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Bible Quotations For Today
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 01/39-45: "In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy.
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

God Chose us in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless
Letter to the Ephesians 01/01-14: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight
he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 28-29/15
Lebanon's New President Will be Appointed By the Iranian Occupier/Elias Bejjani/November 28/15
Franjieh nomination for Lebanese president hits snag/Joseph A. Kechichian/The National/November 28/15
Russian S-400 missiles turn most of Syria into no-fly zone, halt US air strikes/DEBKAfile Special Report November 28/15
Downing of the Russian jet will divide the region/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
Once upon a Tsar and a Sultan: Putin vs. Erdogan/Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
Challenging all those who distort Islam’s message/Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
An open-door refugee policy can help fight terrorism/Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
Turkey: Wrong Partner to Fight Terror/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/November 28/5

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on November 28-29/15
Lebanon's New President Will be Appointed By the Iranian Occupier.
Elias Bejjani: Tweets For Today.
Franjieh nomination for Lebanese president hits snag.
Lebanon PM urges presidential vote after new push to find candidate.
Geagea: March 14 Must Not Make Any Step unless It Serves March 14's Principles, Objectives.
Report: U.S. to Intensify Efforts to End Presidential Vacuum.
Ibrahim: Negotiations to Release Servicemen are Serious, but Time Needed to Reach Happy Ending.
Report: Aoun Seeking Electoral Law 'Guarantees' in Exchange for Franjieh's Presidential Nomination.
Kataeb Delegation Meets Geagea: We Do Not Oppose Candidates, but their Presidential Platforms.
Army Arrests Lebanese for Trying to Smuggle Syrians, Palestinians to Turkey.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 28-29/15
Putin orders sanctions against Turkey.
Life Returns to Syrian Town after IS Ousted.
Morocco arrests Turks suspected of ISIS links.
U.S., allies launch 20 strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Suicide bomber kills six in flashpoint Iraq town.
Bahrain summons Iranian envoy in protest of supreme leader’s statements.
Bomb-rigged mass grave of ISIS’s victims found in Iraq.
Syrian army advances against ISIS east of Aleppo.
French PM Valls Calls on Gulf to Accept More Refugees.
Turkey Denies Suspending Syria Air Strikes after Russia Crisis.
Protest Planned in London as Syria Air Strikes Vote Looms.
Three Dead in Rocket Attack on U.N. Base in North Mali.
Gunmen Kill Four Egypt Policemen South of Cairo.
Coalition Hits Boats Carrying Arms to Yemen Rebels.
Tunisia Names Three Suspects Wanted over Bus Bombing.
White House Hopeful Carson in Jordan on 'Fact-Finding'.
French President Urges British MPs to Back Syria Air Strikes.
1,000 Demand Release of Saudi Death Row Shiites.
Boko Haram Claims Suicide Attack on Shiite Muslims in Nigeria.

Links From Jihad Watch Site for November 28-29/15
India: Muslim cleric says gender equality “un-Islamic,” women “fit only to deliver children”.
Sweden: 14,000 illegal immigrants disappear without trace.
France: Arabic graffiti found daubed on easyJet planes’ fuel tanks.
Sweden: Community torn apart as arrival of migrants prompts running battles in streets.
Muslim Brotherhood-linked Congressman Keith Ellison falsely claims “not one” refugee engaged in jihad terror.
Australia: Muslim screaming about Allah tries to strangle rabbi.
Sharia UK: Girl not allowed extra math classes because she didn’t wear hijab.
Spain: Municipality removes Stations of the Cross, says they show “lack of respect” for Muslims.
France’s ambassador to US: Paris jihad terrorists first hit “Jews,” then “ordinary citizens”.
UN top dog Ban Ki-moon: Climate change linked to terrorism.
FBI using elite surveillance teams to track at least 48 high-risk Islamic State suspects.

Lebanon's New President Will be Appointed By the Iranian Occupier
Elias Bejjani/November 28/15
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/11/28/elias-bejjani-lebanons-new-president-will-be-appointed-by-the-iranian-occupier/
Sadly, and unfortunately, our beloved Lebanon and up till today is merely an Iranian occupied and oppressed country by all means and in accordance to all global standards.
In this occupational and oppressive context, and despite all the on going presidential derailing day dreaming and delusional media rhetoric chaos, confusion and false debates that we are encountering, the Iranian occupier through its denominational, criminal and terrorist Army, Hezbollah, will appoint the new Lebanese Maronite Christian President no matter what are our stances or wishes.
In reality, and according to the current occupational status quo, the Iranian Lebanese appointed president will be totally a puppet and will be entrusted not to serve the Lebanese people, Lebanon's interests, or safeguard the Lebanese constitution, but to blindly serve the Iranian occupation, and its Mullahs' colonial expansional, denominational, terrorist agendas and schemes against both Lebanon and all the regional countries..
This appointed president no matter who is he, will actually be a Trojan no more, no less and his name will make no difference at all.
Our last three presidents, Elias Hrawi, Emile Lahoud and Michael Suleiman were all appointed by the Syrian occupier, and not elected or chosen by the Lebanese, and this same humiliating and devastating scenario will keep on replicating itself as long as our beloved Lebanon remains occupied and UN Resolutions 1559 and 1701 are not implemented.
It is worth mentioning that in 2005 the Syrian occupation was over, but since than this occupation was replaced by an Iranian one through Hezbollah Army, with the evil help of a punch of Lebanese mercenary political parties and politicians like Micheal Aoun, Suleiman Frangea, Walid Jumblat, Nabih Berri, and many others including prominent clergymen among them our derailed Maronite Patriarch, Bchara Al Raei.
In summary, Lebanon is still an occupied country by all means and standards, and the occupier is the Iranian Mullahs' dictatorship regime through it Hezbollah terrorist army.
The new Iranian chosen Lebanese president might be Suleiman Frangea, Michael Aoun, John Khawagi, John Obeyed, or any one else that is cut from the same mercenary garment, while politically, enslaved and castrated.
Accordingly, all the Lebanese efforts and on levels and all domains needs to be focusing on ending the Iranian occupation which is the main cancerous and devastating problem, and not to naively and stupidly be totally pre-occupied with the symptoms of this occupational cancer and keeping a blind eve on the disease it self.
In the realm of Lebanon's Iranian occupation we, the sovereign and free will Lebanese citizens from all sects and walks of life be in Lebanon or Diaspora are ought not to be fooled by the blinding evil manoeuvres of the current rotten politicians in both 8th or 14th of March coalitions due to the fact that the majority of them are puppets, merchants, cowards, opportunists, hypocrites and their priorities are to serve their own interests, riches, personal gains and not the country and its citizens.
In conclusion, with the current status quo, and as long as Lebanon is occupied by the Iranian Mullahs regime and its army, Hezbollah controls the country and oppresses its people, the Iranian Lebanese appointed president will make no difference no matter who is he.

LebaneseTweets For Today
Elias Bejjani/November 29/15
*Lebanon: Sadly no real differences between Frangea, Aoun Kahwaji or Aoun because all of them are not free or patriotic, but politically castrated.
*The trash on the streets is less damaging than the Lebanese parties, MP's, and the so called leaders. No dignity, No honour, No fear From God.
*In the Iranian occupied Lebanon the majority in both coalitions 8 & 14 of March coalitions are Trojans and mercenaries par Excellence

Franjieh nomination for Lebanese president hits snag
Joseph A. Kechichian/The National/November 28/15
Both Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces officials have raised objections to the initiative
Beirut: Leading Lebanese politicians have expressed strong reservations against the potential candidacy of pro-Syrian MP Sulaiman Franjieh. Recently, the Lebanese legislator became an appealing alternative after a series of secret meetings between Future Movement leader Sa’ad Hariri and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Neither of the leaders have formally backed Franjieh but international and regional events seemed to push the two towards reaching an agreement quickly. Presidential deadlock has plagued the country since May 2014 with the March 8 movement insisting on Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and the March 14 movement insisting on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. Both FPM and LF officials have raised objections to Hariri’s recent initiative to push for Franjieh’s nomination. Aoun, known for his long-held obsession with becoming Lebanese president, refuses to bow out of the race. He has conditioned his backing of Franjieh on specific guarantees over a proposed parliamentary electoral law that would facilitate his party’s victory. Hezbollah mouthpieces also reiterated their sole choice for the post was Aoun. Geagea rejected ‘any candidate’ who did not clarify his position vis-a-vis Syria. According to Lebanese Forces deputy Elie Marouni, Franjieh’s candidacy was difficult due to his association with Hezbollah and the March 8 alliance. Geagea warned that “March 14 must not take any steps unless they served their own principles and objectives”. He insisted LF continues to represent “the Lebanese Resistance, the Cedar Revolution and March 14”.“There can be no Lebanon without March 14,” he said during a party ceremony in Maarab, expressing his clear dissatisfaction with Hariri.

Lebanon PM urges presidential vote after new push to find candidate
Saturday, 28 November 2015/Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam made a new appeal on Friday for the country to choose a president after an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad this week emerged as a strong candidate.The post has been vacant for 18 months, contributing to a political deadlock that has paralyzed state institutions. With politicians pushing with renewed urgency for the election of a head of state, local media touted lawmaker Suleiman Franjieh as a candidate. Franjieh heads the Christian Marada party and has ties with Assad, who is backed by Iran and Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah. He is also expected to win the endorsement of Saad al-Hariri, whose Future Movement is backed by Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia, after the two men met in Paris this week, local media reported. Two suicide bomb blasts killed 44 people in Beirut on Nov. 12, showing the country remains vulnerable to a spillover of violence from the Syrian civil war across the border. Prime Minister Salam said condemnation of the bombings from across the political spectrum showed there was “a possibility to build on these positions in order to find the best way out of this political crisis.”Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri has called at least 30 sessions to elect a new president but, in the absence of a consensus, none has been elected. The unity government headed by Salam is barely functioning either. It includes both Hezbollah and the Future Movement. Meetings between rival factions were the best way to “end the state of deadlock,” Salam said, quoted by Lebanon’s National News Agency. “We declare our support for any rapprochement or opening between political powers, and confirm that the priority in any discussion or settlement must be to elect a president.”So far rivals Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea have been vying for the presidency but neither has been able to muster the cross-party support required. Aoun is an ally of Hezbollah and Geagea of the Future Movement. The presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian according to the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Geagea: March 14 Must Not Make Any Step unless It Serves March 14's Principles, Objectives
Naharnet/November 28/15/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed Friday that the March 14 coalition “must not make any step unless it serves the principles and objectives of March 14.”“We are the Lebanese Resistance, the Cedar Revolution and March 14,” Geagea told LF members during a party ceremony in Maarab. “'Lebanon First' means 'March 14 First', because there can be no Lebanon without March 14,” he added. “'March 14 First' means clinging until martyrdom to the principles of March 14 and not to anything else,” Geagea underlined.He emphasized that the March 14 camp “must not make any step unless it serves the principles and objectives of March 14.”“'March 14 First' means carefully and fully heeding the voices of hundreds of thousands of people who took to the squares of freedom on March 14, 2005,” Geagea added. His remarks come amid a flurry of political talks in the country between parties from both the March 14 and March 8 camps. The new momentum followed a meeting that was held in Paris between al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri of March 14 and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh of March 8. Hariri has also met in Paris with Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat and Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel. The Franjieh-Hariri meeting has sparked intense speculation that they agreed to the nomination of the Marada chief as president.

Report: U.S. to Intensify Efforts to End Presidential Vacuum
Naharnet/November 28/15/U.S. Charge d'Affaires Richard Jones had held talks on Friday with Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh in what An Nahar daily said on Saturday was the beginning of efforts by Washington to resolve the presidential vacuum. The diplomatic efforts will continue after Monday as part of a series of meetings that will examine “guarantees” linked to the elections, said An Nahar. Franjieh has emerged as an unofficial presidential candidate in recent days in the wake of talks he had held last week with Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri. There has been intense media speculation on whether he will be a presidential candidate, despite reservations expressed by the March 14 alliance over the issue due to the lawmaker's close ties to the Syrian regime. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

Ibrahim: Negotiations to Release Servicemen are Serious, but Time Needed to Reach Happy Ending
Naharnet/November 28/15/General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim stressed that the ongoing negotiations to release the servicemen who were kidnapped by extremists in 2014 are serious, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday. He added however to the daily that these efforts “have not yet reached their happy ending.” “We should no longer remain reserved, because we saw what happened last time when we reached an advanced stage in the negotiations, but they fell apart at the last minute,” he explained. He stressed however that the issue should be kept away from media speculation. Meanwhile, the daily al-Mustaqbal daily reported Saturday that there are “positive” developments linked to the release of the servicemen, who were abducted in August 2014 in the wake of clashes between the army and Islamic State and al-Nusra Front militants in the northeastern border town of Arsal. A security source refused to divulge details on the negotiations or a date for the release, saying: “Serious progress has been achieved.” “This should be crowned with the hostages' imminent release,” he hoped. He credited the progress to the reactivation of negotiations conducted by Ibrahim and sponsored by Qatari officials. Media reports on Friday said that the servicemen will be released soon in a prisoner swap with inmates in Lebanese jails. Four hostages had been executed and the two militant groups had threatened to kill more captives if Lebanese authorities do not fulfill their demands.
The demands include the release of Islamist prisoners, including women, from Lebanon's prisons.

Report: Aoun Seeking Electoral Law 'Guarantees' in Exchange for Franjieh's Presidential Nomination
Naharnet/November 28/15/Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun has not yet declared his stance on the potential nomination of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh as president, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Saturday. It said that Aoun, who is a presidential candidate, is seeking to ensure that he receive “guarantees” on the parliamentary electoral law before determining his position on the nomination. He is keen to find out what electoral law will be adopted as part of a settlement that is being devised with ending the presidential deadlock. Aoun's sources told the daily that the MP is dealing with the electoral law issue as a key factor that will determine his future stances on the presidential polls. Franjieh's visitors meanwhile told al-Mustaqbal that he is “not yet prepared to discuss the electoral law.” “This file is complicated and time is needed to find a consensual electoral law formula,” they explained. Furthermore, they said that “placing conditions on his nomination is tantamount to rejecting his candidacy.” Franjieh has emerged as an unofficial presidential candidate in recent days in the wake of talks he had held last week with Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri. There has been intense media speculation on whether he will be a presidential candidate, despite reservations expressed by the March 14 alliance over the issue due to the lawmaker's close ties to the Syrian regime. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

Kataeb Delegation Meets Geagea: We Do Not Oppose Candidates, but their Presidential Platforms
Naharnet/November 28/15/A Kataeb Party delegation held talks on Saturday with Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on the latest developments regarding the presidential elections and the potential nomination of Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh.MP Salim al-Sayegh said after the meeting: “We do would not oppose a candidate, but a presidential platform.” “It is too soon to comment on whether we will support Franjieh as a candidate,” he added. “We believe in respecting the constitution and electing a president who believes in freedom, sovereignty, and independence,” he declared. Moreover, he emphasized that the Kataeb and LF will coordinate their stances on the adoption of a new parliamentary electoral law. “We reject the 1960s law and hope for the approval of a modern one that will ensure fair representation among the people, especially Christians,” Sayegh stated. Franjieh has emerged as an unofficial presidential candidate in recent days in the wake of talks he had held last week with Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri. There has been intense media speculation on whether he will be a presidential candidate, despite reservations expressed by the March 14 alliance over the issue due to the lawmaker's close ties to the Syrian regime. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

Army Arrests Lebanese for Trying to Smuggle Syrians, Palestinians to Turkey
Naharnet/November 28/15/The army announced on Saturday the arrest of a Lebanese national and a number of Syrians and Palestinians, who were being illegally smuggled to Turkey. It said that they were arrested overnight as they were attempting to travel to Turkey by boat from the northern city of Tripoli. The Lebanese national was trying to smuggle them. All of them have since been returned to shore and investigations are underway with them. In October, 36 Lebanese and Palestinian migrants were detained for trying to illegally leave Lebanon through the Sarafand port. That same month, the navy thwarted a similar attempt in Tripoli, where 53 people were trying to illegally leave the country. Media reports said that Lebanese migrants from the North have exceeded 2,000, while this number tops 4,500 when departures from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport are included.

Russian S-400 missiles turn most of Syria into no-fly zone, halt US air strikes
DEBKAfile Special Report November 28, 2015
The deployment of the highly advanced Russian S-400 anti-air missiles at the Khmeimin base, Russia’s military enclave in Syria near Latakia, combined with Russia electronic jamming and other electronic warfare equipment, has effectively transformed most of Syria into a no-fly zone under Russian control.
Moscow deployed the missiles last Wednesday, Nov. 25, the day after Turkish warplanes downed a Russian Su-24. Since then, the US and Turkey have suspended their air strikes over Syria, including bombardments of Islamic State targets. The attacks on ISIS in Iraq continue without interruption. Turkey is now extra-careful to avoid flights anywhere near the Syrian border. Both the US and Turkey are obviously wary of risking their planes being shot down by the S-400, so long as Russian-Turkish tensions run high over the Su-24 incident. Friday, a US-led coalition spokesperson denied that the absence of anti-IS coalition air strikes had anything to do with the S-400 deployment in Syria. He said “The fluctuation or absence of strikes in Syria reflects the ebb and flow of battle.”However, debkafile’s military sources confirm that neither the US, Turkey or Israel have any real experience in contending with the Russian S-400, which uses multiple missile variants to shoot down stealth aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles and sub-strategic ballistic missiles. Its operational range for aerodynamic targets is about 250 km and for ballistic targets 60 km. The S-400 can engage up to 36 targets simultaneously. Thei range covers at least three-quarters of Syrian territory, a huge part of Turkey, all of Lebanon, Cyprus and half of Israel. Since the downing of their warplane, the Russians have put in place additionally new electronic warfare multifunctional systems both airborne and on the ground to disrupt Turkish flights and forces, Lt. Gen. Evgeny Buzhinksy revealed Friday. Turkey has countered by installing the KORAL electronic jamming system along its southern border with Syria. An electronic battlefield has spread over northern Syria and southern Turkey, with the Russian and Turks endeavoring to jam each other’s radar and disrupt their missiles. In this, the Russians have the advantage. With the Americans, Russians and Turks locked in a contest over Syria, and the Israeli Air Force’s freedom of action restricted by objective conditions, some comments made at week’s end by Israeli military and security officials sounded beside the point.Thursday, Nov. 26, a senior Air Force officer remarked that Israel is being careful to avoid friction with Russia, despite that country’s expanding military presence in Syria. “Russia is now a central player and can’t be ignored. But we each go our own way, according to our own interests,” the officer noted. “Our policy is not to attack or down any Russian plane. Russia is not our enemy.” The officer said that Israeli and Russian officers maintain telephone contact. “We don’t notify or ask for anything; we just do our jobs,” he said. According to debkafile’s military sources, this is not a true picture. Israel does get in touch with the Russians when their planes get too close to Israeli aircraft. There was no need to state that Israeli won’t shoot down Russian planes, as though this was self-evident, because in the current volatile situation, circumstances may change in a trice. Is it in Israel’s interest to fly into air space loaded with electronic warfare waves? But what if Russian warplanes come over the Golan as part of a blitz to destroy Syrian rebels in southern Syria, some of which are backed by Israel?

Putin orders sanctions against Turkey
Associated Press/Published:11.28.15/Ynetnews
Decree bans Turkish goods and clamps down on labor contracts for Turks and tourism; Erdogan expresses regret for downing of Russian plane, but falls short of apologizing. ANKARA - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called for sanctions against Turkey, following the downing this week by Turkey of a Russian warplane. The decree published on the Kremlin's website Saturday came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had voiced regret over the incident, saying his country was "truly saddened" by the event and wished it hadn't occurred. The decree includes a ban on some goods and forbids extensions of labor contracts for Turks working in Russia. It doesn't specify what goods are to be banned or give other details, but it also calls for ending chartered flights from Russia to Turkey and for Russian tourism companies to stop selling vacation packages that would include a stay in Turkey. Erdogan's expression of regret Saturday was the first since Tuesday's incident in which Turkish F-16 jets shot down the Russian jet on grounds that it had violated Turkey's airspace despite repeated warnings to change course. It was the first time in half a century that a NATO member shot down a Russian plane and drew a harsh response from Moscow. "We are truly saddened by this incident," Erdogan said. "We wish it hadn't happened as such, but unfortunately such a thing has happened. I hope that something like this doesn't occur again."
Addressing supporters in the western city of Balikesir, Erdogan said neither country should allow the incident to escalate and take a destructive form that would lead to "saddening consequences." He renewed a call for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a climate conference in Paris next week, saying it would be an opportunity to overcome tensions. Erdogan's friendly overture however, came after he again vigorously defended Turkey's action and criticized Russia for its operations in Syria. "If we allow our sovereign rights to be violated ... then the territory would no longer be our territory," Erdogan said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also said he hoped a meeting between Erdogan and Putin would take place in Paris. "In such situations it is important to keep the channels of communication open," he said. Putin has denounced the Turkish action as a "treacherous stab in the back," and has insisted that the plane was downed over Syrian territory in violation of international law. He has also refused to take telephone calls from Erdogan. Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Friday that the Kremlin had received Erdogan's request for a meeting, but wouldn't say whether such a meeting is possible.
Asked why Putin hasn't picked up the phone to respond to Erdogan's two phone calls, he said that "we have seen that the Turkish side hasn't been ready to offer an elementary apology over the plane incident." After the incident, Russia deployed long-range S-400 air defense missile systems to a Russian air base in Syria just 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the border with Turkey to help protect Russian warplanes, and the Russian military warned it would shoot down any aerial target that would pose a potential threat to its planes. Russia has since also restricted tourist travel to Turkey, left Turkish trucks stranded at the border, confiscated large quantities of Turkish food imports and started preparing a raft of broader economic sanctions. On Saturday Turkey issued a travel warning urging its nationals to delay non-urgent and unnecessary travel to Russia, saying Turkish travelers were facing "problems" in the country. It said Turks should delay travel plans until "the situation becomes clear."

Life Returns to Syrian Town after IS Ousted
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Outside her home in a town of northeast Syria, four-year-old Baydaa scribbles on a leaflet of religious rules left behind by the Islamic State group as they fled earlier this month. Her face is adorned with make-up of the sort banned by the jihadist group, which was expelled from Al-Hol by a new U.S.-backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab forces that overran the area on November 12. The town was once a key waystation for IS between the territory it holds in Iraq and Syria, and its capture was a strategic victory for the new Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition. But it is also a chance for residents to breathe easy again. "My little daughter Baydaa has put kohl on her eyes and make-up on her face, which was forbidden when the 'organization' was here," said Baydaa's father, Hamdan Ahmed, referring to IS. "I'm so happy not to see them in our village anymore," the 39-year-old told AFP. When IS seized Al-Hol two years earlier, Ahmed refused to leave his home in the Al-Shallal suburb of the town. As a result, he was forced to abide by the group's strict rules based on their harsh interpretation of Islam. Women were forced to cover up completely, and men to keep their faces unshaved. Parents were ordered to send children under the age of 12 to religious schools run by IS "to avoid punishment or being whipped", the father-of-nine told AFP. Elsewhere in the suburb, on the dusty sandy outskirts of the town, 42-year-old Mariam fed a small herd of sheep by a row of mud houses, including her own modest home. "We left the village during the fighting after shells landed in our food store. We lost grain for the sheep, lentils and flour and were left with nothing to eat," she said.
Even though the jihadist group is now far from her home, Mariam is still afraid they may return and covers her face with her headscarf when speaking to strangers.
She wears a long colorful dress that is traditional in the conservative region, but would not have met the strictures of IS. "When IS was here, any woman who left home without a face veil and black robes would face whipping," she said. With IS gone, local residents who survive mostly on agriculture and livestock, are trickling back to check on their homes and their land. "For two years, I couldn't sow my land because Daesh prevented us from leaving the areas under its control to get what we needed, like seeds and oil" for agricultural machinery, said 44-year-old Hamid Nasser, using the Arabic acronym for IS. The capture of Al-Hol and the surrounding villages was the first major victory for the SDF, an alliance of the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Arab and Christian armed opposition groups. The alliance is backed by the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS, and has received air drops of American weapons to support its fight against the jihadists. Al-Hol in particular was considered a strategic win for the group, severing a key route used by IS between its territories in Iraq and Syria. In the town, IS's slogans and strictures can still be seen, particularly those encouraging religious practice and the wearing of the veil. "Sister in niqab, how wonderful and beautiful you are in your chastity," reads one. On barber's shops, signs still hang reading "Dear brothers, shaving or trimming the beard is forbidden". And on walls are slogans including: "In the Caliphate, there are no bribes, no corruption and no nepotism."For the SDF, the challenge now is to secure the approximately 200 towns and villages, some of them home to no more than a dozen people, that it has captured from IS in recent weeks and set up a new local administration. While the SDF is dominated by Kurdish fighters, the region where the force is advancing is majority-Arab, raising potential sensitivities. Elsewhere, the YPG has faced charges of discrimination against Arab residents, with Amnesty International last month accusing it of "war crimes" in north and northeast Syria. The rights group claimed Kurdish forces had carried out a "deliberate, coordinated campaign of collective punishment of civilians in villages previously captured by IS".The YPG dismissed those claims and has pointed to its strong ties with some Arab militias to ridicule allegations of discrimination. SDF spokesman Talal Ali Sello told AFP that civilians were being allowed to return to captured areas after they were cleared of explosives, which IS frequently sows in areas before it retreats. He said his forces are working "on the creation of a political body tied to a military entity that will oversee the liberated areas in the coming period."

Morocco arrests Turks suspected of ISIS links
Reuters, Rabat Saturday, 28 November 2015/Moroccan police have arrested three people on suspicion of hacking telecommunications equipment, including two Turkish nationals who are suspected of having ties to ISIS, the Interior Ministry said. Authorities say they have uncovered a series of Islamist militant cells in recent months, including three since the Paris attacks on Nov. 13. The statement said this latest group had been active in the eastern city of Oujda. “The two Turkish nationals were involved in hacking telephone communications of a Moroccan operator, using developed technical equipment,” it said late on Friday. “The investigation showed that the two Turkish are ISIS supporters... and one of them had stayed in a camp in Hama’s province (Syria) where he was trained in handling weapons and took part in battles against the Syrian army,” the statement added. Moroccan authorities said the two Turks have had contacts with ISIS operational leaders as they were seeking logistical support. The statement said the Moroccan was also suspected of hacking but gave no further details about him. The Turkish men are the latest foreigners, including Europeans, that Morocco has arrested on terrorism charges. Around 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with armed groups in Syria and Iraq, 220 have returned home and been jailed and 286 have been killed, authorities said earlier this year. Moroccan security officials provided information that helped French police in a raid in the Paris suburb of St. Denis last week, sources say. Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected Islamic State mastermind of the Paris attacks, was killed in the raid. Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, has also suffered bomb attacks by suspected Islamist fighters, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh.

U.S., allies launch 20 strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria
Reuters, Washington Saturday, 28 November 2015/The United States and its allies targeted ISIS with 17 air strikes in Iraq and three in Syria on Friday, the U.S. military said. Seven of the strikes in Iraq hit two ISIS tactical units, buildings and a fighting position near Ramadi, the military said. The attacks in Syria were near Ayn Isa, hitting a tactical unit and Islamic State vehicle, the statement issued on Saturday said.

Suicide bomber kills six in flashpoint Iraq town
AFP, KirkukSaturday, 28 November 2015/A suicide bomber killed six people on Saturday in the Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmatu, the scene of deadly clashes between Kurdish and Shiite forces earlier this month, officials said. The bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a checkpoint in the town, also wounding 16 people, according to Shallal Abdul Baban, the official responsible for the area, and a police colonel. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suicide bombings are a tactic employed by Sunni extremists in Iraq, including ISIS, which overran large areas last year. The bombing follows deadly fighting between Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish forces that began as a dispute at a checkpoint near Tuz Khurmatu on Nov. 12, then escalated into clashes that spilled into the town itself. The violence between groups of fighters opposed to ISIS was a stark illustration of the major divisions among the various Iraqi forces battling the jihadists, which has hampered efforts to defeat them.

Bahrain summons Iranian envoy in protest of supreme leader’s statements
Staff writer, Al Arabiya NewsSaturday, 28 November 2015/Bahrain on Saturday summoned Iran’s acting charge d’affaires in protest over Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei statements, which were violating the Gulf state’s sovereignty, the state-owned Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported. The foreign ministry said Khamenei’s statements were in clear violation of the U.N. charter and sovereignty of Bahrain, urging the Islamic republic to adhere to the principles of good neighborliness. This is not the first time Bahrain has summoned Iran’s envoy to the tiny Gulf state. In early October, the Bahraini government gave the Iranian charge d’affaires 72 hours to leave the country after it recalled its ambassador to Tehran.The move comes a day after Bahraini authorities arrested a number of individuals suspected of having “terror” links to Iran. Authorities also seized 1.5 tons of explosives found during a raid. In July this year, Bahrain also protested against what it called “hostile” comments by Iranian leaders, and denounced Tehran’s interference.

Bomb-rigged mass grave of ISIS’s victims found in Iraq
AFP, Erbil, IraqSaturday, 28 November 2015/A bomb-rigged mass grave believed to hold the remains of more than 120 people killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group has been found in north Iraq, an official said Saturday. It is the sixth mass grave discovered in or near the town of Sinjar since it was recaptured from ISIS militants earlier this month, Mahma Khalil, the official responsible for the area, told AFP. ISIS overran Sinjar in August 2014 and carried out a brutal campaign of massacres, enslavement and rape targeting members of the Yazidi minority, who made up most of its inhabitants. The United Nations has described the attack on the Yazidis, whose faith ISIS considers heretical, as a possible genocide. The grave site, which is estimated to contain the remains of 123 people, based on accounts from people who witnessed the executions, was surrounded by a large number of bombs, Khalil said.
Major threat. Bombs are a key part of both offensive and defensive operations by ISIS, which overran large parts of Iraq last year. Explosives continue to pose a major threat even after the jihadists are gone and prevent displaced residents from returning home.The grave, located some 10 kilometers west of Sinjar, has not yet been excavated, but the victims were not buried deeply, and some of their remains have been exposed by rainwater, Khalil said. Another mass grave found in the area was believed to hold the bodies of some 80 women aged from 40 to around 80 who one official said may have been executed because they were deemed too old to enslave and rape. The town of Sinjar was recaptured from ISIS on November 13 in a major operation led by forces from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, backed by air support from a U.S.-led coalition.

Syrian army advances against ISIS east of Aleppo
Reuters, BeirutSaturday, 28 November 2015/The Syrian army captured territory from ISIS east of Aleppo including several kilometers (miles) of highway linking the city with the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa, Syrian state TV reported on Saturday. The areas reported captured are east of the Kweires, air base seized from ISIS control on Nov. 10 in one of several offensives being waged by the Syrian army with support from Russian air strikes, Iranian forces, and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters. Reuters could not independently confirm the report. A headline flashed on state TV said the army had captured the two villages of Kaskis and Akula and wide areas of agricultural land, seizing tunnels and fortifications built by the jihadists, and were demining areas mined by the group. The villages are about 60 km (40 miles) east of Aleppo. The highway mentioned in the report runs southeast from Akula to the west of the Euphrates river. The road passes through ISIS-held Tabqa on its way to Raqqa, which is 150 km (90 miles) from Akula. The Syrian government and its allies have also made gains against ISIS to the southeast of Homs. They are also waging offensives against non-ISIS insurgents in western regions of Syria, gaining ground in the northwestern province of Latakia and to the south of Aleppo, while losing territory in Hama province.

French PM Valls Calls on Gulf to Accept More Refugees
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has called on the Gulf states to accept more refugees fleeing Syria, saying that a "humanitarian disaster" could erupt in the Balkans if Europe does not control its borders. "I'll say it again, Europe cannot accept all the refugees coming from Syria. That's why we need a diplomatic, military and political solution in Syria," Valls said Friday evening. "Every country must play its part; I'm thinking particularly of the Gulf states," the prime minister said during a discussion with residents of Evry on the outskirts of Paris, focusing on the response to the attacks which rocked the capital two weeks ago. Most of the roughly four million Syrian refugees who have fled their country since civil war broke out have traveled to neighboring Libya, Jordan or Turkey. But Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and other Gulf states have remained closed to them, while Europe struggles to adopt a common policy towards the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are arriving at its borders. Unless the borders of the EU are properly controlled "we are going to see a humanitarian disaster in the Balkans this winter and Europe is going to close up again," Valls warned. And while the prime minister rejected any link between genuine refugees and terrorism, he also highlighted the danger of terrorists being allowed into the EU alongside those fleeing war -- as seems to have been the case with some of those responsible for the Paris attacks. "All it takes is for a few terrorists to slip in with the influx of refugees, and the people of Europe are saying, 'Wait, if terrorists are getting in along with refugees, that means any refugee could pose a threat'," he said. More than 800,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea since the beginning of the year, with the majority coming from the Middle East.

Turkey Denies Suspending Syria Air Strikes after Russia Crisis
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Turkey denied Friday it had suspended air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria after the downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border. Turkish F-16 jets on Tuesday shot down a Russian warplane which Ankara said had breached its air space. The Hurriyet newspaper said Turkey, a member of a U.S.-led coalition fighting IS, had "temporarily" halted air raids against the group in Syria in order to avoid any further crises. "Both sides agreed to act cautiously until they re-establish dialogue channels to reduce tensions," the paper said, citing security sources. But a government official denied that strikes had been halted. "At this time, Turkey remains fully committed to fighting ISIS as part of the international coalition," he told AFP, using another name for the IS group. "Our policy remains unchanged and the claims, therefore, are inaccurate. "Turkey's participation in coalition air strikes is determined by ourselves and our allies alone depending on mutual assessments of military developments on the ground and logistical needs." The downing of the plane sparked a crisis in relations between the two countries, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it a "stab in the back" and demanding an apology from the Turkish leadership. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has angrily rebuffed the Kremlin's demand for an apology and said Putin snubbed a phone call from him after the incident. Erdogan on Friday said he wanted to meet with Putin on the margins of the upcoming climate summit in Paris.

Protest Planned in London as Syria Air Strikes Vote Looms
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Thousands of people were expected to protest in London Saturday against Britain potentially joining air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. Parliament is expected to vote on the issue next week after Prime Minister David Cameron pushed MPs to back the move in the wake of this month's Paris attacks. The protest is organized by the Stop The War Coalition protest movement, which is also holding a string of other demonstrations around Britain. "The proposed vote in parliament on bombing Syria by British forces is likely to take place within the next week," Stop The War Coalition said in a statement. "Yet this bombing will not stop terror attacks." In London, actor Mark Rylance and musician Brian Eno will also be handing a letter in to Downing Street urging Cameron not to join the international air strikes. Britain is already involved in air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq but has not so far taken part in bombings of the group's positions in Syria. Cameron's previous government suffered a humiliating defeat in 2013 over military action against the Assad regime and did not push joining air strikes in Syria to a vote last year, amid resistance from the main opposition Labor party. Current Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, who helped set up the Stop The War Coalition is facing deep splits in his party over the looming vote. He opposes air strikes while many of his MPs are in favour and he must decide imminently whether to let individual lawmakers vote with their consciences or try and force them to oppose it.

Three Dead in Rocket Attack on U.N. Base in North Mali
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Two U.N. peacekeepers and a civilian were killed and 14 others were injured in a rocket attack Saturday on a U.N. base in the northeastern Malian town of Kidal, U.N. and local sources said.
"Our camp in Kidal was attacked early this morning by terrorists using rockets," said an official from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), adding that two Guinean U.N. peacekeepers and a civilian contractor were killed. A local official confirmed the report. Another U.N. source said 14 others were injured in the attack, including three seriously. The attack came eight days after a siege at a luxury hotel in Mali's capital Bamako, in which 20 people died including 14 foreigners. Armed men held around 170 guests and staff hostage in the November 20 siege that lasted about nine hours before Malian and international forces stormed the hotel to free the captives. Two separate jihadist groups claimed responsibility for the hotel assault: the Al-Murabitoun group, an Al-Qaida affiliate led by notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and the Macina Liberation Front (LWF) from central Mali. Mali has been torn apart by unrest since the north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaida in 2012. The Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military intervention early the following year, but large swathes of Mali remain lawless and prone to extremist attacks. MINUSMA's mission has been the costliest for U.N. peacekeepers in terms of human lives since the 1993-95 UNOSOM II mission in Somalia. France has more than 1,000 troops in Mali, a former colony and a key battleground of its Barkhane counter-terror mission spanning five countries in Africa's restive Sahel region.

Gunmen Kill Four Egypt Policemen South of Cairo
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Masked gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead four Egyptian policemen south of Cairo on Saturday, the interior ministry said. The gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle, killing those inside, in an area between the famed Giza pyramids west of Cairo and the Saqarra pyramids to the south, the ministry said in a statement. The attackers' affiliation was not immediately clear. Islamist militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers, mostly in the Sinai Peninsula, since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Attacks have also targeted policemen and government buildings in the capital, several of them claimed by an Islamic State group affiliate. The extremists often claim that their attacks are retaliation for a police crackdown on Islamist protesters, which has killed hundreds and left thousands in prison since Morsi's overthrow. The Egyptian military has struggled to quell the IS jihadists in Sinai, who claimed responsibility for bombing a Russian passenger plane on October 31 over the peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. But the militants have suffered more losses in Cairo, with police repeatedly killing or arresting cells in the capital. The interior ministry announced earlier this month the killing of a top IS operative in Cairo suspected of involvement in the abduction and execution of a Croatian oil worker, and the bombing of the Italian consulate. Ashraf Ali Ali Hassanein al-Gharabli died in a hail of bullets after he opened fire on policemen who tried to arrest him in the north of the capital, the ministry had said.

Coalition Hits Boats Carrying Arms to Yemen Rebels
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition hit Saturday two small boats allegedly carrying weapons to Iran-backed Huthi rebels on the southern coast of Yemen, a military official said. Weapons were being unloaded from the two fishing boats near Belhaf, in Shabwa province, when the pre-dawn raid struck killing three smugglers, the military official said requesting anonymity. The coalition has imposed a blockade on Yemen to prevent weapons from reaching the Huthi rebels and allied renegade troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Troops loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by coalition air and ground support, in July pushed the rebels out of Aden -- Yemen's second city -- and four other southern provinces, including Shabwa. But the area around Belhaf is controlled by tribesmen and some are involved in smuggling weapons to the rebels further north, the official said. Government forces backed by the coalition launched an all-out offensive last week to push the rebels out of the southwestern province of Taez and break the siege of loyalists in its provincial capital. The United Nations says more than 5,700 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led intervention began in March, nearly half of them civilians.

Tunisia Names Three Suspects Wanted over Bus Bombing
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Tunisia has identified three suspects wanted over Tuesday's suicide bombing that killed 12 presidential guards and is offering a financial reward for information leading to their arrest. The interior ministry issued a statement on Friday evening identifying the wanted men as Hassan Ben Khalifa Bouchiba, Houcine Ben Khalifa Bouchiba and Walid Ben Mohamed Ali Yousfi. A preliminary probe has proven that these "terrorist elements... (are) linked to the explosion on a bus of the presidential guard," the statement said. The ministry also promised "an important financial reward" for "anyone providing information leading to the arrest" of the three suspects. Tuesday's suicide bombing in the center of Tunis was claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group and authorities have identified the bomber as a 26-year-old Tunisian traveling salesman Houssam Abdelli. The interior ministry has said that dozens of suspects have been arrested since the attack. IS also claimed responsibility for two attacks earlier this year at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis and on a hotel near the Mediterranean resort of Sousse that killed a total of 60 people, all but one of them foreign tourists. The secretary of state for national security, Rafik Chelly, told private Mosaique FM radio that all these attacks were planned in neighboring Libya. Tunisia, the cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings, has been plagued by Islamist violence since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. IS has exploited the chaos that spread across Libya since the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed veteran leader Moammar Gadhafi to gain a presence in the oil-rich North African state.

Tunisia Says Series of IS Attacks were Planned in Libya
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/A series of attacks in Tunisia claimed by the Islamic State group that killed dozens of people including foreign tourists was planned in neighboring Libya, a top official said Friday. The jihadist group has said it was behind a suicide bombing in the center of Tunis on Tuesday in which 12 presidential guards died. IS also claimed two attacks earlier this year at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis and on a hotel near the Mediterranean resort of Sousse that killed a total of 60 people, all but one of them foreign tourists. "Everything is being planned in Libya," Tunisia's secretary of state for national security, Rafik Chelly, told private Mosaique FM radio. "The commanders of Tunisian terrorist groups are in Libya," he added. IS, which controls swathes of Syria and Iraq, has exploited the chaos that spread across oil-rich Libya after veteran leader Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in its 2011 revolution. "Libya has become a danger. That's why we have to take precautions... audacious decisions," said Chelly. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond acknowledged that Libya posed a "threat", during a visit Friday to Tunis where he met his Tunisian counterpart Taieb Baccouche and other officials. "Your minister mentioned the challenges in your neighbour Libya and we are acutely conscious of the threat that your country faces from what's going on in Libya," he said after meeting Baccouche. Hammond also pledged that Britain would work with Tunisia "on border security... (and) a long term solution for Libya and the defeat of Daesh (IS) in Libya". Thirty Britons were among the 38 tourists killed in the hotel attack near Sousse and on Friday Hammond attended a ceremony to commemorate the attack and visited the Bardo museum. Tunisia announced on Wednesday it was closing its land border with Libya for 15 days, with Chelly saying the measure was "temporary" to give authorities time to mull what they should do next.
House arrests
Tunisia has already built trenches and other obstacles along more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the 500-long border with Libya and will also reinforce land and sea surveillance, according to Chelly. He said the Bardo and Sousse attackers "went to Libya, were trained in Libya." According to Chelly, they would travel illegally to Libya and receive both "military" and "ideological" training and would return home to Tunisia to "await instructions."As for Tuesdays alleged attacker, identified by authorities as Hussam Abdelli, 26, Chelly said he had been arrested in the past for possession of books of "extremist religious orientation."But Abdelli, who authorities said was a traveling salesman, had been released for lack of proof against him, Chelly said. The interior ministry has reported several arrests of suspects since Tuesday's attack, including 40 detained overnight Thursday over suspicion of membership in "terrorist organizations."Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli said Tunisians who return from conflict zones will be held under house arrest -- a measure already slapped on 92 "dangerous" suspects, according to the ministry. Prime Minister Habib Essid has told parliament that some materials used in Tuesday's attack were not available in Tunisia but can be found in Libya.

White House Hopeful Carson in Jordan on 'Fact-Finding'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Ben Carson, the Republican hopeful for the White House, is in Jordan in a bid to understand the Syrian refugee crisis just days after comparing migrants to rabid dogs, his team said Friday. The retired neurosurgeon, who grew up in a poor family before winning a scholarship to Yale University, has fanned controversy in the United States for anti-Muslim and anti-refugee remarks. "Dr Carson and a small group are in Jordan," a campaign official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "He is there fact finding, listening, learning and meeting. No public or press events planned." Carson is to visit a UN-run Syrian refugee camp northeast of the Jordan capital early on Saturday, a Jordanian security source told AFP on condition of anonymity. More than four million Syrians have fled the civil war, with more than 600,000 of them in Jordan, the United Nations refugee agency estimates. America has so far accepted just 2,283. Yet the plight of Syrian refugees has become a political hot potato in America with half the nation's governors declaring Syrian refugees persona non grata after the Paris attacks. Carson told The New York Times, which first reported the visit, that he wanted to get a better understanding of the refugee issue and burnish his foreign policy credentials. "I find when you have firsthand knowledge of things as opposed to secondhand, it makes a much stronger impression," he was quoted as telling the paper before his departure late Thursday. Last week, he compared refugees fleeing the nearly five-year war in Syria to rabid dogs. "We must balance safety against being a humanitarian," Carson said during a campaign stop in the southern US state of Alabama. "If there's a rabid dog running around your neighborhood, you're probably not going to assume something good about that dog. And you are probably going to get your children out of the way." He also followed the lead of rival candidate Donald Trump in saying that he too saw a video of Arab Americans cheering as New York's World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001. Elected officials, police and fact-checkers have debunked the rumors, which come as community activists complain of an "unprecedented" anti-Muslim backlash in America following the Paris attacks.

French President Urges British MPs to Back Syria Air Strikes
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Francois Hollande on Friday urged British MPs to back air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria "in solidarity with France," in a tight vote expected early next week. British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday argued his case to members of parliament for Britain to join air strikes on the jihadist group in Syria, amid signs that opposition was weakening after the Paris attacks two weeks ago. "David Cameron told me that he would consult parliament to take part in strikes in Syria. And win over the House of Commons," French President Hollande told AFP at the Commonwealth summit in Malta. "I can only call on all British members of parliament, in solidarity with France but, above all, conscious of the fight against terrorism, to approve this intervention." Cameron told the lower house that Britain should not "wait until an attack takes place here" before acting, adding it was "morally" unacceptable to be "content with outsourcing our security to our allies". A vote is expected to be held early next week. While the numbers are tight, MPs look set to approve the move, meaning the first British air strikes on Syria could come within days. Meanwhile on Thursday, Germany offered France Tornado reconnaissance jets, a naval frigate, aerial refueling and satellite images to back the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged "very soon" to decide how to help its closest EU ally battle the IS group in Syria. "In solidarity with France and in a communal spirit of fighting against terrorism, I can only approve what the British prime minister and the German chancellor have proposed," Hollande said. "I hope that these two countries will go down this path, taking account of the ties of friendship, taking account of what is at stake in the fight against terrorism. "There is a Franco-British friendship, there is a Franco-German friendship. "However, there is also an issue which goes beyond us, because if we have been attacked in France, it's the whole of Europe which has been attacked and it's all the countries which want to preserve liberty which have in fact been attacked." Before heading to Malta, Hollande attended a solemn ceremony in remembrance of the 130 people killed in the Paris attacks, which were claimed by IS. Having vowed to crush IS for their role in the attacks, Hollande has spent the week in a whirlwind diplomatic bid to build a broad military coalition.

1,000 Demand Release of Saudi Death Row Shiites
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/About 1,000 members of Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority gathered at a mosque Friday to demand the release of activists on death row, including one aged 17 when he was arrested, a resident said. He said the prayers and sermons at Imam Hussein Mosque in the Eastern Province town of Awamiya drew Shiites from nearby Qatif and the al-Ahsa region. "They gathered to demand their freedom," said the resident who asked for anonymity. Their call came as the family of one Shiite activist, sentenced to death after protesting, voiced concern over his fate and a rights group warned of his imminent execution. The sentence against Ali al-Nimr, only 17 when he was arrested in February 2012, has drawn international condemnation over his young age and allegations he was tortured. Ali al-Nimr's uncle told AFP on Friday his family fears "the government is serious, very serious" about carrying out the sentence. Jaffar al-Nimr said his nephew reported that he had undergone a medical check when his family last spoke to him two weeks ago. Amnesty International warned Thursday that Ali al-Nimr was among more than 50 people, including other Shiite activists, at increased risk of soon being put to death in a single day. His mother and the mothers of other detainees implored King Salman for clemency after learning of preparations possibly associated with impending executions, the London-based rights group said. Ali al-Nimr's case has provoked a call for clemency from France, while the United States expressed "deep concern." Activists say Ali al-Nimr is one of three Shiite protesters who were minors at the time of their arrest and have been sentenced to death. They have exhausted all appeals. "International law prohibits the use of the death penalty against anyone under the age of 18," Amnesty said. It added that there were "credible allegations" the three youths had been tortured.
'Peaceful people'
Their fate rests with Salman who, activists say, must give final approval before death sentences are carried out. The case of Jaffar al-Nimr's brother, Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, also rests with Salman after the Supreme Court last month upheld his death sentence for sedition. "They are peaceful people," Jaffar al-Nimr said. "They are not criminals."The cleric -- based at Imam Hussein Mosque in Awamiya -- was a driving force behind the protests that erupted in 2011 in eastern Saudi Arabia, where most of the country's Shiites live. The protests developed into a call for equality in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, where many Shiites have complained of marginalization. Amnesty said Nimr al-Nimr was among six Shiite activists at imminent risk of execution and who were "clearly convicted in unfair trials."The rights group earlier this month reported that a surge in executions in Saudi Arabia had pushed to 151 the number put to death this year. In recent weeks, however, there has been a marked drop in executions, all of which are reported by the official Saudi Press Agency. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Thursday was asked about the case of Saudi blogger Raef Badawi, sentenced to flogging and 10 years in jail for insulting Islam. "We expect other countries to respect our legal system," he said. Awamiya, near Dammam on the Gulf coast, has been the scene of repeated security incidents since the protests began. In October, gunfire was heard when police sealed off the town, where officers said they recovered a large amount of ammunition when they raided a farm area.In April, the interior ministry said a policeman died in a gunfight with "terrorists" in Awamiya. But the Shiites who filled the Imam Hussein Mosque on Friday rejected violence. "They refused any clashes between the community and the government," the resident said.

Boko Haram Claims Suicide Attack on Shiite Muslims in Nigeria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 28/15/Boko Haram on Saturday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Shiite Muslim procession near the northern Nigerian city of Kano that killed 22 people. The hardline Islamist group said in a statement in Arabic on social media its bomber "detonated his explosives which led to the death" of the victims on Friday. "And by the permission of Allah these attacks of ours against Shiite polytheists will continue ‎until we cleanse the earth of their filth," it warned. At least 21 people were initially reported killed but the toll rose after one more person was confirmed dead. "For now, we have 22 deaths following the death of one more person yesterday. Thirty-eight people have also been injured, two of whom have been discharged from the hospital," one of the organizers of the march Ali Kakaki told AFP Saturday. He said that, despite the attack on Friday, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria members had continued their march from Kano to Zaria in neighboring Kaduna state, where their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky is based. The march is to mark Ashura, which commemorates the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. "Following the attack, many more of our members have joined the procession," Kakaki said, adding that they aimed to arrive at their destination next week. Friday's attack took place in the village of Dakasoye, some 20 kilometers (13 miles) south of the city of Kano. One of the procession's organizers said a bomber clad in black ran into the crowd and detonated his explosives. Boko Haram, the radical Sunni jihadists who want to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, has previously been blamed for attacks on Shiite Muslims in the region. Boko Haram, whose six-year insurgency has left at least 17,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless, condemns Shiites as heretics who should be killed. The group has increasingly used suicide bombers against "soft" civilian targets since the start of a military offensive earlier this year that pushed them out of territory they controlled. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has given his military commanders until next month to end the conflict but there are fears that suicide and bomb attacks may persist.

Downing of the Russian jet will divide the region
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
How did the Syrian crisis evolve from a civil war to a Saudi-Iranian regional conflict and, now, to an international conflict between Russia and NATO? Turkey’s downing of the Russian warplane is a significant event that will certainly deepen division in the region. There will be countries taking a stance with Russia and others with NATO, which could end the open relations that followed the end of the Cold War 20 years ago, or could narrow the margins on the countries that fall between both sides. But the situation is not likely to deteriorate to the extent of a war between the Russians and the West; there won’t be a WWIII, as some might be thinking. All the wars that have taken place since WWII have been without direct military confrontation between the two superpowers. Despite this, we are witnessing a new conflict between these two great powers, albeit indirectly, which is widening the areas of tension. The west has now pledged to support its ally Turkey and protect its territory, in case the Russians decided to retaliate for their downed warplane. Turkey will fight on behalf of NATO and most probably, proxies will support and fight on behalf of the Russians, such as Iranian and Kurdish militias. This is an indication that a new chapter in the Syrian war is starting now.
The Gulf does not want to get involved in a conflict between Turkey and NATO on one hand and Russia on the other Due to the Syrian situation, the region is witnessing new political blocs and alliances. I believe that Gulf states are facing one of the most difficult challenges right now because Iran, Syria and Iraq are all in line with the Russian camp. Meanwhile Turkey has the protection of NATO. As for Saudi Arabia and its partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, there is a currently a period of uncertainty, because not all members of the bloc have decided on a stance yet. Historically, they are siding with the western camp and are still associated to it on the military front. But at the same time, they do not see in the United States a reliable ally if the conflict expands and reaches the Gulf. This conflict comes at a bad time, as the Gulf states have just begun to establish good relationship with the Kremlin, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Gulf does not want to get involved in a conflict between Turkey and NATO on one hand and Russia on the other. However, this neutrality is not an easy option because it might mean compromising the future of Syria and letting the Iranians seize it along with Iraq, which can significantly threaten Gulf interests at a later stage.
Assad, Iran and Russia
As for why the Russians got themselves stuck in the Syrian quagmire, the answer is strange and illogical no matter what is said about the Russian interests there. It was Bashar al-Assad’s wish for four years to see Russia rush to his aid, but Moscow had been merely responding with remote support. When he found himself unable to cope with the rebels, he convinced the Iranians that they should be involved in the Syrian crisis; he pictured the Syrian war to them as a regional conflict with Saudi Arabia in need of Iran’s support. That was at an earlier stage, when Turkey was still supporting Assad; they had then intervened suggesting ideas for political reforms, so that Assad remains president with the participation of the opposition in the government. Assad, who refused the Turkish solution at that time, had gambled on a military solution, but when he failed, he asked for the help of the Iranians who sent him Hezbollah militias in the beginning. When Hezbollah failed to override the popular uprising, Iran sent the Revolutionary Guards to lead the battle. Thus, the battlefield was widened through the proxies, between Iranians, Turks and Gulf Arabs.Of course, Iran could have easily restrained itself from entering into an expensive war in Syria, especially that it had Iraq as an alternative ally, which is more important than Syria. Iraq’s oil wealth makes it significant, not to mention that it is more convenient for Iran on the sectarian front, unlike Syria that is not a land that can easily welcome Iranians due to its Sunni environment. Tehran got involved in the Syrian war because of Assad. It failed to win the war and it is now making concessions, the last of which was its acceptance of power sharing with the Syrian opposition, because Iran is clearly afraid of an aggregate defeat. Assad has also managed to drag the Russians into the quagmire as well, where they thought, though for different reasons, that they will be able to fill the void in the Middle East in light of the American absence. But they have already begun suffering from the first round.

Once upon a Tsar and a Sultan: Putin vs. Erdogan
Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
When a Turkish jet fighter shot down a Russian warplane on Tuesday over the Syrian-Turkish borders, the multifaceted four and a half year-old war in Syria entered a new darker phase. Those dangerous deadly few moments were another reminder to the warring parties that one of their enduring enemies is the law of unintended consequences. Tension between the once sworn enemies was rising ever since Russia intervened militarily two months ago to support the teetering Assad regime, thus exploiting the vacuum created in part by the failure of the Obama administration to effectively influence the ebb and flow on the battlefields directly and through its allies and to provide strong leadership to shape and reconcile the competing interests of its regional allies in Syria.
Given the conflicting objectives of Russia and Turkey in Syria, their regional and international alliances, and their bitter history, the incident brought to the surface not only their decades-long enmity during the Cold War, but also the centuries-long bloody hostility between their predecessors, the Russian and the Ottoman Empires. Over the centuries Ottoman Sultans and Russian Tsars dispatched armies and navies against each other’s and fought long and horrendous wars on different fronts, by themselves and as part of alliances, exchanging territories mostly in Russia’s favor, sacking cities, engaging in mass killings, uprooting populations and etching in the collective memories of their peoples enduring impressions of rejection, hostility and demonization. In the last few days, part of this heavy and ugly inheritance has been resurrected by Russians and Turks who stormed social media and other parts of the virtual world, exchanging invective and insults, dusting off old stereotypes and reminding each others of their past moments of humiliations and triumphs. It did not help matters that the two autocratic leaders at the helm in Moscow, Vladimir Putin and in Ankara, (which replaced the old Sublime Port in Istanbul) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fancy themselves, act and are seen by some of their supporters as a Tsar and a Sultan conducting quixotic campaigns seeking partial imperial restoration.
Putin’s wrath
The aerial clash between Turkey and Russia, coming after ISIS took its terror to the heart of Paris, Sinai and Beirut, makes the ever-changing and fluid Syrian battlefields more complex, more confusing and very likely to prolong the war and entrench the Assad regime at least for the foreseeable future. For sure the United States and France will continue to talk about the ‘Vienna process’ for a political resolution to the conflict but their immediate priority is to fight ISIS not the Syrian regime, an objective Russia shares partially.(Iran and its Shiite auxiliaries can only welcome such an ISIS-focused campaign by the U.S. and its allies.) The brunt of Russia’s bombing campaign is felt by the moderate Syrian forces fighting the Assad regime, as well as the Chechen militants fighting with al-Nusra and other radical groups. Russia, as Putin and his senior advisors have been saying will attempt to punish Turkey economically and commercially, although this will not be cost free for Russia’s economy, given the significant amount of trade between the two countries. Putin’s aggressive foreign policy moves, from Georgia, to Ukraine to Syria are not usually tempered by economic calculus. Putin’s irredentist ambitions in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and in Central Asia harken back to Tsarist Russia, which also tried over generations of conflict with the Ottoman Empire to enlarge its control and sphere of influence around the Black Sea basin and to move Southward to the warm waters of the Mediterranean.
President Putin has a lot in common with Erdogan. He sees himself as the leader who will reestablish Mother Russia’s standing in the world as a major power
But there will be a military aspect to Putin’s wrath. Already Russia’s air force has been pounding the Turkmen forces believed responsible for killing one of the two Russian pilots who ejected from the doomed warplane, in addition to a Russian Marine killed in the rescue operation. In fact, Russia’s raids on the Turkmen forces, operating reportedly with Ankara’s blessing and arms close to the Turkish borders against the Assad regime, led to Turkish complaints long before the downing of the Russian bomber. After Tuesday’s incident Russia reportedly intensified its bombing raids also against the Free Syrian Army units and other Islamist forces operating in the area, as well as providing air cover for the advancing Assad army.
Russia, while saying officially that it will not go to war with Turkey over the incident, and insisting on an official apology and compensation from Ankara, is trying to intimidate Turkey’s military and by extension the NATO alliance by deploying its most advanced air-defense missile system to a Syrian air base in Latakia, 30 miles south of the Turkish border. With a range of up to 250 miles, the S-400 covers a large swath of Southern Turkey, all of Cyprus and Lebanon, most of Syria and the northern half of Israel. This new system will complicate the American led air campaign against ISIS in Syria, and the Israeli Air Force’s flights and occasional bombings raids in Southern Syria. The U.S. is likely to be forced to revisit its technical ‘deconfliction’ understanding with the Russians to avoid accidents in Syria’s crowded air space.
Conflicting interests and strategies
The tension between Russia and Turkey which will mar their relations for some time to come, even if both Presidents are brought together by French President Francois Hollande who is very eager to cooperate with any power willing to help him fight ISIS. This tension, in addition to France’s immediate objective of ‘destroying’ ISIS, an impossible goal without powerful ground troops, will further complicate and delay the search for the elusive political resolution, which was even bogged down before Tuesday’s clash.
There are serious disagreements among the international and regional powers and the Syrian opposition groups willing to enter into a political process, over the nature of the transitional period to a post-Assad political order, and over the fate of Assad and his cronies during the transition, how to reach and monitor the cease fires, and what to do meanwhile with the hard core militants like al-Nusra Front not to mention ISIS. In the absence of a comprehensive strategy that includes building a coalition of Syrian forces supported politically and materially by the U.S. and its European and regional allies to confront both ISIS and the Syrian regime simultaneously the quest for a political resolution will lead to an endless wilderness. Most civil wars are ended either with a decisive and relatively quick military victory (American and Spanish civil wars) or when the warring parties become exhausted after a protracted conflict were they on their own or with outside parties reach a resolution that reflects the military balance on the ground in which one party emerges as more dominant if not overwhelmingly victorious to impose its writ. Unfortunately the warring parties in Syria are not there yet.
The Russian military intervention which led to the tension with Turkey, along with ISIS taking its terror to the world made the Syria war the most complex and bewildering civil war in recent memory. Consider the following: Three of the five permanent members of the United Nation Security Council are waging wars against different combatants. The United States and France are bombing ISIS targets and leaders. Russia is in Syria to fight the enemies of the Assad regime, and to put it bluntly to kill Chechen fighters in Syria instead of waiting for them to return to Chechnya in the Russian Federation. The two major non-Arab regional powers; Iran and Turkey are engaged in the war and have been competing for years to shape the future of Syria (and Iraq). Iran is doing so directly by deploying advisors and elite forces and through its Shiite auxiliaries, mainly Hezbollah and by providing arms to the Syrian regime. Iran’s intervention has saved the Assad regime from demise. Turkey has been providing arms to anti-Assad forces, including unfortunately hard core Jihadists, and through its porous borders the worst blood thirsty foreign fighters found their way to join ISIS in Syria. Turkey’s priorities in Syria include preventing the Kurds there from establishing a contiguous autonomous region that could eventually secede, in addition to toppling Assad and playing a major economic role in rebuilding (and influencing) Syria. Both Iran and Turkey have intensified their efforts to shape the future of Iraq by exploiting geography, sectarian and ethnic divisions and the economic interests of various Iraqi groups. The third major non-Arab regional power, Israel has limited its role to occasional military raids into Syria, mostly to interdict and destroy arms shipment to Hezbollah and/or to hit Hezbollah leaders operating close to its borders.
Coalitions without strategies
Both the United States and the Russian Federation are leading competing coalitions in Syria. For more than a year President Obama’s coalition has waged an air campaign against ISIS with limited success. President Putin is essentially leading a coalition that includes Iran, Iraq and what is left of the Syrian regime. After the Paris attack, Putin was hoping to recruit French President Hollande in his own coalition. In fact Putin is projecting Russia (and himself) as the leading international power against terrorism. Ever since Putin’s intervention in Syria, Ukraine has receded as a pressing issue for the European Union which was very busy and burdened by the challenge of the (mostly) Syrian refugee crisis, and where Putin succeeded in creating a rift among European countries about the future of Assad in Syria with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling publicly for negotiations with the Syrian President. As a wingman in the air war against ISIS, President Hollande, has to decide soon whether to fly behind Obama or Putin.
Once upon a Tsar and a Sultan
Both President Erdogan and Putin are historic, if negative, leaders. Erdogan is the most consequential Turkish leader since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Turkish Republic in 1923. Erdogan, in power since 2003 as Prime Minister and President, has been chipping away at Turkey’s secular polity while reviving its Islamic identity and causing in the process deep political polarization in Turkish society. He has presided over a period of economic growth, during which Turkey ‘returned’ economically and politically to its old Ottoman provinces in the Levant and Mesopotamia. Erdogan’s disturbing and growing autocratic tendencies and practices (hence the Ottoman Sultan label) are causing deep anxieties in Turkish society and polity to the point where serious Turkish analysts are warning that he may be leading the country towards civil strife and dangerous regional entanglements.
President Putin has a lot in common with Erdogan. He sees himself as the leader who will reestablish Mother Russia’s standing in the world as a major power. He has yet to reconcile himself with the collapse of the Soviet Union, although the power he wants to resurrect is that of Orthodox and Slavic Russia. Just as Erdogan is harken back to what was once the seat of the Ottoman Muslim Empire in Istanbul, Putin harks back to Tsarist Russia with its distinct Slavic culture, the same Mother Russia that defeated Napoleon, and later Hitler, (Russian Nationalism defeated the Third Reich, not communism) built the magnificent city of Saint Petersburg and gave the world the Bolshoi, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. This Russia has played a historic role in the ‘Holy Land’ and the greater region south of Russia that is called now the Middle East sees itself as destined once again to play a similar role. It was a brazen act on Putin’s part to exploit the Russian Orthodox Church by getting its leaders to bless his war in Syria as a ‘holy war.’ Ironically both Putin and Erdogan are the implicit claimants of two out of the four Empires, the other two being the Austria-Hungary and German Empires that collapsed after WWI, the bloodiest war in human history until that time. Both the Tsar and the Sultan are watching and trying to shape what was left of the brittle political order that emerged in the Levant and Mesopotamia following the end of the age of Empires that barely survived a century.

Challenging all those who distort Islam’s message
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
Morten Storm, the Danish co-author of “Agent Storm: My life Inside Al-Qaeda and the CIA”, recently aired his anti-Islamic views on Fox News, using this media platform to spout, what are in my opinion, blasphemous opinions. This former Al-Qaeda militant turned double agent was allegedly radicalized in prison and was later reportedly recruited by the CIA and MI6 as a spy. Ultimately, he betrayed his chiefs by going public and is now betraying his adopted faith. Storm is an authority on terror, not on Islam. In my opinion, he is capitalizing on heightened fears in response to the Paris attacks, whipping-up Islamophobia with cherry-picked quotes from our Holy Book taken out of context. Genuine Muslims would not dream of defaming other religions. We respect the faiths of the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) and we do not consider Christianity a violent religion due to the misguided behaviour of its adherents, such as the Crusaders, the Spanish inquisitors and the Nazis. To refute this individual’s propaganda I enlisted Sheikh Fares Al Mustafa's help. He is the Imam of the Al Farooq Omar bin Al-Khattab Mosque and Center in Dubai. Islam is a merciful and peaceful faith. Muslims end their prayers with the word ‘peace’. Muslims greet each other, saying ‘peace’ and Allah will welcome all those who enter Paradise with a greeting of peace. The Prophet Mohammad (PBH) said, “Those who have mercy will have mercy from God, the Most Merciful...”
Challenging Islamaphobic allegations
Storm characterized Islam as “violent, intolerant and very dangerous for the whole world...”There are many references to peace and mercy in the Holy Quran and 113 verses start with the words ‘In the name of Allah, the All Merciful and Most Merciful’. I give the following examples: Surat An-Nisa, verse 94: “People who believe! When you go forth to fight in holy war, make a proper study, and do not say to the one who a greeting of peace ‘You are not a believer’.” In Surat Al-Anbiyaa, verse 107, Allah tells the Prophet Mohammad “We have not sent you but as a mercy for the worlds.”Morten Storm, a former Al-Qaeda militant turned double agent, is capitalizing on heightened fears in response to the Paris attacks, whipping-up Islamophobia with cherry-picked quotes from our Holy Book Storm alleged “Allah encouraged the Muslims to keep on fighting until there are no religion left. That means everything is left out.” That’s nothing but a fabrication.The reply is “Verses in the Holy Book covering war purely relate to self-defensive conflicts. Surat Al-Baqarah verse 90 reads: “And fight in the way of Allah against those who fight with you, but do not transgress. Surely Allah loves not the transgressors.” Do not transgress in this context means “Do not initiate war.” There is no compulsion in Islam. In Surat Ash-Shura verse48, Allah says to the Prophet, “But if they turn away, we sent thee not to be a guardian over them. It is for thee only to deliver the Message.” Islam is also tolerant of other beliefs: “For you, is your religion, and for me is my religion,” is the message of verse 6 of Surat Al-Kafirun.
I dare Storm to find a single verse in the Quran that encourages believers to force non-believers to convert by the sword.
Islam did not spread through Malaysia and Indonesia, home to more than a quarter-of-a-billion Muslims, by the sword. There are more than 200 million Muslims in China alone, but they were not coerced. Moreover, the Tatars, who dominated Muslim lands in Central Asia, willingly embraced Islam and are now re-discovering their Islamic roots. The life of the Prophet evidences his respect for other religious figures. Our joy in the celebration of the birth of Issa (Jesus) is no less than our joy when celebrating the birth of the Prophet Mohammad. Indeed, there are more verses about Issa and his mother Mariam in the Holy Book than on the lineage of the Prophet Mohammad. When Storm says Islam approves of terrorist acts, he again proves his ignorance. The Prophet Mohammad did, indeed say, “I have been helped by terror [in the hearts of my enemies]” but as the narrator Abu Huraira explains, he was referring to the fear God instilled in his enemies’ hearts; fear which allowed the Prophet to be victorious without any blood being spilled.
Storm’s assertion that the Prophet approved the killing women and babies is scandalous. Islam does not permit the killing of women, minors, the mentally unstable, the bedridden or any other non-combatants. Numerous texts evidence that the killing of women and children is explicitly forbidden. Bukhari 3014: Book 56: Hadith 223, narrated by Abdullah, is clear. It reads: “During some of the ghazawat [battles] of the Prophet a woman was found killed. Allah’s messenger disapproved of the killing of women and children.”Hadith 2613, Sunan Abu-Dawud, narrated by Anas ibn Malik states “When the Prophet sent an army for battle, he said: ‘Go in Allah’s name, trusting in Allah, and adhering to the religion of Allah’s Apostle. Do not kill a decrepit old man, or a young infant, or a child, or a woman; do not be dishonest about booty, but collect your spoils, do right and act well, for Allah loves those who do well.” During war, the Rightly Guided Caliphs abided by those injunctions.
Storm also said what I believe to be the terrorists’ interpretation of verse 39 of Surat Al-Anfal: “And fight them until there is no fitnah (rebellion) and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah.” The verse is unrelated to the People of the Book. It aimed at pushing back against the aggression of idol worshippers in Makkah during a period when Muslims were not sufficiently strong. Takfiris (those who take it upon themselves to accuse others of apostasy) would agree with Storm’s conclusions because it suits their own murderous ends. The more we investigate Storm’s allegations, the more we realize they are drawn from diseased minds. Islam cannot be learned from a former terrorist’s handbook and, moreover, there are strong indicators that terrorists are not generally motivated by religious beliefs, but rather by political or mercenary objectives. I would urge all Muslims to counteract the falsehoods disseminated by Islam’s haters. Radicals and Islamophobes are opposite sides of the same extremist coin. They need to realize that “there is no honor in guns,” as the saying goes. Tell them that all men are brothers in humanity and the voice of love must prevail over the voices of war. Lastly, I wish with all my heart that Storm’s lurid predictions of increased terrorist attacks over the holiday season are proved wrong. Our fervent prayer is that God will protect all peoples from the scourge of terrorism. May peace and security prevail over all evil intentions!

An open-door refugee policy can help fight terrorism
Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/November 28/15
While millions of Americans celebrated Thanksgiving, and remembered the pilgrims who arrived safely to America in 1620 after fleeing persecution, the question of whether borders should be closed to refugees is continuing to be a matter of public debate. Earlier this week, Sweden put an end to its open-door policy for refugees. However, in assessing the recent economic implications of the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan and Lebanon, it is clear that in order to actively work towards international security and economic development, an open-door refugee policy can prove fruitful.
Fighting terrorism
Earlier this month, the Institute for Economics & Peace published its Global Terrorism Index (GTI) – the results show that the number of people killed globally in terrorist attacks jumped 80 percent last year. What is least surprising is the source and location of this terrorism – 92% of all terrorist attacks between 1989 and 2014 happened in countries where political violence by the government was prominent, and that 88% of the attacks took place in countries that were already involved in violent conflicts. The message these statistics are sending out is clear: violence breeds violence. I believe one of the most effective things that the international community can do is to burst the bubble of terrorism and allow people to flee, rather than forcing them to remain in an incubated environment that continuously breeds violence.
Burst the bubble of terrorism and allow people to flee, rather than forcing them to remain in an incubated environment that continuously breeds violence
While it is necessary that incoming refugees be subject to a series of checks and screening, I believe this should be done for their safety and protection just as much as the safety of the communities they are entering. The influx of refugees into Europe has predominantly been from Muslim countries that are fighting extremism. While far-right political figures in the West, such as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, have expressed concern that they may be “terrorists in disguise,” it should be noted that “Islamic fundamentalism is not the main driver of terrorism in Western countries: 80% of lone wolf deaths are by political extremists, nationalists, racial and religious supremacists,” according to the GTI. German chancellor Angela Merkel has also expressed concerns over the impact of closing the door to refugees on global security. Slowly, it is being recognized that the fight against global terrorism will not be achieved through fighting against the influx of refugees

Turkey: Wrong Partner to Fight Terror
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/November 28/5
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6954/turkey-partner-terror
In Erdogan's usual Sunni supremacist language, he accused the victims of jihad rather than the jihadists.
"New tragedies will be inevitable," Erdogan said, "if the rising racism in Europe and other countries is not stopped." Yet Erdogan willingly ignores the rising racism, xenophobia, and anti-western, jihadist sentiments that increasingly command the hearts and minds of his fellow Turks.
How should Erdogan fight Islamic terror -- something he does not believe exists? One of Erdogan's famous remarks is, "there is no Islamic terror." But he thinks that "just like fascism," Zionism is a crime against humanity.
It is so funny that the free world cannot see that its ally in fighting the jihadists is another jihadist.
Racism is bad, no doubt. But it cannot be the reason why jihadists kill "infidels," including fellow Muslims in Muslim lands. Sadly, the free world feels compelled to partner with the wrong country in its fight against Islamic terror. The host of this year's G-20 summit, which came right after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, was Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In his usual Sunni supremacist language, he accused the victims of jihad rather than the jihadists. "New tragedies will be inevitable," he said, "if the rising racism in Europe and other countries is not stopped. Racism, coupled with enmity against Islam, is the greatest disaster, the greatest threat." Yet Erdogan willingly ignores the rising racism, xenophobia, and anti-western, jihadist sentiments that increasingly command the hearts and minds of his fellow Turks. A quick look at a few sports games and fan behavior in recent weeks would reveal much about the Turkish mind and heart. On October 13, three days after a twin suicide bomb attack in Turkey's capital, Ankara, killed more than 100 Kurds and pro-Kurdish, leftist and secular Turks, the central Anatolian province of Konya, a hotbed of political Islam in Turkey, hosted a Euro 2016 football qualifier between Turkey and Iceland. Before the kick-off, both teams stood for a moment of silence to protest the bomb attack -- a typical gesture to respect the victims. Sadly, the moment of silence was marred by whistles and jeers: apparently the football fans of Konya were protesting the victims, not their jihadist killers.
Anyone under the impression that the whole world stands in solidarity with Paris should think again. Hundreds of Turkish fans booed and chanted "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is greater" in Arabic) during a moment of silence for the Paris attack victims before a Turkey-Greece soccer friendly. Once again, the Turks were exhibiting solidarity with the terrorists, not their "infidel" victims. More recently, on Nov. 21, Turkish police had to deploy 1,500 policemen so that Turkish fans could not harm the visiting Israeli women's national basketball team. One thousand five hundred police officers at a women's basketball game! Despite that, Turkish fans threw objects at Israeli players as they were singing Israel's national anthem. Fans also booed the Israeli players while others applauded the fans who threw the objects. Unsurprisingly, Turkish fans waved Palestinian flags. Israeli women basketball players were barred from leaving their hotel other than for training and the game.
None of that is surprising although, at least in theory, Turkey is a candidate state for membership in the European Union. A new study by Pew Research Center revealed that 8% of Turks have a favorable opinion of the Islamic State (IS), higher than in the Palestinian territories, where support for IS stands at 6%, and only one point lower than in Pakistan. Nineteen percent of Turks "do not know" if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of IS -- which means 27% of Turks do not have an unfavorable opinion of the jihadist killing machine. That makes more than 21 million people! Of the countries polled, Lebanon boasted a 100% unfavourable opinion of IS and Jordan, 94%. In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, 4% reported a favourable opinion of IS, half of Turkey's. This is Erdogan's "neo-Ottoman" and increasingly Islamist Turkey. After the Paris attacks, this author saw tweets that called the victims "animal carcass;" that said "now the infidels will lose their sleep out of fear;" and others that congratulated the terrorists "who shouted Allah-u aqbar."
Meanwhile, and so funny, the free world cannot see that its ally to fight the jihadists is another jihadist. How should Erdogan fight Islamic terror – something he does not believe exists? One of Erdogan's famous remarks is, "there is no Islamic terror." But he thinks that "just like fascism," Zionism is a crime against humanity. Turkish President (then Prime Minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, meeting with Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal (center) and Ismail Haniyeh on June 18, 2013, in Ankara, Turkey. One of Erdogan's famous remarks is, "there is no Islamic terror." (Image source: Turkey Prime Minister's Press Office)
There is a Turkish saying that could perhaps describe the free world's alliance with Erdogan's Turkey against jihadist terror: "Kuzuyu kurda emanet etmek" ("to trust the wolf with the sheep").
**Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

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