LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 28/14
Bible Quotation for today/God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble
Peter's First Letter 5/1-11: " I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly; neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away. Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen
Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 27 & 28/14
What Christians mean to Walid Jumblatt/By: Michael Young/The Daily Star/August 28/14
Hezbollah must take back seat in fight against ISIS: analysts/By: Kareem Shaheen/The Daily StarAugust 28/14
Hezbollah is no stranger to takfir/By: Alex Rowell/August 28/14
An open letter to Iraq’s PM-designate Abadi/By: Mohammed Fahad al-Harthi/28 August/14
Lebanese Related News published on August 27 & 28/14
Security Council Extends UNIFIL Mandate
March 14 accuses FPM of stirring civil war
Geagea Reiterates Proposal to Withdraw Candidacy, Calls for End of Political Impasse
Patriarchs urge end to assault on Christians in region
Patriarchs of the Orient to Urge Major Powers for Protection of Christians
Army arrests 22 Syrians in north Lebanon
Berri puts faith in Saudi-Iran talks
Salam Meets Berri: Competition among Politicians Jeopardizing Lives of Soldiers taken from Arsal
Berri puts faith in Saudi-Iran talks
Jumblatt proposes three-year presidential term
Hujeiri Denies Gunmen Infiltrated Arsal, Slams False 'Rumors'
Two Kids Struck by Car and Killed
Lebanese Kidnapped in Nigeria Released for Ransom
Berri Urges Hariri to Speed up Assistance to Lebanese Army
Caccia: Presidential Stalemate to End in September
France Detains Accomplice of Napoleon Hotel Potential Suicide Bomber
Derbas Says 8,000 Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon
Report: Jumblat Inquired Christian Officials on Possible Presidential Breakthrough
Clash Erupts in Ain el-Hilweh as Gaza Celebratory Gunfire Kills Man
ISIS: Lebanese man behind Baghdad suicide blast
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 27 & 28/14
Iran: Hamas 'brought Israel to its knees
Hamas' decentralized structure complicated truce
The Israeli-made Hermes 450 drone downed by Iran over Natanz took off from
Azerbaijan
Israeli source: US will back Israel in UN
Phares: West can't ignore ideology of radicalization
Saudi court jails 18 for 'terrorism' offences
ISIS executes soldiers, takes hostages at Syria base
Rebels take Golan Heights crossing
U.N.: Executions 'Common Spectacle' on Jihadist-Held Syria
Turkey Ruling Party Confirms Davutoglu as Erdogan Successor
Top Saudi officials head to Qatar to heal breach
Patriarchs Of the Orient urge end to
assault on Christians in region
Samar Kadi| The Daily Star
28 August/14
BEIRUT: The patriarchs of Eastern churches appealed Wednesday to the
international community to act quickly to stop attacks on Christians by takfiri
militants, deploring lukewarm stances of world powers at a time when the very
existence of Christians in Iraq and Syria is at risk.
The prelates made the appeal after a meeting with U.N. Special Coordinator in
Lebanon Derek Plumby and the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the
U.N. Security Council at the seat of the Maronite Church in Bkirki, northeast of
Beirut.
“The international community cannot keep silent about the existence of the
so-called ISIS. They should put an end to all extremist terrorist groups, and
criminalize aggression against Christians and their properties,” the patriarchs
said in a statement issued at the end of the meeting chaired by Maronite
Patriarch Beshara Rai.
They called on the world’s big powers to deprive extremist groups of resources
by compelling countries financing them to stop their support.
“The international community is requested to cooperate with Iraq and work
quickly to liberate Christian towns, facilitate the return of the people to
their homes and ensure their security and safety,” the statement said. “The
Christians’ very existence is at stake in several Arab countries, notably in
Iraq, Syria and Egypt, where they have been exposed to the ugliest acts, forcing
them to emigrate.
The statement said the patriarchs called on political groups to facilitate the
election of a president of the republic in order to preserve Lebanon’s stability
and security and keep it safe from regional conflicts.
Rai cautioned the envoys of the Big Five and the U.N. representative that the
persisting presidential deadlock in Lebanon jeopardized the only Christian top
post in the Arab world, at a time when Christians are being persecuted in Iraq
and Syria, political sources told The Daily Star.
The sources said the patriarch explained that the explosive situation in Iraq
and Syria had adverse effects on Lebanon that were bound to be further
exacerbated by the absence of a head of state, hence the need for their
countries to deploy their utmost efforts to help end the deadlock. The Lebanese
patriarch underscored the importance of having a stable and secure Lebanon to
confront threats of rampant terrorism sweeping the region. “Rai told the foreign
envoys that it is in the interest of world powers to help reinforce the
capacities of the national Army in order to make it better armed and equipped to
combat terrorism, which is threatening to spread from Iraq and Syria,” the
sources said. U.N. Special Coordinator Derek Plumbly said he assured Rai the
international community was aware of the importance of preserving Lebanon’s
unity and stability, especially at this time of regional upheavals.
Plumbly said he agreed with the patriarch “that a prolonged vacuum in the
presidency would be a matter of grave concern” and that the urgency of the issue
should be obvious to everybody.
In addition to Rai, the meeting grouped Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses
Bedros XIX, Syriac Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan, Chaldean Patriarch Louis
Raphael Sako, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, Armenian Orthodox
Patriarch Aram I, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, the head
of the Evangelical Council Rev. Salim Sahyouni, and a representative of the
Roman Orthodox Church. It was attended by U.S. Ambassador David Hale, British
Ambassador Tom Fletcher and Russian Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin, in addition
to the charges d’affaires of France and China and Papal Nuncio Gabriele Caccia.
Rai headed a delegation of the Eastern patriarchs who visited Iraq earlier this
month to show support and solidarity with Iraqi Christians suffering at the
hands of ISIS militants in the northern city of Mosul.
International alarm has grown over the exodus of Christians from Iraq after ISIS
seized large swaths of the country following its capture of the northern city of
Mosul in June.
Christians, along with other Iraqi minorities, are reportedly being given the
choice to convert, pay a tax for non-Muslims, leave the country or face
execution.
While several Western countries, including France, have offered asylum to the
fleeing Christians, the community’s religious leaders in Iraq and the region
have rejected such offers, insisting that the Christian community must maintain
its presence in the Middle East.
What Christians mean to Walid Jumblatt
Michael Young| The Daily Star
28 August/14
Walid Jumblatt has faced a wave of criticism in recent days over his comments on
the presidential election. For the Druze leader, Lebanon needs a president
quickly, and he recently observed that the presidency did not belong solely to
the Christians. On Monday, in a speech in Bsharri, the parliamentarian Strida
Geagea expressed her “surprise” at Jumblatt’s comments, asking “would [he]
accept that the head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, discuss the number of
Druze parliamentary seats with the speaker of Parliament?”
Geagea’s comparison was very odd. In constitutional terms, the president is “the
symbol of the nation’s unity,” so Jumblatt, like anyone else in the country, is
entitled to talk about the presidency without this in any way undermining the
foundations of the National Pact, as Geagea implied. If a vacuum in the
presidency negatively affects Lebanon’s stability, then it is not Maronites
alone who are entitled to address and remedy the situation. But reactions such
as Geagea’s also show a lack of understanding of what sustains Jumblatt’s power.
The Druze leader, while he exerts control over Christians in the areas he
represents, is also dependent on their being effective political actors
nationally. Once Christians are marginalized – so that major national decisions
are taken principally by Sunni and Shiite representatives – Jumblatt and the
Druze will be too.
That’s why, at their last meeting, Jumblatt warned Hezbollah’s
secretary-general, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, that Christians and Druze were
leaving Lebanon, implying that a presidential void would only heighten
insecurity and accelerate the process. And it is why Nasrallah, who has shown
little sympathy for the rules and compromises of the sectarian system, and no
appreciation that a Christian cushion between Sunnis and Shiites benefits both
communities at a time of rising mutual tension, evaded an answer. The Maronite
relationship with Jumblatt is a complex one. Many have not forgotten that the
Druze leader, when he sought to improve his relationship with the Shiite
community and the Syrian regime in 2009, apparently leaked a video taken on a
portable telephone in which he referred to the Maronites as a “bad type” or “bad
seed.” The description was harsh, even if Jumblatt’s reversal was understandable
at the time, coming at a moment when Saad Hariri, at the Saudis’ instigation,
was about to begin a reconciliation process with President Bashar Assad.
The paradox of Jumblatt leadership is that it has tended to work against the
Maronites while depending upon them. Kamal Jumblatt was instrumental in bringing
Camille Chamoun to power in 1952, though he was soon caught up in a bitter
rivalry with the president. And when Fouad Chehab succeeded him in 1958,
Jumblatt became a staunch ally, serving several times as a minister. The
Jumblatts’ ability to gain from inter-Christian divisions has been a recurring
feature of their strategy; but their preference for nonpartisan presidents has
also been very clear.
That is why Jumblatt made such a big deal of his political alliance with
President Michel Sleiman. To Sleiman’s credit he immediately understood this,
and saw that the presidency gained by allying itself with Jumblatt in the
political center. This explains why one of Sleiman’s last high-profile visits
was to Mukhtara. It served as an endorsement of Jumblatt’s role as a balancer in
the system and someone who could counter the extremes. Significantly, Sleiman
saw a similar role for the presidency.
Jumblatt and the Druze would potentially pay for Sunni-Shiite conflict on two
levels: They would be caught up in a battle taking place all around their
mountains, and even several areas within. This would devastate the already
vulnerable mountain economy, spurring a Druze exodus. And such an exodus would
effectively terminate the Jumblatt leadership.
That explains why Jumblatt, whose militia was responsible for the expulsion of
Christians from the mountains in 1983, took the lead in bringing them back once
the war had ended. Economically speaking, the Christian return helped revive the
mountain, while the Jumblatt leadership only lost by being perceived as having
only narrow Druze appeal. Jumblatt has always sought to portray himself as the
leader of a broad coalition of Druze, Sunnis and Maronites, and his insistence
on keeping Henri Helou in the presidential race is a sign of this.
That is why Strida Geagea’s comments showed impetuous disdain for Jumblatt’s
approach to confessional politics, even as her remarks revealed that the Geageas
have not forgiven the Druze leader for failing to back Samir Geagea’s candidacy.
Jumblatt’s perennial quest to keep alive his traditional family domination in
the mountains has earned him many enemies, not least among Christians who may
form a majority there. Walid Jumblatt may not be a modern democrat but he has
done two things in the areas he controls that are worth remembering. He has
chosen for his lists non-Druze who have local legitimacy and a measure of
representativity; and he has preserved confessional coexistence. It has been in
his political interest to do so, but that does not make his efforts any less
credible.
Rarely a day goes by without Christians lamenting their future in the Middle
East. If so, those who claim to worry about the Christians must realize that in
a country where they still hold a major political post, the community as a whole
loses if the presidency remains empty and comes to be regarded as unnecessary.
When Jumblatt echoes this, he is not ignoring the National Pact. He is reminding
Christians of its importance.
***Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR. He tweets @BeirutCalling.
Hezbollah must take back seat in fight against ISIS:
analysts
Kareem Shaheen| The Daily Star
28 August/14
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army must take the lead in the fight against militants
linked to ISIS here as part of a regional coalition against the group, experts
said, though Hezbollah is likely to remain a key player in the battle. Still,
the emerging regional consensus that ISIS is a threat that must be fought is
likely to help pave the way for a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran,
which could in turn revive dialogue between bickering political factions in
Lebanon, the experts said. “Lebanon, specifically, is key to the dynamics of the
fight against ISIS, not least because of Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria and
because of the jihadists’ presence alongside the Lebanese border,” said Hassan
Hassan, a Syrian analyst at the Delma Institute who has written extensively
about the rebellion against President Bashar Assad’s regime. The United States
has in recent days launched airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, and carried out
surveillance flights over Syria, raising the prospect of strikes there. Both
Iran and Saudi Arabia have also expressed a desire to crush the militant group,
which has occupied large swaths of land in Syria and Iraq. The prospect of a
regional coalition against ISIS has relevance to Lebanon, where the Army earlier
this month fought a pitched battle for the border town of Arsal, a bastion of
the Syrian opposition, which was briefly overrun by ISIS and Nusra Front
militants.
Sami Nader, the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said the
recent fighting in Arsal against ISIS should offer a case study on how Lebanon
can contribute to the fight against the terror group. The first lesson from the
battle of Arsal is that the fight cannot take on a sectarian bent. “You can’t
put Hezbollah in front of Daesh,” Nader said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
While Hezbollah is better armed than the Army, has more combat experience and
probably a stronger drive to fight ISIS, it cannot be at the forefront of the
fight without enflaming sectarian tension. Nader said the party appeared to
realize that and took a back seat in the fight against the militants in Arsal.
He said the Lebanese Army must be at the forefront of the attempts to secure the
border and prevent Syrian militants from passing into Lebanon unhindered, but
that the military needs the international community’s support.
Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion to help modernize the Lebanese military as it
fought the Arsal militants.
Nader said the other lesson from Arsal is that an alliance with moderate Sunnis
is necessary in order to combat extremist phenomena like ISIS in Lebanon and the
broader region. He cited the example of the U.S. empowering moderate Sunnis
against Al-Qaeda as part of the Anbar Awakening campaign during the occupation
of Iraq.
Moderate Sunnis could be empowered through offering sufficient security
guarantees that would allow for former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to remain in
Beirut, as well as by offering support to moderate Syrian rebels fighting the
regime of President Bashar Assad, Nader said. But he warned against U.S.
airstrikes that would be seen as aiding the Assad regime, likening it to
“putting oil on the fire” of Sunni anger.
Hassan said that any American airstrikes against the group in Syria is likely to
increase the polarization around the conflict in Lebanon, especially if
Hezbollah continues to fight there, enflaming Sunni anger.
“Hezbollah’s involvement and rumors that the Americans might work with Assad
against jihadists are dangerous ingredients for increased sectarian antagonism,”
Hassan said. “Unless the fight against ISIS means a step forward for the Syrian
opposition, any involvement of Hezbollah will backfire.”
But Hassan said Hezbollah could play a constructive, “essential” role in
Lebanon, because its ideology offers a counterweight to ISIS and the party’s
rhetoric condemning “takfiris” resonates among some of the Sunnis in Lebanon.
In addition, the party’s role on the border to help prevent the spillover of
jihadists into the country “will be unavoidable for the foreseeable future,” he
said.
Aron Lund, a Swedish journalist and analyst who authored several reports on the
Syrian opposition, said Hezbollah will seek to combat the growth of ISIS cells
in Lebanon as well as preventing them from crossing the border – more of what
the party has been doing for the last few months.
But he pointed out that, while Hezbollah seems to be militarily effective in
Syria, they do not appear to have been involved in many direct confrontations
with ISIS itself.
“They’ve mostly fought other rebel factions, who are enemies of both ... [ISIS]
and of Assad,” he said.
“As far as I am aware, Hezbollah’s main zones of influence in Syria are close to
the Lebanese border, in Qalamoun and in the Qusair area, and in the capital
Damascus, as well as in some Shiite communities elsewhere, such as in Busra
al-Sham,” he added.
ISIS “hasn’t had a strong presence in these areas, although that may be
changing.”
Hassan said the new anti- ISIS push will benefit Hezbollah, Syria and Iran, who
are presenting themselves as the counterweight to ISIS.
“The Iranians and their allies are trying to seize the opportunity of the
widespread alarmism toward ISIS to present themselves assertively as effective
partners,” Hassan added.
Nader, the Levant Institute’s director, said a regional alliance involving Saudi
Arabia and Iran against ISIS could pave the way for a rapprochement between
bickering political factions in Lebanon, and perhaps to the election of a new
president, despite long-standing differences on key issues like Hezbollah’s
arms.
In addition to policing the jihadist presence, Lund said the Lebanese effort
must include addressing the Syrian refugee crisis hand in hand with empowering
“a responsible and inclusive central government.”
Lund said Lebanon’s problems were bigger than ISIS, and centered around the
sectarian and political tension linked to the conflict in Syria. The group is
“very interested in setting Lebanon alight” as a way of drawing fighters to it
and feeding off of sectarian tension in the country.
“As long as [ISIS] doesn’t have a presence on the Lebanese border, one shouldn’t
focus on ISIS as an organization, but rather on the growth of conflict and
tension in Lebanon,” he said.
“In the end, the important thing is not whether jihadi attacks are claimed by
ISIS or Al-Qaeda or the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, what matters is to prevent
those attacks and reducing support for that sort of militancy.”
Jumblatt proposes three-year
presidential term
The Daily Star/Druze leader Walid Jumblatt appears to be making progress in his
fight to bring all Lebanese factions together to elect a new president, with a
surprising proposal that is nonetheless gaining traction. Jumblatt has proposed
a one-time constitutional amendment to shorten the presidential term to three
years in exchange for electing a president from outside the March 8 and March 14
political coalitions, an informed political source told The Daily Star. The
source said that this plan for an internal agreement began with Jumblatt’s
meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri, who is concerned for the fate of the
constitutional institutions if politicians continue to pursue their own narrow
interests at the expense of the state. The crisis in Arsal appears to have
awakened politicians to the need to shore up the Lebanese state, Army and
security forces in the face of widespread regional instability. Jumblatt has
taken it upon himself to spearhead an internal dialogue, but has attempted to
keep the specifics of his negotiations a secret for fear of undermining his own
efforts. In addition to shortening the presidential term, Jumblatt’s proposal
calls for holding parliamentary elections according to a “modern law” that would
improve democratic representation. It rejects the extension of Parliament’s
mandate before an agreement is reached on the presidential election.
The proposal also calls for updating the law of political parties to include
“safety valves” to prevent the eruption of civil strife and ease political
tensions on the street. According to this logic, political differences should be
kept in the political arena. Political platforms should be formulated with the
sincere intention of increasing legitimate popular support and giving a voice to
marginalized groups that now have no choice but to resort to disruptive tactics
in order to get their voices heard, as evidenced by the ongoing strikes over the
wage scale.
The proposal calls for developing and updating the capabilities of the Lebanese
Army and other security agencies. More recruits should be hired, and a new
leadership council appointed as part of a comprehensive national security
policy, rather than a series of ad hoc regional “security plans.” Jumblatt has
reportedly taken to calling this interim three-year president a “salvation
president” in an effort to convey the importance of electing a new head of
state. In this vein, Jumblatt has recommended the election of former Minister
Jean Obeid, which, he has reportedly insisted, would strengthen Lebanon to face
the “regional earthquake” and allow time to resolve the internal Lebanese
political sphere.
So far, most political parties have expressed openness to this plan, although
most are preoccupied with regional and international developments, particularly
the American proposal for an international coalition to fight ISIS. However, the
main obstacle, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, the unofficial
candidate of the March 8 bloc, remains. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah
reportedly told Jumblatt in their meeting that Aoun would have to approve any
agreement on the presidency. According to the source, the meeting between Aoun
and Jumblatt in Rabieh was not entirely positive, as Aoun continues to cling to
the idea of direct elections in two phases. He also is not convinced that the
regional conditions are ripe for an internal agreement, despite efforts to
improve Saudi-Iranian relations and an Egyptian initiative to bridge the gap
between the Assad regime and Saudi Arabia.The sources said former Prime Minister
Saad Hariri agreed in theory to shorten the presidential term. Jumblatt and
Berri are also awaiting preliminary approval from Riyadh and Paris to go forward
with their plan
ISIS says Lebanese man behind suicide attack in Iraq
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: ISIS has announced that a Lebanese man carried out a
suicide attack that killed 15 people in Baghdad Tuesday, the first case of its
kind since the radical group expanded in Iraq.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which has taken control of
swaths of land in Iraq and Syria, said that Abu Talha al-Lubnani, a nom du
guerre, packed his vehicle with 300 kilograms of explosives and detonated it in
a crowded center in New Baghdad, east of the capital. The attack killed 15
people and wounded at least 37 people in the popular intersection during the
morning rush hours, AFP reported. A picture of the alleged suicide bomber
carrying a weapon with the caption "the creators of life," circulated on social
media. The man was identified as Hisham al-Hajj from the northern city of
Tripoli. A number of Tripoli residents have joined the ranks of the Syrian
opposition including the Free Syrian Army and Nusra Front and have carried out
suicide attacks against the Syria Army. Hajj is the first Lebanese to have been
reported to carry out an attack in Iraq.
Berri puts faith in Saudi-Iran talks
The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday expressed hope
that talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran would ward off threats facing the
region. “I am counting on the Saudi-Iranian meeting to fight off the danger
facing the region,” Berri said during his weekly meeting with lawmakers. “We
also hope that additional circumstances exist to face off the threat of
terrorism,” he added, stating that dialogue was one way to address this growing
crisis. Another way to deal with terrorism, according to Berri, was to “open a
window for Saudi-Iranian rapprochement.” His comments came after Iran’s Deputy
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian held what he called a “positive and
constructive” meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in
Riyadh Tuesday as the two regional rivals seek to counter Islamist militants in
Iraq.The lightning offensive by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and
Greater Syria (ISIS), which has seized wide swaths of territory in Syria and
Iraq, has spurred contacts among many rival groups to face the growing threat.
Phares: West can't ignore ideology of radicalization
Published August 26, 2014/FoxNews.com
The brutal murder of American journalist James Foley has turned the spotlight on
the role radical imams play in recruiting young men from industrialized nations
to join militant fighters in Syria and Iraq.
One such imam is Anjem Choudary, a radical London preacher who has called for
the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and the adoption of Sharia Law in the
United Kingdom.
Appearing on Fox News' "Happening Now," terrorism analyst Walid Phares explained
that existing laws can do little to curb Choudary's inflammatory rhetoric.
"The problem in Western liberal societies... is that we don't act against
ideology, we don't have legislation against ideology as the Germans or French
have against Nazism, for example," Phares said. "And because we haven't had this
possibility, we are waiting -- law enforcement are waiting for [Choudary] to
make a mistake, to make a mistake with the law.
"Basically, he could do anything," Phares warned. "He could call for
caliphate... he could even say, 'I support Al Qaeda'... and nothing could
happen. The only thing that could happen under that law, under these laws is if
he is materially, physically supporting the terrorists and he is very careful.
He's doing 95 percent of the work and the last 5 percent the jihadists are
doing."
Negotiations for Islamic State’s Lebanese hostages turn sour
Maya Gebeily & Carol Malouf/Now Lebanon
27/08/2014
Lebanese hostages held by the IS and Jabhat al-Nusra are threatened with
beheading as the Muslim Scholars Committee withdraws from negotiations
After some initial success, negotiations for the release of over 30 Lebanese
hostages held by the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra took a turn for the worse
this weekend, when the Lebanese religious institution mediating the talks
suspended their involvement. Citing challenges in securing the militants’
demands, the Muslim Scholars Committee said it would “make way for other
intermediaries” to get involved. But with the militants reportedly refusing to
work with anyone but the committee, the hostage negotiations may be in freefall.
The 38 captives, all members of either the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) or
Internal Security Forces (ISF), were taken by militants during five days of
clashes in Arsal earlier this month. They are being held by local branches of
al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in the no-man’s-land
between Lebanon and Syria. The Muslim Scholars Committee had made at least one
trip to Arsal’s dusty outskirts to negotiate face-to-face with Abu Talal, the
local head of the IS, who is reportedly holding 11 of the hostages. Abu Malek,
Jabhat al-Nusra’s local chieftain, is believed to be holding around 25.
Recently-published videos appear to show the captives in good health, but
visibly shaken.
After nearly two weeks of grueling negotiations, it appeared the Muslim Scholars
Committee had finally gained the militants’ trust. On August 17, Jabhat al-Nusra
released two members of the ISF as a good-will gesture, and the IS had promised
to release an LAF soldier in the following two days. Things were looking up for
the negotiators, who felt their hard work was finally paying off.
Sadly, events in the past week have led to a complete turnaround. According to
Committee member Sheikh Samih Ezzedine, the IS had a sudden change of heart
about its upcoming hostage release. Threatening to behead its captives, the IS
told the Muslim Scholars Committee it wouldn’t release any more hostages before
“seeing some positive signs from the Lebanese government.”
The IS’s hardening stance came with the withdrawal of a key interlocutor, Abu
Shamel. A Syrian cleric who heads a militant group in Syria’s Qalamoun region,
Abu Shamel had been central in setting up the direct talks between the Muslim
scholars and the militants. In his absence, the scholars’ communication with the
IS and Jabhat al-Nusra began to falter.
The Committee’s talks with the Lebanese government weren’t faring much better.
Ezzedine said the government had been agonizingly slow in responding to the
militants’ demands, which included the release of an unidentified number of
Syrian Islamists from the notorious Roumieh prison. Although none of the names
have officially been made public, it’s expected that Abu Ahmad al-Jumaa, the
local IS leader whose arrest sparked the Arsal clashes, would be among them. The
government has been silent on this and other, humanitarian demands that sought
better treatment for Arsal’s 100,000-strong Syrian refugee population.In just one week, the Committee’s optimism over progress in the talks had turned
to profound exasperation. After a nearly two-hour meeting with the Council of
Ministers on Friday, the Muslim scholars decided to suspend their involvement in
the negotiations.
“We have the military telling us what we did is worthless. We have the militants
telling us what we offer them is worthless. I have the families of the hostages
calling me every day,” said Sheikh Hussam al-Ghali, a member of the Committee
who strongly favored withdrawal from the negotiations, in unofficial remarks.
“We got two members of the security forces released, and people are telling me
it doesn’t mean anything.”
After working to gain both the militants’ and the government’s trust, the
Committee’s withdrawal deals a significant blow to the momentum of the
negotiations at a time when the stakes are higher than ever. On Friday evening,
Jabhat al-Nusra released a short video of the captured soldiers and ISF members,
calling for Hezbollah’s withdrawal from Syria. “If you don’t withdraw from
Syria, these people will kill us,” said one ISF officer.Those with knowledge of the talks say they don’t expect much progress if the
scholars aren’t involved. “We’re very upset that they pulled out,” said Abu
Ibrahim, a community leader in Arsal who had been facilitating the negotiations
logistically. “We thought they’d be the ones to bring us success and bring the
captives home.”
He believes the impending vacuum may be filled by Lebanon’s head of General
Security, Abbas Ibrahim. Ibrahim previously worked with Turkey and Qatar to
secure the release of 13 nuns being held by Jabhat al-Nusra, and the Muslim
Scholars Committee believes he might prove more successful than they have been.
“We’re not a political entity – we don’t do political work,” insisted Ezzedine.
“If Abbas Ibrahim gets involved, supported by Turkey and Qatar, he may be able
to answer to more of the militants’ demands.” Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouk
has insisted in written remarks that Lebanon would be working to free the
captives without any outside help. If Ibrahim gets involved, it would mark the
first direct negotiations between the Lebanese government and the Islamic State.
But the road to the captives’ release won’t be simple. According to Abu Ibrahim,
Jabhat al-Nusra and the IS will refuse to release the soldiers to anyone but the
Muslim Scholars Committee. Adding to the challenges, Lebanon’s Council of
Ministers has adamantly expressed its opposition to “compromising” with Jabhat
al-Nusra and the IS – a position the Committee said would “close the door to the
negotiations.”
After an initial period of hope, it seems the hostages’ release will be much
more complicated – and more drawn out – than originally expected.
Security Council Extends UNIFIL Mandate
Naharnet /The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend the
mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon and strongly condemned
attempts to threaten the country’s security and stability.
In extending the mission’s mandate until August 31 2015, the Council commended
the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon for helping to establish a “new
strategic environment in southern Lebanon” and called for further cooperation
between the force and the Lebanese army.UNIFIL was established in 1978 to monitor the border between Lebanon and Israel.
Its mission was extended and enlarged to include supporting Lebanese troops
after the 2006 war between the Jewish state and Hizbullah.
The 15-member Council strongly called on all parties concerned to respect the
cessation of hostilities, and to prevent any violation of the Blue Line and to
respect it in its entirety.
It also urged them to cooperate fully with the U.N. and the peacekeeping force.
In a letter sent to the Council last month, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon noted that
UNIFIL continues to play “a crucial role” in ensuring peace and stability in
southern Lebanon, as well as full respect for the Blue Line by both Lebanon and
Israel.
Recent incidents of rockets fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel and of
retaliation by the Israeli army across the Blue Line “are cause for concern,” he
added.
Geagea Reiterates Proposal to Withdraw Candidacy, Calls for End of Political
Impasse
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea revealed on Wednesday that he will
propose again his solution to the presidential deadlock, stressing that the
stalemate should end swiftly.
Geagea said in remarks published in An Nahar newspaper that he will seek with
his March 14 allies to suggest anew his solution to end the presidential
stalemate.
He noted that his “initiative” highlights the selection of another March 14
candidate, but if the allies failed he would remain their sole nominee for the
presidency. In May, Geagea proposed to withdraw his candidacy from the
presidential elections if a deal was reached to back the candidacy of another
March 14 alliance member.
The Christian leader considered that the camp should settle on a candidate ahead
of the upcoming parliamentary session on September 2 to elect a new head of
state. “We are seeking to end the enforced vacuum at the Baabda Palace,” Geagea
told al-Mustaqbal newspaper. The LF chief said that the March 14 coalition has
been pressing to end the stalemate through democratic and civilized means.
However, he expressed regret that “the exerted efforts are being thwarted by the
other team's stubbornness.”
Lebanon's top Christian post was left vacant in May this year when the rival MPs
failed to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman over their differences
on a compromise candidate.
The majority of the March 8 alliance's MPs, including Free Patriotic Movement
leader Michel Aoun's parliamentary bloc, boycotted the sessions aimed at
electing a head of state, causing lack of quorum. Concerning the growing power
of the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant in the region, Geagea accused
the regimes of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
of supporting and nourishing it.
He pointed out that efforts should be exerted to combat this “phenomenon” and
eliminate it as soon as possible. Islamic State militants in Iraq have been
waging a campaign against minorities in Iraq, forcing thousands of people to
flee their homes.
Islamic State (IS) jihadists launched in early June a major offensive in
northern Iraq, sweeping Iraqi security forces aside.
The militants have declared a "caliphate" straddling vast areas of Iraq and
Syria.
Caccia: Presidential Stalemate to End in September
Naharnet/Gabriele Caccia, the papal ambassador to Lebanon, informed the rival
political parties that the country will witness the election of a new head of
state in September. According to al-Liwaa newspaper published on Wednesday,
Caccia, who will accompany Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to the Vatican,
said that the new president will not be from the names circulated in the media
outlets.
Al-Rahi will travel to the Vatican on Thursday to meet with Pope Francis and
other senior officials.
Talks are expected to focus on the presidential deadlock and the exodus of
Christians and minorities in Iraq and Syria. An Nahar newspaper reported that
the Vatican is mulling to dispatch a high-ranking official to Lebanon to tackle
the ongoing presidency impasse. However, the matter hasn't been settled yet,
awaiting contacts with regional and international countries that are concerned
with the polls. Lebanon's top Christian post was left vacant in May this year
when the rival MPs failed to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman over
their differences on a compromise candidate. Media reports had said that the
Vatican considers the presidential elections in Lebanon as a battle of existence
that surpasses the Maronites and focuses on the active Christian role in state
posts in the country and the Middle East.
Lebanese Kidnapped in Nigeria Released for Ransom
Naharnet/A Lebanese expatriate, who was kidnapped in Nigeria, was released for
ransom, reported the National News Agency on Wednesday. It said that Saadallah
al-Seqlawi was abducted some ten days ago by gunmen in Nigeria.
His family refused to disclose details on his release.
Seqlawi hails from the town of Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain in the southern region of
Tyre.
Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, with scores of foreigners,
including those from the sizable Lebanese community, targeted every year.
Berri Urges Hariri to Speed up Assistance to Lebanese Army
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri urged al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad
Hariri to speed up the Saudi military assistance to Lebanon, local dailies
reported on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Hariri announced from Saudi Arabia a grant of $1 billion for
the Lebanese army to help its fight against militants.
This, in addition to a $3 billion grant announced by Riyadh in late December.
On Tuesday, Berri summoned the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the
U.N. Security Council and U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly,
urging them to quickly equip the Lebanese army and security forces.
He later called Hariri to urge him to implement the Saudi grants, the newspapers
said.
Berri has been calling for speedy military assistance since the start of the
month when jihadists overran the northeastern border town of Arsal and engaged
in deadly battles with the army.
They withdrew several days later to Syrian territories after a ceasefire was
brokered by Muslim scholars. But they took with them hostages from the army and
security forces.
Two Kids Struck by Car and Killed
Naharnet /Two children were killed when they were struck by a vehicle in Beirut,
the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.
NNA said that Fatima Wehbe Hamdan was driving her car on the Beirut Airport road
when she hit two-year-old Zakaria Osama al-Tufaili and Sara Abbas Wehbi, 5. The
accident happened on Tuesday night. Hamdan was arrested and her vehicle was
impounded based on instructions from the general prosecutor's office, NNA added.
It was not clear if the children were crossing the road and if the driver was
speeding.
France Detains Accomplice of Napoleon Hotel Potential Suicide Bomber
Naharnet /Authorities in Paris have detained a man suspected of being the
accomplice of a Frenchman who is originally from the Comoros islands and who was
arrested in Beirut on charges of having links to the Islamic State of the Iraq
and the Levant.
The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Wednesday that the French suspect, who
was detained in Paris, entered Lebanon with Fayez Bouchran, who was arrested by
Lebanese authorities in June 20.
Sources said that the latter confessed that a Frenchman from Moroccan origins
had accompanied him to Beirut.
However, the suspect had to leave Lebanon before the expiry of his passport.
The report said that Lebanese security forces briefed their French counterparts
on Bouchran's confessions, prompting the arrest of his accomplice.
Earlier in June, security forces raided the Napoleon Hotel in Beirut's Hamra
district after obtaining information on a plot to target hospitals and
high-ranking security officials. Over 100 people were interrogated during the
security raid but only Bouchran was arrested and has reportedly confessed to
being sent by the ISIL to carry out a terrorist attack in Lebanon. Bouchran was
reportedly part of a group of four would-be suicide bombers who had come to
Lebanon.
Patriarchs of the Orient to Urge Major Powers for Protection of Christians
Naharnet/The patriarchs of the Orient are scheduled to meet on Wednesday with
the envoys of major powers at the seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki over the
crisis in Iraq, An Nahar newspaper reported.
The meeting is part of the initiative made by them to preserve the role of
Christians in Iraq where Islamic State militants have been waging a campaign
against minorities, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
According to An Nahar, the patriarchs will send letters to the major powers on
the importance of preserving the Orient's multiculturalism by protecting
Christians. They will tell the ambassadors that excuses of non-intervention in
Iraq are not convincing, said the daily.
The letter states that the assault on Christians in the Orient is facing a
similar fate in Lebanon by paralyzing the presidential elections, it said.
The international community has a partial responsibility in the paralysis given
its influence on the local parties, the letter says.
Last week, al-Rahi headed a delegation from the patriarchs of the Orient to the
Iraqi Kurdish region of Erbil. Pope Francis has called for collective action
through the United Nations to "stop unjust aggression" in Iraq.
Hujeiri Denies Gunmen Infiltrated Arsal, Slams False 'Rumors'
Naharnet/Head of Arsal Municipality Ali al-Hujeiri denied on Wednesday that
Syrian gunmen infiltrated the town after the Lebanese army deployed in the area.
“The rumors are inaccurate,” Hujeiri told al-Liwaa newspaper, calling on those
stating the false reports to “have mercy on Arsal and its residents who have
been harmed.”He pointed out that the army is the only authority in the Bekaa
village, adding the “it has deployed in the town and on its outskirts.”
However, Voice of Lebanon radio reported on Wednesday the army units in Arsal
went on high alert and upped their security measures after gunmen infiltrated
the town and intimidated its residents.” “We will resist and we reject the
return of any armed men... But it's clear that there are sides that want the war
in Arsal and with its residents to go on,” Hujeiri told the newspaper.
Media reports said that a group of gunmen deployed on Monday in the northeastern
border town, a day after militants raided the houses of residents, who are
staunch supporters of the Lebanese army. Arsal lies 12 kilometers from the
border with Syria and has been used as a conduit for weapons and rebels to enter
Syria, while also serving as a refuge for people fleeing the conflict.
However, the residents of Arsal were angered after jihadists from Syria attacked
their town earlier in August. The fighting between troops and extremist fighters
broke out on August 2 when jihadists from Syria attacked army and police posts
in Arsal after the arrest of a militant accused of belonging to the al-Qaida
affiliate al-Nusra Front. “We insist on having the best of ties with neighboring
towns and the army is keen that the lies circulated are not true,” Hujeiri said.
“We demand the presence of the state in the town on security and development
levels.”“The situation is normal here.”
Salam Meets Berri: Competition among Politicians Jeopardizing Lives of Soldiers
taken from Arsal
Naharnet /Prime Minister Tammam Salam criticized on Wednesday the tense
political rhetoric between various political powers, saying that “they do not
help Lebanon in confronting the security danger.”
He said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri at Ain el-Tineh: “Competition among
politicians is putting at risk the lives of the soldiers and policemen taken
captive in Arsal.” “This case should be handled with great care and the tense
statements do not help our cause at all,” he stressed before reporters.
“Such statements do not become the nation or the citizens,” said the premier.
Moreover, he remarked that Lebanon is paying the price for the vacuum in the
presidency.
“The political powers' greatest crisis lies in electing a new president,” he
noted.
“We should focus on stances that unite the Lebanese and help the country
confront this difficult and uncomfortable situation,” he added.
Furthermore, Salam explained that he made it clear to the hostages' families
that their case could not be resolved quickly. “We are cooperating against those
who want to harm Lebanon,” he stated.
Clashes broke out on August 2 between the army and Islamists in the northeastern
border town of Arsal. The fighting ended with a ceasefire on August 7 and the
withdrawal of the militants, who kidnapped with them a number of soldiers and
policemen. Efforts are underway to ensure their release.
Report: Jumblat Inquired Christian Officials on Possible Presidential
Breakthrough
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat has held telephone
conversations with Christian leaders ahead of his private visit abroad, An Nahar
newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Jumblat inquired on Tuesday the unidentified officials on the possibility of
reaching a breakthrough in the presidential crisis following his return to
Beirut, it said.
The PSP chief, who also heads a parliamentary bloc, made his phone calls despite
the criticism of some parties on the efforts he was exerting along with Speaker
Nabih Berri to resolve the stalemate, An Nahar added. Lebanon has been without a
president sine May 25 when Michel Suleiman's tenure ended with rival MPs unable
to find a successor over their differences on a compromise candidate. Al-Liwaa
newspaper said Tuesday that Jumblat is likely in Paris for talks with
al-Mustaqbal chief ex-PM Saad Hariri. The Druze official was compelled to cancel
his meetings with Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel and Lebanese Forces leader
Samir Geagea. Jumblat has been holding talks with top officials as part of his
efforts to convince the rival leaders to elect a compromise president.
Derbas Says 8,000 Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon
Naharnet/Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas estimated that 8,000 Iraqi
refugees fleeing the expansion of the Islamic State in their country have
arrived in Lebanon.
“So far 1,000 Iraqi refugees registered with the U.N. refugee agency” UNHCR,
Derbas said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.
However, he expressed belief that the number exceeds the one mentioned, pointing
out that there are already 7,000 Iraqi refugees in the country.
The minister said he will address means to aid the displaced Iraqis with the
Chaldean Patriarch.
Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said recently that Lebanon rejects to welcome
Iraqi refugees, asking them to remain in their land.
But we welcome Iraqi tourists in Lebanon, he said during a press conference with
Iraqi counterpart Hussein al-Shahristani in Baghdad.
Islamic State (IS) jihadists launched in early June a major offensive in
northern Iraq, sweeping Iraqi security forces aside.
The militants have declared a "caliphate" straddling vast areas of Iraq and
Syria.
Human rights groups and residents say IS fighters have been demanding that
religious minorities in the Mosul region either convert or leave, unleashing
violent reprisals on any who refuse.
Members of minority groups including the Yazidis, Christians, Shabak and
Turkmen, remain under threat of kidnapping or death at the hands of the
jihadists. Lebanon currently hosts 1.1 million refugees, the highest number at
38 percent of Syrian refugees fleeing the war-torn country for other countries
in the region.
March 14 accuses FPM of stirring civil war
NowLebanon/27/08/2014/BEIRUT – March 14’s General Secretariat lashed out at Michel Aoun’s Free
Patriotic Movement for allegedly stirring sectarian strife that would lead the
country to another civil war.
“The FPM is clearly accused of pushing Lebanon into [another] civil war because
undermining the constitution and inciting people to adopt self-security lead to
violence,” the General Secretariat said in its weekly statement released on
Wednesday. March 14’s statement came after it accused the March 8 party of
“calling on Christians to arm alongside Hezbollah.”
However, the General Secretariat did not refer to any specific FPM official’s
statement that either clearly stated or implied what March 14 accused the
Hezbollah ally of. “Defending Lebanon and its Christians, Muslims, and
institutions cannot be done except by legitimate security and military forces,”
the statement added. It went on to call on the Christians and the Lebanese in
general to “volunteer in the legitimate security and military forces in order to
contribute in defending Lebanon.”
Clash Erupts in Ain el-Hilweh as Gaza Celebratory Gunfire Kills Man
Naharnet /A young man was mistakenly killed by celebratory gunfire on Tuesday
evening in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern city of Sidon,
following the announcement of the end of 50-day Israeli assault on the Gaza
Strip.
"Kamal al-Hallaq was killed by celebratory gunfire in Ain el-Hilweh,” the
state-run National News Agency reported. Al-Jadeed television reported that
Hallaq was hit by a stray bullet. Following the young man's death, a dispute
erupted into a clash in the camp and resulted in the minor injury of a woman and
a child, according to al-Jadeed. "They were transferred to al-Nidaa al-Insani
hospital in Ain el-Hilweh,” it added.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security forces interfered to contain the clash. Ain
el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian camp in the country and home to about 50,000
refugees, lies near the southern city of Sidon.
A long-term ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Palestinians went into effect
earlier in the day, ending 50 days of the deadliest violence in a decade. The
agreement, which came into effect at 1600 GMT, involves an immediate halt to the
violence in Gaza, which began on July 8 and has claimed the lives of 2,143
Palestinians and 69 on the Israeli side. Celebrations over the ceasefire and the
“Palestinian resistance's victory” took place as well in Burj al-Barajneh
refugee camp in Beirut's southern suburbs. And thousands of Palestinian refugees
and Lebanese citizens in the southern city of Tyre also took to the streets
chanting slogans in support of the Palestinian resistance and hailing its
“victory.” In the North, meanwhile, people marched in al-Beddawi camp following
the evening prayers to celebrate the "resistance's achievement" in the Gaza
Strip.
Rebels Take Syria Crossing with Israel-Occupied Golan
Naharnet/Syrian rebels, including al-Qaida's affiliate Al-Nusra Front, seized
control of the Syrian crossing with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on
Wednesday, a monitoring group said.
"Al-Nusra Front and other rebel groups took the Quneitra crossing, and heavy
fighting with the Syrian army is continuing in the surrounding area," said Rami
Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
He said at least 20 soldiers and four rebels were killed in the fighting for the
crossing that began earlier on Wednesday.
The heavy fire strayed across the border into the Israeli-occupied portion of
the Golan, where the army said an Israeli officer was moderately wounded.
Six mortar shells crashed into the occupied portion of the Golan within hours,
the army said, adding that it returned fire.
"In response to the errant fire from the internal fighting in Syria, which hit
Israel earlier today and injured an IDF (Israel Defence Forces) officer, the IDF
just targeted two Syrian army positions in the Syrian Golan Heights. Hits were
confirmed," it said in a statement.
Israel, which is technically at war with Syria, seized 1,200 square kilometres
(460 sq miles) of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War and later
annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.
Since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, the plateau has been tense, with a
growing number of projectiles, mostly stray, hitting the Israeli side, prompting
occasional armed responses.
In June, an Israeli teenager was killed in a deliberate cross-border attack,
which prompted Israeli warplanes to attack Syrian military headquarters and
positions.
Last year, the Quneitra crossing briefly fell to rebel forces in June, before
being recaptured by Syrian army troops.
Agence France Presse
U.N.: Executions 'Common Spectacle' on Jihadist-Held Syria
Naharnet/Public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixion are a
regular fixture in jihadist-controled areas of Syria, a U.N. probe charged
Wednesday, also accusing Damascus of repeatedly using chemical weapons against
civilians.
"Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays" in parts
of Syria under control of the jihadist Islamic State (IS), the independent
Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria said.
In its latest report, the four-member commission detailed a litany of horrors
committed by IS, including the beheading of boys as young as 15, amputations and
lashings in public squares as residents, including children, are forced to
watch.
The group "seeks to destroy and remould humanity in its image, wreaking havoc on
civilians, minorities and the basic freedoms of women and children," commission
head Paulo Pinheiro told reporters in Geneva. He described how bodies of those
killed were placed on public display, "creating an atmosphere of fear and
terror."
IS, which declared a "caliphate" in an area spanning northern Iraq and eastern
Syria, is also recruiting and training children as young as 10, with teens being
used in active combat and suicide-bombing missions, the report said.
The jihadists, who sparked worldwide outrage last week when they released a
video showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley, are guilty of
widespread crimes against humanity in Syria, the commission said. Pinheiro
emphasized, though, that IS "does not have the monopoly of brutality in the
Syrian conflict."In their 45-page report, covering the period from January 20 to
July 15, Pinheiro and his colleagues also detailed a wide range of crimes
against humanity and war crimes committed by the Syrian government and other
armed opposition groups. The government, which during the first years of the
conflict was blamed for the lion's share of abuses and deaths, had since January
continued to kill hundreds of men, women and children every week due to the
"indiscriminate firing of missiles and barrel bombs into civilian areas", the
report found.
It also said Damascus appeared to have dropped barrel bombs containing the
chemical agent chlorine on civilian areas in the north on eight different
occasions last April.
"Reasonable grounds exist to believe that chemical agents, likely chlorine, were
used on (northern Syrian villages) Kafr Zeita, al-Tamana and Tal Minnis in eight
incidents within a 10-day period in April," the report said.
President Bashar Assad's regime and rebels have both accused the other of using
chemical agents, including chlorine, in the bloody uprising that began in March
2011 and in spite of Damascus promising to hand over all its chemical arms.
The commission, which was created three years ago by the U.N. Human Rights
Council, lamented the "atmosphere of impunity" for all warring parties in Syria.
The investigators especially lashed out at the lack of international action to
end the conflict estimated to have killed nearly 200,000 people.
"For three years, we have been gathering evidence against the perpetrators, and
each day new crimes occur (yet) the international community does nothing," said
commission member and legendary former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte.
"The international community as a whole, including the U.N., is paralyzed by the
unwillingness of states to act to end the conflict," Pinheiro agreed.
They insisted that the only way to move towards an end of the conflict was for
the U.N.'s deadlocked Security Council to refer the Syrian crimes to the
International Criminal Court.
The investigators, who have never been granted access to Syria, relying on
interviews in the region and via Skype, as well as photographs and other
documents to reach their conclusions, also stressed that their secret list of
suspected perpetrators was getting longer by the day.Del Ponte suggested that the Security Council name the four commissioners to
prosecute the crimes."We are ready," she said.Agence France Presse
Hezbollah is no stranger to takfir
By: Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon
As Sunni jihadists alarm the world, the Party of God seeks to brand itself a
bastion of moderate Islam. Nobody should be fooled.
One has to hand it to whoever had the idea for Al-Akhbar’s interview with
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah earlier this month. Parliament Speaker Nabih
Berri may have nicknamed Saad Hariri “Santa Claus” after his return to Lebanon
bearing a billion-dollar gift from Riyadh, but the Future Movement leader’s
goateed grin was no match for the jolly beam of the silver-bearded Sayyid at his
avuncular best.
He follows the gossip on Facebook. He likes Maradona, and supported Argentina in
the World Cup final, which he watched with his son. His favorite dishes include
mulukhiyya. When he has time, he watches TV and reads novels or the poems of
Khalil Gibran. Who knew the fearsome, black-robed warrior-sheikh from the podium
was really just a regular guy like you and me?
The true knight’s move, though, was his mention that he’s been reading a lot
lately on “the phenomenon of takfir;” the doctrine of jihadist groups like
Islamic State (IS) that holds Muslim opponents guilty of kufr (disbelief), a
charge punishable by death. He wants, he says, to understand its “history,
causes, and orientations.” We’re invited to picture the bespectacled scholar
frowning in puzzlement at strange tracts detailing the arcane teachings,
innocently gasping in horror at the thought of fundamentalists using violence to
advance sectarian agenda. The whole act would almost be amusing if it weren’t
inevitable that many readers, including not a few Western pundits, will have
fallen for it (an English translation was also published).
It’s considered terribly crass and indecorous nowadays to bring up the early
years of the Party of God, when Christians were “invited” to convert, Shiite
women were forcibly veiled and men couldn’t get a drink even in famously
convivial Tyre. That period was an aberration, we’re now told; all the fault of
the “horrific” then-leader, Subhi Tufayli, and some “crazy” Iranians, as the
otherwise supportive Asaad Abu Khalil recently phrased it. That’s all changed,
it’s said, under the civilized stewardship of Nasrallah; the party has matured;
been tamed; been ‘Lebanonized’ (and its Khomeinist patrons, presumably, are no
longer “crazy”).Very well; let’s not dwell on the kidnapping and murder of
Western journalists in Beirut in the 1980s, or the old black-and-white videos of
Nasrallah calling for a regional Islamist empire (why does that sound familiar?)
or his claim that “He who rejects the authority of the [Iranian Supreme Leader]
rejects God […] and is almost a polytheist” (even though Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, in
her highly sympathetic 2002 study, Hizbu’llah: Politics and Religion, says that
sentence “still provides a fair reflection of the party’s conception of the
[ideology] today”). The following two examples from within the past 10 years
should suffice to show the Party continues to have rather more in common with
takfir, and Islamist extremism generally, than its fellow travelers care to
acknowledge, and that such differences as exist tend to be, at most, ones of
practice rather than principle. In 2006, as anti-European riots erupted across
the region following the publication of cartoons satirizing Islam in a Danish
newspaper, Nasrallah took to the podium not to urge his co-religionists against
the resort to violence but to say: “If a Muslim had implemented the fatwa of
Imam Khomeini regarding the apostate Salman Rushdie, those despicable people
would never have dared insult the Messenger of God” [italics added]. That’s to
say, if only someone had murdered a British novelist for a work of fiction,
artists the world over would be far too intimidated to ever consider satirizing
our beliefs again (rather an odd outlook, incidentally, for someone who told
Al-Akhbar he was a literature fan). Calling for a “severe” response to the
cartoons (and getting his wish: days later, a mob torched the Danish consulate
in Beirut and, for good measure, stoned a nearby church), he then went on to
restate his belief that the Holocaust was all “fables” (asateer), as “proven” by
9/11 Truther Roger Garaudy.
Forgiving types would no doubt chalk this all up to mere ‘rhetorical posturing’
or some such formulation (as though calls for the heads of civilians were
acceptable political currency). But we learn from Rushdie’s 2012 memoir, Joseph
Anton, that the Party’s Hussein Musawi took the cause, as it were, very
seriously at the time, threatening to kill British hostages if the fatwa weren’t
carried out and offering to spare one if Rushdie were delivered to Beirut.
What’s more, Rushdie was told by British intelligence that Hezbollah operatives
were themselves trying to liquidate him as late in the day as 1998. True or not,
in any case, the ‘Affair’ is clearly something Nasrallah is unable to let go (he
brought it up yet again in 2012). The second example comes from a year later,
when the journalist Thanassis Cambanis was granted permission by Hezbollah to
spend a day in the company of their youth branch, the Mahdi Scouts (named,
rather suggestively, after the Twelfth Imam, the messianic figure most Shiites
believe will one day return from occultation to establish perfect justice
worldwide). Describing the guided tour of one of the Scouts’ dozens of camps in
his excellent book, A Privilege to Die, he recalls watching children as young as
six enjoy activities ranging from puppet reenactments of Nasrallah speeches to
Quran memorization to readings from a manual titled “I Obey My Leader.”
“The Mahdi Scouts is charged with building the interior of kids,” as scout chief
Bilal Naim told him. Some 60,000 children, Cambanis writes, are thus
indoctrinated year-round with Hezbollah’s “unvarnished ideology, beginning with
wilayat al-faqih, the concept of absolute clerical rule first implemented by
Ayatollah Khomeini.” The program is highly effective, he adds, not just at
grooming future generations of fighters, but also at Islamicizing the wider
Shiite public from the bottom up: “examples abound” of parents and siblings
adopting the ideology acquired by their juniors at the camps. Of course,
Nasrallah’s pose of religious moderation to Al-Akhbar was calculated with Syria
in mind; the war next door having at different times dragged the Party in
contradictory directions. Early in the conflict, Nasrallah’s speeches could be
overtly sectarian, equating Sunnis to the killers of the Imam Hussein at the 680
A.D. Battle of Karbala – the very event that sparked the Sunni-Shiite schism –
and, naturally, portraying Shiites as the righteous descendants of the martyr.
But in a landmark February 2013 speech, a new script was born, with Nasrallah
suddenly striking an almost neoconservative tone, insisting on the urgency of
“confronting terrorism” and warning without a trace of irony that Sunni
jihadists in Syria sought “to transform Lebanon into a part of their Islamic
state.” This theme, intended to convince the outside world that the pro-Assad
camp is the comparatively secular one in Syria, has generally been kept up ever
since, though the mask does slip on occasion, like when in a rousing August 2013
appearance Nasrallah thundered, “We are the Shiites of Ali Ibn Abi Talib! […] We
are Hezbollah, the Shiite Islamic Party of the Twelfth Imam!”
It will no doubt be argued by ‘realists’ and their kind that the brutality of
groups like the IS is orders of magnitude greater than anything done by
Hezbollah today – that, whatever its transgressions, the Party doesn’t round up
and crucify or behead people, or threaten minority sects with extermination.
Which is true enough, even if Hezbollah-trained Shiite fundamentalists in Iraq
speak of their desire to ethnically cleanse towns of Sunnis, and even if summary
executions and other atrocities committed by Hezbollah in Syria have been
documented, as have the killings of opponents at home like Hashem Salman. The
point is rather that the very debate over which kind of heavily armed Islamists
to prefer over another is a debased and degrading one to begin with. The IS may
be the worst of a bad bunch, but it would be a strange sort of ‘moderate’ or
‘progressive’ indeed who would be content with Holocaust-denying totalitarians
in their stead.
The Israeli-made Hermes 450 drone downed by Iran over Natanz took off from
Azerbaijan
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 27, 2014,
The Israeli Hermes 450 drone downed Aug. 23 over the uranium enrichment facility
in central Iran took off from Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Airbase, debkafile’s
military and Iranian sources report. Tests by Iranian aviation experts and
intelligence personnel indicated that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commanders
who originally attributed the takeoff to Saudi Arabia spoke too soon.
The Azerbaijani canton of Nakhchivan, bordering Iran, Armenia, and Turkey, hosts
a small military airbase. Three years ago, another Hermes 450 used it as a
jumping-off point towards Armenia, where the Armenian air defense shot it down.
In his Monday Aug. 25 announcement, Revolutionary Guards Air Force Commander
Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said it had not taken to the skies from Israel, but did
not specify its provenance. He also fell short of attributing the drone to
Israel, announcing only that the plane was an Israeli-made Hermes 450 with an
operational range of 800 kilometers. Iran’s Arabic television station Al-Alam
displayed parts of the drone on air, but they showed no Israeli identification
markings.
Armed with the fact that Israel is 1,100 flying kilometers from Iran, many
Israeli military analysts misleadingly went to great lengths to claim that the
images offered by the Revolutionary Guards were not of a Hermes 450 or of any
aircraft in the service of Israel. Because of its wide-ranging satellite
surveillance coverage, the analysts argued, Israel has no need to risk sending a
drone armed with classified intelligence systems into Iranian airspace.
These claims simply don’t hold water.
debkafile’s military sources report that the Hermes 450 boasts a range of video
and still cameras that can capture extremely high-resolution color images.
Thermal imaging devices allow the cameras to operate in poor visibility and
almost any weather condition.
Without specifying who dispatched the drone, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein
Deghan announced that his country would retaliate by supplying arms to
Palestinians in the West Bank. He did not detail how these weapons transfers
would be carried our, or for which groups they are intended.
According to our sources, this vague response points to frustration in Tehran
over its general helplessness in the face of regular drone flights every few
weeks from Nakhchivan over its nuclear facilities. The drones measure
radioactive levels, data for the accurate calculation of the progress of Iran’s
uranium enrichment program.
Iran has tried for two years to down these drones – without success, with this
week’s incident providing a notable exception. Iran has repeatedly attempted to
electronically control trespassing UAVs and down them intact, in the same way as
they downed a complete American RQ-170 in December 2011. But so far, they have
not obtained a complete Israeli drone.
last Saturday, the Iranians shot down the Hermes by means of an anti-air missile
ambush, prompting a certain amount of boasting from Tehran. But the UAV was not
a stealth craft as the Iranians claimed and much of their crowing is intended to
cover up their long record of failure. Indeed, the drone was already 300 km
inside Iranian airspace from Nakhchivan before it was detected
The end of the operation: Hamas blinked first
By: Ron Ben-Yishai /Ynetnews
08.27.14/Israel Opinion
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2014/08/27/ron-ben-yishaithe-end-of-the-gaza-operation-hamas-blinked-first/
No one should be deceived by the rather ostentatious displays of victory on the
streets of Gaza, but Israel must be firm in its demands, and its leader should
take a good hard look at their own behavior over the past 50 days. In Jerusalem
and the Defense Ministry's Kirya compound in Tel Aviv they are rubbing their
hands in satisfaction - and quite rightly so. After a short-lived war of
attrition of just one week, even without a fresh ground incursion, Hamas blinked
first and agreed to the outline of the initial ceasefire proposed the Egyptians
- the outline of which it had received before Israel sent its ground troops in
weeks ago. Hamas has not even received the "minor agreement" it could have
secured eight days ago, before it violated the ceasefire the last time. Israel,
however, has not ceded on anything, rather simply agreed to the ceasefire
approved by the Cabinet back in mid-July, a few days after the start of
Operation Protective Edge.
Even so, I can honestly say that I still do not know if we won or drew against
the terrorist organization that initiated this war. Granted, the organization is
badly wounded, has had all of its military capabilities taken away and more than
a thousand of its fighters lost their lives, but Israel also lost 68 people,
most of them soldiers. And yet, there is no satisfactory answer that will ensure
the safety of the border communities against mortars, short-range rockets and
even anti-tank missiles that could be fired on a bus carrying children to school
in the Eshkol Regional Council or the Negev.
The indefinite ceasefire that took effect Tuesday evening is a tactical win
that, for the moment, does not guarantee long-term, stable calm for the Western
Negev communities or the whole of Israel. It was indeed Hamas who sought the
ceasefire, even pleaded for it, but the organization is known to be a serial
violator of ceasefires, and the need to hurt and shed the blood of the Israelis
has often overcome its survival instinct and concern for the Palestinians under
its control.
The Egyptian and Israeli governments did well by demanding a relatively long
ceasefire of at least a month before even beginning to discuss Hamas' demands
and Israel's counter-demands. Even when the negotiations do begin, we should be
prepared for Hamas trying to pressure us to accept its demands by renewing its
attacks. Therefore, instead of calling this a "permanent ceasefire", it is more
appropriate to call it a "conditional ceasefire".
In this regard, it is important to point out that in addition to the ceasefire
that began Tuesday evening, the United States is moving ahead with a Security
Council resolution that would anchor the ceasefire in international law and also
mention Israel's demilitarization requirements. This process, initiated by the
US and the European Union within the framework of the Security Council, serves
to reinforce the deal reached by the Egyptians, Hamas and Israel.
It is fair to assume that the Egyptians promised Hamas that the Rafah crossing
will be opened as soon as possible, which will give Hamas an incentive to uphold
the ceasefire, even if its Qatar-based political leader Khaled Mashal does try
to drag it back into a resumption of fire. But Hamas will be interested in
maintaining the ceasefire primarily because of the need to rebuild the Gaza
Strip from the terrible rubble that remains. One must admit that the Air Force
operations of the last eight days and the achievements of Israel's intelligence
officials in eradicating Hamas' military wing prevent the need for Israel to
send its ground troops back into Gaza to impose a ceasefire while Hamas fell
apart, something that would have proven to be very costly indeed.
Another question that Israel will have to address is what to do if and when
Hamas or one of the other Gazan factions violates the ceasefire – either by
digging a tunnel, manufacturing rockets or planting explosives near the Gaza
perimeter fence. If Israel does not respond firmly and decisively to even the
slightest breach from this point on, it will lose the deterrence it has achieved
in this operation. There would be no point to anything that the Air Force,
ground troops and navy have achieved if Israel were to show restraint in the
face of any breaches.
Hence, the true test of the ceasefire declared Tuesday evening will not just be
whether Hamas, Islamic Jihad and/or the Popular Resistance Committees violate
it, but how Israel responds to that first violation. Israel did not respond to
violations either after the disengagement in 2005 or following its withdrawal
from Lebanon in 2000, and as a result had to wage war a few years later, under
more difficult conditions. A similar situation now should be avoided at all
costs.
The next test of the ceasefire will be the details of the agreement that the
parties will begin to discuss next month. In fact, Israel has several demands of
its own: Security arrangements to prevent attacks on the fence, mortar fire and
the creation of new tunnels, and stopping Hamas from regrouping. This latter
issue has actually already been recently resolved, with the Egyptians destroying
the smuggling tunnels in Rafah, and Israel overseeing the humanitarian aid
delivered to Gaza via the border crossings.
In the future, when the Rafah crossing is opened, Mahmoud Abbas' inspectors will
ensure that weapons and munitions are not transferred from Egypt to Gaza. The
question is whether the major agreement will include close inspection of the
cement, building materials, pipes and fertilizers brought in to rebuild the
economy and demolished buildings of the Gaza Strip so that they are not used to
rebuild the tunnels. At this stage, this will be managed by the United Nations
and the European inspectors for construction projects in the Strip.
A more serious international monitoring mechanism will have to be devised at
some point in the future. As far as Hamas' humanitarian demands go, Israel has
no problem in accepting them immediately. This is, of course, provided that
materials transferred to ease the suffering of the population, deal with the
water shortages and meet the housing needs of those whose homes were destroyed
are not used to strengthen Hamas.
In terms of the rehabilitation of Gaza, Israel has a simple equation: Gaza
reconstruction for the demilitarization of heavy weapons - rockets, mortars,
anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and UAVs. Demilitarization should also
include the dismantling of facilities used to produce the rockets. For despite
what has been said, Israel's demand for demilitarization is not off the table.
But as stated, the tough negotiations over the agreement will take many months
and their success will largely determine whether there is a long-term truce or
not. Israel has a vested interest in rehabilitating the Strip, even if it takes
a decade, as the citizens of Gaza and Hamas would then have something to lose.
Hamas has already previously announced that it has agreed in principle to a
40-year hudna (armistice) with Israel. It stipulated, however, that Israel must
withdraw to the 1967 borders.
It is fair to assume that if Gaza is rehabilitated, and the population does have
something to lose, even Hamas will keep the hudna - at least for three to five
years. A hudna, of course, is more stable than a tahadiyeh (period of calm), and
this is what Israel must strive for -without giving up its demand for
demilitarization. If the Security Council passes a resolution in the coming days
that mentions the demilitarization of Gaza, that would be a real boost to
Israel.
One can say, in conclusion, that the operation apparently did achieve its
objectives. We do not know yet whether the ceasefire will hold, but if it does,
then the operation will definitely have fulfilled its goals. Hamas is militarily
and politically weakened, its tunnels destroyed, its rocket production system
has suffered a fatal blow - and no one should be impressed by the showy
celebrations on the streets of Gaza.
But Israel must take a careful look at itself - especially the government. If
the Cabinet had previously ordered the IDF to enter and destroy the tunnels,
which they knew about before June 2014, we might have had far fewer casualties
and a shorter operation. The Cabinet had not taken into account, although they
knew about it, the greatest threat posed yet to the border communities nor taken
steps to evacuate them. The defense minister, prime minister and chief of staff
made a mistake by not ordering the evacuation of children and anyone not
required for the essential maintenance of those communities.
The Israeli government evacuated communities during and after the War of
Independence, and there was no reason why little Daniel Tregerman had die so
tragically from shrapnel wounds. The outrageous behavior of members of the
Cabinet and the mutual exchanges of verbal fire between Benjamin Netanyahu and
his ministers severely hampered Israel's deterrence capabilities, possibly
unnecessarily extended the war and even caused a sense of lack of purpose as
they gnawed away at our national strength and bolstered Hamas' desire to keep
going.
The campaign is not over, it has just moved to the political, diplomatic and
international judiciary arenas. With that in mind, it is still too early to
declare mission accomplished, and we may well only be praising the outcome of
Operation Protective Edge years down the line.
An open letter to Iraq’s PM-designate Abadi
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Mohammed Fahad al-Harthi
Firstly, we congratulate you on your new mission and pray to God to help you
take on difficult responsibilities in this critical phase in history. The legacy
of your predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, is undoubtedly a difficult one.
Maliki was handed a unified Iraq, but has since left it fragmented.
Cities such as Mosul have fallen victim to the occupation of the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and to awful sectarianism.
Iraq now tops the list of corrupt countries, where injustice, poverty and a huge
disparity in income prevail. Iraq’s internal affairs were run from other
capitals, all in exchange for keeping Maliki in power.
In short, the desire to cling onto power came at the expense of principle,
destroying lives and the state in the process.
Mr. Haidar al-Abadi, you have good intentions to bring unity back to Iraq, but
more needs to be done, especially since you enjoy an unprecedented level of
support, both internally and internationally, from bodies such as the United
Nations. This support gives you the green light to take the lead and enforce
difficult decisions to stop others from trying to obstruct the development
process.
The attack against a Sunni mosque in the Diyala province, believed to be carried
out by Shiite militias, highlights the complicated challenges and conspiracies
that hinder government formation efforts and threaten to push the country into a
horrific bloody conflict.
Mr. Haidar al-Abadi, you have good intentions to bring unity back to Iraq, but
more needs to be done
Allow me, as an external observer with a strong passion toward Iraq’s history
and its sacrifices and as someone who believes that Iraq belongs solely to the
Arab world, to say the following:
•Coexistence among sects and religions should be reinforced since these various
groups have always lived together in harmony. Comprehensive political policies
must enforce equality among Iraqi regardless of sect or ethnicity.
•Enhancing a democratic system that focuses on equality will undoubtedly protect
the state from the perils of power-hungry leaders in the future.
•Allocating positions of power based on sect will only have a negative influence
on the country. Lebanon is a clear example of this. Politicians should, instead,
be appointed based on their qualifications and integrity and not their religious
affiliations. There needs to be a strong system of accountability for abuse of
power and financial corruption.
•The government should prioritize development plans, as well as provide citizens
with a decent living. Poverty, unemployment and the deterioration of basic
services and infrastructure all point to the government’s lack of development
planning. Solving these problems will reconcile Iraqis with their government
more than any military solution ever will.
•Iraq needs to turn over a new leaf by letting go of revenge-based agendas. By
this, I do not mean ignoring the major corruption that took place. A court of
high integrity should be formed to hold criminals accountable and take back
state property. Forgiveness is not synonymous with compromising the basic tenets
of law.
•People’s needs and opinions should be discussed, even if this includes a call
toward a federal state. This is a valid option that has been considered
successful in many countries that have taken up such a choice. In short, power
of consensus should be the ultimate deciding factor. No one should claim they
have the ultimate answer.
•Iraq is an Arab country. It was the cradle of Islamic civilization for
centuries and it will forever remain Arab. As such, strong and honest relations
with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Arabic countries is in Iraq’s
interest. One of the major mistakes Maliki committed is burning important
bridges with key Arab countries, while alienating others.
The fundamentals of politics dictate keeping a minimum channel of contact open.
Maliki bet all his money on Iran, which eventually deserted him.
Hours after Mosul fell, the Iraqi army lost confidence in its army and its
spirit was weakened by Maliki’s sectarian policies. As such, Iraq is in need of
a strong, united army to eliminate militias. The Arab world is witnessing one of
the toughest times in its modern history. Things began to unravel in Iraq from
the time the country occupied Kuwait. It was then that hidden agendas were
revealed.
Still, Iraq may be able to regain its leadership role, first by building a
unified and cohesive society and then by moving toward a greater regional Arab
role that will hopefully restore some of our losses and much of our dignity.