LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
January 18/17
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins17/english.january18.17.htm
News Bulletin
Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006
Bible Quotations For Today
Follow me,
and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and
followed him.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 04/18-25/:"As he
walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen.
And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’
Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he
saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat
with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately
they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout
For if I cause you pain, who is
there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
Second Letter to the Corinthians 02/01-11/:"So I made up my
mind not to make you another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, who is there
to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that
when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me
rejoice; for I am confident about all of you, that my joy would be the joy of
all of you. For I wrote to you out of much distress and anguish of heart and
with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love
that I have for you.
But if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but to some extent
not to exaggerate it to all of you. This punishment by the majority is enough
for such a person;
so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be
overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. I
wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in
everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I
have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ. And
we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of
his designs."
Titles For Latest
LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
January 17-18/17
Lebanon’s press in crisis as political funds dry up/Diana Moukalled/Arab News/January 17/17
Lebanon: Ball in Aoun’s Court to Solve Electoral Law
Issue/Paula Astih/Asharq Al Awsat/January
17/17
Fear grows among Egypt’s Christians after a Coptic doctor was stabbed in the
throat/Loula Lahham/Asia
News/January 16, 2017/
Canada/Bob Dechert’s Message in Regards to the,”PC Party of Ontario, Nomination, Mississauga
Erin-Mills”/January 17/17
BBC and British parliament launch offensive against “Fake News”/Stefan Frank/Gatestone Europe/January 16/17
The Islamization of France in 2016/”France has a
problem with Islam”/Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute/January 17/17
The "Peace Conference": An Outright Admission of Failure/Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone
Institute/January 17/17
Iran’s game plan in Afghanistan/Hassan Dai/Special to Al Arabiya
English/January 17/2017
Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian, after all/Jo Schietti/Arab News/January 17/17
Iran bids Obama farewell with insults/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/January 17
China: Future of Yuan currency policy and Gulf implications
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/January
17/17
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News
published on January 17-18/17
Lebanon's Hezbollah finds crashed Israeli drone: source
Lebanon’s press in crisis as political funds dry up
Lebanon: Ball in Aoun’s Court to Solve Electoral Law
Issue
Aoun Says Fears of Proportional Representation
Unjustified
STL President Thanks Aoun for Lebanon's 'Continuous
Support' for Court
Geagea and Bassil: No
Turning Back in LF-FPM Relation
Mustaqbal Reiterates Call for Hybrid Electoral Law,
Timely Polls
U.N. Mission Briefs Hariri on Purpose of UNIFIL Strategic Review
Bassil Voices Rejection of Extension, 1960 Law,
Threatens 'Political, Popular' Moves
Jumblat Revokes Support for Hybrid Law, Calls for Majoritarian Voting System
Hizbullah Bloc Says Failure to Pass New Electoral Law
'Shakes Confidence' in Govt.
High-Ranking Lebanese Police Officers Attend Leadership and Management Training
in Louisville, Kentucky
Berri Says Introducing Amendments to 1960 Law Won't
be Accepted
Report: New Arsal Captives Mediator in Raqqa for Negotiations With Captors
Berri congratulates President on his word before
diplomatic corp
Hizbullah Seizes Israeli Drone that Crashed in South
General Security Arrests Syrian Female over Terror Links
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on January 17-18/17
Fear grows among Egypt’s Christians after a Coptic doctor was stabbed in
the throat '
Moment Istanbul’s Reina attacker arrested
Gunmen kill eight Egyptian police at checkpoint
Obama warns Trump not to scrap Iran nuclear deal
No sense' in renegotiating nuclear deal: Iran president
Trump advisor, Walid Phares,
clarifies ‘obsolete NATO’ remarks
Syria regime, rebels name delegation heads for Astana talks
Houthis smuggle, abandon Yemenis on mountains into
Saudi Arabia
Nerly 180 dead after Saturday’s Mediterranean ship
capsize: UN
Israeli forces kill Palestinian who allegedly tried to stab soldier
Suspected Istanbul New Year Gunman 'Confesses'
Syria Regime, Rebels Name Delegation Heads to Astana Talks
IS Assault Halts WFP Aid Drops in Syria's Deir Ezzor
Iran: Prisoner Executed Before Flawed Judicial Process Ends
Conference "Middle East Developments, French and European Approaches"
Latest Lebanese Related News
published on January 17-18/17
Diana Moukalled/Arab News/January
17/17
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1039981/columns
“How is the press?” “How do you see the future of the media?” “Are you
receiving your pension?”
For months, these questions have frequently been raised by journalists and
others who are concerned about the crisis in
The crisis in the Arab media, and signs of a major
collapse hitting the press in
Political money at play
The Lebanese press crisis has causes that go beyond financial troubles, which
were cited as justifications for closing some newspapers, or for suspending
employee salaries for months in other media outlets. The crisis reflects how
political money played a decisive role in creating the industry in the past,
and undermining it at present. There is no doubt that Lebanese public opinion
is influenced by sects, with the majority influenced by a group that does not
necessarily put
The collapse of many media corporations reflects how public and individual
freedoms have receded, and how the elements of society that resist sectarianism
and the dominance of militia are unable to promote their own media discourse.
Coinciding with this, foreign political finance, which contributed to
• Diana Moukalled is a veteran journalist with
extensive experience in both traditional and new media. She is also a columnist
and freelance documentary producer. She can be reached on Twitter @dianamoukalled.
Lebanon: Ball in Aoun’s
Court to Solve Electoral Law Issue
Paula Astih/Asharq Al Awsat/January
17/17
President Aoun at the Baabda
Presidential Palace on Monday receives a delegation of the executive committee
of Middle East Churches/ NNA
Beirut – Most political groups had thrown the ball of the electoral law in the
court of Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun after signs
reflecting the size of difficulties surrounding the file. Political forces are
divided between two camps: the first supports a law based on the proportional
voting or a hybrid law system and this group includes parties such as the Free
Patriotic Movement, Amal and Hezbollah. However, a
second group is still attached to the 1960 electoral law and includes the
Progressive Socialist Party and other groups that are about to announce their
support for the old law, such as the Future Movement. Meanwhile, head of the
Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel had triggered on
Monday the alarm of democracy in
Sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri
pledged that the file of the new electoral law would be followed up inside
Parliament following the opening of the new extraordinary session this week.
However, the sources denied that Berri had decided to
hold parliamentary elections based on the 1960 law. “Berri
only insists that the elections be held on time, refusing any delay,” the
sources said, adding that what is worse than the 1960 law is the postponement
of the elections.The sources also admitted the
difficulty to agree on a new law, particularly in the presence of a certain
agreement between some political parties to support the proportional system, while
another group wishes to conduct the elections based on the 1960 law. “If no
agreement is reached, then parties should refer to the Taef
Accord which stipulates that elections be held based on the governorates as an
electoral circumscription in addition to the establishment of a House of
Senators,” the sources said. On the opposite side, Aoun’s
sources responded to those who considered the ball was currently in the court
of the president, saying: “This would happen had all parties agreed on one
electoral law against the wishes of the president, who supports another law.
But, of course, this is not the case.”The sources
said the president is against delaying the elections. Asked about the
possibility of inviting political forces to sit around a table under the
patronage of the president to solve the electoral law crisis, the sources said:
“The idea was suggested but no decision was taken in this regard yet.”
Aoun Says Fears of Proportional Representation Unjustified
Naharnet/January 17/17/President Michel Aoun said on Tuesday that endorsing a new electoral law
that guarantees proper representation in the upcoming parliamentary elections
is one of the term's priorities, as he stated that fears of endorsing a
proportional representation system are not justified. “Our utmost priority is
to stage the parliamentary elections based on a new electoral law that
guarantees proper representation for all Lebanese factions,” said Aoun in a speech during a meeting with the diplomatic corps
at Baabda palace. “Concerns of some political parties
over endorsing a proportional representation system are unjustified. Only a
proportional system is capable of ensuring proper and just representation for
all parties,” added the President. He then added: “Some might lose their seats
at parliament shall this system be applied but in the end we will all win the
country's stability.” “My will as president of
STL President Thanks Aoun
for Lebanon's 'Continuous Support' for Court
Naharnet/January 17/17/The President and Vice
President of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Judge Ivana Hrdličková and Judge
Ralph Riachi, on Tuesday visited President Michel Aoun to congratulate him on his election as Lebanon's 13th
president, an STL statement said.
“I am honored to meet with President Michel Aoun and I thank him for the continuous support of
Geagea and Bassil: No Turning Back
in LF-FPM Relation
Naharnet/January 17/17/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Free Patriotic
Movement chief Jebran Bassil
stressed Tuesday that “there will be no turning back” in the LF-FPM relation,
in remarks marking one year since Geagea endorsed the
presidential bid of FPM founder Michel Aoun in a
surprise move that largely contributed to Aoun's
election as president. The agreement with the FPM has led to “tangible results,
away from any narrow interests,” Geagea said in an
interview with MTV. Asked to “give a grade” to the current ties between the two
parties' popular bases, Geagea gave them 10/10. “We
were accused of nominating
Mustaqbal Reiterates Call for Hybrid Electoral Law, Timely
Polls
Naharnet/January 17/17/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary
bloc on Tuesday renewed its call for a “hybrid” electoral law and holding the
parliamentary elections on time. “The bloc has not changed its stance and all
political parties must exert coordinated efforts to approve a new electoral law
based on winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems,” said the
bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.It
also stressed the need to “hold the elections on time and without any delay.”Speaker Nabih Berri and Interior Minister Nouhad
al-Mashnouq have warned that the country is likely
headed to parliamentary elections under the controversial 1960 electoral law
due to the parties' failure to agree on a new law. Hizbullah
has repeatedly called for an electoral law fully based on proportional
representation but other political parties, especially Mustaqbal
and the Progressive Socialist Party, have rejected the proposal, arguing that Hizbullah's weapons would prevent serious competition in
regions where the Iran-backed party has clout. Mustaqbal,
the Lebanese Forces and the PSP have meanwhile proposed a hybrid electoral law
that mixes the proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems. Berri has also proposed a hybrid law. The country has not
voted for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending
its own mandate.
The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral
law and the next elections are scheduled for May 2017.
U.N. Mission Briefs Hariri on Purpose of
UNIFIL Strategic Review
Naharnet/January 17/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks Tuesday at the Grand Serail a United Nations delegation currently visiting
Lebanon to conduct a “strategic review” of the United Nations Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL). "Together with my colleagues, the Force Commander and
Head of UNIFIL, Major-General Michael Beary, and a
number of other colleagues coming from
Bassil Voices Rejection of Extension, 1960 Law, Threatens
'Political, Popular' Moves
Naharnet/January 17/17/Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday
announced that the Change and Reform bloc rejects a return to the 1960
electoral law as well as any attempt to extend the parliament's term for a
third time. “Should the political forces refuse to approve a new law, citizens
would have the right to rebel against the political authority,” said Bassil after the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh. He stressed that the FPM “will not accept a third
extension of the parliament's term or the 1960 law,” warning that it has “a lot
of political and popular choices to prevent imposing a de facto situation
through re-endorsing the 1960 law.” “There are bilateral and tripartite efforts
and we call for expanding them so that we don't lose this chance to pass a new law,”
Bassil added, noting that President Michel Aoun “is the guarantee and he does not accept political
injustice against anyone.”Asked about the concerns of
Druze leader Walid Jumblat,
who has openly rejected proportional representation, Bassil
said Jumblat “knows our faith in Mount Lebanon's unity.”“We do not want to impose a law but we won't let
anyone force us to maintain the current situation,” the FPM chief added,
referring to the 1960 law. And noting that the 1960 law “is not compatible with
the Taef Accord,” Bassil
hoped that Prime Minister and al-Mustaqbal Movement
leader Saad Hariri will offer concessions for the
sake of the country.
“We hope that PM Saad Hariri will give the country
the same as he did in the past, and we are here to strengthen him, not to
weaken him,” Bassil said. Speaker Nabih
Berri and Interior Minister Nouhad
al-Mashnouq have warned that the country is likely
headed to parliamentary elections under the controversial 1960 electoral law
due to the parties' failure to agree on a new law. Hizbullah
has repeatedly called for an electoral law fully based on proportional
representation but other political parties, especially Mustaqbal
and the Progressive Socialist Party, have rejected the proposal, arguing that Hizbullah's weapons would prevent serious competition in
regions where the Iran-backed party has clout. Mustaqbal,
the Lebanese Forces and the PSP have meanwhile proposed a hybrid electoral law
that mixes the proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems. Berri has also proposed a hybrid law. The country has not
voted for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending
its own mandate. The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the 1960
electoral law and the next elections are scheduled for May 2017.
Jumblat Revokes Support for Hybrid Law, Calls for Majoritarian Voting System
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
17/17/Head of the Democratic Gathering bloc MP Walid Jumblat said he no longer supports holding the upcoming
parliamentary elections based on a hybrid law system as agreed previously with
the Lebanese Forces and al-Mustaqbal, as he stressed
backing for a majoritarian electoral system, Ad-Diyar daily reported Tuesday. “A hybrid electoral law that
mixes the proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems is no
more acceptable on my part,” said Jumblat, stressing
his support for a majoritarian voting system.
“The Taef accord has stipulated that electoral
divisions must be determined after reconsidering the number of governorates.
Based on that principle, I call for a new administrative division of
Hizbullah Bloc Says Failure to Pass New Electoral Law 'Shakes
Confidence' in Govt.
Naharnet/January 17/17/Hizbullah's Loyalty to
Resistance parliamentary bloc on Tuesday voiced rejection of the 1960 electoral
law and reiterated its call for an electoral system based on proportional
representation. In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc called
anew for an electoral law “fully based on proportional representation in a
single electorate or several large electorates as a format that ensures equal
power-sharing between Christians and Muslims, real partnership and correct and
effective representation.”And reiterating its
rejection of 1960 law or a third extension of the parliament's term, Loyalty to
Resistance noted that “the devising of a new electoral law was a pledge that
the government committed itself to in its policy statement, despite its prior
knowledge of the deadlines.”“Failing to honor this pledge will definitely shake confidence in the
government,” the bloc warned. Speaker Nabih Berri and Interior Minister Nouhad
al-Mashnouq have announced that the country is likely
headed to parliamentary elections under the controversial 1960 electoral law
due to the parties' failure to agree on a new law. Hizbullah
has repeatedly called for an electoral law fully based on proportional
representation but other political parties, especially Mustaqbal
and the Progressive Socialist Party, have rejected the proposal, arguing that Hizbullah's weapons would prevent serious competition in
regions where the Iran-backed party has clout. Mustaqbal,
the Lebanese Forces and the PSP have meanwhile proposed a hybrid electoral law
that mixes the proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems. Berri has also proposed a hybrid law. The country has not
voted for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending
its own mandate. The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the
1960 electoral law and the next elections are scheduled for May 2017.
High-Ranking Lebanese Police Officers
Attend Leadership and Management Training in Louisville, Kentucky
The U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs (INL) at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut is sponsoring a
leadership and management training seminar for 19 high-ranking Lebanese police
officials, a statement from the United States embassy said on Tuesday. The
January 16-27 training will be conducted by the
Berri Says Introducing Amendments to 1960 Law Won't be
Accepted
Naharnet/January 17/17/Speaker Nabih
Berri stated on Tuesday that efforts to keep the
current 1960 electoral law does not only reflect “negatively” on the country,
but also harms everyone including President Michel Aoun's
term, al-Joumhouria daily reported Tuesday.
“Attempts to maintain the 1960 electoral law, negatively affects the country
and harms everyone, at the forefront of which is the term of Aoun,” said Berri. He pointed out
that he still awaits the outcome on this matter. “If the 1960 is a bad law,
extending the parliament's term is even worse. Therefore, no one dares suggest
this matter to me,” warned the Speaker. On reports claiming that some
“cosmetic” amendments are being made to improve the 1960 law in order to
endorse it, Berri said: “I will not accept all that
talk about transferring seats from here and there. It would harm the state
institutions and the country at the same time.”
Report: New Arsal
Captives Mediator in Raqqa for Negotiations With
Captors
Naharnet/January 17/17/A mediator to negotiate the
release of Lebanese servicemen abducted by the Islamic State group has arrived
in the city of Raqqa, IS's
stronghold in Syria, after coordination with the General Directorate of General
Security to kick start efforts in that direction, al-Akhbar
daily reported Tuesday. The daily said, Turkish
authorities have facilitated the transfer of the mediator from
Berri congratulates President on his word before diplomatic
corp
Tue 17 Jan 2017/NNA - House Speaker Nabih
Berri on Tuesday phone called Lebanese President
General Michel Aoun to congratulate him on the speech
he gave to the diplomatic corp in terms of the
stances upheld by the speech regarding different issues.
Separately, Speaker Berri received MPs Akram Chehayeb and Wael Abu Faour and the Government
Commissioner to Development and Reconstruction Council Walid
Safi and discussed with them the issue relevant to airport safety in light of
the problems resulting from birds and
Hizbullah Seizes Israeli Drone that Crashed in South
Naharnet/January 17/17/Hizbullah announced Tuesday in
a statement that its militants have found an Israeli spy drone that crashed
Monday in south Lebanon. “The aircraft that crashed on the border with occupied
General Security Arrests Syrian Female
over Terror Links
Naharnet/January 17/17/The General Security units
arrested a Syrian female over belonging to a terror organization, the General
Security said in communiqué released on Tuesday. Upon investigations, the
detainee who was identified by her initials as B.F. confessed to having links,
with others, to a terrorist organization that encouraged them to leave to
She was later referred to the related authorities.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 17-18/17
Fear grows among Egypt’s
Christians after a Coptic doctor was stabbed in the throat
Loula Lahham/Asia News/January
16, 2017/ In the past two weeks, several Copts have been murdered in Egypt.
Even before the dust settled over the murder of a Coptic merchant in Alexandria
(220 km north of Cairo) on 3 January, Egyptian security forces found the body
of a Coptic doctor killed last Friday at his home, stabbed in the throat.Dr Bassam Safouat Zaki was general surgeon
in Asyut (370 km south of Cairo). Initial findings indicate that he was stabbed
in the neck, chest and back and bled to death through his mouth, nose and ears.
A few days earlier, on 5 January, security forces discovered the bodies of a
Coptic couple, Gamal Sami Guirguis
and Nadia Amin Guirguis,
stabbed to death in their home as they slept, in Monufia
Governorate, northern Egypt, about 85 km from the Egyptian capital….
Two days earlier, an
Moment
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 17 January
2017/The suspected gunman who killed 39 people in an
Gunmen kill eight Egyptian police at
checkpoint
AFP,
Obama warns Trump not to scrap Iran
nuclear deal
AFP, Washington Tuesday, 17 January 2017/US President Barack Obama on Monday
marked the first anniversary of the nuclear deal with Iran by emphasizing its
"significant and concrete results" and warning against undoing a pact
supported by the world's major powers.
In language that seemed clearly directed at incoming president Donald Trump,
who is set to take office on Friday, Obama said "the
The pact was signed in July 2015 by Iran and six major powers -- the
United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- and led to the
lifting exactly a year ago of most international sanctions against Iran.
No sense' in renegotiating nuclear
deal: Iran president
AFP, Tehran Tuesday, 17 January 2017/President Hassan Rouhani
said Tuesday there was no chance of Iran renegotiating the nuclear deal with
world powers if US President-elect Donald Trump demands it. "The nuclear
deal is finished, it has been approved by the UN
Security Council and has become an international document. It is a multilateral
accord and there is no sense in renegotiating it," said Rouhani at a news conference a year on from the deal coming
into force. Trump frequently criticised the nuclear deal during campaigning and
called for fresh negotiations, but has refused to be drawn on his plans since
being elected. His nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson,
has called for a "full review" of the deal. "Mr Trump, the
president-elect, has made various statements that the nuclear deal does not
satisfy him, that it was not a good deal or even that it was the worst deal
ever," said Rouhani. "These are mostly
slogans, and I don't think that when he enters the White House, something will
happen. It is not a bilateral deal that he can decide he likes or doesn't
like," the president added. The deal was signed between
Trump advisor, Walid
Phares, clarifies ‘obsolete NATO’ remarks
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 17 January
2017
A campaign advisor to Donald Trump clarified the US President-elect’s recent
remarks about NATO and the EU.
On Sunday, Trump called NATO "obsolete," in remarks that shocked
European leaders.
Walid Phares told Al-Hadath television channel, Al Arabiya’s
sister channel, that Trump’s statements were blown out of proportion.
"Trump's view of NATO is not like the media represents it and it's not
even how he presents it on Twitter. He does not want an end to NATO but he
wants to reform it as it has the new task of confronting terrorism and
combating extremism. The new
Addressing the region's affairs, Phares said the
entire new administration agrees that
"There are things we must reach agreements about such as
Regarding
"We also met with a Syrian opposition delegation. Trump used to say he
will not have a project of launching a war to end a war. He said he wants to
negotiate and as a president-elect, relevant institutions began informing him
of developments in
Phares also said that Barack Obama's administration
"lost a lot of Gulf support."
"The new administration has begun rebuilding bridges between the Gulf and
Trump. There are now issues (to address) and that are related to
Syria regime, rebels name delegation
heads for Astana talks
The New Arab & agencies//January 17/17
Talks on the nearly six-year-old conflict, organised by Turkey, Russia and
Iran, are set to begin on January 23 in the Kazakh capital Astana.
The Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government,
reported on Tuesday that the regime's delegation "will be led by Syrian
diplomat and permanent representative to the United Nations Bashar
al-Jaafari."
The government's team will also include "figures representing the military
and the Syrian judiciary, so that the delegation will represent the whole
Syrian state," the newspaper wrote.
Chief rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush, a leading
figure in the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) faction,
will represent the opposition, according to National Coalition member Ahmad
Ramadan. Rebel groups announced on Monday that they would send a
"military" delegation to Astana, as well as legal and political
advisors from the High Negotiations Committee umbrella group. Alloush and Jaafari headed
opposing teams at UN-hosted peace talks in
Jaafari described his rival as a
"terrorist," while Alloush accused the
regime of committing "massacres" in
Although they back opposing sides in the war, the two powers have worked
closely in recent months to bring an end to the conflict. In announcing their
participation, rebels said that the talks would focus on strengthening the
truce, while discussions on
But Al-Watan on Tuesday reported that the
government's delegation would head to Astana in pursuit of a "political
solution" to the war. "No one thinks
Houthis smuggle, abandon Yemenis on mountains into Saudi
Arabia
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 17 January
2017/Houthi traffickers abandoned 73 Yemenis on mountains who had paid them
thousands of Yemeni Riyals to smuggle them into Saudi Arabia, Al Hadath reported. Security forces said that they received
information of a group of people trying to cross the border through the
mountains that led them to their arrest. In the Houthi
strong-hold of the
Nerly 180 dead after Saturday’s Mediterranean ship capsize:
UN
AFP Tuesday, 17 January 2017/Four people died and nearly 180 are missing,
presumed dead, after Saturday’s migrant ship capsize in the Mediterranean,
officials said on Tuesday after interviewing a handful of survivors.
Humanitarian workers from International Organization for Migration (IOM) and
the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), recounted harrowing details of the latest major
tragedy in waters off Libya after talking to four rescued passengers, two
Eritreans and two Ethiopians, who arrived on Monday evening in the Sicilian
port of Trapani.
The survivors, three men and one woman, were described as “traumatized and exhausted.”They said their two-tier,
wooden boat had left
Israeli forces kill Palestinian who
allegedly tried to stab soldier
AFP, Jerusalem Tuesday, 17 January 2017/Israeli forces killed a Palestinian who
allegedly attempted to stab a soldier at a crossing in the occupied West Bank
on Tuesday, the army said, with no injuries reported among Israelis. “A short
while ago an assailant, armed with a knife, attempted to stab an (Israeli)
soldier at a crossing adjacent to Tulkarem,” an army
statement said. “Responding to the imminent threat, forces fired towards the
attacker, resulting in his death.”Since October 2015,
250 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a
Sudanese have been killed. A conference in
Suspected Istanbul New Year Gunman
'Confesses'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
17/17/A 34-year-old Uzbek man suspected of slaughtering 39 people at an
Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve confessed to the massacre on Tuesday,
hours after his capture in a police raid. Authorities detained Abdulgadir Masharipov, who spent
17 days on the run after the attack claimed by Islamic State (IS) jihadists,
along with three women and an Iraqi man during a massive police operation in
'Like a nightmare'
The operation to find the whereabouts and capture the
suspected jihadist involved some 2,000 police officers, the
'Tracked for 3 days'
There had been confusion over the attacker's identity in the wake of the
massacre, with reports initially suggesting a Kyrgyz national and then a Uighur
from China was responsible. But authorities later identified him as a
34-year-old Uzbek who was part of a Central Asian IS cell using the code name Ebu Muhammed Horasani.
Images released by police during the manhunt were taken from a chilling silent
video he purportedly took on
Syria Regime, Rebels Name Delegation Heads
to Astana Talks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
17/17/Syria's UN ambassador will head the government delegation to upcoming
peace talks, a Syrian daily reported Tuesday, while the opposition said it
would be represented by rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush.
Talks on the nearly six-year-old conflict, organised by
IS Assault Halts WFP Aid Drops in
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
17/17/The World Food Programme said Tuesday it has suspended aid drops to the
besieged Syrian city of
The IS assault has managed to divide the east of the remaining government-held
parts of the city from the west. It has also cut the route running from the
city's key military airport, limiting the government's ability to bring in
supplies and military reinforcements. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights monitor said Tuesday that Syria's military and allied Russian
forces were carrying out air strikes against IS, as government troops battled
the jihadists on the ground. The latest assault, which included waves of
suicide bombers, is the "most violent" attack on the city in more
than a year, according to the Observatory. The monitor said Tuesday that three
days of fighting had killed at least 116 people, among them 21 civilians, 37
members of regime forces and 58 IS fighters. It said the government was flying
reinforcements into the military base and had called up local residents to
fight on the front lines against IS, including some without military training.
Since the siege began, the government has been able to fly limited supplies
into the airport, and WFP and
The violence has drawn in international players, as well as attracting jihadist
groups like IS.
NCRI/ Tuesday, 17 January 2017 - A prisoner incarcerate in central prison of
It should be noted that last week the death sentence of a prisoner identified
as Nosratollah Khazaei was
carried out in
Conference "Middle East Developments,
French and European Approaches"
NCRI Statements/ Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Maryam Rajavi: Iranian
regime is the main cause of war and crisis in the region; its eviction from the
region is requisite to peace
A conference was held on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, at the Victor Hugo Hall of
the French National Assembly to address "Middle East Developments, French
and European Approaches."The Iranian
Resistance's President-elect Maryam Rajavi was the key-note speaker. A number of members of the
French Parliament including Dominique Lefebvre, Michel Terrot,
Brigitte Allain, Pascal Deguilhem,
Philippe Gosselin, and Federic
Reiss, as well as Amb. Lincoln Bloomfield, former
Assistant US Secretary of State, and Dr. Alejo Vidal Quadras, former Vice President of the European Parliament,
also addressed the conference. Speakers underlined the Iranian regime's role as
the main cause of war, crisis and insecurity in the region. They said the
In her remarks at the conference, Maryam Rajavi said, "With Rafsanjani's
death, one of the two pillars of the Iranian regime crumbled and the
debilitated regime in its entirety moved closer to its downfall. Over the past
38 years, Rafsanjani played a significant role in suppression at home, export
of terrorism abroad, and the regime's quest to obtain the nuclear bomb. Khamenei and the regime's most ruthless factions will rely
more on export of extremism, terrorism, and nuclear projects, particularly that
they are terrified of any unrest on the eve of the next presidential election
in May." Mrs. Rajavi noted the expansion and
growth of protest demonstrations by workers, teachers, nurses, students, and
families of political prisoners and said, "The JCPOA just filled the
coffers of the regime's leaders and Revolutionary Guards Corps and funded their
deadly adventures in
Mrs. Rajavi said, "The Iranian regime has
invested in the West's inaction and appeasement to export its extremism under
the banner of Islam, a policy that has taken up catastrophic dimensions since
the start of the war in
The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/January 17, 2017
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis
& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 17-18/17
Bob Dechert’s
Message in Regards to the,”PC Party of Ontario,
Nomination, Mississauga Erin-Mills”
January 17/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2017/01/17/bob-decherts-message-in-regards-to-thepc-party-of-ontario-nomination-mississauga-erin-mills/
Dear Friends,
Over the last several days, many of you have contacted me to ask me for my
opinion regarding which of the remaining 3 nomination candidates in the PC
Party of Ontario Mississauga Erin-Mills nomination contest you should support
at the nomination meeting scheduled for Sunday January 22, 2017.
I would not presume to tell any Party member who they should vote for. It is
your decision and yours alone.
I hope that each of the candidates will reach out to you in the next few days
and demonstrate to you that:
a. they are committed to the principles, objectives and long term success of
the Party and that they believe in and are able to credibly promote the
policies and values of the Party to the voters;
b. they possess the requisite knowledge, skills and experience to represent you
and all of the people of Mississauga Erin-Mills in the Legislature of Ontario;
and
c. they have sufficient understanding, through personal experience, of the
history of our City of Mississauga (including its current and future
infrastructure requirements) and the concerns and needs of our neighbours to
equip them to be the best possible advocates for all of the people of
Mississauga Erin-Mills to the Government of Ontario.
I would also recommend that you conduct your own research by searching the
names of each of the 3 remaining candidates on the internet to learn what each
of them, and others, have said about their respective qualifications for the
position of Party Candidate and MPP for Mississauga Erin-Mills. If you have
time, review their respective websites and biographies and ask them questions
about issues that are important to you.
I have serious concerns, however, about the campaign that appears to have been
conducted, directly or indirectly, by or on behalf of, Mr. Nadeem
Shaikh.
I understand that he has denied knowledge of, or responsibility for, any Facebook messages or video messages posted on the internet
by a
More importantly, the author’s solicitation solely to one group in our
community to join our Party with the intended goal of ensuring that each of the
candidates for the Liberal, NDP and PC Parties are all members of that same
group violates our Party’s commitment to inclusiveness and cultural diversity
pursuant to section 2.1 (h) of the Party’s constitution.
In addition, Ms. Siddiqui’s message also counsels
prospective members to return their membership application forms without
completing the fee payment section thereof.
In my view, any membership applications wholly or partially completed in
response to this message do not meet the requirements of the Party’s
constitution.
Additionally, I understand that someone attempted to hire the services of a
female voice actor to record a message directed exclusively at one group within
our community, ostensibly by, or on behalf of, Mr. Shaikh’s
campaign.
The solicitation for the services of a voice actor posted on the voice123.com
website refers to a 430 word script, however, the view-able portion of the
webpage in question, contains only a partial script of approximately 82 words.
The words posted on that webpage are:
“Our Muslim community has recently witnessed the importance and impact of
political engagement. In the federal election our participation was fundamental
to protecting the Canadian Muslim identity of our children, to ensure that they
can practice freely while loving their country. But the lesson for all of us
from this experience is that we must continue to participate politically to
bring religious, social and economic change to many issues that impact us every
day and will impact our children in the future.”
I have not heard a recording of this message, however,
I understand that an automated telephone voice message closely approximating
these words and more, has been received by some residents of
I understand that that Mr. Shaikh has denied any
knowledge of, or responsibility for, the above referenced voice message.
You should also know that the Board of Directors of the Party’s Mississauga
Erin-Mills Electoral District Association appointed a local candidate search
committee (“CSC”) pursuant to the Party’s nomination rules to conduct a search
for potential, credible candidates to seek the Party’s nomination as its
candidate.
The CSC interviewed each of the 5 candidates that eventually came forward
including myself.
I understand that the CSC prepared a report with recommendations which was then
delivered to the Party’s Provincial Nominations Committee for consideration.
I have not received or read a copy of this report.
In my view, all members of the Party in Mississauga Erin-Mills have a right to
receive and review a complete copy of the local candidate search committee
report and their recommendations prior to the nomination meeting.
I wish you all the very best in your deliberations and participation in this
important democratic process.
Best regards,
Bob Dechert
BBC and British parliament launch
offensive against “Fake News”
Stefan Frank/Gatestone Europe/January 16/17
Both British State Television and the British parliament are up in arms against
‘Fake News’. In a way, the entire discussion is reminiscent of the religious
polemics of old. The outright refusal to accept the other camp’s view certainly
feels similar. There is, however, one slight difference. Now, the matters at
stake are actually verifiable.
European newspapers have long had their fact checking guys, but now there’s a
new tier: the guys that fact check the fact checkers, enabled by both
parliament and the state apparatus. The Telegraph reports that:
“An inquiry into “fake news” is set to be launched by an influential
cross-party committee of MPs within months amid fears the phenomenon is
undermining democracy. Executives at Facebook, Google
and Twitter are expected to be called into Parliament and grilled on whether
they are doing enough to stop the trend. The Commons Culture Committee is
discussing launching the inquiry internally and hopes it can begin holding
sessions by late spring or early summer,”
Other British newspapers report that “the BBC is to assemble a team to fact
check and debunk deliberately misleading and false stories masquerading as real
news.” Masquerading as real news? Wow, sudden self-criticism! Even at her age,
Auntie never ceases to surprise us.
No, wait: According to The Guardian, “the plans will see the corporation’s
Reality Check series become permanent, backed by a dedicated team targeting
false stories or facts being shared widely on social media.”
But if you think of an organisation like the Ministry of Truth in George
Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, hold your horses:
“The BBC can’t edit the internet“, BBC news chief James Harding admits. Would
that phrase pass for a subtle reveal of intentions, in the case of getting away
with it?
Maybe. Because after all, no one is
better suited to identify fake news than the very people who create it.
Gatestone Europe asked Hadar
Sela, Managing Editor of BBC Watch, a monitoring
group set up by CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in
America) to debunk fake news at BBC. Her comment:
“The announcement of the establishment of a ‘fake news’ debunking unit by the
BBC once again highlights the fact that it does not employ fact-checkers to
review the accuracy of its own content. As a result of that policy, BBC
audiences have over the years been repeatedly exposed to inaccurate information
of the kind which leads them to believe, for example, that a ‘massacre’ took
place in Jenin in 2002, that the ‘Mavi
Marmara’ was an ‘aid ship’ or that the absence of peace in the Middle East can
be blamed on Israeli building tenders. One can only hope that the BBC’s
approach to ‘fake news’ from other sources will be more rigorous than the current
standard of fact-checking of its own content.”
The Islamization
of
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/January 17/17
“I am not an Islamophobe. Women have the right to wear headscarves, but I do not understand why we are embracing this religion [Islam] and those manners that are incompatible with the freedoms that are ours in the West.” — Pierre Bergé, French fashion mogul.
French security officials rejected an Israeli company’s offer of terrorist-tracking software that could have helped them identify the jihadist cell that carried out the attacks. “French authorities liked it, but the official came back and said there was a higher-level instruction not to buy Israeli technology,” a well-placed Israeli counter-terrorism analyst revealed.
Jacques Hamel, the priest who had his throat slit by two
Muslims in
At least five of the jihadists who carried out the attacks
in
Muslim employees at Air
“There will be no integration until we get rid of this atavistic anti-Semitism that is kept secret. It so happens that an Algerian sociologist, Smain Laacher, with great courage said that ‘it is a disgrace to maintain this taboo, namely that in Arab families in France and elsewhere everyone knows that anti-Semitism is spread with the mother’s milk.’” — Georges Bensoussan, sued for alleged hate speech against Muslims for having made that statement.
The Mayor of Beziers, Robert Menard, was charged with
incitement to hatred for tweeting his regret at
witnessing “the great replacement” to describe
The Muslim population of
Although French law prohibits the collection of official
statistics about the race or religion of its citizens, Gatestone
Institute’s estimate of
What follows is a chronological review of some of the main
stories about the rise of Islam in
JANUARY 2016
January 1. The Interior Ministry announced the most
anticipated statistic of the year: a total of 804 cars and trucks were torched
across
January 3. Raouf El Ayeb, a 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin, was
charged with attempted homicide after he tried to run down four troops who were
guarding a mosque in
January 7. Sallah Ali, a Moroccan born French citizen, stormed a police station in the 18th district of Paris while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” He was carrying a butcher knife, and Islamic State flag and was wearing what appeared to be an explosive belt. Police opened fire and shot him dead. The belt was found to contain fake explosives. Investigators were unsure whether the attack was an act of terrorism or the work of a man who was “unbalanced.”
January 11. A 16-year-old Turkish Kurd brandishing a machete attacked a Jewish teacher outside a school in Marseille. The perpetrator said he had acted “in the name of Allah and the Islamic State.”
January 12. Some 80,000 people applied for asylum in
January 13. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve banned three Islamic cultural organizations that ran the Lagny-sur-Marne mosque, which was closed down as part of a security crackdown. He accused the leaders of the groups of inciting hatred and calling for jihad over a period of several years.
January 15. An Ifop poll for Le Monde found that half (51%) of French Jews feel they are
under threat because they are Jewish; 63% said they have been insulted; and 43%
said they have been attacked. Some 70% of those who said they want to leave
January 27. The Ministry of Culture assigned an “18 and over” rating to “Salafistes,” a documentary which features interviews with North African jihadists. The filmmakers said the government wanted to “kill the film” by banning it from being aired on public TV, and making cinemas reluctant to show it. Filmmakers François Margolin and Lemime Ould Salem insisted that the film should be given as wide an audience as possible. “What has upset the French authorities is not the violence, but the subject itself,” Margolin said. “They want to prevent French citizens from knowing the truth.”
January 28. The Council of State (Conseil
d’État),
FEBRUARY 2016
February 2. Six converts to Islam were arrested in Lyon on
suspicion of seeking to purchase weapons in order to attack swinger clubs in
February 7. An increased police presence in northern
February 9. The Islamic State identified
February 10. The National Assembly, the lower house of
parliament, approved a proposal to amend the constitution to strip people
convicted of terrorist offenses of their French nationality. For the measures
to be fully adopted, they require the support of the Senate, as well as a
three-fifths majority of Congress, the body formed when both houses meet at the
February 15. The Council of State upheld legal provisions that allow the government to block any website that “apologizes for terrorism.” Several digital rights associations had challenged the legality of two decrees related to the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2014.
February 29. Demolition teams began dismantling the southern
part of the “The Jungle,” a squalid migrant camp in the northern port town of
French riot police attempt to control a crowd of migrants in “The Jungle” squatter camp near Calais, on February 29, 2016, as demolition teams begin dismantling the southern part of the camp. After being pelted with stones and other objects, police responded with tear gas and water cannon. (Image source: RT video screenshot)
MARCH 2016
March 3. French MPs rejected a proposal to force manufacturers of mobile phones, tablets and computers to hand over data to the security services. The amendments, inspired by Apple’s refusal to give data to American authorities, were tabled in a debate on an anti-terrorism bill.
March 6. Police embarked on a manhunt for three French girls
suspected of leaving for
March 7. Migrants evicted from “The Jungle” at
March 9. A confidential police report revealed that 17
Muslim police officers assigned to the
March 11. Four girls, including three aged 14 and 15, were arrested in Paris and Lyon after threatening on the Internet to commit jihadist attacks “similar to those on November 13.”
March 22. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls,
reacting to the jihadist attacks in
March 24. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
said police had foiled a terrorist attack that was in an “advanced stage” of
planning. Reda Kriket, a
34-year-old French national, was arrested in
March 30. President François Hollande
dropped a plan to push for a constitutional amendment that would revoke the
citizenship of convicted jihadists. He first raised the idea after the November
2015
March 30. The Minister of Families, Children and Women’s Rights, Laurence Rossignol, accused Muslim activists and Salafists of promoting Islamic fashion in Europe in order to impose political Islam. She said:
“What is at stake is social control over the bodies of women. When European brands invest in the lucrative Islamic fashion market, they are shirking their responsibilities and are promoting a situation where Muslim women are forced to wear garments that imprison the female body from head to toe.”
March 30. French fashion mogul Pierre Bergé criticized European designers who create Islamic clothing and headscarves:
“I am not an Islamophobe. Women have the right to wear headscarves, but I do not understand why we are embracing this religion [Islam] and those manners that are incompatible with the freedoms that are ours in the West.”
APRIL 2016
April 3. French feminist Elisabeth Badinter
called for a boycott of brands that are profiting from Islamic clothing. She
warned that cultural relativism was preventing the French from seeing the
alarming rise of Islamism in
April 12. Prime Minister Manuel Valls
said it was the job of the French government “to demonstrate that Islam, the
second largest religion in
“Some people do not want to believe it, a majority of our fellow citizens are in doubt, but I am convinced that it is possible. That is why we must protect our compatriots of Muslim faith and culture from stigmatization, anti-Muslim acts.”
April 14. Prime Minister Manuel Valls
called for a ban on Muslim headscarves in universities.
April 22. More than 150 migrants from
April 25. French security officials rejected an Israeli
company’s offer of terrorist-tracking software that could have helped them
identify the jihadist cell that carried out the attacks on November 13, 2015.
The offer of data-mining technology that would have allowed French authorities
to “connect all the dots” concerning Islamic extremists was made to the DGSI,
April 29. Ifop poll for Le Figaro found that French attitudes toward Islam are hardening. Nearly half (47%) of French people said the Muslim community poses a “threat” to national identity. Almost two-thirds said Islam has become too “influential and visible.” Only 13% of French people “favor” the construction of mosques in the country, and 63% are opposed to the veil. Ifop Director Jérôme Fourquet explained:
“The deterioration of Islam’s image in
April 30. Canal+ broadcast a documentary about an Islamic
State cell in Châteauroux, a city in central
MAY 2016
May 2. Police evacuated more than a thousand people from a
makeshift migrant camp near the Stalingrad metro station in
May 9. Prime Minister Manuel Valls
unveiled a €40 million ($42 million) plan to build 13 deradicalization
centers, one in each of
May 10. Patrick Calvar, the head
of
May 14. In an interview with Taki’s
Magazine, Jesse Hughes, the leader of the American band Eagles of Death Metal,
discussed the November 2015 jihadist attack on the Bataclan
Theater in
May 20. Two French music festivals, Cabaret Vert and Rock en
May 21. French intelligence officials discovered “jihadist
collusion” among Muslim employees at
“More than 60 passes were withdrawn for ‘inappropriate behavior,’ such as a refusal to trim a beard or to shake
hands with female colleagues. Some employees had their passes withdrawn for
praying in Salafist mosques, others because a copy of
the Koran was found in their lockers. Some were said to have expressed support
for the jihadists who killed 130 people in
May 31. Record numbers of French Jews are leaving
May 31. Migrants evicted from
JUNE 2016
June 3. A new counter-terrorism law expanded eavesdropping powers, such as bugging private residences, installing hidden cameras and using IMSI-catchers to track cellphone conversations. The law also established genuine life sentences for perpetrators of terrorist crimes and toughened the conditions for sentence reductions.
June 8. The Council of State, France’s highest
administrative court, rejected an appeal by five men
stripped of their French nationality after they were convicted of terrorism.
“Due to the nature and seriousness of the terrorist acts committed, the
punishment of the stripping of nationality was not disproportionate,” the
ruling said. The five dual-national citizens involved were sentenced in
June 8. Two men assaulted a female bartender in downtown Nice for serving alcohol on the first day of Ramadan. The men said: “You should be ashamed to serve alcohol during the Ramadan period. If I were Allah, I would have you hanged.” A Tunisian baker was assaulted in the same part of town for selling ham sandwiches.
June 14. Larossi Abballa, a 25-year-old French citizen of Moroccan origin,
stabbed to death a police commander and his wife at their home in Magnanville, a suburb of
June 14. A 32-year-old jihadist stabbed a 19-year-old woman
at a bus stop in
June 15. Maude Vallet, an
18-year-old student from
June 16. A 22-year-old jihadist was arrested at the central train
station in
June 22. Police investigated new threats against Charlie Hebdo, 17 months after eight members of its staff were killed by jihadists. Some 20 “very threatening” messages, including death threats, were posted on the paper’s Facebook page.
June 28. A police spokesman said that 100 officers out of
the 300 currently on duty to protect
June 28. The Roman Catholic Cardinal of Lyon ordered the
removal of seven stone statues of monks killed in
June 30. Two French teenagers were handed suspended prison
sentences for going to
JULY 2016
July 1. Richard Sautour, director
of Restos du Coeur, a charity, was attacked with a
knife and an axe at a soup kitchen in
July 6. Seven men from
July 6. A Senate fact-finding report revealed that the
salaries of 301 imams in
July 6. A French parliamentary commission of inquiry into
the 2015
July 7. Charles de Gaulle airport in
July 12. A court in Nîmes ruled
that
July 14. Mohamed Lahouajej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, rammed a 19-ton cargo truck into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people and wounding more than 400.
July 17. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: “Terrorism will be a part of our daily lives for a long time. Let’s be clear: Times have changed.”
July 18. An Ifop poll for Le Figaro found that 99% of French people consider the terrorist threat in France to be high or very high, but only one-third (33%, -16 points compared to January 2016) trust President François Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls to fight terrorism.
July 19. Mohamed Boufarkouch, a 37-year-old Moroccan, stabbed a 45-year-old mother and her three daughters, aged 8, 10 and 13, at an Alpine resort in Garde-Colombe. The attacker reportedly complained that the victims were scantily dressed. Mayor Edmond Francou said the attacker may have been “psychologically ill,” but a psychiatrist who examined the man did not detect “any particular psychiatric pathology.”
July 19. A 23-year-old Parisian taxi driver was arrested after police raided his home and found explosives, as well as an Islamic State flag, three passports and two driver’s licenses.
July 21. The National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, approved a counter-terrorism law that expands police powers of search, seizure and detention. Maximum sentences for terrorism offenses were also increased to 30 years, up from 10 years
July 25. Piranha Edition, a Paris-based publishing company, reversed its decision to publish a French version of the German bestseller “Der Islamische Faschismus” (Islamic Fascism). German-Egyptian author Hamed Abdel-Samad said the book was due to be published in September, but the publisher backed out after the jihadist attack in Nice.
July 26. Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Nabir Petitjean,
both aged 19, slit the throat of Jacques Hamel, an 85-year-old priest, at a
church in
July 28. The Islamic State news agency AMAQ released a video
showing Abdel-Malik Nabir Petitjean, one of the men who slit the throat of a priest
in
“The times have changed. You will suffer what our brothers and sisters are suffering. We are going to destroy your country. Brothers go out with a knife, whatever is needed, attack them, kill them en masse.”
July 28. A friend of Jacques Hamel, the priest who had his
throat slit by jihadists in
July 28. Authorities in Nice banned a citizens’ march planned for July 31 to commemorate the victims of the jihadist attack in Nice. Police said the threat of another attack was too great.
July 28. More than a dozen Muslim youths firebombed a city
bus
July 29. Prime Minister Manuel Valls
said he was open to a temporary ban on foreign funding of mosques in
July 29. An Ifop poll for Atlantico found that 77% of French people are concerned about terrorism; 58% view terrorism as their main concern.
AUGUST 2016
August 1. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
revealed that “about twenty” radical mosques and prayer rooms were closed
during the first seven months of 2016. “There will be others,” he said. Some
120 of the 2,500 mosques and prayer rooms in
August 1. Anouar Kbibech, the head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith
(Conseil français du culte musulman, CFCM), a Muslim
umbrella group, said he would work with the government to harmonize the
theological formation of imams in
August 3.
August 4. At least five of the jihadists who carried out the
attacks in
August 5. Lille Mayor Martine Aubry
cancelled the Lille Flea Market, one of the biggest in
August 8. Chartres Criminal Court became the first in
August 8. A “very radicalized”
16-year-old girl from the
August 11. A French counter-terrorism officer warned that
Islamic State jihadists were hiding in
“What is happening in The Jungle is truly mind boggling. Our
officers are rarely able to penetrate the heart of the camp. It is impossible
to know if a jihadist from
August 11. Cannes Mayor David Lisnard banned the wearing of burkinis on city beaches. He approved the ban out of “respect for good customs and secularism.”
August 14. Muslims went on a rampage in the Corsican town of
August 21. More than 2,000 people of Chinese origin marched
through the streets of
August 23. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve revealed that French police had arrested as many people for terror links in the first half of 2016 as for all of 2015.
August 25. Israeli fans attending a Europa
League football match between St. Etienne and Beitar
Jerusalem were prohibited from entering the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in
August 25. An Ifop poll published
by Le Figaro found that 64% of people in
“The results are similar to those we measured in April about the veil and headscarf on public streets (63% opposed). Beaches are equated with streets, where the wearing of ostentatious religious symbols are also rejected by two-thirds of the French.”
August 26. The Council of State ruled that municipal authorities in Villeneuve-Loubet, a seaside town on the French Riviera, did not have the right to ban burkinis. The court found that the ban — issued after the jihadist attack in Nice on July 14 — was “a serious and manifestly illegal attack on fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of movement and the freedom of conscience.” The judges ruled that local authorities could only restrict individual liberties if there was a “demonstrated risk” to public order. There was, they said, no evidence of such a risk.
August 26. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
deported two “radicalized” Moroccans because of the threat they posed to public
order. The men were accused of planning jihadist attacks in
August 28. Youness Boussaid and Fatah Bouzid were
sentenced to 18 months in prison for assaulting a couple in the northern town
of
August 28. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called for the creation of an “Islam of France in accordance with the values of the Republic.” In an interview with La Croix, he said:
“
August 30. A 31-year-old Algerian entered a police station
in downtown
August 30. The mayor of a seaside town Cogolin, Marc-Etienne Lansade, said he would maintain a ban on burkinis:
“If you don’t want to live the way we do, don’t come. You
have to behave in the way that people behave in the country that accepted you,
and that is it. If you are accepted in
SEPTEMBER 2016
September 1. A court in Nice suspended the city’s ban on burkinis. The court said the full-length swimsuit worn by some Muslim women did not pose a risk to public order and that the ban constituted and “abuse of power.” The case was brought by the Collective Against Islamophobia (Comité contre l’islamophobie, CCIF), which argued that the ban is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
September 2. Paris Prosecutor François Molins
announced plans to toughen sentences for terrorism offenses. He said that “at
some point” a large number of the 700 French jihadists currently fighting in
the Middle East would be returning to
September 3. Ghislain Gilberti, a French novelist, was assaulted and seriously
injured by a group of Salafists in downtown
September 4. More than 10,000 members of the Chinese
community marched through the streets of downtown
September 5. Hundreds of French truck drivers, businessmen
and farmers blocked off the main route in and out of
September 6. Two families out for a bicycle ride in
September 8. President François Hollande delivered a highly anticipated speech on the theme of “Democracy in the Face of Terrorism.” He called for the creation of an “Islam of France” that would be compatible with French laws on the separation of church and state:
“Is Islam able to admit the separation of law and faith, the foundation of secularism? My answer is yes. The vast majority of our Muslim compatriots bring us proof every day by practicing their religion without disturbing the public order.”
Hollande also called on French taxpayers to begin funding the construction of mosques in order to stop such funding from foreign sources.
September 9. Paris Prosecutor François Molins revealed that three French women, who were arrested after a car loaded with gas canisters was found near Notre Dame Cathedral, were planning, under the direction of Islamic State, to attack Paris’s Gare de Lyon, one of the busiest train stations in Europe. Molins said:
“The transition to action by these young women, who were
directed by individuals within the ranks of Islamic State in
September 9. European security officials estimated that 30
to 40 suspected Islamic State terrorists who helped support the November 13
September 10. An automobile containing two gas canisters was
found parked near the Bar Yohaye synagogue in
Marseille. The vehicle was spotted at around 11AM, a time when Jewish worshipers
were attending Shabbat services. The incident came days after police found a
car loaded with gas canisters near the Notre Dame Cathedral in
September 11. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
said that
“Every Frenchman suspected of being linked to terrorism, because he regularly consults a jihadist website, or his behavior shows signs of radicalization or because is in close contact with radicalized people, must by preventively placed in a detention center.”
September 11. Prime Minister Manuel Valls
warned there would be new jihadist attacks in
September 12. A document leaked to Le Figaro revealed the
government’s plan, dated September 1, to relocate 12,000 migrants from
September 13. The President of the Alpes-Maritimes
region, Eric Ciotti, criticized the government’s
“irresponsible” plan to relocate migrants in
September 13. The government unveiled its first deradicalization center, known as the Center for
Prevention, Integration and Citizenship (Centre de prévention,
d’insertion et de citoyenneté, CPIC). It will be housed in the Château de Pontourny, an isolated 18th-century manor in central
September 13. Three police officers were wounded during an
altercation with human smugglers at the Grande-Synthe
migrant camp near
September 14. Galeries Lafayette,
an upscale department store, reported a 15% drop in foreign shoppers at its
flagship
September 14. The President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
region, Laurent Wauquiez, expressed anger at the
government’s “diktat” to relocate 1,800 migrants from
“This is madness and it is not a matter of solidarity. The
problem of
September 16. Police in
September 16. Three 17-year-old Algerians were arrested for
gang-raping an 18-year-old French woman at the Champ-de-Mars near the
September 17. A 15-year-old French boy was arrested in
September 19. Zeynab Alshelh, a 23-year-old medical student from
September 20. Construction work began on a wall to prevent
migrants at the camp from stowing away on cars, trucks, ferries and trains
bound for
September 21. A whistleblower reported that volunteer aid workers at “The Jungle” were forging sexual relationships with migrants, including children. “I have heard of volunteers having sex with multiple partners in one day, only to carry on in the same vein the following day,” he wrote. “And I know also, that I’m only hearing a small part of a wider scale of abuse.” He added that the majority of cases in question involved female volunteers and male migrants. “Female volunteers having sex enforces the view (that many have) that volunteers are here for sex,” he wrote.
September 22. Two Belgian policemen were arrested after
being found in a French border town with a vanload of migrants. The police van
carrying 13 migrants and the two policemen was stopped by French police in Nieppe, a town on the Belgian border, after crossing from
September 26. President François Hollande
vowed “definitively, entirely and rapidly” to dismantle “The Jungle,” a migrant
camp
September 28. A Parisian decorator filed a complaint against a Saudi Arabian princess who allegedly ordered her body guards to kill him, according to Le Point. The man said he was hired to redecorate her residence in the prestigious 16th district of Paris. Upon arrival, the man took pictures of a room he was assigned to decorate, a standard procedure to ensure that furniture is returned to its original position. The princess, however, went into a rage and accused the decorator of planning to sell the pictures to the media.
The decorator said that two of the princess’s armed bodyguards grabbed him, tied his hands together, hit him in the head and made him kneel and kiss the woman’s feet. Referring to the decorator, the princess then ordered her guards to “kill the dog, he does not deserve to live.”
The
OCTOBER 2016
October 5. Muslim employees at Air
October 8. Four police officers were seriously injured while
conducting a surveillance operation in the Grande-Borne housing area, a no-go
zone in Viry-Châtillon, a southern suburb of
October 9. Some 15,000 Islamic radicals, including some 2,000 children, are on a watch list of Islamic radicals maintained by the French government. Around 4,000 individuals on the list constitute the “top of the spectrum” in terms of danger and are being tracked on a daily basis.
October 11. President François Hollande
acknowledged that “
October 12. Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve jointly presented a draft decree calling for the creation of a National Guard to protect against jihadist attacks. The guard will consist of some 85,000 reservists (40,000 from the armed forces and gendarmerie and 5,000 from the police) by 2018.
October 16. A 32-year-old supporter of the Islamic State identified only as Rocco M. was arrested after he threatened to “blow everything up” at the Nice Côte d’Azur airport. “His behavior suggested radical religious thoughts, expressed in a strong enough way to be worrisome,” said Nice Prosecutor Jean-Michel Priest.
October 17. A 50-year-old teacher at the Paul Langevin primary school in
October 18. Around 500 police officers gathered on the Champs-Elysees to protest increasing violence against law enforcement personnel, after four officers were injured when a group of Muslim youths attacked them on October 8 in Viry-Châtillon.
October 25. Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas announced that “terrorist detainees” in French prisons would no longer be isolated from the rest of the prison population because the practice increased rather than decreased Islamic radicalism. He also said that special anti-radicalization units at prisons in Fresnes, Fleury-Mérogis, Osny and Lille-Annoeullin would be closed down because they were ineffective. Urvoas said French prisons have become “saturated” due to a “surge in terrorist detainees.” Half a dozen Islamic terrorists are being incarcerated each week.
October 30. The
NOVEMBER 2016
November 2. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
ordered the closure of four extremist mosques: the Al-Islah
mosque in Villiers-sur-Marne; the Ecquevilly
prayer room in Yvelines; the Ar
Rawda mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis; and the Masjid Al Fath in Clichy-sous-Bois. Cazeneuve said that
“under the cover of religion the mosques held meetings aimed at promoting a
radical ideology that was contrary to the values of the
November 2. A Kurdish convert to Christianity said he
received death threats while living in makeshift migrant camps outside the
French cities of
“In
November 4. The Moroccan-born French-Jewish scholar Georges Bensoussan, 64, was sued in
“There will be no integration until we get rid of this atavistic anti-Semitism that is kept secret. It so happens that an Algerian sociologist, Smain Laacher, with great courage said that ‘it is a disgrace to maintain this taboo, namely that in Arab families in France and elsewhere everyone knows that anti-Semitism is spread with the mother’s milk.’”
November 7. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
revealed that French police carried out more than 4,000 counter-terrorism
searches since the November 2015 terrorist attacks in
November 12. Sting, the British rock icon, reopened the Bataclan, the
November 13.
November 16. Some 70,500 people applied for asylum in
November 18. Rachid Kassim, a 29-year-old French jihadist of Algerian descent,
who is linked to a string of terror attacks in
“A lot of us are jealous of brothers who attack in dar ul-kufr [an Arabic term for
non-Muslim lands]. We believe that even a small attack in dar
ul-kufr is better than a big attack in
November 18. Prime Minister Manuel Valls
unveiled a new campaign to stop young people joining jihadist groups. The
latest publicity campaign, which aims to combat “propaganda that takes the form
of a musty neo-romanticism,” consists of two videos filmed from the point of
view of a boy and a girl tempted by radicalization. They are interactive,
allowing participants to choose between listening to friends and acquaintances
or jihadist recruiters, and end with the girl in a forced marriage in
November 19. Police discovered an arsenal of weapons — a rocket launcher, bulletproof vests, Mauser pistols, Kalashnikov cartridges and two grenade launchers — in a garage in a shopping center in Évry, a suburb of Paris. Investigators said they had not established a link to terrorism.
November 22. The U.S. State Department added Abdelilah Himich, a Moroccan-born
French citizen who served six months in the French Foreign Legion, to its list
of “specially designated global terrorists.” Himich,
also known as Abu Suleiman Al-Faransi, founded the
300-strong Islamic State “European foreign terrorist fighter cell” and
reportedly helped plan the deadly jihadist attacks in
November 25. Five of the jihadists arrested on November 21
plotted to target the headquarters of
DECEMBER 2016
December 8. Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux launched the
Foundation of Islam of France (Fondation de l’Islam de France). The new foundation is charged with
“contributing to the emergence of an Islam of France that is fully anchored in
the
December 12. Police arrested 11 people suspected of helping
to arm Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel,
the Tunisian who killed 86 people by driving his truck into a crowd in Nice.
Ten suspects were arrested in Nice and another was detained in
December 12. Jobseekers of North African origin face
widespread discrimination in
December 13. The commission charged with overseeing the use of surveillance equipment (Commission nationale de contrôle des techniques de renseignement, CNCTR) reported that French security services monitored the activities of 20,282 people in year October 2015 to October 2016. Nearly half (47%) of those under surveillance during the period were/are suspected jihadists. Another 29% are members of criminal gangs.
December 15. The main suspect in a jihadist attack on a
high-speed train in northern
December 22. The Mayor of Beziers, Robert Menard, was
charged with incitement to hatred for saying that the number of Muslim students
in his city was a “problem.” In an interview with the French news channel LCI,
Menard said: “In a class in the city center in my town, 91% of the children are
Muslims. Obviously, this is a problem. There are limits to tolerance.” He also tweeted his regret at witnessing “the great replacement” to
describe
December 24. The French national rail company, SNCF,
announced that it would deploy armed guards on French trains. The move came
after it emerged that Anis Amri, the presumed author
of the jihadist attack on the Christmas market in
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter. © 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9791/france-islamization
The "Peace
Conference": An Outright Admission of Failure
Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone
Institute/January 17/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9790/paris-peace-conference-failure
After 23 years and billions of dollars, the Palestinians still lack
"infrastructure for a viable... economy." They cannot manage
"service delivery." And there is no "civil society" in
Palestinian Authority (PA) areas able to express dissent or disapproval of Mahmoud Abbas's 12-year power
grab of a 4-year presidential term.
Even the Europeans and John Kerry acknowledge that the Palestinians have no
capacity for self-government. This is, in part, because there has been no
demand by the donor countries for such things as budgetary accountability and
transparency, or a free press and civil society in PA areas to demand more and
better of its leaders.
The PA also pays terrorists and their families with foreign donations. And then
there's the matter of Palestinian corruption and outright stealing.
The Trump Administration will have a lot on its plate beginning this week. But
if it really wants to help the cause of
The Paris Peace Conference was not as bad as it could have been. The British
and Russian governments sent low level delegations. Some of the wording in UN
Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2334 disappeared, and the assembled agreed
to resolve "all permanent status issues on the basis of United Nations
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), and also recalled
relevant Security Council resolutions." Resolution 242 is the benchmark
for
Most interesting, however, is a three-part section toward the end. The
mostly-European plus American gathering:
Expressed their readiness to exert necessary efforts... ensuring the
sustainability of a negotiated peace agreement, in particular in the areas of
political and economic incentives, the consolidation of Palestinian state
capacities, and civil society dialogue. Those could include:
A European privileged partnership; other political and economic incentives and
increased private sector involvement... continued financial support to the
Palestinian Authority in building the infrastructure for a viable Palestinian
economy;
Supporting and strengthening Palestinian steps to exercise their
responsibilities of statehood through consolidating their institutions and
institutional capacities, including for service delivery;
Convening Israeli and Palestinian civil society fora,
in order to enhance dialogue between the parties, rekindle the public debate
and strengthen the role of civil society on both sides.
This is an outright admission of failure.
The
After 23 years and billions of dollars, the Palestinians still lack
"infrastructure for a viable... economy." They cannot manage
"service delivery." And there is no "civil society" in
Palestinian Authority areas able to express dissent or disapproval of Mahmoud Abbas's 12-year power
grab of a 4-year presidential term.
The numbers tell the tale.
According to the UN Development Assistance Committee, the main bilateral donors
to the Palestinians are the
The
"This money has helped build clinics, expand export opportunities, deliver
health services, improve the efficiency of your
ministries, and much, much more... This commitment highlights the continued
support of the American people to address the needs of the Palestinian
people."
The
"Budget support," for the uninitiated, is a euphemism for money to
cover mismanagement, not related to specific programs. According to a 2016
Congressional Research Service document, "From the final year of the
George W. Bush Administration until FY2013, the United States provided amounts
in aggregate of approximately $1.2 billion to a PA treasury account for the
purpose of paying various PA creditors." In addition, $21 million in FY 15
funds that had been withheld over congressional concerns was released in March
2016, and an additional $75 million released at the end of the year.
Trying to aggregate the numbers or split them by country or program is an
exercise in frustration. Suffice it to say the numbers above only give an
outline of the money flow to a sclerotic and kleptocratic
Palestinian Authority. And with all the billions of euros
and dollars floating around, in 2017 -- going on 24 years of the
This is, in part, because there has been no demand by the donor countries for
such things as budgetary accountability and transparency, or a free press and
civil society in the Palestinian Authority areas to demand more and better of its
leaders. The PA pays Hamas employees' salaries, although
The Trump Administration will have a lot on its plate beginning this week. But
if it really wants to help the cause of
**Shoshana Bryen is Senior
Director of the Jewish Policy Center.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The
articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of
Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced,
copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone
Institute.
Hassan Dai/Special to Al Arabiya English/January
17/2017
Since the nuclear agreement between
As a result, it has increased its support to Yemeni rebels and radical Shiite
groups in
In order to implement its long-term strategy in
Iranian support to Taliban became more apparent in May 2016 when the group’s
top leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was killed by
The battle for
On December 12, 2016,
According to Voice of America, “the Afghan Senate said on December 5, 2016 that
it will investigate growing military ties between Taliban insurgents and
A report titled “Iranian Taliban?” published by
The Iranian approach to Taliban has considerably evolved during the past two
decades. In the late 1990s, when the group seized power in
In 2007, after the
The Afghan Units of Iran Revolutionary Guards
After the Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran begun financing and providing
training and military support for some of the Afghan groups that fought Soviet
occupation, a move designed to secure Iranian influence following the Soviet
withdrawal. In early 1986, the Revolutionary Guards established the “Abouzar Brigade” made up of Shiite Afghans, predominantly
poor immigrants living in
Then, in 2013 the Revolutionary Guards formed a new Afghani unit called “Fatemiyoun” and deployed it to
So what are their goals?
While maintain good relation with Afghan government,
But
Tiran and Sanafir
are Egyptian, after all
Jo Schietti/Arab News/January 17/17
Monday's final court ruling over the Red Sea islands came amid public outcry at
Sisi government's unpopular agreement with Saudi
Arabia, reports Jo Schietti.
The final verdict closed a round of hearings that turned down appeals in the
case - in which the government sought court approval for the contentious
agreement based on which the two islands were deemed to be within Saudi
territorial waters.
The
"The court has confirmed the islands are Egyptian,
Judge Ahmed El-Shazly said in court that "
The maritime demarcation deal has sparked widespread criticism of the
state in the past year. A statement was this month signed by around 3,000
Egyptian public figures, politicians and activists voicing their rejection to
the transfer of the islands to
Speaking to local newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, Attiya Moussa,
MP for Sharm el-Sheikh, said that he never thought
the day would come when he would be asked whether
MP for Ras Sudr, Nour Salama, categorically
rejected the agreement, stressing that both islands were always Egyptian.
Likewise, Mount Sinai MP Gharib Hassan and
Sarah Saleh, MP for
Scores of Egyptians took to the streets in April last year over
Rights lawyer Malek Adly
and journalists Amr Badr
and Mahmoud al-Sakka were
among those arrested.
Two weeks ago, twelve people were arrested near the Journalists'
Syndicate in downtown
This agreement no longer exists after it was voided by the administrative
judiciary, but the government insists on implementing it
"This agreement no longer exists after it was voided by the
administrative judiciary, but the government insists on implementing it and
delivering the islands to
Fresh demonstrations against the Egyptian-Saudi island deal were
rescheduled to last Saturday, then indefinitely
postponed by the organisers after a court ruling changed the protest location
from outside the cabinet headquarters in downtown
Based on a controversial 2013 law, authorities have to receive
notification 72 hours prior to a protest, or it is deemed illegal and those
participating risk prison terms and heavy fines. Thousands have been detained
over the past four years for protesting, and are serving harsh prison
sentences.
Growing opposition to the border deal has come from lawyers, activists as
well as from a large number of MPs - including some who are usually close to
the state.
This is a "sentimental issue" for the Egyptian people, given
the historic role of the islands in the nation's defence, commented law
professor Dr Dalia Hussein. She made reference to the wars with
Tiran and Sanafir are strategically positioned
at the southern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, which leads to
We're dealing with a dictatorial regime that is seeking to satisfy its
strategic ally [
Still, popular dissent has been largely ignored
by Sisi.
"We're dealing with a dictatorial regime that is seeking to satisfy
its strategic ally [
"We opponents are treated like traitors, those who want to destroy
the country," he added. "But we have to fight for our historic rights
and natural resources."
The legal dispute surrounding the Red Sea islands case goes back to April
2016, when President Sisi transferred
The government claimed that the islands originally belonged to
To challenge the claim, the legal team provided evidence in support of
Egypt's ownership of the islands that included historic maps, three items of
British correspondence dating back to 1936, a 1940 Cambridge University atlas,
and documents referring to Egypt's control over the islands under a 1906
maritime treaty between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire - before the founding of
Saudi Arabia in 1932.
Adly described as "untrue rumours"
the two main arguments used regarding status of the two islands: first, that they had never been Egyptian, and second,
sovereignty over the islands had been ceded to
Citing Article 151 of the Constitution, Dr Hussein affirmed that it was
prohibited to conclude any deal giving away any part of
"In all cases, no treaty may be concluded which is contrary to the
provisions in the Constitution or which leads to concession of state
territories," the article stipulates.
In June, an Egyptian administrative court annulled the maritime accord
signed by Premier Sherif Ismail, saying it
contravened the constitution. The government appealed the ruling on several
fronts. In November, the court denied the state's appeal and accepted the
defence's request to force the state to comply with the June verdict.
In a surprise turn, at the end of December, the cabinet decided to send
the agreement to parliament for approval anyway - despite it having been
declared void by the State Council. Parliament, however, refrained from
planning any hearings on the matter. Then Monday's verdict put an end to the
case. Legal defendant Adly maintained that the
final ruling sends a message across the country that the president and his
government had betrayed
"It also sends a message outside, that this regime is making illegal
deals with other countries," the lawyer noted. "I think this case
will affect future deals as this government clearly disregards our
constitution, our laws and our people."
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/January 17
The Scorpion and the Frog is an animal fable about a
frog that carries a scorpion on its back across a river. The frog is first
hesitant to carry the scorpion out of fear of being stung but the scorpion
insists it wouldn't. However, the scorpion does indeed sting the frog and when
the latter asks it why it did so, the scorpion replies saying it was its
natural for it to do so.
Last week,
All this embarrasses President Barack Obama who ends his eight years as
president this week. Obama is the only president who carried the Iranian regime
on its back since 1979. He cancelled the policy of five former American
presidents and negotiated with the Iranians and signed generous agreements with
them after lifting economic sanctions and keeping silent over their crimes in
In all cases, there are few days before the inauguration of the
president-elect. After that, we will observe how the Iranian regime will deal
with the new American government. Will it dare intercept its vessels and detain
its sailors or open fire at military vessels present in Gulf waters?
Preparations are underway in
All three men clearly accused
Unleashing the monsters
If they execute what they threaten
This was not necessary and it's time for
This article was first published on January 17, 2017, in Asharq
Al-Awsat.
China: Future of Yuan currency policy and
Gulf implications
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/January
17/17
The war of words is heating up between China and Mr Trump, a few days before
his formal inaugurations as President on Friday 20 January with the Chinese
blasting Donald Trump for "playing with fire" after the US
president-elect appeared to question the One China policy again. Mr Trump said
in an interview on Friday that the policy was negotiable. Under the
longstanding policy, the
"I fully understand the 'one
The Chinese Yuan, which threatened to break below the psychological 7.000 level
against the dollar going into the New Year, instead reversed and surged over
the first two trading days of 2017, pulling the dollar down against major
global currencies along with it. But this was short-lived and the US dollar has
been making strong gains against major world currencies on the premise that the
new
Divergent paces
Chinese officials believe that for 2017 the US and Chinese economies will
continue to grow at divergent paces, and the US Dollar will continue to
strengthen. In the big picture, it is clear that the number one and two major
global economies – the
This has led to the following four principles to guide foreign exchange (FX)
and reserve management policy.
First, despite accusations of manipulation, that ensuring the relative
stability of FX reserves is a higher priority than defending the Yuan exchange
rate. In other words, the People’s Bank of China ( PBoC)
should not unduly sacrifice FX reserves to stabilize the exchange rate; second,
the PBoC should nevertheless continue to try and
maintain the pace of depreciation against the dollar at a “slight” level vis a vis other major currency
depreciations against the dollar, meaning the Yuan should not weaken much more
against the dollar than other major currencies do; third, the PBoC should continue reducing dollar assets as a portion of
the country’s FX reserves, translating primarily into a continued sale and
gradual reduction in the size of China’s US treasury holdings, and fourth, that
FX reserves should in turn be invested more heavily in countries along the “One
Belt, One Road” Initiative Europe, Russia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and
parts of Middle East like the Gulf countries, to the extent feasible, which is
good news for countries like Saudi Arabia with its Vision 2030 placing the
country as a central location for trade and manufacturing.
Despite holding the world’s largest dollar FX reserves, the Chinese have been
faced by some sharp capital outflow and FX drawdown pressures, and Beijing has
imposed restrictions on the ability of individuals to invest their annual
$50,000 FX quota overseas, as well as a huge squeeze in funding interest rates
for holders of Yuan short positions – with Hong Kong overnight Yuan rates at
one point hitting a high of 80%. Chinese officials believe the bulk of the
recent pressure on Yuan devaluation has not come from foreign speculators, but
from Chinese citizens.
Despite holding the world’s largest dollar FX reserves, the Chinese have been
faced by some sharp capital outflow
In a very quiet manner, there has been a degree of
unspoken
2018, for what it’s worth, is expected to bring in a year of modest Yuan
appreciation. But for now, China’s economy is still slowing, with growth trend
still seen to be L-shaped at between a 6.5% to 7% growth level, while the US is
picking up pace. Officials thus fully expect dollar strength to continue, while