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Bible Quotation For Today/false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 24/23-31: "If anyone says to you, "Look! Here is the Messiah!" or "There he is!" do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, "Look! He is in the wilderness", do not go out. If they say, "Look! He is in the inner rooms", do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
‘Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see "the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven" with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

Bible Quotation For Today/Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things
Letter to the Philippians 03/17-21.04,01: "Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 04-05/15
With Mr. Harper & The Conservative Party All The Way/Elias Bejjani/04 October/15
Military posts disagreement prolong political deadlock/Joseph A. Kechichian/shareGulf News/October 04/15
Palestinians: Why Our Leaders Are Hypocrites and Liars/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 04/15
Editorial In Pakistani Urdu Daily Cautions Pakistani Army Against Unilateral Action In Afghanistan/MEMRI/October 04/15
Turkish Press's New Normal, "We Could Crush You Like a Fly"/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/October 04/15
Israel eager to put rift with Obama over Iran deal in past, Netanyahu says/TOVAH LAZAROFF/J.Post/10/04/2015
Avoiding a clash between Saudi Arabia and Iran/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 04/15
Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Arab agenda/Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/October 04/15
Why do moderates in Muslim world remain silentSamar Fatany/Al Arabiya/October 04/15
The Syrian conflict is changing? Not really/Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/October 04/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on October 04-05/15
With Mr. Harper & The Conservative Party All The Way
Military posts disagreement prolong political deadlock
Relatives of Kidnapped Servicemen Block Roads, Protest Negligence
Derbas: Intensive Talks between Salam and Berri to Overcome Obstacles
Two Dead as Baalbek Personal Dispute Erupts into Gunfire
Hands Off Akkar', Daher Tells Mashnouq at Halba Anti-Landfill Demo
Jumblat: Cabinet Convention Linked to Garbage Plan Implementation
Syrian Killed in Drive-by Shooting in Arsal
Khalil Warns against 'Settling Scores', Says All Parties Must Take Part in Dialogue

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 04-05/15
Netanyahu Orders Speedy Demolition of Palestinian Militants Homes
Assad Says Failure of Russian-led Alliance would 'Destroy' Whole Region
Trump Wants to 'Sit Back,' Watch Russia Fall into Syria 'Trap'
Obama Promises Full Probe into Afghan Hospital Airstrike
Iranian review panel: Nuclear deal is flawed
UK signals push for vote on Syria military action
Dubai ruler launches new global aid and development initiative
Erdogan: Russia making ‘grave mistake’ in Syria
Two Egyptian policemen shot dead by ISIS in Sinai
Russia says its planes struck 10 ISIS targets in Syria
Yemen’s PM visits area near strategic Bab al-Mandeb straight
UK Guantanamo detainee Shaker Aamer on hunger strike
DNA sampling for Hajj stampede victims begins
US weighs new support for Syrian rebels against ISIS
US, allies short on options as Russia and Iran flex muscle in Syria
British PM Cameron slams Russia for 'backing the butcher Assad'

With Mr. Harper & The Conservative Party All The Way
Elias Bejjani/04 October/15
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/10/03/elias-bejjani-with-mr-harper-the-conservative-party-all-the-way-2/
We, strongly believe that the Canadians will grant our PM, Mr. Harper and his Conservative Party a respectable majority to form the new government.
Why is that? Simply because the majority of the Canadians in all the provinces are fully aware that the other two alternatives are in actuality and reality not ready, prepared or qualified to govern their country at this crucial time on all levels and in most of the domains, especially in the foreign policy one. Meanwhile, well informed, responsible, patriotic, wise and democratic Canadians can not risk and elect either the Liberals or the NDP and entrust any of them to form the new government for tons and tons of legitimate reasons, especially when the whole world is in a very serious confrontation with terrorism and terrorist from all sorts and breeds. Listening or reading the NDP's and Liberal's foreign policy platform shows with no shed of doubt that both are either completely detached from all events and threats locally and globally, or are completely badly informed in this respect.
As, a proud Canadian media and human rights activist, I reiterate my genuine previous call on all the Canadians of Lebanese descent, as well as on all other Canadians to support the Conservative party, and vote conservative.
We need Mr. Harper to form the new government so he can continue his superb wise and well calculated leadership patriotic tasks in a bid keep our beloved Canada, safe and prosperous .
Yes to Mr. Harper and the Conservative Party all the way.
May Almighty God safeguard and bless Canada and the Canadians.

Military posts disagreement prolong political deadlock
Joseph A. Kechichian/shareGulf News/October 04/15
Tucson, Arizona: According to Al Jumhuriyyah daily, mounting political tensions in Lebanon threatened the fourth national dialogue session scheduled for Wednesday and that, ostensibly, was meant to concentrate on electing a new head-of-state. Consequently, Speaker Nabih Berri toyed with the idea of postponing the upcoming all-party talks that were supposed to occur over three successive days from October 6 to 8. Intense negotiations were under way over the weekend to determine whether they would be held at all, given Free Patriotic Movement’s Michel Aoun insisting that there could be no president without a resolution of the festering military nominations. Meanwhile, US ambassador to Lebanon David Hale declared that his country was doubling the baseline amount of US military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). The Speaker’s national dialogue dilemma failed to resolve pending disputes and amounted to little more than shouting matches as rival politicians pretended they could carry on as before, even if thousands demonstrated against the ruling classes.General Michel Aoun remained adamant and let everyone know that the FPM would no longer to concerned with deliberations that skirted the military appointments file. Given the fact that Beirut failed to fill the Office of the Presidency after Michel Sulaiman ended his term on May 24, 2014, and because leading parties paralysed the cabinet from conducting the business of state, these latest roadblocks were bound to further postpone a resolution of core crises.
Only the LAF stood, relatively speaking, intact, though sharp disagreements over who might be promoted to what posts ensured a fresh calamity. A new proposal to resolve the controversial LAF promotions was apparently agreed to earlier this week, although neither the Speaker nor the Progressive Socialist Party leader, Walid Junblatt were keen to its terms. According to Al Nahar, the approval intended to postpone the retirement of several officers, including Aoun’s son-in-law, commando regiment chief Chamel Roukoz. Ministers representing former President Michel Sulaiman and most likely the Phalange party accepted that retirements be deferred for a full year and that the Minister of Defense could issue a decree that was allowed under article 55 of the defense law. The deal linked the promotion of three senior army officers, including Roukoz, to the rank of major general, which would keep the latter in the army and make him eligible to lead the military, a long-sought ambition of his father-in-law. For unclear reasons the agreement came apart because it included the appointment of a new Internal Security Forces (ISF) chief and an ISF command council, which upset Berri and Junblatt, as the latter did not wish to include ISF endorsements in the same package. Even the Phalange were not in favor of such a deal, which was the reason a party source told the Al Nahar daily that Roukoz’ promotion was no longer achievable, and that he was set to retire this month. Consequently, General Aoun’s reaction was not surprising as the FPM leader let it be know that he was no longer interested in the national dialogue, and that his paralysis of the cabinet would eventually lead to a caretaker government. Only a new constitutional convention may sort out these various permutations, which effectively meant that the LAF would have to assume an even heavier burden. Towards that end, Washington opted to double the baseline amount of US military assistance it provided the LAF, which saw the commitment reach $150 million in 2015. “These funds,” revealed Ambassador Hale after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail [Government House], “will allow the LAF to buy munitions, improve close air support, sustain vehicles and aircraft, modernise airlift capacity, provide training to its soldiers, and add to the mobility of armored units.” “In sum,” he affirmed, “it will help ensure the LAF is even better prepared to counter the threats facing Lebanon,” adding that the latest amount did not include the recent $59 million in border security equipment that was paid for by the $4 billion Saudi Arabian government grants to Beirut.

Relatives of Kidnapped Servicemen Block Roads, Protest Negligence
Naharnet/October 04/15/Relatives of the kidnapped servicemen taken hostage by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front blocked the Banks street in Riad al-Solh square on Sunday protesting the delay in efforts to free their sons. “We have heard nothing about our sons since eight months. We have information that the crisis cell is exerting no efforts currently,” they stated. “Our move today is to bring the file of our kidnapped sons back to the table of dialogue until a solution is reached. “The dialogue session has convened three times and we are sure that our cause has not been addressed,” they added, in reference to the national dialogue table that Speaker Nabih Berri brought the rival politicians to in order to address pending issues. After blocking the Banks street, the families headed to the airport road and briefly blocked it on both ways with burning tires. The relatives have warned a day earlier that they will take escalatory measures starting Sunday to pressure the authorities into bringing the captives back home. In a statement they released on Saturday, the families accused the authorities of neglecting the cause of the soldiers and policemen who were taken hostage by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front when they overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August 2014. They said they would resort to “painful escalatory measures to reprioritize their cause.”The families have been blocking roads and holding sit-ins since their loved-ones were taken captive following bloody gunbattles between the Lebanese army and the jihadists more than a year ago. A few of the captives have been released and four were executed. Negotiations aimed at their release have stalled.

Derbas: Intensive Talks between Salam and Berri to Overcome Obstacles
Naharnet/October 04/15/Social affairs Minister Rashid Derbas stressed on Sunday that PM Tammam Salam is holding intensive contacts with Speaker Nabih Berri to overcome the obstacles hampering a cabinet convention. “Prime Minister Tammam Salam will call for a cabinet convention following the successive dialogue sessions. He is holding contacts with the Speaker to get over the obstacles,” the state-run National News Agency quoted Derbas. The Minister also said that the PM has “stressed the necessity to give priority to the waste management plan in order to remove the garbage that has been piling up in the streets as the winter season looms.”On the Premier's visit to New York, Derbas said: “Salam has sensed that Lebanon is not one of the international community's priorities which stresses at the same time the need for stability in Lebanon and considers that the solution begins with the election of a new president.”On the controversial issue of promotion of security officials the Minister said: “Al-Mustaqbal movement wants to find a solution and have been the green light for that.”

Two Dead as Baalbek Personal Dispute Erupts into Gunfire
Naharnet/October 04/15/Two people were shot dead Sunday as a personal dispute escalated into gunfire in a market in the Bekaa city of Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported. It identified the dead as Nader Yaghi and Hussein Tlais. “As Tlais was leaving al-Jana jewelery store which he owns in Baalbek's Serail Street, he was shot at the hands of A. N. Z.,” NNA said. shed in critical condition to the Dar al-Amal Hospital where he soon succumbed to his injuries. The shooting also resulted in the death of Nader Yaghi who was passing in the area, the agency added. Yaghi's corpse was transferred to Baalbek's state-run hospital, it said.

Hands Off Akkar', Daher Tells Mashnouq at Halba Anti-Landfill Demo
Naharnet/October 04/15/A new rally was held Sunday in the northern district of Akkar to denounce government plans to turn an existing garbage dump in the Srar area into a so-called “sanitary landfill” capable of receiving trash from areas across Lebanon as part of an emergency waste management project.
The demo was organized by civil society activists and attended by vocal Akkar MP Khaled al-Daher, Mufti of Akkar Sheikh Zeid Zakaria, two representatives of Akkar Greek Orthodox Bishop Basilios Mansour, and several municipal chiefs. “You will not be able to bribe us with your 100 million dollars,” said Daher at the rally, addressing the government, which has recently earmarked $100 million for developmental projects in the impoverished district. “Akkar will not be a garbage dump and we won't bargain over our dignity,” the lawmaker vowed. He warned that residents will use their bodies to prevent the entry of any garbage truck into the region, calling on state authorities to “address Akkar's needs, establish universities, maintain the roads, and renovate the infrastructure.”Addressing Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, who is mediating between Akkar's dignitaries and the government, the MP urged him to “take his hands off Akkar.”A plan devised by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb and a team of experts calls for reopening the Naameh landfill, which was closed in mid-July, for seven days to dump the garbage that accumulated in random sites in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. It also envisions converting two existing dumps, in the northern Akkar area of Srar and the eastern border area of al-Masnaa, into “sanitary landfills” capable of receiving trash for more than a year. After he announced his plan earlier this month, the civil society and local residents of Akkar, Naameh, Majdal Anjar, and Bourj Hammoud protested against the step, citing perceived environmental and health hazards. On Saturday, Shehayyeb noted that the plan will only be implemented after reaching an understanding with the residents of Akkar, Bekaa, and Naameh. “There is no need to use force against protesters to reopen the Naameh landfill or transport waste to the Srar landfill,” he said. Experts have urged the government to devise a comprehensive waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills. Environmentalists fear the crisis could soon degenerate to the point where garbage as well as sewage will simply overflow into the sea from riverbeds as winter rains return. The health ministry has warned that garbage scattered by seasonal winds could also block Lebanon's drainage system. The trash crisis has sparked angry protests that initially focused on waste management but grew to encompass frustrations with water and electricity shortages and Lebanon's chronically divided political class. Campaigns like "You Stink" brought thousands of people into the streets in unprecedented non-partisan and non-sectarian demonstrations against the entire political class.

Jumblat: Cabinet Convention Linked to Garbage Plan Implementation
Naharnet/October 04/15/Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblat stated on Sunday that PM Tammam Salam may not call for a cabinet session before the waste crisis plan kicks off and the dialogue sessions among rival parties resume. “Prime Minister Tammam Salam is unlikely to call for a cabinet session before the implementation of the waste collection plan from the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and the start of the three-day national dialogue meetings aimed at addressing the presidential vacuum,” the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily quoted Jumblat. “The waste collection plan is supposed to kick of on Wednesday,” the Progressive Socialist Party leader said referring to the plan of Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb that was announced in September to tackle the almost three-month long crisis. Similarly in September, Speaker Nabih Berri launched national dialogue sessions among the rival political powers in an effort to ease tensions over a number of pending problems, most importantly the deadlock over the election of a new president and resolving the dispute over security appointments and promotions. The dialogue sessions convened for three times and are scheduled to hold consecutive sessions on Oct. 6, 7 and 8, which will focus on the election of a new head of state. However, on Tuesday the Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun threatened to suspend his party's participation in the talks in the wake of media reports that he had agreed to a settlement over the appointments file.

Syrian Killed in Drive-by Shooting in Arsal
Naharnet/October 04/15/A Syrian man was shot dead Sunday in the northeastern border town of Arsal, state-run National News Agency reported. Syrian national Abdullah Abou Hassan was shot dead at the hands of unknown gunmen riding a black Kia SUV in Arsal,” NNA said. “His body was transferred to the al-Rahma Hospital in Aral,” it added. Such incidents have become frequent in Arsal in recent years. The border town hosts thousands of refugees who fled the conflict in neighboring Syria. Militants from the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaida's Syria branch, and the Islamic State are entrenched in the town's outskirts. In August 2014, they stormed the town and engaged in bloody battles with the Lebanese army.

Khalil Warns against 'Settling Scores', Says All Parties Must Take Part in Dialogue
Naharnet/October 04/15/The current moment “is not a moment for settling partial scores,” Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, who is close to Speaker Nabih Berri, warned on Sunday. “Stubbornness will plunge the country into the unknown and will lead to further vacuum and paralysis,” Khalil added, urging all parties to “realize that everyone would drown if the boat sinks, because everyone is aboard this boat.” “All parties must go to dialogue next week with a spirit of responsibility and they must put forward everything that can pull Lebanon out of its crises and of the state of procrastination,” the minister urged. New national dialogue sessions will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Berri had called for national dialogue among the heads of the parliamentary blocs in a bid to reach a breakthrough in the presidential deadlock and resume the work of the paralyzed cabinet and parliament. Media reports have said that Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun might boycott the upcoming dialogue sessions in connection with the long-running dispute over the issue of military and security appointments and promotions. Khalil also warned Sunday that “Lebanon might go through a very difficult economic situation if the policy of wasting chances and obstruction continues.” “All parties must realize that the world is changing and that it has started to tackle the issues and crises in the region and the world in a different approach,” the minister added. “At the Lebanese level, we must embark on addressing our crises with a high sense of responsibility and a patriotic spirit, through which we put the interest of Lebanon and its stability and unity ahead of all other interests,” he went on to say.

Netanyahu Orders Speedy Demolition of Palestinian Militants Homes
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 04/15/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday Israel was "waging a fight to the death against Palestinian terror," and ordered tough new measures after the killing of two Israelis in Jerusalem. "These steps include, among others, speeded up demolition of terrorists' homes," he said in a video address distributed by his office. Netanyahu had convened his ministers of defense and internal security and top security officials immediately after landing back in Israel Sunday from delivering a speech to the U.N. General Assembly. He said he instructed them on steps "to prevent terror and deter and punish the attackers."They would also include broader use of detention without trial for suspects, further reinforcement of security forces in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank and restraining orders keeping unspecified "inciters" away from the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, which he called by its Jewish name of Temple Mount. Earlier Sunday, police took the rare and drastic step of barring Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City in the wake of an attack there Saturday in which a Palestinian killed two Israelis and wounded a child and a further stabbing Sunday morning in which an Israeli teen was wounded.

Assad Says Failure of Russian-led Alliance would 'Destroy' Whole Region
Naharnet/October 04/15/Syrian President Bashar Assad said in comments broadcast on Sunday that the success of Russia's military intervention in his country's civil war was vital for the whole Middle East. "The alliance between Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran must succeed or else the whole region will be destroyed," he said in an interview broadcast by Iranian state television. Russia on Wednesday launched air strikes in Syria in a move Moscow insists is aimed at fighting the Islamic State group.But opponents including the United States claim Russian bombing raids are mainly targeting Western-backed moderate opponents of Assad. "The chances of success for this coalition are great and not insignificant," Assad said in his interview, according to an extract posted on Twitter, warning that the price Syria's allies pay "will certainly be high."He called on Western countries, which along with Gulf allies have carried out air strikes on IS in Syria since September 2014, to join forces to fight extremism."If these states join the fight against terrorists in a serious and sincere manner, at least in terms of stopping to support them, we will achieve results much faster," Assad said. Western and Gulf countries insist Assad must step down after presiding over more than four years of civil war. But a defiant Assad on Sunday again dismissed calls for him to step aside. "If the solution was me stepping down I would not hesitate," he said. IS seized large swathes of Syria in 2014 and has even managed to gain ground in the face of coalition air strikes, seizing the U.N.-listed heritage site of Palmyra in May.Assad said a year of U.S.-led strikes had failed to stem the rise of IS. "I haven't seen results. I even see results that are contrary (to the coalition's aim). Terrorism has seen a geographic expansion and the number of recruits to terrorist groups has increased," he said. Syria's war has helped prompt a migrant crisis that has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee to Europe this year. Assad said the war was "a black page in Syria's history" but insisted EU nations needed to take responsibility for the migrant influx because of the bloc's support for rebel groups. Syria's civil war began with peaceful protests in 2011 but has since descended into a multi-front conflict, with regime forces, jihadists, moderate rebels and Kurdish fighters all vying for control. More than 240,000 people have been killed and more than four million forced to flee the country.

Trump Wants to 'Sit Back,' Watch Russia Fall into Syria 'Trap'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 04/15/Republican U.S. presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said he would like to "sit back" and watch as Russia continues air strikes in Syria, suggesting it could be a "trap" that could bog down Moscow. In comments aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Trump said he would not establish a no-fly zone over Syria, as several other candidates, including Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, have suggested. "I think what I want to do is I want to sit back and... see what happens," Trump said, before suggesting that the Soviet Union's war in the 1980s against Afghan mujahideen rebels "destroyed" the communist bloc. "Now they're going into Syria, there are so many traps, there are so many problems. When I heard they were going in to fight ISIS, I said, 'Great, let them,'" the billionaire real estate mogul told the show. Russia began conducting air strikes last week in Syria, in what it said would be a prolonged bombing campaign against the Islamic State group, or ISIS, and other extremist groups. But Western countries have said the strikes are targeting moderate rebel groups and are intended merely to bolster Syrian President Bashar Assad, an ally of Russia. Asked about the ongoing migration crisis spurred by fighting in Syria and Iraq, Trump reiterated previous comments that he would send back refugees the United States has promised to take in, claiming they likely included IS fighters. He said he "saw the migration" and observed that most of those fleeing were "strong men," -- although "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos noted that half the refugees are believed to be children. "We don't know where they're coming from, we don't know who they are. They could be ISIS. It could be the great Trojan Horse," Trump said. He added that the United States has "screwed up the Middle East so badly, breaking up Iraq, we have so destabilized the Middle East."But of the migrants, he added: "If I win for president, they're going out... We are not going to take responsibility." During a separate interview aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Trump said that he thought things would be better for the Middle East if Assad were stronger. He added that he believed the situation in the region would also be much improved if Moamer Kadhafi were still in power in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. "Of course it would be" better, he told the show, adding: "Libya is not even a country anymore.""It's not even a contest...Iraq is a disaster," Trump said.

Obama Promises Full Probe into Afghan Hospital Airstrike
Naharnet/October 04/15/President Barack Obama has pledged a full investigation into an apparent U.S. air strike on an Afghan hospital that killed 19 people, in a bombing the UN said could amount to a war crime.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said patients burned to death in their beds during a bombing raid that continued for half an hour after U.S. and Afghan authorities were informed the hospital had been hit. "Twelve staff members and at least seven patients, including three children, were killed; 37 people were injured," the charity said. "This attack constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law." The air raid came days after Taliban fighters seized control of the strategic northern city of Kunduz, in their most spectacular victory since being booted from power by a U.S.-led coalition in 2001. Afghan forces, backed up by their NATO allies, claimed to have wrestled back control of the city. But the defence ministry in Kabul said "a group of armed terrorists... were using the hospital building as a position to target Afghan forces and civilians".MSF has denied any combatants were present in the hospital. The charity said despite frantic calls to American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington, the attack continued for another 30 minutes, with the main hospital building housing the intensive care unit and emergency rooms being targeted. "The bombs hit and then we heard the plane circle round," said Heman Nagarathnam, MSF's head of programmes in northern Afghanistan. "There was a pause, and then more bombs hit. This happened again and again. When I made it out from the office, the main hospital building was engulfed in flames. "Those people that could had moved quickly to the building’s two bunkers to seek safety. But patients who were unable to escape burned to death as they lay in their beds."In a statement released by the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama offered his "deepest condolences" for what he called a "tragic incident". "The Department of Defense has launched a full investigation, and we will await the results of that inquiry before making a definitive judgement as to the circumstances of this tragedy," Obama said. NATO earlier conceded U.S. forces may have been behind the bombing, after forces launched a strike they said was intended to target militants. "The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility. This incident is under investigation," a NATO statement said. The incident has renewed concerns about the use of U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan, a deeply contentious issue in the 14-year campaign against Taliban insurgents. UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called for a full and transparent probe, noting: "an air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime"."This event is utterly tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal," he said.
Again and again'
MSF said some 105 patients and their caregivers, as well as more than 80 international and local MSF staff, were in the hospital, the only medical facility in the area that can deal with major injuries, at the time of the bombing. The charity said Afghan and coalition forces were fully aware of the exact location of the hospital, having been given GPS co-ordinates of a facility it said had been providing care for four years. "This attack is abhorrent and a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law," said MSF President Meinie Nicolai. "We demand total transparency from Coalition forces. We cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’."Kunduz is facing a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire between government forces and insurgents. At least 60 people are known to have died and 400 wounded in recent fighting. The Taliban seized on the incident, saying "barbaric American forces... carried out deliberate air strikes on a civilian hospital". In a statement, it denied any of its fighters were being treated at the MSF clinic "because the prevailing military situation of Kunduz would not allow us to admit our patients to the said hospital". The Islamists' offensive in Kunduz marks a major blow for Afghanistan's Western-trained forces. U.S.-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan last December, though a 13,000-strong force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.

Iranian review panel: Nuclear deal is flawed
By AFP/Tehran/Sunday, 4 October 2015/A panel of Iranian lawmakers said Sunday that the inspections regime underpinning the country’s nuclear deal with world powers represented a security threat, but the agreement should go ahead anyway. The 15-member committee spent weeks reviewing the text of the July 14 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for what it said could be breaches of negotiators’ “red lines.”The panel had largely been sidelined over its ability to influence the accord’s fate although its report paves the way for a formal vote in parliament. A law passed earlier this year gave final oversight of the nuclear deal to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), rather than lawmakers, many of whom have railed against the agreement. The SNSC is headed by President Hassan Rowhani, who came to power in 2013 after campaigning to end the international dispute and end sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program. In their report the lawmakers hit out at the decision to allow inspections of military sites, which supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had appeared to rule out in a speech just weeks before the deal was sealed.“It is evident that, based on the JCPOA, access to Iranian military sites has become possible,” the panel said. “The JCPOA has serious weaknesses in the security section. Unless there’s a revision regarding the inspection of military, defense and security sites, it will cause problems for the country. “Implementation of this inspection regime could lead to unprecedented information gathering and exposes to danger the security infrastructure, human, scientific, military and security resources of Iran.”The lawmakers, however, said the review made “the assumption that Iran’s negotiating team had enjoyed the supreme leader’s trust” during the talks that led to the deal and its passing would see sanctions lifted. Khamenei has the last word on all policy matters in the Islamic republic as his authority trumps Rowhani and all politicians. His speeches often backed the negotiators but stopped short of endorsing the deal. The panel further criticized the agreement with Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany, saying Iran’s obligations were “clear and explicit” whereas the West’s obligations were not so. “In case of any breach of commitments by the other side, Iran reserves the right to make any decision in its national interest,” the report said, noting that the deal was a political agreement and not a binding treaty. In particular the placing of restrictions on some aspects of Iran’s nuclear activities for 15 years was “a serious shortcoming.” Under July’s accord Iran will place limits on its nuclear program for at least a decade in return for the lifting of all nuclear-related U.N. and international sanctions. The inspections regime will be led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran has always denied seeking to build an atomic weapon, insisting its nuclear program is for peaceful energy production and medical purposes.

UK signals push for vote on Syria military action
By Reuters and AFP /Manchester, England /Sunday, 4 October 2015/British Prime Minister David Cameron signaled that he would push ahead with plans for a vote in the British parliament to approve military action against ISIS militants in Syria, The Daily Telegraph newspaper said.
Cameron was quoted as saying that British military attacks in Syria “may well become possible.” Previously, Cameron has said he sees a strong case for extending British air strikes to Syria from Iraq. Cameron lost a parliamentary vote on the use of force in Syria in 2013. Consequently, British bombing so far has only targeted ISIS in neighboring Iraq. Later on Sunday Cameron said that Vladimir Putin’s decision to take military action in Syria to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was a “terrible mistake”. “They are backing the butcher Assad, which is a terrible mistake for them and for the world. It’s going to make the region more unstable,” Cameron told the BBC on the first day of his Conservative Party’s annual conference in the northern city of Manchester. Russia this week struck at targets in Syria, a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the civil war. “Most of the Russian airstrikes, as far as we’ve been able to see so far, have been in parts of Syria not controlled by ISIL (ISIS), but controlled by other opponents of the regime,” Cameron said. However The Daily Telegraph said Cameron does not believe Russian military involvement in the Syrian civil war should prevent Britain’s attempt to strike at Islamic State. “What I am clear about is one of the biggest threats we have to respond to is that terrorist threat,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper on the eve of the annual conference of his ruling Conservative Party in the northern English city of Manchester. In a move that is likely to please many in his party, he said he would “beef up” Britain’s elite Special Air Service regiment (SAS) and buy 20 new drones – known as Protectors - as part of the battle with ISIS militants, the newspaper said. After revealing last month that Britain had killed two of its own nationals who had been fighting for ISIS in Syria, Cameron indicated that British militants in Syria will be targeted by drones as a “last resort”, the newspaper said. Meanwhile, British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday Russia cannot fight ISIS militants in Syria and support Assad at the same time. "Russian support for him will drive the opposition in Syria into the arms of ISIL (Islamic State) strengthening the evil that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin says he wants to defeat," Hammond told the Conservative Party conference in the northern city of Manchester.

Dubai ruler launches new global aid and development initiative
By Staff writer/Al Arabiya News/Sunday, 4 October 2015/The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has launched a new umbrella initiative to oversee, manage and sustain the humanitarian and development work overseen by the many organizations which he has launched over the years. The new organization is called Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives. For his part, UAE Minister of Cabinet Mohammad al-Gergawi, told Al Arabiya News that the new initiative aims to help 130 million people by 2025 and will see a shift of focus more towards the Middle East region.
"The circumstances which the region is going through calls for immediate action, albeit our direction will always be that we will always aim to help people of all races and all religions without any discrimination"Asked about Syrian refugees in particular, Gergawi said that the UAE has been active in building camps and supporting them in Syria and Lebanon as well as donating money into various related aid programs""The refugee issue might be a new issue to Europe and the rest of the world, but for us here we have been dealing with it for a long time," he added. "We have 250,000 Syrians in the UAE, 150,000 are residents already and 100,000 others came over the past 4 years," revealed Gergawi. The project hopes to reach more than 130 million people in at least 116 countries in the coming years, though much of its work will target the Arab world. It has an annual operating budget of more than 1 billion dirhams ($272 million). Its activities will focus on fighting poverty, spreading knowledge, community building, and entrepreneurship and innovation.(With AP)

Erdogan: Russia making ‘grave mistake’ in Syria
By AFP/Istanbul/Sunday, 4 October 2015/Moscow’s bombing campaign in Syria is “unacceptable”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, warning that Russia was making a “grave mistake”. “The steps Russia is taking and the bombing campaign in Syria is unacceptable in any way for Turkey... Unfortunately, Russia is making a grave mistake,” Erdogan told a news conference at Istanbul airport before leaving for a visit to France. Given Moscow’s friendly relations with Turkey, its actions in Syria are “worrying and disturbing,” Erdogan said, warning that they would “isolate Russia in the region”. Russia and Turkey have long been at odds over the crisis in Syria, with Moscow emerging as Assad’s key international backer and Ankara urging his ouster as the only solution to the conflict. Erdogan said that it is “not only Russia but also Iran defending (Assad) who is waging state terror” in Syria. Russia, which began strikes in Syria last week, insisted it only targeted the ISIS militant group in its air strikes. But Turkey and several of its Western allies have said that moderate groups fighting the Assad regime were hit.

Two Egyptian policemen shot dead by ISIS in Sinai
AFP, Cairo/Sunday, 4 October 2015/Two Egyptian policemen have been shot dead in the bastion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in the Sinai Peninsula, the interior ministry said, in an attack claimed by the militants Sunday. "A police captain and a policeman died of their wounds after unknown assailants shot them" late Saturday in the North Sinai provincial capital El-Arish, the ministry said in a statement. The area is a stronghold of the Egyptian affiliate of the ISIS group that calls itself "Sinai Province".The group claimed the killings on a Twitter account affiliated to it, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. Sinai Province said it killed the two policemen in separate attacks in El-Arish, the monitoring group said. The militants have stepped up attacks which they say are in retaliation for a bloody crackdown on supporters of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi following his overthrow by the army in 2013. Militants loyal to ISIS have killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and policemen, mostly in the northern Sinai. The army also regularly announces the death or capture of militnats although its figures cannot be independently verified.

Russia says its planes struck 10 ISIS targets in Syria
By Reuters/Moscow/Sunday, 4 October 2015/Russian planes have flown 20 sorties in Syria and struck 10 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in the past 24 hours, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Russia has said it would step up its air strikes in Syria, escalating a military intervention which Moscow launched on Wednesday to weaken ISIS militants, but which Western powers say aims to support President Bashar al-Assad. “As a result of our air strikes on Islamic State [ISIS] targets, we have managed to disrupt their control system, the terrorist organization’s supply lines, and also caused significant damage to the infrastructure used to prepare acts of terror,” the ministry said. It said the strikes, conducted by SU-34, SU-24M and SU-25 planes, had hit targets in the Idlib and Raqqa provinces, including a terrorist training camp and a suicide belt factory.
The strikes, which it called pinpoint, had also destroyed three ammunition stores and four ISIS command centers, the ministry said.

Yemen’s PM visits area near strategic Bab al-Mandeb straight
Saudi Gazette/Sanaa/Sunday, 4 October 2015/Yemen’s government spokesman says the prime minister has visited an area leading to the Bab Al-Mandab straight, the strategic gateway to the Red Sea’s Suez Canal, after anti-militia forces pushed Shiite militias out of the immediate area.
Rajeh Badi says Prime Minister Khaled Bahah’s visit Saturday comes amid continuing clashes with militias, known as Houthis, who have been in control of the area near the straight. Military officials from the anti-militia forces say their fighters advanced with air and naval support from a Saudi-led coalition that has been bombing Houthi positions. Bab Al-Mandab was "brought under our control with the help of coalition forces, who provided ground, naval and air support," Gen. Ahmed said. "The Houthis and their allies retreated to Mokha," a Red Sea port some 20 kilometers (12 miles) further north. "We are awaiting orders from the political leadership and President Abedrabbu Mansour Hadi for the next move in the offensive," Ahmed added. The attack took place "in response to rebel troop movements" toward Aden and the four other recaptured southern provinces, one source said. — Agencies Meanwhile, the Emirati foreign minister hailed advances made by Yemen's pro-government forces. Bab Al-Mandab is the strategic southern entrance to the Red Sea and the gateway to the Suez Canal. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan says the capture "further marks the end of the control of the militias and their supporters." Al Nahyan spoke Friday at the United Nations General Assembly meeting. [With Agencies]

UK Guantanamo detainee Shaker Aamer on hunger strike
By AFP | London/Sunday, 4 October 2015/Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held in Guantanamo Bay who is due to be freed in weeks, has said he is on hunger strike and may not make it out alive, the Mail on Sunday reported Sunday. The newspaper said Aamer, speaking for the first time since the announcement last month that he would be released, also claimed he was still being subjected to physical abuse. Read also: Exclusive Al Arabiya interview with Guantanamo inmate Shaker Aamer. "I know there are people who do not want me ever to see the sun again," Aamer was quoted as saying in the transcript of a conversation with his British lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith. "It means nothing that they have signed papers, as anything can happen before I get out. So if I die, it will be the full responsibility of the Americans," the 46-year-old was quoted as saying. Aamer told his lawyer that he had gone on hunger strike in a protest at an alleged assault by Guantanamo guards to force him to give blood samples. Aamer, a Saudi citizen with permanent British residency, was captured in Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan in December 2001 and has been in Guantanamo since 2002. He is alleged to have been a key British-based recruiter and financier for the Al-Qaeda militant network and purportedly worked for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, according to US military documents. He has categorically denied this, saying that he was only volunteering for a charity in Afghanistan at the time. The Mail on Sunday, which has campaigned for Aamer's release, also said that in a statement to British police two years ago he detailed abuses he had suffered and witnessed. Some supporters suggest the reason he has been held so long at Guantanamo is because he may have witnessed the torture of others. "It may be that no one has suffered more at Guantanamo than Shaker Aamer, because he stood up for his rights and the rights of others -- and for this he has constantly been punished," Stafford Smith told the paper. Stafford Smith has said he expects Aamer to be released at the end of this month. Aamer was born in Saudi Arabia in December 1968 and lived in the United States before settling in Britain, where he married and became a resident in 1996. He and his wife have four children who live in London. The youngest was born after he was taken into detention.

DNA sampling for Hajj stampede victims begins
By Ashwaq Al-Tuwairqi | Okaz, Saudi Gazette, Makkah/Sunday, 4 October 2015/Al-Nour Specialist Hospital has started taking the DNA of the next of kin of the unidentified deceased victims of the Mina Stampede. Al-Nour Specialist Hospital Director Ayman Yamani said the Ministry of Health has assigned the hospital to take DNA samples of the next of kin of the victims. The Ministry of Health has also assigned Al-Moissem Emergency Complex to receive the deceased bodies after they have been identified via the DNA test conducted at the complex as well, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The complex is offering DNA sampling for the relatives of the deceased victims, who are currently in the Kingdom. As for the relatives that are not in the Kingdom, they may send the results of their DNA tests to the Ministry of Health at their country. The Ministry of Health will cooperate with the respective ministries to receive the results.“We are interested in direct next of kin such as mother, father, brother, sister, son or daughter. We have all of the services and equipment needed. Visitors will find helpful staff members willing to answer all of their inquiries,” said Al-Nour’s Yamani. He added the hospital has a fully-equipped laboratory with enough capacity to run the tests and give back the results to the victim’s family quickly. “We are using the same laboratory we use for running DNA tests for engaged couples who are about to get married. We have recently upgraded the equipment to give accurate results faster.
Visitors can come and wait at our reception hall while we process their paperwork and take other DNA samples,” said Yamani. “Visitors are taken from the waiting area to the laboratory in a golf cart. The process of taking their DNA only takes minutes and they receive their results in a few hours,” he added.

US weighs new support for Syrian rebels against ISIS
By REUTERS/10/03/2015 /WASHINGTON - The United States is considering extending support to thousands of Syrian rebel fighters, possibly with arms and air strikes, to help them push Islamic State from a strategic pocket of Syrian territory along the Turkish border, US officials say. US backing for the plan would come as moderate rebels in Syria, some trained and backed by the United States, say they have been targeted by Russian air strikes, raising tensions between Washington and Moscow. A decision, the officials said, would likely be made as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the US military's support for rebels to fight Islamic State following setbacks that have all but killed a "train-and-equip" program. The proposal under consideration is for the United States and Turkey to support an amalgamation of largely Arab fighters and would include members of multiple ethnic groups, US officials say.
Turkey, wary of Kurdish aspirations to create an independent state, does not want to see Kurdish forces control more of the Syrian side of their border. The fighters, who were proposed by Turkey, include some who have received US vetting, the officials say. Its unclear how many Syrian fighters have received US vetting, although the military acknowledges reviewing upwards of 8,000 potential recruits, many of whom were deemed ineligible for training. "We don't have a problem with that (Turkish selection)," said one US military official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, and cautioning that the matter was still under review by the Obama administration. The official and others interviewed by Reuters declined to name the groups, which in Syria often have competing interests. Two US officials said the fighters numbered in the thousands but declined to offer a precise figure. The aim of the operation would be to push Islamic State forces from a 90-km (56-mile) stretch of Syria's northern border running east toward the Syrian city of Jarabulus, about 130 km northwest of the Islamic State's declared capital of Raqqa. The area is west of the Euphrates river that dissects the Syria-Turkey border.
STRATEGIC VALUE
Chris Kozak, a Syria analyst at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, said the territory was strategically valuable to Islamic State, serving as its last significant point of access to the northern border with Turkey. US assistance could include everything from air strikes, to offering equipment and even arms, if approved, the military official said, adding that the different levels of US knowledge about the fighters has added complexity to the review. Turkey and the United States agreed to take the territory in July as part of an agreement under which Ankara allowed the United States to use its bases for strikes against Islamic State. Turkey also started carrying out air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria. But US officials acknowledged after the agreement was struck that they had not agreed on which Syrian rebels they would support in that zone. That issue has been resolved at a preliminary level, the officials said.
Obama has sought to limit direct US military involvement in Syria's civil war to waging air strikes against Islamic State, while training and supporting Syrian rebels fighting them. The US administration, which is seeking to avoid a proxy war with Russia, has so far signaled no intention to protect Syrian rebels from Russian bombing. At a news conference on Friday, Obama acknowledged that the US military's train and equip program had not achieved its goals but said he would continue to work with Syria's moderate opposition. "We are going to continue to go after ISIL. We are going to continue to reach out to a moderate opposition. We reject Russia's theory that everybody opposed to Assad is a terrorist," Obama said. US officials have told Reuters that a review is underway that could also result in scaling back and reenvisioning Washington's struggling program to train and equip moderate rebels. About 80 graduates are deployed in Syria now and dozens are still in US training, but the Pentagon has stopped drawing recruits from the Syrian battlefield during the review. At the same time, the Obama administration is weighing the possibility of supporting another, separate rebel push east of the Euphrates river that includes largely Kurdish forces, the military official said. That group, known as the Syrian Arab Coalition, would push south toward Raqqa, the official said.

US, allies short on options as Russia and Iran flex muscle in Syria
By REUTERS/10/03/2015
BEIRUT - Across the Middle East, America's traditional allies are watching with disbelief as Russia and Iran mount a show of force in Syria, and they are wondering how it will end. The US-led coalition, created to combat the jihadi threat from Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, has been wrong footed by the Russian jets pounding the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, and by an influx of Iranian forces. The question on everyone's mind is: will the United States and its European and regional Sunni allies intervene to stop President Vladimir Putin from reversing the gains made by mainstream Syrian rebels after more than four years of war?
Few are holding their breath.
Many say, often with vehemence, that the current drama is the consequence of ongoing Western inaction and US retreat at critical moments in an ever more uncontrollable conflict, whose regional dimensions are fast becoming global. Nobody in the Middle East is counting on US President Barack Obama. The gloomy prediction of most is that a war that has killed at least a quarter of a million people and displaced half the Syrian population is about to get much, much worse. The conflict has taken a deadly trajectory throughout. It began as a popular uprising against Assad, part of the 'Arab Spring', then became a sectarian war with regional patrons such as Iran and Saudi Arabia backing their local proxies. Military interventions by Russia and Iran have pushed the war to the brink of a full-blown international conflict. Faisal Al Yafai, chief commentator at the UAE-based newspaper, The National, recalled the words of David Petraeus, the US general who led the "surge" of American military reinforcements into Iraq in 2007-08 - "Tell me how this ends." After the Russian "surge" into Syria, he said, "America and its allies now look like the only group without a plan." He believes the emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad's other main backers - Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah - does have an idea of "how this ends." The same is true of Islamic State, he said. The end for the Assad family, he argues, is its survival. For Islamic State, it is to carve out and consolidate the caliphate it declared in large swathes of Syria and Iraq last year. But for Russia and Iran, it is "nothing less than the replacement of the U.S.-Israel axis with one of their own."
A NEW AXIS
With the Kremlin's creation in Baghdad of a center to share intelligence among Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia, a Moscow-backed network now runs from Tehran, through Baghdad and Damascus, and via Hezbollah into Lebanon. The new axis is taking shape as the United States has withdrawn ground troops from Iraq and is winding down its military presence in Afghanistan. While it continues to police Gulf waterways from a base in Bahrain and maintains an airforce presence in Qatar and Turkey, Washington appears determined to avoid deeper military entanglements in the Middle East. Analysts and diplomats say the turning point in Syria came two years ago when Obama and his European allies shied away from responding to the Assad army's alleged nerve gas attacks on civilians in the rebel enclaves east of Damascus - even though the US president had repeatedly declared that a "red line." "It was the point when the Assad regime and mainly the Iranians realized that the Americans are not serious, that they really didn't care enough," Yafai said.
For that reason, he doubts whether Russian intervention will lead to a proxy war in the Middle East with Russia. "You have to ask that question in a different way," he said. "What would it take to make the Americans intervene? Would it take children and women being slaughtered? Well that happened. Will it take millions of people on the move? That happened. Will it take hundreds of thousands of civilians murdered? Well that happened," Yafai told Reuters. "America wasn't willing at any point to intervene so why now would it suddenly intervene? It is a free field for Putin and the Russians." Added to US reluctance, the regional scene couldn't have been more favorable for Iran and Moscow to step in. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Sunni allies, the main backers of anti-Assad rebels, are immersed in a war in Yemen against Iranian-supported Houthi rebels, while Turkey is busy with its own Kurdish insurgency.
Turkey and its Gulf allies will most likely respond to the Russian and Iranian build-up by increasing military support for mainstream opposition forces in Syria, rather than risk direct intervention.
OVER ITS HEAD?
But some analysts say Russia may be getting in over its head, entering a treacherous quagmire in Syria before it has got a grip on the conflict it started in Ukraine, at a time when Western sanctions and falling oil prices have hurt its economy. "This is sheer opportunism," said a veteran former UN official with long experience as an envoy in the region. "They've looked at how (bad) we look and seen an opportunity. "It's a real gamble, the first time they've sent an expeditionary force away from their 'near abroad' since (the 1979 Soviet invasion of) Afghanistan - and even that was on their borders," said the former envoy, who declined to be quoted by name. "Putin is trying to regain the loss of Russian clout in the Middle East." Even Yafai says the idea that Russia can supplant the United States in the region is fanciful. "They don't have the financial power," he said. "They don't need to be that involved because the Americans are leaving so even a small presence will be enough to have a significant impact."

British PM Cameron slams Russia for 'backing the butcher Assad'
By REUTERS \ 10/04/2015 13:5/MANCHESTER, England - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin's decision to take military action in Syria to support Syrian President Bashar Assad was a "terrible mistake".Russia has begun striking targets in Syria - a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the civil war which has been criticized by some as an attempt to prop up Assad, rather than its purported aim of attacking Islamic State militants. "They are backing the butcher Assad, which is a terrible mistake for them and for the world," Cameron told the BBC on the first day of his Conservative Party's annual conference in the northern English city of Manchester. "It's going to make the region more unstable, it will lead to further radicalization and increased terrorism. I would say to them 'change direction, join us in attacking ISIL.'"Russia says it is targeting hardline Islamic State militants, but Cameron questioned that position. "Most of the Russian air strikes, as far as we've been able to see so far, have been in parts of Syria not controlled by ISIL (Islamic State), but controlled by other opponents of the regime," he said. Cameron is keen for Britain to begin its own air strikes in Syria, joining allies in a US-led coalition against Islamic State, a self-declared caliphate spanning large areas of Syria and neighboring Iraq. British bombing as part of the coalition so far has only targeted Islamic State in Iraq. He signaled that he would push ahead with plans for a vote in parliament to approve military action against Islamic State in Syria, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said in its Sunday edition. Cameron was quoted as saying that British military attacks in Syria "may well become possible." Previously, Cameron has said he sees a strong case for extending British air strikes to Syria from Iraq. After losing a parliamentary vote on the use of force against Assad in Syria in 2013, Cameron has said he would want the support of opposing lawmakers before putting the matter to a vote. The opposition Labor Party, which last month elected anti-war campaigner Jeremy Corbyn as leader, is split on the issue.The newspaper also said Cameron did not believe Russian military involvement in Syria should prevent Britain's attempt to strike at Islamic State. "What I am clear about is one of the biggest threats we have to respond to is that terrorist threat," he was quoted as saying. In a move that is likely to please many in his party, he said he would "beef up" Britain's elite Special Air Service regiment (SAS) and buy 20 new drones - known as Protectors - as part of the battle with the militants. After telling parliament last month that Britain had killed two of its own nationals who had been fighting for Islamic State in Syria, Cameron said British militants in Syria would be targeted by drones as a "last resort."

Palestinians: Why Our Leaders Are Hypocrites and Liars
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 04/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6618/palestinian-leaders-liars
We contaminate our mosques with our own hands and feet, and then blame Jews for desecrating Islamic holy sites. If anyone is desecrating Islamic holy sites, it is those who bring explosives, stones and firebombs into Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Jews who visit the Temple Mount do not bring with them stones, bombs or clubs. It is young Muslim men who are desecrating our holy sites with their "filthy feet."
These leaders, including Abbas himself, are not willing to send their own children and grandchildren to participate in the "popular struggle." They are fully responsible for sending the children of others to throw stones and firebombs at Jews. Sitting in their luxurious offices and villas in Ramallah, they demand that Israel be held responsible for cracking down on "innocent" Palestinians. Their main goal is to embarrass Israel and depict it as a state that takes tough measures against Palestinian teenagers.
These youths are not taking to the streets to fight "occupation." Their main goal is to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to Jews. When someone tosses a firebomb at a house or a car, his intention is to burn civilians alive.
It is as if our leaders are saying that throwing stones and firebombs at Jews in their cars and homes is a basic right of Palestinians. Our leaders believe Israel has no right to defend itself against those who seek to burn Jews driving in their vehicles or sleeping inside their homes.
While Hamas and Islamic Jihad are continuing to exploit our teenagers in the Gaza Strip by training them to join the jihad against Jews and "infidels," our leaders in the West Bank are committing a similar crime against Palestinian youths.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, who falsely describes himself as President of the State of Palestine, has been encouraging our teenagers to engage in the so-called "popular resistance" against Israel. But these leaders, including Abbas himself, are not willing to send their own children and grandchildren to participate in the "popular struggle." As usual, our leaders want the children of others to take to the streets and throw stones and firebombs at Jews.The "popular struggle" that the PA leadership is spearheading these days is anything but peaceful. In some instances, it has even proved to be lethal. Recently, Alexander Levlovich was killed after losing control of his vehicle in Jerusalem. Investigations showed that at least four Arab youths had pelted his car with stones, causing Levlovich to hit a tree.
During the past few months, hundreds of Palestinian teenagers from Jerusalem have been arrested for throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli vehicles. These teenagers have offered various explanations as to why they decided to take part in the "popular resistance" against Israel. Most of them said they wanted to protest against visits by Jews to the Temple Mount -- an act described by our leaders as a "contamination" of Islamic holy sites. Mahmoud Abbas, who is by no means a devout Muslim, recently accused Jews of desecrating Al-Aqsa Mosque with their "filthy feet."Abbas and other senior figures in the Palestinian Authority leadership have also been issuing daily threats against Israel in response to perfectly peaceful visits by Jews to the Temple Mount. One of them, Mahmoud Habbash, even went as far as announcing that the visits by Jews to the Temple Mount would ignite a third world war.
It is this type of incitement that prompts our youths to hurl stones and firebombs at Jews. These youths are not taking to the streets to fight "occupation." Their main goal is to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to Jews. Otherwise, how does one explain the fact that Palestinian teenagers have thrown dozens of firebombs at Jewish homes in the Old City? When someone tosses a firebomb at a house or a car, his intention is to burn civilians alive.Our leaders, who are fully responsible for sending these teenagers to throw stones and firebombs at Jews, are sitting in their luxurious offices and villas in Ramallah and rubbing their hands with deep satisfaction. Abbas and several Palestinian leaders in the West Bank would like to see our youths rioting on the streets of Jerusalem and in the Temple Mount's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, so that they can hold Israel responsible for cracking down on "innocent" Palestinians. Their main goal is to embarrass Israel and depict it as a state that takes tough measures against Palestinian teenagers, whose only fault is participation in "popular resistance."
After having incited our youths to engage in violence against Jews, our hypocritical leaders are now rushing to condemn new Israeli measures against stone-throwers. It is as if our leaders are saying that throwing stones and firebombs at Jews in cars and homes is a basic right of Palestinians.
One of the loudest hypocrites is Saeb Erekat, the veteran Palestinian negotiator who was recently elected Secretary-General of the PLO. Erekat, who never dispatched his sons and daughters to throw stones and firebombs at Jews, was quoted this week condemning Israel's newly approved measures against Palestinian stone-throwers. He described these measures as "inhumane" and part of Israeli "incitement" against Palestinians. Neither Erekat nor his boss, Mahmoud Abbas, has denounced the violence by Palestinians against Jews. The only time they issue condemnations is when Israel arrests teenagers for throwing stones and firebombs. Our leaders believe Israel has no right to defend itself against those who seek to burn Jews driving in their vehicles or sleeping inside their homes. If anyone is desecrating Islamic holy sites, it is those who bring explosives, stones and firebombs into Al-Aqsa Mosque in the first place. For the past few months, dozens of Palestinian youths have used the mosque as a launching pad for attacking Jewish visitors and policemen on the Temple Mount. The Jews who visit the site do not bring with them stones, firebombs and clubs. It is young Muslim men who are desecrating our holy sites with their "filthy feet."Such reports show that Muslims have no respect for their religious sites. The images of masked youths inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, collecting stones for attacking Jews, also reveal the true intentions of the rioters and those behind them: to harm Jewish visitors and policemen, who anyway have no plans to enter the mosque. We contaminate our mosques with our own hands and feet and then blame Jews for desecrating Islamic holy sites. Not only are we lying, but we are also displaying the highest level of hypocrisy and impudence. We plan and initiate the violence on the Temple Mount and elsewhere and then we run to complain to the world that Israel is arresting our youths "for no reason."It is obvious that our leaders are once again leading us toward a catastrophe. They want our children to get hurt or killed so that they can go to the United Nations and complain that Israel is using "excessive force" against the Palestinians. Our leaders, of course, do not tell the world that they are the ones inciting these young men to take to the streets and attack the first Jew they run into. Nor do they tell the world that it is Muslims, and not Jews, who are contaminating Islamic holy sites through their violent acts.
*Bassam Tawil is a scholar based in the Middle East.

Editorial In Pakistani Urdu Daily Cautions Pakistani Army Against Unilateral Action In Afghanistan: 'Why Unilateral Action Was Never Considered In The Case Of India [In Kashmir]'
MEMRI/October 4, 2015 Special Dispatch No.6173
In a recent editorial, Pakistan's Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jasarat advised the Pakistani government to not take unilateral action against terrorists in Afghanistan, saying that if Pakistan were to set such a precedent, it would be taken advantage of by enemies of the two countries.
The editorial, titled "[Pakistan] Considering Unilateral Action in Afghanistan", was published on September 22, four days after Taliban terrorists arriving from Afghanistan launched an attack on the Pakistan Air Force base in the Badhaber area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Roznama Jasarat, an Islamist daily affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, also taunted the Pakistani government for not considering similar action in Kashmir, where there is no need for evidence of Indian interference given the presence of 800,000 Indian soldiers.
Following are excerpts from the editorial:
"If The Afghan Government Showed Laziness, Pakistani Forces Might Take Action On Their Own [By Launching Counter-Terror Operations Into Afghanistan]"
"After the [September 18] attack on the Pakistan Air Force base in Badhaber [Peshawar], Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have become strained. Pakistan has clearly said the attack was planned in Afghanistan and it has decided to provide evidence of this to Afghanistan. Initially, Afghanistan denied that the attack was planned in Afghanistan, but what [Pakistan's] Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz has revealed is worth considering. He said the attackers were constantly in touch with someone in Kabul. Sartaj Aziz said the identity [of the person] fielding the terrorists' phone calls in Kabul is still being investigated.
"He also alleged that the [December 2014] attack [on the Peshawar] Army school was also planned in Afghanistan. There have been reports on Sartaj Aziz's claim that Umar Khalifa, the head of one Taliban subgroup, is hiding in the border areas, and that by providing evidence of this [to the Afghan government], a demand would be made that Afghanistan act against terrorists in hiding. If the Afghan government showed laziness, Pakistani forces might take action on their own [by launching counter-terror operations into Afghanistan].
"Sartaj Aziz also said that it is not unbelievable that terrorists [in Pakistan] are receiving instructions from Afghanistan. The most important thing that has been said is that Pakistan is considering acting on its own in Afghanistan. This situation would be a violation of what had been agreed during [Pakistani Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif's visit [to Kabul]: That both countries would not allow their territory to be used against each other.
"It is not impossible that the [attack on PAF base in Badhaber] was planned in Afghanistan, as the foreign affairs advisor is saying, and that terrorists were in constant contact with someone in Afghanistan. Such things have happened in the past and are still happening, but if Pakistan tried to do such a thing [i.e. unilateral action in Afghanistan], then it would open a new front between the two countries."
"Our Analysis Is That If America Supports An Issue, We Should Be On Guard, And If It Opposes Pakistan On Any Issue, We Should Be Happy"
"Surprisingly, America has expressed full solidarity with Pakistan on this incident [i.e. the Badhaber attack] and also admitted that Pakistan has suffered maximum damage in the War On Terror. America also said it stands by the families affected by the Badhaber tragedy. During the entire course of the War On Terror, America has never openly acknowledged Pakistan's sacrifices but always went around it by saying that Pakistan's sacrifices in the War On Terror cannot be ignored, that Pakistan's role is very important, and so on. But for the first time, the U.S. State Department has said that Pakistan has suffered more losses than any other country in the War On Terror.
"Our analysis is that if America supports an issue, we should be on guard, and if it opposes Pakistan on any issue, we should be happy. We are concerned in this regard that since America is leaving Afghanistan, it would not accept a peaceful situation in Afghanistan; so it is just possible that it can create an explosive situation between Afghanistan and Pakistan by providing the wrong information to Pakistani intelligence.
"Once the precedent is set for unilateral action in each other's territory, the enemies of the two countries [Pakistan and Afghanistan] hiding in the border areas will be utilized. If RAW [Research & Analysis Wing, the external intelligence of India] acts by taking advantage of the situation, then our investigators would be left scratching their heads. So it is our advice that a thorough investigation should be conducted before taking any such step [unilaterally in Afghanistan]. One question is: Why was unilateral action never considered in the case of India? There is no need for any evidence [of Indian presence in Kashmir]. There is no need to provide any evidence to prove India's interference in Kashmir. The presence of an army of 800,000 is enough evidence."
Source: Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan) September 22, 2015.

Turkish Press's New Normal, "We Could Crush You Like a Fly"
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/October 04/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6558/turkey-press-freedom
Turkey's "Muslim Brothers" are behaving just like Muslim Brothers elsewhere. They came to power through democratic elections. They are making every sign that they have no intention of surrendering power through democratic elections.
Last year, after a pro-government columnist tweeted news about this author, referring to him as "A Disgrace to Humanity," several others joined the lynching on social media. "A sperm of Israel," someone wrote. Another said: "Enmity to Islam spills from his face." Someone else wished that I would travel to Gaza so that "the al-Qassam [Brigade] could shoot him right in the middle of his forehead." Another campaigner invited "this ignoble, inglorious Zionist leftover to leave for Israel." Someone else wished, "May he and his family be bombed." And yet another offered a DNA analysis from a photograph: "He must be either Armenian or Jewish."
All that was the new normal in Turkey's increasingly militant, pro-Islamist media. Things are getting worse.
On January 24, 1993, a bomb placed beneath his car killed Ugur Mumcu, one of Turkey's most prominent columnists and investigative journalists, who wrote for the daily Cumhuriyet. Mumcu was a secular leftist who persistently wrote on Iranian and Sunni Islamists and their clandestine operations in the Middle East, particularly in Turkey. Although a handful of Turkish operatives were brought to court for the Mumcu murder, the open-secret Iranian plot behind the assassination remains a mystery even after 22 years.
By a simple twist of fate, many years after his father's death, Mumcu's son, Ozgur Mumcu, became a columnist for the same newspaper, Cumhuriyet. His September 5, 2015 column, entitled "Welcome Brother, Mr. Selahattin", looked like a columnist's welcome to a newcomer into the columnists circle. In the most sarcastic way, it was not. Mumcu was saluting Selahattin Es Cakirgil, a new columnist for the fiercely pro-government Star newspaper.
"You probably don't know him [Cakirgil]," Mumcu wrote. "But I do... as one of the suspects in my father's murder trial. And as someone with an arrest warrant from Interpol and the suspect in several political assassinations in Iran."In what must be a self-torturing sarcasm, Mumcu further wrote: "We say welcome to Selahattin Es. Of course, we should have expected that people like him should fill the ranks of columnists who have been murdered. He can only complain that this took so long."
Star's owner is the wealthy businessman Ethem Sancak, who recently made headlines when he said that he was "in love with [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan like Sems was with Mevlana," referring to the two medieval era Sufis. His extremely pro-government credentials are not disputed. Therefore, no one was surprised when another Star columnist openly threatened Ahmet Hakan, a columnist for the secular Hurriyet daily. Star columnist Cem Kucuk wrote of Hakan in his September 9, 2015 article, "Like schizophrenia patients, you think you are still living in the days when Hurriyet was running the country. We could crush you like a fly if we want. We have been merciful until today and you are still alive."
Implying that he is a religious person, columnist Kucuk later complained that his threatening piece was criticized by "fake religious people."Turkey remains a good laboratory proving Islamism and press freedoms can only be an oxymoron. On September 6 and 8, 2015, Hurriyet's offices and printing works in Istanbul and Ankara were pelted with stones by hundreds of club-wielding Erdogan fans. Video footage from the September 6 attack shows a member of parliament from the governing AKP Party, Abdurrahim Boynukalin, leading the mob. In a fierce speech in front of the newspaper's building, Boynukalin vowed that the Dogan media company [which owns Hurriyet] will "get the hell out of Turkey" when Erdogan will have additional executive powers "whatever the electoral outcome on November 1 will be."Abdurrahim Boynukalin (center of left image), a Turkish Member of Parliament from the ruling AKP Party, leads a mob in front of the offices of Hurriyet newspaper, September 6, 2015. At right, the shattered windows of the building's lobby, after the mob hurled stones.
Boynukalin was not unrewarded. A few days after he made the headlines for leading the mob, Boynukalin was elected to the high council of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the party's general convention. But the Boynukalin's anger toward Hurriyet is not calming down. New video footage shows him speaking to the same fierce mob that attacked Hurriyet. Referring to columnist Hakan and Sedat Ergin, Hurriyet's editor-in-chief, Boynukalin says: "They had never had a beating before. Our mistake was that we never beat them in the past. If we had beaten them..." No later than 48 hours after the AKP's convention, the police raided the editorial offices of the Nokta magazine over a mocked-up "selfie" of a smiling Erdogan with the coffin of a soldier. The picture was a sarcastic criticism of Erdogan's recent comments that families of soldiers killed by Kurdish militants should be happy about their martyrdom. A prosecutor banned distribution of the latest edition of Nokta and ordered raids on its offices on charges of "insulting the Turkish president" and "making terrorist propaganda."
Next, on September 15, prosecutors launched an investigation into the Dogan Media Group, Hurriyet's parent company, for "terrorist propaganda," following a widely derided front-page story in another staunchly pro-government daily, Gunes. In a written statement on September 7, after the first mob attack on Hurriyet, the International Press Institute (IPI) said "an important line has been crossed." IPI's Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis was right when he said, "The events of the last 24 hours mark a dangerous escalation in an already troubling campaign of harassment and intimidation targeting independent media in Turkey ahead of the Nov. 1 election." Turkey's "Muslim Brothers" are behaving just like Muslim Brothers elsewhere. They came to power through democratic elections. They are making every sign that they have no intention of surrendering power through democratic elections.
**Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Israel eager to put rift with Obama over Iran deal in past, Netanyahu says
TOVAH LAZAROFF/J.Post/10/04/2015
The rift between the United States and Israel over the Iran deal is in the past, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News over the weekend. The premier explained that the two countries must now work together to contain Tehran’s aggression in the region and ensure its compliance with the deal to curb its nuclear program. “President [Barack] Obama has said that he is committed to preventing dangerous weapons coming into the hands of Iran's proxies, that he wants to prevent Iran from destabilizing countries in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said. “There is no better partner for that than Israel,” said Netanyahu, who spoke extensively with Greta Van Susteren on Friday. He made similar statements to CNN in an interview that will air on Sunday. In both conversations, Netanyahu spoke of a renewed alliance between Israel and the US over the dangers posed by Iran. He also talked about ending the rift between him and Obama that has marked the relationship for the last year.
On Thursday, Netanyahu delivered a fiery address to the UN General Assembly in New York against the nuclear deal worked out in July between Iran and the six world powers. The nations of the world, not just Israel, are endangered by the deal which leaves Iran with the ability to build atomic weapons and does not hinder its work on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Netanyahu said. “Now remember this: Iran already has missiles that can reach Israel. So those intercontinental ballistic missiles that Iran is building – they’re not meant for us – They’re meant for you. For Europe. For America. For raining down mass destruction – anytime, anywhere,” Netanyahu said. The prime minister's public and persistent campaign against the deal, has put him at odds with Obama, creating the most serious crisis in the relations between the two leaders since they both entered office in 2009.
In his UN address on Monday, Obama did not mention Israel at all, even though he did so in all six of his past speeches at the opening sessions of the UN General Assembly.
Netanyahu, in contrast, mentioned Obama three times during his UN General Assembly speech on Thursday, in which he spoke of how the two countries would work together for a common future and thanked the US for its continued support of Israel. “Israel deeply appreciates President Obama’s willingness to bolster our security, help Israel maintain its qualitative military edge and help Israel confront the enormous challenges we face,” Netanyahu said. When he met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Friday, prior to departing for Israel on Saturday night, Netanyahu spoke with him about ways the two countries could move forward to combat Iranian aggression and ensure its compliance with the deal. He plans to hold a similar conversation with Obama when he mets with him in the White House in November. “You know, we had a profound disagreement on the Iran nuclear deal. And President Obama and I both said, well, this is a disagreement within the family,” Netanyahu told Van Susteren of Fox News.
“I appreciated the fact that President Obama called me while that deal was being discussed. And he said, 'Look, we can talk about bolstering Israel's security now or later',” Netanyahu said. “Well, this morning was later. This was the day after. It began today,” he said. Netanyahu then outlined three points that Israel plans to focus on in its talks with the US and in general when it comes to Iran in the coming months; ensuring Iran’s compliance with the deal, bolstering regional forces such as Israel to combat its aggression and tearing down Tehran’s global network of terror. “We're going to talk [with the US] and we started talking about what we need to do,” said Netanyahu. “One is we have to keep Iran's feet to the fire. We have to make sure it abides by its obligations under the nuclear treaty, under the nuclear deal."
“Second, we have to bolster those forces that are working against Iran's aggression in the region. It's growing. And the most important party that works against Iran's aggression in the region is Israel." “So I appreciated it, I look forward to the opportunity to discuss with President Obama how to put flesh on his serious commitment to bolster Israel's security in the face of this new challenge." “And third, we have to tear down Iran's global terror network, because it's not merely increasing its aggression in the region, it's building terror cells on five continents, including in this hemisphere,” Netanyahu said.
Israel, he said, is the most powerful country that stands in the breach of a collapsing region. “The one party that is standing there 10 miles from ISIS, a few hundred yards from Iran's murderous proxies, is Israel."“Now, we're protecting ourselves. But in so doing, we're also protecting the neighborhood."
“Israel has no better ally than the United States. And the United States has no better ally than Israel. And I think the order of the day now, after the deal, is to make sure that Israel and America's other allies are strengthened in the region against this Iranian aggression. And I look forward to this conversation with the president,” he said.
One of the places that Iran is operating in is the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, where it is trying to build a terrorist front and have even sent Iranian generals there. If Israel is attacked from Syria, it will retaliate, he said, and added that Israel would also thwart the transfer of arms through that territory.
Last month, he said, he flew to Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria with President Vladmir Putin. The two countries are creating a mechanism by which they can operate separately in Syria, without “bumping” into each other. Israel and Russia, “used to be in an adversarial position many years ago. I don't think we want to get back there and I know Russia doesn't want to get back there,” Netanyahu said.“We're doing our best to make sure that it doesn't happen. And I don't think it will happen," he added.

Avoiding a clash between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 04/15
This is the highest level of tension that the two neighbors, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have reached since the end of the Iraqi-Iranian war 27 years ago. For those acquainted with the situation, it's not difficult to understand the reasons of Saudi concerns over Iran. Iran has expanded to the extent where it is now militarily present in Saudi surroundings. It has a presence north of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and south of it, in Yemen while its affiliates are active as opposition groups in Bahrain in the east. Iran is also present in Syria where it is directly managing battles. Iran is investing plenty of its men and funds in a project which seemingly aims to be besiege Gulf countries.
Hajj
If it hadn't been for this tension, the Iranian command, including its most high-ranking officials such as the Supreme Guide and President Hassan Rowhani, would not have politicized the deadly Mina stampede knowing that such incidents are possible during Hajj, considering the presence of 2.5 million pilgrims. Iran's aim of politicizing this case is to incite Iranians against the kingdom and justify its government's foreign escapades.
Yemen
Iran's other protest against Saudi Arabia is what it calls "the Saudi military war in Yemen." Iran objects to this intervention in Yemen although all U.N. Security Council members approved it and dozens of Islamic countries supported it. Iran has realized that its investment in supporting the Houthi rebels - who are a small group - is evaporating after they were close to seizing power in Yemen following their coup and capture of the legitimate Yemeni president. “Saudi intervention” blocked the path of Iranian military supplies - destined for the Houthi rebels - by sea and by air as it shut down Hodeida port, shelled the runway of Sanaa Airport and sought the help of the American navy to impose naval inspections on supplies from Iran.
Syria
There's also an indirect clash in Syria as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' forces are directly leading militias from Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan to fight in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime. This has led to the worst tragedy in the history of the region, as more than a quarter of a million have been killed and 12 million have been displaced.
Iraq
Meanwhile, Iraq is about to turn into a third touchline, which is extremely dangerous considering that Iranian domination over governance in Baghdad has become clear and that Iranian forces are fighting in many governorates in Iraq. Escalating tensions in Saudi Arabia's relations with Iran are a warning that the situation may get out of control.The Iranian government's increased appetite to spread its activities in the Middle East contradicts U.S. statements that the nuclear deal will turn Iran into a country that will be preoccupied with its domestic affairs and will therefore give up its foreign adventures and seek to cooperate for the sake of economic openness and eventually improving the quality of services it provides to its citizens. What is happening is the complete opposite of that! Escalating tensions in Saudi Arabia's relations with Iran are a warning that the situation will get out of control unless both countries work to put these relations in a context stipulated by standard diplomatic protocol. The nuclear agreement has led to an increase in concern from Arab countries, as it has ended economic and military sanctions that were imposed against Tehran. This has increased disputes with Iran and also worsens bickering in the media and in diplomat circles. However, the surge in tension also calls for improving means of communication, not the opposite. The reasons and motives behind this tension must be understood. We expect regional disputes in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria and other countries to continue. It will also be accompanied by sectarian tensions, but it will not be easy to banish away religious strife after the political disputes end. Still, both sides should not let this tension get out of control.

Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Arab agenda
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/October 04/15
When I heard Prime Minister David Cameron’s reaction to the new leader of the Labour Party, I dismissed it as a scaremongering tactic designed to undermine his rival. “Labour are now a serious risk to our nation’s security, our economy’s security and your family’s security,” he warned. But after scrutinizing this former backbencher’s record and listening to his speeches, I share Mr. Cameron’s concerns. Should Jeremy Corbyn ever make it to Number Ten, Britain’s stature will be diminished globally and its relations with the U.S., the EU, Saudi Arabia, Gulf States and Egypt will be strained to a breaking point.
Great Britain would be reduced to an inconsequential island, a fringe state, without its membership of NATO and its Trident nuclear capability, not to mention powerful allies willing to come to its defence. At first glance, the idea that this slightly dishevelled-looking socialist activist, with a knack – I believe – for coming across as a genuine do-gooder out to set the world to rights, seems preposterous. After all, he has succeeded in charming the party faithful during the recent party conference with self-effacing humor and elicited standing ovations for his championship of the workers and poor families.
Jeremy Corbyn looks humble and sounds authentic yet, look carefully and you will see that his belligerence against the Gulf precisely echoes that of Press TV and other Iranian media outlets.
Since his election Labour has garnered over 60,000 new members drawn mostly from the working class, keen on strengthening the unions, increasing welfare payments and upping the minimum wage than foreign policy. The old guard among his party’s establishment are chafing at the bit. They want him gone now. His refusal to sing Britain’s National Anthem “God save the Queen” was an embarrassment; likewise his crony appointments of his former mistress and close friend to high positions in his shadow cabinet. Worse, Corbyn has alienated the United States with a public announcement that 9/11 was manipulated as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and at one time he said the death of Osama bin Laden was a “tragedy.” Labour’s centrist old guards are so appalled that it is believed they are cooking up a leadership challenge but are forced to bide their time until his popularity wanes. The question is what if it does not?
Unsavoury friends and associates
He is no politician. He is an extreme left-winger with some very unsavoury friends and associates, among them the leaders of Iran as well as those of Hezbollah and Hamas whom he was once reportedly “honoured” to invite to Parliament. He is even alleged to have supported the IRA while it was engaged in killing British soldiers and, on one occasion, he handed money to one of his assistants destined for an IRA operatives fleeing justice. In August this year, he was scheduled to speak at a conference hosted by a pro-Muslim Brotherhood British based newspaper where he would have shared a stage with a Brotherhood supporter, Hamas figures and one of the runners up in Iran’s Holocaust denial cartoon contest. He only cancelled because of the alleged scandal surrounding an announcement by the publication’s senior editor blessing the practice of stoning to death. Regularly interviewed by another pro-Brotherhood newspaper, he told the Egyptian president that he was unwelcome in London because of his country’s imprisoning of its failed Brotherhood President Mohammad Mursi.
One established daily wrote this before the election: “If Jeremy Corbyn wins, Labour will be in the extraordinary position of having a leader with among the most extensive links in Parliament to terrorists.”The Iranian ayatollahs are jubilant at the success of their best British buddy. This headline in The Telegraph says it all: “Iran hails Jeremy Corbyn for shaking the British ruling class”.According to the article, an aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Syed Salman Safavi “has lavished praise on Mr. Corbyn” for recognizing Iran’s ability to “bring peace to the Middle East” and for his drive to pull Britain out of NATO. Naturally, a toothless western country without diplomatic clout or the nuclear weapons capability that assures its place among the big five U.N. Security Council members, would serve Iran’s purposes.
The peoples of the Gulf enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world. Our people are looked after; their needs taken care of and those are the most important human rights of all. Corbyn is an extremist, a defender of terrorists and terrorist regimes, in sheep’s clothing. I can only second David. .Cameron’s warning and urge the British electorate to beware! And as for Safavi’s statement that Iran – in my opinion, the region’s prime aggressor in Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen – could bring peace to the Middle East, well, that is nothing less than a bad joke when Khamenei has sworn to up his support for “the resistance”. Corbyn has hosted a political call in chat show in the absence of its regular host George Galloway, on the Iranian English language channel Press TV is anti-Saudi and anti-Bahraini and which has been removed from the UK’s airwaves. Last year, he visited Iran and was pictured sharing a warm handshake with the country’s foreign minister Mohammed Javed Zarif.
He used his speech at the annual Labour Party gathering to attack Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on their human rights record and called upon Cameron to prevent the Kingdom’s authorities implementing a death penalty, as though any British leader has the right to interfere in the affairs of a sovereign country.
Gulf News rightly asks while pointing out that GCC countries are heavily invested in the UK, “Should Gulf investors worry about Jeremy Corbyn?” If he ever becomes prime minister, I would answer a resounding “yes” given his anti-Arab rants as well as his ideological vendetta against the rich, whom he proposes taxing to the hilt. Jeremy Corbyn looks humble and sounds authentic yet, look carefully and you will see that his belligerence against the Gulf precisely echoes that of Press TV and other Iranian media outlets. His chances of getting the top job may be slim, but I would caution investors from this part of the world to be alert for a surprise upset.
I have no message for Mr Corbyn; his views are too entrenched. How can anyone trumpet concern for human rights with any authority when they cuddle a regime like Iran that subjugates its own people, treats its minority populations as second-class citizens whose political and cultural rights are trampled upon?
Why does he ignore the dozens of imprisoned opposition party members, journalists and activists or the children awaiting their end on death row? Instead, he celebrates the Iran deal as a triumph for peace. In my opinion, the man is a hypocrite!
I would ask the British people to see through the facade and moreover, I would stress that his attacks on Saudi and Bahrain have no foundation. Both countries threatened by are Iran and its proxies have the right to handle their security and deal with bad apples in the best way they see fit.
The peoples of the Gulf enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world. Our people are looked after; their needs taken care of and those are the most important human rights of all. Corbyn is an extremist, a defender of terrorists and terrorist regimes, in sheep’s clothing. I can only second David Cameron’s warning and urge the British electorate to beware!

Why do moderates in Muslim world remain silent?
Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/October 04/15
Are there moderate Muslim scholars who can help Muslims find solutions to prevailing challenges and are they capable enough to confront sectarian conflicts that are a threat to humanity and global peace? Western researchers have their doubts and the Muslim masses are desperately searching for their help. Muslim researchers stress the need to support moderate religious scholars and empower them to speak out against extremists and the proponents of the militant ideology. Unfortunately today the Muslim world is burdened with so called scholars of limited Islamic education who have taken a more rigid direction.
More competent moderate Muslim scholars can play an important role to influence the confused and lost masses. However, they lack genuine support and are unable to confront religious extremists that have spread hatred and violence all over the world. Can moderate Muslim scholars identify themselves and speak out before it is too late?
It is about time that Muslim countries exert more meaningful efforts to support moderate scholars who can make a difference and guide the disgruntled and misinformed. The Muslim world needs bold and strong scholarly voices that clarify Islam’s position toward extremism and bridge the sectarian divide.
We are divided and there are no signs of an end to the sectarian conflicts that are killing innocent women and children, destroying homes and displacing entire communities. Countering the forces of evil. Where are the Muslim academic councils that can guide the faithful to a peaceful end? Scholars who advocate moderate Islam and represent the silent majority of the Muslim world have made little progress to counter the forces of evil, who are using Islam to achieve political gains. There is a dire need to mobilize a global campaign to identify moderate scholars who can initiate serious and meaningful efforts to reform the curriculum of Islamic studies.
Fundamentalists have yet to understand that no one has absolute authority on the truth. The unscholarly religious leaders have given themselves the privilege to announce fatwas without an understanding of the events surrounding the Qur’anic revelations, they base their conclusions without any explicit judgment in the texts and on matters which cannot be defined or explained. Extremists continue to abuse the Qur’anic text with distorted interpretations and they propagate a deviant ideology that is devoid of any tolerance or compassion. Global Muslim organizations need to provide serious international initiatives to train more scholars in methods of deduction so as to draw more accurate interpretations of the Qur’an and Shariah law. Islamic researchers are not supported enough to conduct studies and to propose conclusions that can confront the prevailing rigid narrative that rules the Muslim world today. Reforming the educational system and countering the prevailing extremist rhetoric with more educated interpretations of Islamic rulings can put an end to the ongoing violence and vicious sectarian wars.
An efficient and strong judiciary is a fundamental requirement for the protection of human rights and for more peaceful and prosperous communities.
Rigid interpretations
Judicial institutes must strive to, remove the culturally biased attitudes that are resistant to progressive thinking, and encourages a more tolerant and just judiciary. Rigid interpretations of Shariah laws need to be revised to serve the needs of Muslim societies better. We can no longer remain under the mercy of hard-liners who spread hatred and racial and sectarian conflicts. The notion of “takfir” or excommunication has been used by the militant and terrorist organizations to justify the killing of innocent people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This militancy is one of the greatest challenges that the Muslim world faces today. In order to address this threat it is vital to seriously create a more cohesive Muslim nation that respects all sects. More efforts should be exerted by all Muslims to seek a common ground that unites them and avoid matters of divergence.
Muslim scholars, Arab and non-Arab, have a responsibility to protect the victims of extremists, terrorist organizations and other factions with selfish agendas. Humanity continues to be the target of extremists who speak the language of violence and wars. Yet the West is not keen enough to take serious measures to seek common grounds between nations based on universal scriptures and the values of tolerance and coexistence.
Extremism dominates all religions and Islamophobia is on the rise. If you talk to Western researchers they will say that there are no moderate Muslim scholars and therefore there are no partners for peace in the Muslim world. If you listen to Muslim political analysts they will tell you that Western politicians are not sincere in their quest for peace. Meanwhile Muslim countries are more engrossed in political conflicts and are more interested in forwarding their own agendas rather than exerting greater efforts to save the Muslim world from the terrorist and barbaric crimes that are committed in the name of Islam. They have also contributed to the spread of violence and hate.World peace is under threat and there are no visible initiatives to counter the enemies of humanity and global coexistence. Can moderate Muslim scholars identify themselves and speak out before it is too late?

The Syrian conflict is changing? Not really
Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/October 04/15
As Russia’s aerial offensive against government opposition forces in Syria entered its third day on October 2, ISIS had only been targeted once. In one of Russia’s attacks at least 36 civilians, including several children, were reportedly killed in Homs province. These airstrikes had targeted non-ISIS held territory.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials indicated Moscow also had aerially targeted CIA-backed Syrian fighters, in what likely had far less to do with threat assessments and far more to do with sending a message to the U.S. and its coalition partners. Russian President Vladimir Putin was quite clear: His latest war won’t be dictated by the current anti-ISIS coalition and it definitely won’t be centered around other countries’ primary objective of degrading the militant group. Putin is in Syria to save Assad and reap the benefits of securing its own military interests in the eastern Mediterranean.
For years, the U.S. and Europe’s strategy in Syria failed to comprehensively address both the Assad regime or the humanitarian crisis
While the bloody conflict changes yet again and another aerial offensive begins, the worst humanitarian disaster of our time will now only worsen. Meanwhile, the refugee crisis, the same that briefly captured the West’s attention when a tiny child washed up on Turkey’s shore, will continue to spiral.
Russia has given no indication that its efforts to secure Assad’s future rule will be limited. And Moscow’s full-blown military intervention on behalf of the regime underscores the fact that Russia and Iran still assess there is no reason for a “transition” period to include Assad – because there is no need for a transition at all. With Tehran and Moscow’s total backing, emboldened Assad can obliterate what remains of the Syrian opposition.
In a written statement by the U.S. State Department, the U.S., France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and United Kingdom wrote: “We call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians and to focus its efforts on fighting ISIL.” Moscow, which has failed to make any distinction – in both its own reporting on strikes and during its actual operations - between ISIS and all other rebel forces, did not immediately respond.
Clear Israeli signals on Syria
On a separate front, it is worth noting that days before Russia began launching its aerial offensive, at least two projectiles emanating from Syria struck Israeli territory in a 24-hour period, triggering IDF retaliation. Israeli forces conducted at least two artillery strikes, targeting Syrian military positions. This is a point worth reiterating; while reports were rapidly surfacing regarding imminent Russian strikes, Israel sent a clear signal that regardless which party embroils itself in the Syrian conflict, it will continue maintaining its long-held red lines. Only days prior to the cross-border flare up, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Putin had what was, ostensibly, a positive meeting in Moscow on 21 September. However, days after the Israeli artillery strikes, Putin noted that such Israeli military operations in Syria “worried” him. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon responded that, they don’t really care, stating, “…we are not getting involved in the debate of who will be in power, Assad or someone else… We have our interests, and when they are threatened we act and will continue to act.
This was made clear to the Russian president. If reports indicating Iranian troops are deploying to Syria by the hundreds for a ground invasion, relations are likely to grow tenser in the near term. That said, Putin is arrogant but his mission in Syria in no way seeks to sever relations with Israel; there is no reason to assess Russia would act to prevent any retaliatory Israeli operations targeting Syrian military positions or Hezbollah at this stage.
Most critically, as all involved actors readjust to the changing Syrian landscape, the suffering of Syrian civilians continues unabated. Unless coalition partners are willing to directly confront Russia, initiatives favoring humanitarian efforts, including a partial No-Fly Zone, are now likely impossible to even consider. For years, the U.S. and Europe’s strategy in Syria failed to comprehensively address both the Assad regime or the humanitarian crisis. Now, reluctantly entangled, the West still must confront both, while at the same time, Russia carries out its own plans.

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