This huge effort to go after this deranged man filled with hate when they can't make half that effort to save the hostages while these young Americans were still alive," Diane Foley told ABC. Two weeks later, Foley's fellow US hostage Steven Sotloff was killed in the same manner, again on camera and by the same executioner with a British accent. Sotloff's mother, Shirley, told NBC News that she had not been informed about Thursday's strike and even if it were confirmed, "it doesn't bring my son back". "I don't think there will ever be closure," she added. Bethany Haines, whose father was killed, told ITV News: "After seeing the news that 'Jihadi John' was killed I felt an instant sense of relief". But she added: "As much as I wanted him dead, I also wanted answers as to why he did it, why my dad, how did it make a difference." Writing on Twitter, Alan Henning's nephew, Stuart, said: "Mixed feelings today wanted the coward behind the mask to suffer the way Alan and his friends did but also glad it's been destroyed." - 'A symbolic strike' -Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, said if confirmed, Emwazi's death would make little strategic difference and could create a "martyr culture" around him. "It's more a symbolic strike. Tactically it's not really going to change anything for the group," he told Agence France Presse. But Charlie Winter, an academic who focuses on IS activities, said it could be a "big blow". "Symbolically it's really important. Jihadi John... was someone who was a source of hubris, a sort of an aspirational figure for fighters in Islamic State," he said. "He was a key figure of defiance in the face of the international coalition, so if in fact he has been killed, this is going to be a big blow." "Jihadi John" was six years old when his family moved to London. He grew up in North Kensington, a leafy middle-class area where a network of Islamist extremists was uncovered in recent years. As a child he reportedly was a fan of Manchester United football club and the band S Club 7 who went on to study information technology at the University of Westminster. Court papers published by British media connected Emwazi to a network of extremists known as "The London Boys" that were originally trained by the Shebab, al-Qaida's East Africa affiliate.

Two Israelis and One Palestinian Killed near Hebron
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/Two Israelis and a Palestinian were shot dead Friday in separate incidents in and around the West Bank city of Hebron, the army and medical sources said. An unknown assailant opened fire on a car south of the city, the army said, killing a father and son and wounding a teenager. "Two Israelis were murdered and one injured when shots were fired at their vehicle near Hebron" in a "terrorist" attack, the army said. A statement added that the attacker fled and that "forces are currently searching the area."Israeli police said the incident took place near the settlement of Otniel, south of Hebron. Shortly after, a Palestinian was shot dead during clashes with the army in Hebron, Palestinian medics said. Hassan al-Bo, 21, died after he was hit in the heart by live ammunition, an official at Al-Ahli Hospital said. Violence since the start of October, including a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks, has killed 79 people on the Palestinian side -- including one Israeli Arab -- and 12 Israelis. Many of the Palestinians killed were alleged attackers shot at the scene, while others died in clashes. The violence was originally focused in and around Jerusalem but has recently shifted to the area of Hebron. Earlier Friday, a Palestinian teenager in Hebron succumbed to his wounds after being shot by Israeli troops a day earlier.

Iran Deputy Foreign Minister to Attend Vienna Talks on Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 13/15/Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian will attend international talks on the Syrian conflict this weekend in Vienna, official IRNA news agency reported Friday. The talks due to start Saturday will bring together 17 countries and three international bodies and are the second round of negotiations between foreign actors with a stake in Syria's war. Iran is the main regional ally of Syria and provides President Bashar Assad with financial and military aid, including military advisers on the ground. An Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took part in the first round of talks on October 30.  On Monday Zarif insisted that the upcoming Vienna meeting must determine which groups in Syria's four-and-a-half-year war are "terrorists" and then agree on how to proceed to end the conflict. Zarif is not expected to be present in Vienna, as he will be accompanying President Hassan Rouhani to Italy and France on Saturday and Sunday. "We will definitely participate in the process," spokesman Sadegh Hossein Jaberi Ansari said late Thursday. There are red lines for Tehran which should not be crossed, namely any attempt by "foreign players" to make decisions "on behalf of the Syrian nation," he said. Amir Abdollahian Thursday met with key Lebanese figures, including Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Washington and its Arab allies want Assad to step aside as part of a solution, while Tehran and Syria's other ally Moscow insist that his fate is a matter for his own electorate.

A Suggestion for the Islamic State Book Club: Barbarian history buffs should read about their origin
Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/November 13/15
After a long week of slitting throats, smashing antiquities and raping infidel slave girls, how do the Islamic State’s barbarians unwind? Some, apparently, discuss the finer points of history.
An Islamic State billboard I recently came across (on the internet – not driving down the road to Raqqah, the Islamic State capital in what used to be Syria) shows a rifle affixed to a compass (the kind used for drawing arcs and measuring distances on maps), along with the inscription: “We are the ones who determine our borders, not Sykes-Picot.”The reference is to two dead, white, Christian males, Sir Marc Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot, British and French diplomats respectively. They were the principle negotiators of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement that divided into nation-states Middle Eastern territories that for centuries had been possessions of the Ottoman Empire and Sunni caliphate.
That treaty, leaders of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) believe, imposed upon the region an unjust political structure, one they are using force of arms to deconstruct and replace with a new and improved empire and caliphate. I wonder: Where and when do Islamic State medievalists talk about such topics? Do they organize discussion groups in homes, schools and mosques? Perhaps they have book clubs. If so, I would recommend to them “The Tail Wags the Dog: International Politics and the Middle East,” by Efraim Karsh, professor emeritus at King’s College London, currently teaching at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. In it, he makes the case that the conventional wisdom is wrong: Europeans did not shape the modern Middle East to suit their imperialist, colonialist and/or satanic interests.
He contends that Middle Eastern leaders and rulers “have been active and enterprising free agents doggedly pursuing their national interests and swaying the region pretty much in their desired direction, often in disregard of great-power wishes.” He adds: “External influences, however potent, have played a secondary role, constituting neither the primary force behind the region’s political development nor the main cause of its notorious volatility.”Prof. Karsh recalls what many choose to forget: Imperialism and colonialism were by no means only European/Christian institutions. Many of antiquity’s greatest imperial and colonial projects were Middle Eastern/Muslim. From the 13th century to the 20th, the Ottoman Empire sought to conquer and expand– not least in Europe. Its collapse came about when its sultan decided to enter what became known as World War I on what turned out to be the losing side.
Even so, Prof. Karsh writes, Britain “remained wedded to the Muslim empire’s continued existence, leaving it to a local Meccan potentate – Sharif Hussein ibn Ali of the Hashemite family – to push for the idea of its destruction.” Prof. Karsh concludes that it was Sharif Hussein’s vision that transformed the region: “The emirate of Transjordan (later to be known as the Kingdom of Jordan) was established in 1921 to satisfy the ambitions of his second son Abdullah, while in the same year the modern state of Iraq was created at the instigation of Abdullah’s younger brother Faisal. Hussein himself became King of the Hijaz, Islam’s birthplace, only to be evicted a few years later by a fellow Arabian potentate, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, founding father of Saudi Arabia.”Over the years that followed, outsiders had minimal impact on the region. Even after World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union, despite their considerable military and economic muscle, found themselves “powerless to contain undesirable regional developments” from the fall of Iraq’s pro-Western Hashemite dynasty in 1958 to the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979.
Washington and Moscow “were forced to acquiesce in actions with which they were in total disagreement.” Whatever successes other foreign nations have had, Prof. Karsh argues, have been “largely due to the convergence of their own wishes with indigenous trends.”At present, of course, those trends are stunningly savage. “The last great Muslim empire may have been destroyed and the caliphate left vacant,” Prof. Karsh notes, “but the longing for unfettered suzerainty, though tempered and qualified in different places and at different times, has never disappeared, and has resurfaced in our day with a vengeance.”
The Islamic State, as well as such rivals as al Qaeda and the Islamic Republic of Iran, seek to overturn not just Sykes-Picot but also the broader Westphalian system of nation-states vowing to respect each others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. And not just in the Middle East. Prof. Karsh quotes Yusuf Qaradawi, “a spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of today’s most influential Islamic thinkers, whose views are promulgated to millions of Muslims worldwide through the media and the internet: ‘Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror and victor.’”
The means to this end preferred by the Islamic State and al Qaeda is jihad or, to use the phrase President Obama prefers: “violent extremism.” Iran is finding diplomacy useful: the deal recently agreed to by President Obama and the leaders of five other powers will provide the clerical regime with funds, conventional arms and a path to nuclear weapons. Other Islamists envision “a gradual takeover of Western societies through demographic growth and steady conversion.” These approaches are not mutually exclusive. More likely, they are more mutually reinforcing. One might even call them components of a grand strategy. Denizens of the Islamic State inspired by the message on the billboard really should invite Prof. Karsh to join them for coffee and baklava. In the unlikely event that happens, I’d advise him to send his regrets. It’s not that they wouldn’t regard his historiography as cutting-edge. It’s just that they may define that term a bit too literally.
**Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on Twitter @CliffordDMay
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/may-clifford-d-a-suggestion-for-the-islamic-state-book-club/

Not a Conspiracy
Thomas Joscelyn/The Weekly Standard/November 13/15
In May, the London Review of Books published a 10,000-word exposé by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh on the killing of Osama bin Laden. It was widely read online, receiving “more than two million page-views,” according to an editor’s note inserted at the bottom. While Hersh’s account was popular in the Internet’s fever swamps, however, it was given little credence by the mainstream press. The New Yorker, where Hersh has published much of his work, passed on the story. Indeed, the thinly sourced piece seems implausible on its face. The few anonymous sources cited—most of the piece is based on the testimony of a single “retired senior intelligence official”—posit a vast conspiracy by the Obama administration to cover up the true story of how al Qaeda’s founder was located and killed. Such an extraordinary claim demands extraordinary evidence, which Hersh failed to deliver.
Then, in mid-October, Hersh received a much-needed endorsement of sorts from the New York Times Magazine. Writing under the headline “What Do We Really Know About Osama bin Laden’s Death?” Jonathan Mahler did not argue that Hersh was necessarily right. But he considered Hersh’s story just as plausible as those sourced mainly to Obama administration officials. As Mahler explained to Hersh, he “wasn’t going to offer a definitive judgment on what happened,” but instead “saw this as more of a media story, a case study in how constructed narratives become accepted truth.” Mahler’s piece, at more than 7,000 words, was enough to give Hersh’s story a veneer of mainstream acceptability.
Yet Mahler missed a fatal flaw in Hersh’s account. Neither Mahler nor Hersh examined the dozens of publicly available files recovered from Osama bin Laden’s compound. If Mahler had looked at some of these files, which can be found online with ease, he would have discovered that Hersh’s chief source is not credible. The retired official Hersh cites makes the following claims: Osama bin Laden was being held “hostage” by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency for years prior to the Abbottabad raid. The ISI used bin Laden as “leverage” over al Qaeda and the Taliban before trading him to the United States for cash. The idea that bin Laden was still in charge of al Qaeda’s operations at the time of his death is a “great hoax,” because very little terror plotting could be linked to al Qaeda since 2006. And “nothing has come” of the U.S. government’s analysis of bin Laden’s files. The documents recovered in the Abbottabad raid show that each of these claims is demonstrably false. The first set of documents was released in May 2012 via West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center. A second set came to light in February of this year as a result of a terror trial in Brooklyn. In May, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released more files on a webpage titled “Bin Ladin’s Bookshelf.”
These three releases constitute a small subset of the total haul recovered in bin Laden’s lair—several dozen out of more than a million documents and files. As The Weekly Standard has reported on more than one occasion, that is the real story. Even so, the documents publicly available contradict Hersh’s piece in crucial ways. For example, Hersh writes that “bin Laden had been a prisoner of the ISI at the Abbottabad compound since 2006.” This is flat wrong. The Abbottabad files show that al Qaeda’s founder was hardly a “prisoner.” In his final months, bin Laden even worried that Pakistani intelligence operatives were tracking some of his family members and key subordinates. A more explosive revelation concerning al Qaeda’s dealings with the Pakistani state is in a memo written by bin Laden’s chief lieutenant, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, in July 2010. Al Qaeda was deeply enmeshed in the jihadist insurgency then raging in northern Pakistan. Some Pakistani officials, including those in the ISI, wanted to negotiate a truce. After discussing the matter with Ayman al Zawahiri, then bin Laden’s second-in-command and now al Qaeda’s chief, Rahman and his comrades came up with a plan for the talks. Al Qaeda was willing to make a deal with the Pakistani government, if the military and intelligence services stopped fighting al Qaeda and its allies.
“Our decision was this: We are prepared to leave you [the Pakistanis] be. Our battle is primarily against the Americans. You became part of the battle when you sided with the Americans,” Rahman wrote to bin Laden, outlining the position al Qaeda would take. “If you were to leave us and our affairs alone, we would leave you alone. If not, we are men, and you will be surprised by what you see; God is with us.” Rahman informed bin Laden, who approved the talks, that al Qaeda had let news “slip” of “big, earth shaking operations in Pakistan” that had been “halted” by the jihadists’ leaders. “But if Pakistan does any harm to the mujahidin in Waziristan, the operations will go forward, including enormous operations ready in the heart of the country,” Rahman wrote. Rahman named two Pakistani officials who responded to the threat. One is Shah Baz Sharif, the head of the regional Punjab government and the brother of Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s current prime minister. The second is “Shuja’ Shah,” who appears to be Ahmad Shuja Pasha, then head of the ISI. “We received a messenger from them bringing us a letter from the Intelligence leaders including Shuja’ Shah, and others,” Rahman wrote. “They said they wanted to talk to us, to al Qaeda. We gave them the same message, nothing more.”
It is not possible to piece together the full story of al Qaeda’s negotiations with the Pakistani government in 2010 from the available files. The many documents that remain classified may shed additional light. But the information we can glean is stunning. The memo from Rahman shows that high-level Pakistani officials were at least willing to talk about cutting a deal with al Qaeda. Rahman’s memo, released as part of the Brooklyn terror trial in February, completely contradicts Seymour Hersh’s key source. The retired official claims to have an insider’s knowledge of meetings between ISI head Pasha and CIA director Leon Panetta in the spring of 2011. During those meetings, Pasha supposedly explained why the ISI had been holding bin Laden prisoner since 2006. According to the retired official, the “ISI was using bin Laden as leverage against Taliban and al Qaeda activities inside Afghanistan and Pakistan.” If the Taliban and al Qaeda “ran operations that clashed with the interests of the ISI,” the ISI “would turn bin Laden over to” the Americans.This is a fantasy. Hersh’s source appears to be ignorant of the jihadists’ actual operations inside Pakistan. They were waging an insurgency in the years leading up to the Abbottabad raid. And the ISI knew who to negotiate with in an attempt to make them stop: Osama bin Laden. He was not the ISI’s “hostage.” Hersh recounts a briefing by an Obama administration official shortly after the Abbottabad raid. The official said the bin Laden files were a “treasure trove .  .  . the single largest collection of senior terrorist materials ever.” He described bin Laden as “an active leader in al Qaeda, providing strategic, operational, and tactical instructions to the group.” Hersh makes no attempt to analyze these documents, which he could have easily downloaded. He has others characterize what is and isn’t in the files, and those descriptions are wholly inaccurate.
Relying on his primary source, the retired official, Hersh argues the post-raid claims about the al Qaeda master’s importance were “fabrications,” because “there wasn’t much activity for bin Laden to exercise command and control over.” The ex-spook “said that the CIA’s internal reporting shows that since bin Laden moved to Abbottabad in 2006 only a handful of terrorist attacks could be linked to the remnants of bin Laden’s al Qaeda.” Here, Hersh’s source demonstrates more ignorance. Bin Laden oversaw not only al Qaeda’s ongoing terrorist operations targeting the West, but also its guerrilla armies fighting across multiple continents. Al Qaeda was involved in far more than a “handful” of plots after 2006. Consider the following. In September 2007, European officials broke up two terror plots traced back to al Qaeda and affiliated groups in northern Pakistan. In late 2008, an American named Bryant Neal Vinas was captured in Pakistan and confessed to authorities that he had provided al Qaeda detailed information on the Long Island Railroad. In October 2009, David Headley, another American citizen, was arrested and subsequently convicted of helping plan the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were principally carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group closely allied with al Qaeda. Headley’s surveillance reports from Mumbai were reportedly found in bin Laden’s possession. Al Qaeda also tasked Headley with plotting an attack on Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. In 2009, an al Qaeda cell trained in northern Pakistan plotted to blow up New York City subways. In 2010, on Osama bin Laden’s orders, al Qaeda plotted Mumbai-style attacks in Europe. In 2009 and 2010, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which answered to bin Laden, placed a would-be suicide bomber on a Detroit-bound passenger plane and attempted to deliver packages filled with explosives into the United States via a cargo jet. Each of these plots was thwarted, through vigilance or luck.
Al Qaeda was far more active than Hersh’s source lets on. As first reported by the Washington Post, the initial six-week triage of the documents “produced more than 400 intelligence reports,” prompting “public warnings of al Qaeda plots against trains and other targets” and triggering “a small number of operations overseas, including arrests of suspects who are named or described in e-mails that bin Laden received.” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before Congress in April 2013 concerning those intelligence reports, saying they included “immediate threats” and “threat plotting.”
The declassified Abbottabad files also give us a sense of bin Laden’s day-to-day duties. In the last year and a half of his life, Osama bin Laden: made sure operatives responsible for al Qaeda’s “external work” (operations against the West) answered up the chain-of-command to him; ordered al Qaeda’s branches in Africa to designate recruits capable of taking part in these “external” plots; received a status report on al Qaeda’s “very strong military activity” across eight of Afghanistan’s provinces; with his commanders deliberated Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s war strategy for fighting the Yemeni government; advised Shabaab’s leader in Somalia to hide his organization’s al Qaeda role; had one of his subordinates research the applicable sharia laws for Shabaab’s governance efforts; reviewed the résumés of candidates being groomed for leadership positions within his organization; received a portion of the $5 million ransom al Qaeda got in exchange for an Afghan official held hostage; ordered the relocation of al Qaeda members and leaders out of northern Pakistan into Afghanistan and other areas; critiqued the propaganda put out by AQAP and set forth media policies; oversaw the relocation of key operatives into Libya; and reviewed the policies and instructions sent to al Qaeda groups around the world.
These are just some of the revelations contained in the bin Laden files. Again, only a small fraction of the entire cache has been made available to the public. Hersh’s source claims the White House “created” the “treasure trove story,” because it needed to show that bin Laden “was still operationally important” to justify killing him. The slaying of bin Laden was, in this retired official’s assessment, “premeditated murder.” But only in the bizarre moral universe of Hersh’s story-teller does the killing of bin Laden, the man who oversaw the 9/11 attacks and other atrocities, need justification. Hersh’s “retired official disputed the authenticity” of some of the bin Laden documents. Of course: If they’re genuine, Hersh doesn’t have a story. But the idea they were forged is absurd. Imitating bin Laden’s writing in Arabic—a language in which the U.S. government struggles to field translators—on topics that require detailed knowledge of granular points is impossible, especially on a mass scale. “It’s not that the truth about bin Laden’s death is unknowable; it’s that we don’t know it,” Mahler writes in his generous review of Hersh’s conspiracy theory. Mahler is right that the media’s job is to question the government’s version of events. It is likely that there is much more to learn about bin Laden’s stay in Abbottabad. Pakistan is a complicated country, filled with internal divisions and contradictions. It is possible, if not likely, that parts of the ISI were in cahoots with bin Laden. And the ISI certainly knew how to get in touch with al Qaeda’s founder.
But more than four years after bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALs, we know this: No one should be fooled into thinking that Hersh and his single source know the “truth.”

Dr Iryani and Yemen’s need to fill the void
Manuel Almeida/Al Arabiya/November 13/15
On Sunday, as Yemenis in the southeast coast and the beautiful island of Socotra prepared to face the second of two cyclones that brought more rain than what Yemen gets in a decade, news emerged that Dr Abdul Karim al-Iryani had died in a hospital in Germany.
A former prime minister and foreign minister, Iryani was one of, if not the most, well-respected Yemeni political figures of the old generation. He was among various modernist Yemeni politicians who studied abroad between the late 1940s and 1960s, in his case in the United States, from where he returned to Yemen in 1968 after finishing a PhD in biochemical genetics at Yale University.
These politicians educated abroad led the opposition to the autocratic rule of the Zaydi imams in northern Yemen, known as the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen. In Sept. 1962, under the leadership of Abdullah al-Sallal, a pro-republican Zaydi inspired by Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, an army rebellion overthrew Imam Muhammad al-Badr.
Yemen has suffered a severe brain drain, and is in desperate need of a renewed generation of politicians and public servants who can place the public interest ahead of factional goals.
A six-year civil war ensued between republicans supported by Egypt and the Soviet Union, and royalists backed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Britain. In 1967, the Zaydi royalists gathered the tribes of northern Yemen and laid siege to the capital, in an attempt to re-conquer it from the republicans.
For those familiar with Yemen’s modern history, the takeover of the capital Sanaa in September last year by the northern Houthi rebels echoed this episode of the North Yemen civil war, but contrary to the Houthis, the Zaydi royalists failed to re-conquer the capital.
The siege was lifted in 1968 and the war ended in 1970, the same year Saudi Arabia recognized the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR). Among the leaders of the YAR was an uncle of Iryani, Abdul Rahman Iryani, who would be the second YAR president, from 1967 to 1974.
Iryani and Saleh
For most of his political career, Dr Iryani served under the guise of the powerful man who ruled Yemen for 33 years: Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since Saleh became president of the YAR in 1978, and later president of unified Yemen, Iryani was prime minister between 1980 and 1983, deputy prime minister and foreign minister between 1984 and 1990, and prime minister again between 1998 and 2001. He was also minister of development and minister of education before Saleh came to power.
The fact that Iryani worked with and advised Saleh for so many years until the 2011 revolution has led a few voices to criticize his supposed role in reinforcing Saleh’s grip on power. However, his collaboration with Saleh should not be allowed to tarnish his image.
Iryani displayed a sense of public duty and service to the country that is increasingly rare among Yemen’s most influential figures. Plus, Saleh and the Yemeni state became almost indissociable over time.
Even while he was an adviser to Saleh, he was not afraid to speak his mind and express positions that would counter Saleh’s take on things. In the various media interviews he gave, Iryani recalled the need to listen to the voices of southerners and push for their inclusion in the political process. He spoke adversely about the possibility of Saleh’s son Ahmed succeeding his father as president.
Iryani also warned that the Houthis’ belligerence would not bring anything good for Yemen, and noted years ago with irony Iranian support for the Houthis and the resources they had access to in a poor country such as Yemen.
Ties between Saleh and Iryani were severed with the 2011 revolution. Iryani played an important role in setting up the U.N.-backed, Gulf-brokered transition deal that forced Saleh to transfer power, which he eventually accepted.
However, Saleh would return to Yemen determined to undermine the transition process, a goal that led him to encourage the Houthis to overthrow the government. For Saleh, Iryani was now an enemy, and thus fearing for his own security Iryani was forced to move from Yemen to Cairo.
Stuck in the past
Especially in the current context of war and deep divisions, Iryani’s liberalism, rationality and sense of public duty will be greatly missed. What was particularly striking about him is that he combined an enthusiastic modern outlook with a deep sense of pride about Yemen and its rich history and culture.
In contrast, many of Yemen’s most influential individuals remain stuck in the past, and the country is hostage to this. After 33 years in power, Saleh tried to prolong his control at any cost. Southern leaders persist on supporting the idea of a separate southern state that is impossible to realize, instead of embracing the promising plan for a federation. And Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has transformed Zaydi revivalism into a senseless and highly costly military adventure.
The same attachment to bad old habits applies to others within Yemen’s long-time ruling party, the General People’s Congress, as well as important tribal leaders.
In the last two decades, Yemen has suffered a severe brain drain, and is in desperate need of a renewed generation of politicians and public servants who can place the public interest ahead of factional goals.
In the absence of statesmen such as Iryani, many Yemenis look at Prime Minister and Vice President Khaled Baha as the best hope to return a modicum of stability. It would be unfair and unrealistic, however, to place the responsibility for such a task on one man’s shoulders.

Rivalry between hardliners and Rowhani: Who wins?
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/November 13/15
The smiles of Iranian President Hassan Rowhani and his American-educated Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appear to be fading as the hardliners take back the driver’s seat. Rowhani spent all his political capital on the nuclear deal, to which the hardliners are reacting harshly.
Iran has halted the dismantling of its centrifuges in two uranium-enrichment plants (Natanz and Fordow), in violation of the terms of the deal. This occurred because 20 hard-line lawmakers wrote a letter to Rowhani saying dismantling the centrifuges was too rushed.
This reveals that the deal is not a treaty or a legally binding contact, but only a set of understandings. Iran’s hardliners will add conditions or stop implementation anytime and for any reason that suits them.
Meanwhile, Iran’s judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani condemned Rowhani’s criticism of the judiciary and state media, and hardliners have increased their crackdown on journalists and political critics.
Hardliners’ victory
The hardliners and moderates shared a common interest in a nuclear deal in order to have sanctions on Iran lifted. Rowhani’s camp also wanted to win the popular vote. His team scored a political victory and gained considerable popularity due to the deal. This was inevitably going to irk the hardliners.
Khamenei uses both the moderates and hardliners for his interests, but leans toward the latter. Hardliners are less likely to criticize the president without permission from the supreme leader
Although both political camps share the same goal of preserving the political and religious establishment, they differ in their methods. Hardliners say rapprochement with the West, particularly the United States, will lead to the collapse of the establishment. Hence they advocate a relatively closed political and economic system that they can monopolize.
Rowhani’s camp says Iran can be strengthened if restrictions are loosened and ties with the West are improved. That is why a more liberal image of Iran has been projected to the international community by Rowhani and Zarif.
However, the hardliners are increasing their crackdown on civil liberties in order to send a message that the nuclear deal does not mean Tehran will open up and liberalize its political system. They are also attempting to decrease the popularity of the moderates before the February elections by showing people that what Rowhani promised has not been fulfilled.
Khamenei’s modus operandi
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and his hardline base mostly fear U.S. political and cultural infiltration in Iranian society due to the nuclear deal and bilateral talks. “The main purpose of the enemies is for Iranians to give up on their revolutionary mentality… Enemy means global arrogance, the ultimate symbol of which is the United States,” said Khamenei.
“Economic and security breaches are definitely dangerous and have dire consequences… but political and cultural intrusion by the enemy is a more serious danger that everyone should be vigilant about.”
Khamenei uses both the moderates and hardliners for his interests, but leans toward the latter. Hardliners are less likely to criticize the president without permission from the supreme leader. In order to curb Rowhani’s popularity, Khamenei’s modus operandi is to use the hardliners against the moderates. He effectively utilized this approach during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency.
It does not matter whether a reformist president governs Iran. The hardliners (the judiciary, intelligence, supreme leader, and Revolutionary Guard) control the social, political and economic landscapes. Having signed the nuclear deal, we are likely to see less of Rowhani, his team and their sunny disposition, and more hardliner reassertion of power domestically and regionally.

The Kohinoor: Diamonds are forever?
Zaid M. Belbagi/Al Arabiya/November 13/15
Much attention has been given to a group of influential Indian personalities who are planning a legal bid to have the UK return the Kohinoor diamond to India. A sensitive subject at the best of times, this issue has been made all the more acute with the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UK.
The 105-carat diamond was presented to Queen Victoria in 1850 after the second Anglo-Sikh war. The 1846 Treaty of Lahore specified the transfer of ownership of “the gem called the Koh-i-Noor which was surrendered by Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk to Maharajah Ranjit Singh and then surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England.”
The story of the diamond is significant as it enthuses debate over two key issues: Western custodianship of foreign treasures, and the legacy of the British empire.
Far from being acquired under dubious circumstances, as has been claimed, the youngest son of the maharajah visited London to formally hand over the stone to the queen at a special ceremony.
The story of the diamond is significant as it enthuses debate over two key issues: Western custodianship of foreign treasures, and the legacy of the British empire. Concerning the issue of an Indian jewel remaining in the UK, issues of national patrimony are second to the preservation of arts and culture for the wider benefit of humanity.
Security
The diamond has changed hands between warring parties several times in its long history, moving around the Indian subcontinent in the process. However, for the last 175 years it has remained in the UK, often on display for members of the public to appreciate its beauty.
The Kohinoor case is one of thousands of foreign artefacts kept in UK museums and artistic establishments. In this day and age, treasures are to be preserved and enjoyed, not fought after. Given the experience of recent years, should the treasures of Babylon and ancient Egypt, kept at the British Museum, be returned to their countries of origin, there is every chance they could be destroyed or looted.
It would be culturally irresponsible to return artefacts only for them to be destroyed. This is not a matter of cultural booty, but a very real concern for the need to preserve treasures for all of humanity to be able to enjoy. The botched glue repair to Tutankhamun’s priceless mask earlier this year in Egypt is another example of why the supposed repatriation of artefacts is not necessarily the best solution.
Colonialism
The other matter is the legacy of the British empire. Framing the Kohinoor issue as cultural theft threatens both Anglo-Indian relations and those with the wider commonwealth. Liberals and revisionists will always attack the British empire, which was far from perfect, but they ignore the hugely positive impact it had.
Globally speaking, Pax Britannica brought about by the empire made the 19th century comparatively peaceful in relation to the violent centuries that preceded it. For the first time since Pax Romana, citizens of the empire could travel the globe, using one currency and speaking one language, in relative safety.
Using the Indian example, rather than blame the ills of partition on the empire, a more helpful argument would be to recognize the distinction between the British colonial experience and those of other European powers.
Whereas the French infamously ripped telephones off the walls when leaving Gabon, and emptied the Bank of Morocco upon their exit, Britain took its colonial obligations more seriously. The establishment of the Indian railway network, postal service, army, political system, and the greatest legacy of all, the English language, gifted an independent India with a solid institutional legacy upon which to build.
Given the vast cultural exchange and shared history, Anglo-Indian relations need to be fortified, not weakened. There would be no better symbol of strength and commitment than a magnificent diamond such as the Kohinoor.