LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 14/14
Bible Quotation for today/Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world
gives
John 14,27-31/Peace I leave with you; my
peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let
your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.You heard me say to
you, "I am going away, and I am coming to you." If you loved me, you would
rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur,
you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this
world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has
commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let
us be on our way.
Pope Francis's Tweet For Today
May we not
resist the
Holy Spirit
but allow
him to work
in our
lives, so
that he can
renew us,
the Church
and the
world.
Pape
François
Ne faisons
pas de
résistance à
l’Esprit
Saint,
soyons
dociles à
son action
qui
renouvelle
chacun de
nous,
l’Église et
le monde.
Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports,
letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources For June 14/14
Iraq crisis caught Obama unprepared/By: Yitzhak Benhorin /Ynetnews/June 14/14
An alarm bell that violent extremists are on the rise/By David Ignatius /The
Daily Star/June 14/14
The Mufti who is more Khomeinist than a Mullah/By: Amir Taheri /Asharq
Alawsat/June 14/14
Iraq going down the Syrian path/By: Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/June
14/14
Reports From Miscellaneous
Sources For June 14/14
Lebanese Related News
Hizbullah Vows Not to Intervene in Iraq, Warns of ISIL Spread
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Urges 'Antidote' to Fight Hizbullah 'Terrorism'
Salam Expects Breakthrough to Cabinet Dispute, Calls for Stability amid Regional
Turmoil
Jumblat Sets Stage for Talks with Hariri, Calls for Election of President
Abu Faour meeting with Hariri in Morocco
Lebanese Army Detains Five Suspected Syrian Terrorists in Arsal
Berri Renews Paralysis Warning, Calls for Unity to Confront Region's 'Storms'
Aoun Calls Geagea to Offer Condolences, Discusses Presidential Vacuum with al-Rahi
Lebanon Extradites Berlusconi Ally over Mafia Links
Report: Militants in Arsal Set up Islamic Law as al-Nusra Front 'Green Brigade'
Holds Sway
Television Cable Providers on Broadcasting World Cup: State Shied Away from its
Duties
The Lebanese Association For Democratic Elections Launches App to Monitor
Elections
Syrian Woman Strangled in Koura 'Honor Killing'
Lebanon Could Have 2 Grand Muftis over Dar al-Fatwa Differences
Lopez wows World Cup crowd in Lebanese design
Mashnouq Says Presidential Vacuum Shouldn't Paralyze State
Kuwaiti Speaker in Beirut to Discuss Syrian Refugee Crisis
Bassil addresses Jolie summit on rape in conflict
Syrian teens accused of 'honor killing'
Wassouf visits Assad in show of support
Miscellaneous Reports And News
UN warns of war crimes, atrocities in Iraq
Maliki Says Operation to Clear Cities of 'Terrorists' Has Begun as Troops Fight
Militants North of Baghdad
Obama: U.S. Will Help but Iraq Must Mend Divisions
Hundreds of Iraqis flee Islamic militant advance
40,000 flee Tikrit, Samarra, as Iraq crisis deepens
Further chaos in Iraq, Sistani issues call to arms
U.S. Transfers 12 Detainees out of Afghan Prison
Iran would resume enrichment if nuclear talks fail
Report: Iran study
estimates nuclear breakout would take years, not months
Danon blasts Livni
over reported meeting with Palestinian official in London
Israeli officials probe fate of three youths feared kidnapped by Palestinians
Netanyahu to families of missing Israeli teens: I know these are moments of
anguish
Feared Palestinian abduction of three missing yeshiva boys in Hebron district
US expresses concern over possible kidnappings; Kerry confers with Livni, Abbas
Islamic Jihad calls for kidnapping of Israeli soldiers to free prisoners
Hizbullah Vows Not to Intervene in Iraq, Warns of ISIL Spread
Naharnet/ll not intervene in the security situation in Iraq, expressing fear of
the spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). “Hizbullah has
nothing to do with Iraq... Iraq is bigger than the capabilities of the party,”
Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Walid Sakariya told al-Joumhouria
newspaper. He stressed that “it's time to end the abnormal phenomena of
ISIL.”Hizbullah has deployed thousands of fighters into neighboring Syria to
back President Bashar Assad's army as he battles insurgents who have been trying
to overthrow him for the past three years. “The developments in Iraq will have
major repercussions on the situation in the area and the policies followed by
all states, especially the U.S. policies,” Sakariya said. The lawmaker reassured
that the “situation in Lebanon is still stable and will remain as it is as long
as there's agreement between the political parties to prevent ISIL from entering
the country.” Hizbullah, a long-standing ally of both Iran, Syria, and Iraq says
it is supporting Assad against Takfiris (Sunni extremists) who are targeting
Syria's Alawite and Christian minorities. Jihadists from ISIL have swept up a
huge swathe of predominantly Sunni Arab territory in northern and north-central
Iraq, including the second city Mosul. Forces from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish
region have meanwhile taken control of Kirkuk, an ethnically divided northern
city they have sought to rule for decades.
Berri Renews Paralysis Warning, Calls for Unity to Confront
Region's 'Storms'
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri renewed his warning against the
paralysis of state institutions and hoped that the move of Jihadists on Baghdad
would trigger unity among the Lebanese rival parties to confront any possible
repercussion. In remarks to several local newspapers published on Friday, Berri
reiterated his criticism of the MPs boycotting parliamentary sessions. He
stressed that the parliament's bureau has a duty to set the agenda of the
sessions. “The issue does not need to be faced with boycott or paralysis.” Most
Christian MPs have been boycotting parliamentary sessions on a controversial
wage scale. Al-Mustaqbal has backed them, claiming their move is aimed at
sending a message of protest against the failure to elect a new president. The
country's top Christian post was left vacant at Baabda Palace on May 25 after
the rival lawmakers were incapable of electing a successor to President Michel
Suleiman over their differences on a compromise candidate. Despite the boycott,
Berri vowed “not to back off” from his proposal on the approval of the pay
raise. He called for a 10 percent reduction in the scale, reiterating that al-Mustaqbal
bloc had approved such a suggestion. Despite his claim, al-Mustaqbal said on
Wednesday that it had not agreed with Berri on numbers in the scale. Asked about
the latest security developments in Iraq, Berri said: “I hope what's going on
there would be an incentive to unite and protect Lebanon from the storms in the
region.” The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who has swept up a huge
swathe of predominantly Sunni Arab territory in northern and north-central Iraq
since launching their offensive in the second city Mosul late on Monday,
advanced into ethnically divided Diyala province. Late Thursday, they captured
the Jalawla and Saadiyah areas of the province, whose mixed Arab, Kurdish, Sunni
and Shiite population has made it a byword for violence ever since the 2003
overthrow of Sunni Arab dictator Saddam Hussein. ISIL is a movement so radical
that has been disavowed even by the al-Qaida leadership.
Jumblat Sets Stage for Talks with Hariri, Calls for
Election of President
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat renewed his call on
the immediate election of a president to prevent the rise of local armed groups
in several cities across Lebanon, confirming reports that he was planning to
meet with al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri. Jumblat hoped that a
president would be elected and the army and security forces would receive the
needed support from the rival parties so that armed groups in the northern city
of Tripoli and the southern city of Sidon do not become active again. The PSP
chief confirmed to As Safir newspaper published on Friday that Health Minister
Wael Abou Faour traveled to Morocco for talks with ex-PM Hariri to set the stage
for a possible meeting with him in Paris. Al-Akhbar and al-Liwaa newspapers have
said the talks will be held next Tuesday. Jumblat also revealed that he would
travel to the French capital to meet with ex-President Michel Suleiman, who is
currently on a visit there. Suleiman left Baabda Palace on May 25 after
parliament failed to elect a successor. Asked about the deteriorating security
situation in Iraq, Jumblat said: “We should limit the effects and repercussions
of the Iraqi waves on Lebanon.” “There will definitely be repercussions after
the invasion of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Levant,” he said.
The insurgency has captured two cities and threatened to press forward to
Baghdad.
Lebanese Army Detains Five Suspected Syrian Terrorists in
Arsal
Naharnet /The army detained on Friday five Syrians in raids
carried out on the outskirts of the border town of Arsal on charges of
participating in training with terrorist groups. The detained men were
apprehended inside Syrian refugee camps in the area, the army said in a
communique. According to the statement, Zaher Abdul Aziz al-Ahmed for belonging
to al-Azzam brigades while Nour Muheiddine Shameseddine, Haitham Nader Ghannoum,
Adel Suleiman Ghannoum and Mohammed Nazih Ghannoum were arrested for the
possession of cameras, computers and CDs that show their participation in
training with terrorist groups. The five suspects were handed over to the
competent judiciary. An army commando force began at dawn combing the outskirts
of the northeastern border town of Arsal to apprehend wanted gunmen. NNA said
that the army kicked off an operation to detain armed men, who are accused of
assaulting Syrian refugee camps in Wadi Hmeid area and abducting several Syrian
nationals and a Lebanese. On Tuesday, gunmen from the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra
Front kidnapped several Lebanese, Syrian and one Turkmen workers in the
outskirts of the Ras Baalbek region in the Bekaa. Makhoul Mrad, Alaa Ezzeddine
and Mohammed al-Hujairi were among the kidnapped men. Six of the seven abducted
workers were released in the evening, leaving Makhoul in detention. On Thursday,
killed a Syrian and kidnapped two others during an attack on refugees in the
Wadi Hmeid area. The displaced Syrians, who had taken refuge in the encampment,
hail from the Syrian town of Qara in the Qalamoun region. Last week, a Syrian
was killed in Arsal by al-Nusra Front fighters in similar circumstances. Ever
since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, Arsal has served as a key conduit
for refugees, rebels and wounded people fleeing strife-torn Syria.
Report: Militants in Arsal Set up Islamic Law as al-Nusra
Front 'Green Brigade' Holds Sway
Naharnet/The situation along the Lebanese-Syrian border,
especially near the outskirts of the Bekaa town of Arsal, has taken a dangerous
turn in light of the Syrian regime's waging of an attack on the area of Rankous
and the militant al-Nusra Front's imposing of Islamic courts. A reliable source
told Egypt's Middle East News Agency that the security situation in Arsal has
become dangerous as “armed groups have gone so far as to set up these courts and
carry out the death penalty against convicts.” He estimated that there are about
3,000 armed gunmen present in the outskirts of Arsal, the majority of whom are
Syrian, including members of the Nusra Front. These members fled to this area
from the now Syrian army-controlled region of al-Qalamoun. The estimates are
based on the number of loaves of bread being distributed by the town of Arsal,
explained the source. In addition, these gunmen possess light and medium
weapons, as well as anti-aircraft guns. They also take advantage of the terrain
in Arsal that is scattered with valleys and caves that facilitate the guerrilla
warfare. Arsal shares about 40 kilometers with Syria. Moreover, the source told
MENA that the gunmen obtain “through illegal means some of the humanitarian aid
dedicated to the displaced Syrians.”Armed Syrian gunmen recently surrounded an
Arsal municipality building after the eruption of a dispute over the
distribution of aid.
Municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi had turned to the army to settle the dispute.
Furthermore, the source highlighted the threat of the jihadist group Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant and the advances it is making in Iraq, warning that
the militant threat may approach Lebanon's borders whereby members of the Nusra
Front may decide to join the ranks of ISIL.
“This has been known to happen in several Syrian regions despite ISIL's
notoriety, even among extremist groups,” he added. Commenting on the gunmen in
Arsal, he spoke of the so-called Islamic Front, which is a union of a number of
jihadist groups in Syria. The most prominent group however is that of the “Green
Brigade” that is affiliated with al-Nusra Front, he revealed.
The gunmen in Arsal recently waged an attack from the region against targets
within Syria. This development coincides with reports published in the Lebanese
As Safir newspaper on Friday that spoke of an attack carried out by gunmen
against the Syrian town of Rankous. The source called for an “Arab and
international stand against the pockets of gunmen along the border with Lebanon
that coincides with the spread of the ISIL in Iraq.” “These developments are a
danger to the entire region, not just Iraq and the Levant ,” he warned.The army
carried out on Friday a wide-scale raid in the outskirts of Arsal in search of
gunmen and wanted suspects linked to terrorist activities. It arrested Syrians
Zaher Abdul Aziz al-Ahmed for his connection to the al-Qaida-linked Abdullah
Azzam Brigades. It also detained Nour Muheiddine Shameseddine, Haitham Nader
Ghannoum, Adel Suleiman Ghannoum and Mohammed Nazih Ghannoum for the possession
of cameras, computers and CDs that show their participation in training with
terrorist groups.
Aoun Calls Geagea to Offer Condolences, Discusses Presidential Vacuum with al-Rahi
Naharnet /Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel telephoned Maronite Patriarch
Beshara al-Rahi on Friday and both men discussed the vacuum in the state's top
post. The state-run National New Agency said Aoun and Rahi tackled the latest
developments in Lebanon, particularly the presidential juncture. Former
President Michel Suleiman left office on May 25 without a successor to take his
place in the coming six years as differences between the March 14 and the March
8 coalitions prevented the election of a new head of state. Aoun has announced
that he would only run for president if he was presented as a consensual
nominee, particularly eying the support of al-Mustaqbal Movement. Al-Mustaqbal
bloc's MPs, however, are holding onto the March 14 alliance's candidate Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea. Separately, Aoun also telephoned Geagea on Friday to
offer his condolences over the death of the LF leader's father Farid. The Change
and Reform bloc head had delegated MP Simon Abi Ramia to the northern city of
Bsharri where Geagea is currently receiving condolences. Farid Geagea passed
away on Tuesday evening after he had spent the last three months of his life at
the hospital for age-related health complications.
Lebanon Extradites Berlusconi Ally over Mafia Links
Naharnet /A judicial source on Friday confirmed Beirut had
extradited an ally of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. "Senator
Marcello Dell'Utri was handed over to an Italian security delegation and left
the country on board an Alitalia aircraft at 4:00 am (0100 GMT) following a
presidential decree," the source told Agence France Presse. An official source
confirmed former President Michel Suleiman had signed an extradition agreement
with Italy hours before he left office at the end of his presidential mandate on
May 25. Dell'Utri was arrested in Beirut in mid-April on an Interpol warrant.
Italy's top court in May upheld a seven-year sentence against Dell'Utri, who was
convicted of serving as a mediator between Berlusconi and the Sicilian mafia.
Source/Agence France Presse
Syrian Woman Strangled in Koura 'Honor Killing'
Naharnet/The Internal Security Forces said Friday that two Syrian
teenagers have killed their sister in what the state-run National News Agency
described as a crime of honor. The ISF Intelligence Branch found the body of
24-year-old Diala T. near a school in the town of Deddeh in the northern Koura
district, NNA said. The police investigation led to the arrest of her brothers
N.T. and Aa.T., who admitted to strangling her in an honor killing, the agency
said. The two men were arrested and handed over to the Dahr al-Ain police
station for further investigation, it added. But according to an ISF communique,
the 16-year-old and 13-year-old brothers said they killed their sister “for
family reasons.” Every year thousands of women are killed for notions of family
honor worldwide, mainly in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. In
2011, the Lebanese parliament approved a draft-law to cancel article 562 of the
penal code that calls for limited punishments for honor killings.
Lebanon Could Have 2 Grand Muftis over Dar al-Fatwa Differences
Naharnet/Lebanon is faced with the possibility of having two grand muftis after
the rival Higher Islamic Councils called on Thursday for a new head to the
country's Sunni sect, al-Akhbar newspaper reported. “There would either be two
muftis or ulemas would make a last-minute interference to find a settlement,”
al-Akhbar quoted informed sources as saying. But Dar al-Fatwa officials said no
solution was looming in the horizon. The dispute between the council led by
Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani and that of his deputy Omar Misqawi
is the result of political interferences.
The Higher Islamic Council -- which elects the Mufti and organizes Dar
al-Fatwa's affairs – became the center of controversy in 2012 after 21 of its
members, who are close to al-Mustaqbal movement, extended its term until 2015
despite Qabbani's objection. The Mufti later held elections for the Council,
which were deemed illegal by ex-PMs Saniora and Najib Miqati, and the group led
by Misqawi, who argued that the polls violated Shura Council decisions and did
not enjoy a legal quorum. On Thursday, the two councils called for the election
of a Mufti before the expiry of his term on Sept. 15. Mount Lebanon Mufti Sheikh
Mohammed al-Jouzo told the Saudi Okaz daily that the invitation for the election
of a grand mufti by Qabbani's council came in conformity with decree 18 of the
by-laws which had been announced by Qabbani. “We shouldn't focus on the details
as long as his term is nearing to end because any dispute on the issue would
reflect negatively on the Sunni sect in Lebanon,” he said. Former Prime Minister
Salim al-Hoss has also defended the decision of Qabbani's council to call for
elections.
The Lebanese Association For Democratic Elections Launches
App to Monitor Elections
Naharnet/Less than six months are left for Lebanon's
parliamentary elections, and for that purpose the Lebanese Association for
Democratic Elections launched the first elections monitoring mobile phone
application which allows all citizens to monitor the polls and register
violations in the framework of their national shared responsibility, LADE said
in a press conference on Thursday.
The organization said that it is now ready to monitor the elections with the
help of unprecedented new technical tools used for the first time in the world.
It has launched the field preparations in districts, and its central office to
be ready to monitor the polls. LADE also launched the elections maps in Lebanon
which give every visitor access to information about parliamentary elections
since 2005. The mobile application is divided into two sections: the first
section is dedicated to LADE’s observers while the other is available for all
citizens. The purpose of launching this application is to involve the citizen in
the monitoring process and increase awareness on the types of violations.
Moreover, LADE will be capable of monitoring and registering a larger number of
violations thus improving the accuracy of the electoral process and democracy
evaluation. The violations sent by citizens will automatically appear on the
maps on LADE’s website once verified as free of insults or inappropriate images.
After disseminating the violation and attached documents, LADE will send its
monitors to make sure the breach occurred in order to later verify or deny it.
This application has been completed with the support of the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) and the technical implementation of Arabic GIS, LADE said,
adding that they provided the implementing company with ideas and mechanisms of
use. Regarding the electoral maps, LADE aims at transforming the electoral
figures through these maps, into percentages that help the visitor have a
clear idea about: -The percentage of each sect of the total number of registered
citizens and voters in the succeeding parliamentary elections since 2005
according to each district. -The percentage of males and females among the
registered citizens and voters since 2005 according to each district. -The
percentage of canceled ballots and white ballots since 2009.
- The weight of the seats in each district. LADE noticed the tight relation
between these figures and the electoral reforms it requests, especially the
electoral system, as the maps show clear inaccuracy in the representation among
districts and the numbers of registered citizens. For example, 1.66% of voters
have 2.34% of the seats in Jezzine, whereas 4.70% of voters have 3.13% of seats
in Tyr.
Women quota showing the numbers of registered and participating women indicates
that women form more than half of the voters but their representation is no more
than 2% in the parliament. LADE found that 8 of 26 districts have a male
majority, whereas the other 18 have a female majority with a gap varying between
2 and 9% in some districts, such as West Bekaa-Rashaya, Zahrani, Koura, and
Zgharta.
LADE calculated the figures on the map using the ballot lists of the Ministry of
Interior and Municipalities. They have been separated and adapted with the maps
and information they contain. LADE will update these maps constantly after every
election and after the yearly electoral lists are published. These maps have
been completed with the support of Democracy International and the technical
assistance of Lamba Lab and Development Seeds, they concluded.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Urges 'Antidote' to Fight Hizbullah 'Terrorism'
Naharnet /Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor has accused Hizbullah and
Iran of launching a campaign of terror against the Jewish State, urging the
international community to find an “antidote” to eradicate the virus of
terrorism. “Israelis are the targets of a terror campaign directed by the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizbullah,” Prosor told the 94th plenary
meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday. “Iran’s fingerprints can be
seen on attacks from Bulgaria to Kenya to Thailand, where just a few weeks ago,
authorities foiled a plan by Hizbullah agents to attack Israeli tourists,” The
Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. “When our children are not safe in their
schools and our families are not safe in malls and museums then we – as an
international community – have failed,” he said. “We have failed to stand up to
terrorism and failed to fight back the plague that threatens to overrun entire
nations.” Prosor compared terrorism to a “lethal virus,” saying “terrorist
groups are determined enemies, adapting and mutating to avoid detection.”“We
must isolate terrorist groups by cutting off their funding and dismantling their
networks.”According to the Jerusalem Post, the diplomat also told the General
Assembly that the international community should produce an “antidote to
eradicate the virus of terrorism before it eradicates us.”But Prosor stressed
that Israel became a specialist in the field of counter-terrorism out of the
persistent need to defend its citizens against terrorist organizations that have
continuously threatened the Jewish state since its rebirth 66 years ago.
Television Cable Providers on Broadcasting World Cup: State
Shied Away from its Duties
Naharnet/Television cable providers in Lebanon criticized on
Friday the state for failing to address the issue of broadcasting the 2014 FIFA
World Cup, which has left several households unable to view the tournament that
kicked off on Thursday. General coordinator of the network of cable providers in
Lebanon Mahmoud Khaled said during a press conference: “The state shied away
from its responsibilities regarding this issue.” “We did not receive any word
from any official explaining that viewers seeking to watch the tournament should
pay the sole agent in Lebanon,” he added. “The absence of the state in
addressing this issue is unusual,” he remarked. “The government should form an
emergency ministerial committee to enable the Lebanese people to watch the World
Cup matches for free,” stressed Khaled. “The viewers cannot afford the fees
demanded by the sole agent,” he noted. Moreover, he revealed that the cable
providers are the link between the agent and the people. “We also cannot afford
the sole agent's fees, meaning we have become the scapegoat” in this issue, he
stated. “We will go ahead with the broadcast if we reach a short-term
understanding with the judiciary and the agent and until the ministerial
committee is formed,” continued Khaled. He revealed that he received several
angry calls from viewers who were complaining about not being able to afford the
fees imposed by the agent. “We are willing to perform what it takes to please
the viewer,” he stressed. In addition, Khaled said that the cable providers cut
the transmission, for 45 minutes, of certain television channels broadcasting
the opening game of the World Cup in order to “emphasize what may happen when
viewers are prohibited from gaining access to the matches.”The 2014 FIFA World
Cup kicked off on Thursday with hosts Brazil defeating Croatia 3-1. SAMA is the
sole agent of beIN Sports in Lebanon. beIN Sports is a global network of sports
channels jointly owned and operated by Qatari Sports Investments, an affiliate
of Al-Jazeera Media Networks. It has purchased the rights to broadcast the World
Cup in the Middle East.Many people have not been able to afford the fee imposed
by SAMA to purchase receiver cards that allow them access to the World Cup
matches, leaving several households unable to watch the games. In the absence of
laws regulating the telecommunications sector, most Lebanese get their
subscriptions from mostly illegal cable companies that operate through piracy
and charge about LBP 20,000 ($13) a month.
Mashnouq Says Presidential Vacuum Shouldn't Paralyze State
Naharnet/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashbouq considered on
Friday that presidential vacuum should not obstruct state institutions, urging
rival parties to confront terrorism and fortify the national unity. “Are we
supposed to paralyze the state if we failed to elect a new head of state?”
Mashnouq wondered in remarks published in As Safir newspaper. He stressed that
the political arch-foes should hold onto the cabinet and the parliament in order
to be productive and not to resolve political disputes. Lebanon has been plunged
into a leadership vacuum after Michel Suleiman's presidential term ended on May
25 with rival political blocs still divided over a new leader. Over the past two
months the parliament convened five times to try to elect a successor to
Suleiman but failed during the last four sessions due to a lack of quorum. A row
among the parties rose in the cabinet over a mechanism regulating the
government’s work during the ongoing presidential vacuum thus ending the last
three sessions without any consensus. The parliament also failed to meet to vote
on any draft-law over lack of quorum as most Christians party reject to attend
sessions before the election of a new president. The cabinet assumes the
executive tasks of the president as stated by the constitution until a new head
of state is elected. Concerning the developments in Iraq, Mashnouq said that the
“region is unsteady and we have no right to drown in our disputes.” “We should
confront terrorism and strengthen our political and national unity,” Mashnouq
noted. Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have swept
up a huge swathe of predominantly Sunni Arab territory in northern and
north-central Iraq, including the second city Mosul. Forces from Iraq's
autonomous Kurdish region have meanwhile taken control of Kirkuk, an ethnically
divided northern city they have sought to rule for decades.
Salam Expects Breakthrough to Cabinet Dispute, Calls for Stability amid Regional
Turmoil
Naharnet/hat the ongoing cabinet dispute would reach a breakthrough before its
next session, stressing on importance of safeguarding the local situation amid
the turmoil in the region. “I was keen during Thursday's cabinet session to
fortify consensus over the mechanism” regulating the government’s work during
the ongoing presidential vacuum, Salam said in comments published in As Safir
newspaper on Friday. The premier pointed out that he gave room for agreement
among the rival parties to “take the right decision.” “We will not wait
endlessly,” Salam said. On Thursday, the government held its third meeting after
the expiry of President Michel Suleiman's term in May 25. Despite his hopes to
keep the Baabda Palace vacuum away from the government, ministers remain divided
on how to take decisions and how to sign decrees. Concerning the situation in
Iraq, Salam said that he reiterated during the cabinet session that “any
regional development would have an impact on Lebanon whether it was negative or
positive.”“We agreed to safeguard the local situation to confront any shaky
regional development through consensus and agreement.”The PM expressed hope that
the political arch-foes would maintain stability and act responsibly” regarding
any regional development. Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) have swept up a huge swathe of predominantly Sunni Arab territory
in northern and north-central Iraq, including the second city Mosul. Forces from
Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region have meanwhile taken control of Kirkuk, an
ethnically divided northern city they have sought to rule for decades.
Kuwaiti Speaker in Beirut to Discuss Syrian Refugee Crisis
Naharnet/Kuwaiti Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim is scheduled to visit Beirut on
Friday to discuss with Lebanese officials the crisis of Syrian refugees, al-Liwaa
newspaper reported. During his two-day visit, al-Ghanim will hold talks with
Speaker Nabih Berri and tour with Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas
encampments of Syrian refugees. Al-Ghanim, the envoy of Emir Sheikh Sabah
al-Ahmed al-Sabah, is also expected to follow up the agreements reached during
the donor conference held in Kuwait. Al-Liwaa quoted a cabinet minister as
saying that the Kuwaiti speaker's visit would be the first trip made by an Arab
leader to Beirut since the expiry of President Michel Suleiman's term on May 25.
More than 1 million of Syrians are in Lebanon, leaving the country, home to 4.5
million people, struggling to cope with the massive influx of refugees. Most of
the displaced Syrians are living with relatives and small encampments spread in
the country unlike Turkey and Jordan that have established official camps for
them. The Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as largely peaceful protests
against President Bashar Assad's rule that deteriorated into civil war. The
fighting has uprooted 9 million people from their homes, with over 6 million
Syrians seeking shelter in safer parts of the country and at least 2.7 million
fleeing to neighboring countries.
Maliki Says Operation to Clear Cities of 'Terrorists' Has
Begun as Troops Fight Militants North of Baghdad
Naharnet/Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Friday Iraqi
security forces have begun clearing cities of "terrorists" who seized swathes of
territory and brought the military to the point of collapse.
Security forces "began their work to clear all our dear cities from these
terrorists," Maliki said in a statement. Maliki spoke from the embattled city of
Samarra where he arrived Friday for a security meeting. Militants attacked the
city, located 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Baghdad, earlier in the week,
and witnesses said they were readying for another assault on Friday. The city
houses the revered Shiite al-Askari shrine, which was bombed by militants in
2006, sparking a bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that killed tens of
thousands. A major militant offensive, spearheaded by powerful jihadist group
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has overrun all of one province and
chunks of three more since Monday. Security forces have so far failed to halt
the push, with some abandoning their vehicles and positions and discarding their
uniforms. Earlier on Friday, Iraqi forces clashed with militants advancing on
the city of Baquba, just 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad.
Security forces were battling militants on the outskirts of Muqdadiyah, 35
kilometers (23 miles) northeast of Baquba, police and army officers said.Baquba
is the capital of Diyala province, whose mixed Arab, Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite
population has made it a byword for violence ever since the U.S.-led invasion of
2003. The militants have already captured two provincial capitals this week --
Tikrit in Salaheddin province and second city Mosul in Nineveh. President Barack
Obama said Washington was examining "all the options" to help Iraq's beleaguered
security forces resist the offensive, spearheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL), which began in Mosul late on Monday. Washington has found
rare common cause with its longtime foe Tehran, with both voicing dismay at the
Sunni extremists' advance and pledging to boost aid to the Shiite-led
government. ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani vowed its fighters would press
on to the capital and, further south, to the Shiite shrine city of Karbala,
visited by millions of pilgrims from around the world each year. Iraq has
meanwhile bolstered Baghdad's defenses as militants near the capital pressing an
assault launched in second city Mosul, the interior ministry spokesman said on
Friday. "We put in place a new plan to protect Baghdad," Brigadier General Saad
Maan told AFP. "The plan consists of intensifying the deployment of forces, and
increasing intelligence efforts and the use of technology such as (observation)
balloons and cameras and other equipment," Maan said. He said coordination
between security forces had also been increased. "We have been in a war with
terrorism for a while, and today the situation is exceptional," Maan said.
Security forces have so far failed to halt ISIL's drive, with some throwing away
their uniforms and abandoning vehicles and positions to flee. Source/Agence
France Presse
Obama: U.S. Will Help but Iraq Must Mend Divisions
Naharnet/U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that he is examining
options short of sending ground troops to help Iraq counter a Sunni extremist
offensive, but warned the country must heal its own divisions. "We will not be
sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national
security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi
security forces," Obama said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government
has asked the United States to provide military assistance to counter a stunning
advance by ISIL, a Sunni extremist movement.
But, in brief remarks to reporters at the White House, Obama warned the Baghdad
government that it had brought disaster on itself by failing to heal the divides
between Sunni and Shiite camps in the country. "The United States will not
involve itself in military action in the absence of a political plan by the
Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they're prepared to work together," he
said.
"We won't allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while
we're there we're keeping a lid on things and, after enormous sacrifices by us,
as soon as we're not there, suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not
conducive to the long-term stability of the country."The United States withdrew
the last of its occupation forces from Iraq in 2011, eight years after they
overthrew the then dictator Saddam Hussein, but Obama sad he was studying
options to increase ongoing support for the Iraqi military. He added, however,
that "any action that we may take to provide assistance to Iraqi security forces
has to be joined by a serious and sincere effort by Iraq's leaders to set aside
sectarian differences. "Nobody has an interest in seeing terrorists gain a
foothold inside of Iraq and nobody is going to benefit from seeing Iraq descend
into chaos," he said. "So the United States will do our part, but understand
that ultimately it's up to the Iraqis as a sovereign nation to solve their
problems."
Source/Agence France Presse
U.S. Transfers 12 Detainees out of Afghan Prison
Naharnet/A U.S. official said Thursday the United States has repatriated a dozen
inmates from a secretive military prison in Afghanistan where foreign terror
suspects have been held for years without trial.
A French national, a Kuwaiti and 10 Pakistani detainees were sent back to their
home countries last month from the Parwan prison, the defense official told
Agence France Presse.
The move left 38 non-Afghan detainees at the prison. The Defense Department
notified Congress of the transfer 10 days beforehand, the official added.
President Barack Obama's administration faces legal difficulties at the Parwan
center similar to those posed by the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba. In both cases, U.S. authorities suspect detainees have terror links but
often lack sufficient evidence to try them in court and are reluctant to release
them. The Obama administration is trying to shut down the Guantanamo and Parwan
prisons as it seeks to draw a line under the extraordinary legal measures
adopted in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The move at Parwan came amid
controversy over a prisoner swap involving the release of a U.S. soldier
captured by Afghan insurgents and five Taliban militants held at Guantanamo.
Bowe Bergdahl was freed on May 31 but some lawmakers have slammed the White
House for agreeing to the transfer of the five Taliban figures.
With the United States and NATO allies withdrawing most of their combat troops
from Afghanistan this year, Washington handed over control of Parwan prison to
the Kabul government under an agreement.
But U.S. authorities still help oversee the cases of foreign, non-Afghan
detainees. The conditions for the 12 detainees transferred last month remain
unclear.Source/Agence France Presse
Iran would resume enrichment if nuclear talks fail
Ynetnews/Reuters/06.13.14/Iranian deputy FM warns failue to reach nuclear
agreement would be 'a disaster,' says Tehran will return to 20 percent
enrichment if deal cannot be reached.
Failure to reach a deal on Iran's nuclear program would force Tehran to resume
uranium enrichment activities, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was
quoted as saying on Thursday.
Speaking at a conference in Rome, Araqchi said he believed it was possible for
Iran to reach an accord with world powers in time for a July 20 deadline, with
drafting of final proposals due to begin next week. "We need hard work and
wisdom and logic to overcome disagreements," Iran's Fars news agency quoted him
as saying. "Iran will return to 20 percent enrichment if a deal cannot be
reached ... failure to reach a deal will be a disaster for everyone," he was
quoted as saying. Iran and six world powers have been holding talks on curbing
Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for an end to western sanctions with all
sides under pressure to reach a conclusion by July 20. However final agreement
has been held up by differences over issues including the number of uranium
enrichment centrifuges that would be available to Iran and diplomats have said
there may have to be an extension. Last November, under a deal that secured some
easing in western sanctions, Iran agreed to halt enrichment of uranium to a
fissile concentration of 20 percent, a level below weapons grade but one which
would potentially allow it to upgrade its stocks relatively quickly. Iran, which
denies wanting to produce nuclear weapons, says it is producing low-enriched
uranium to fuel a planned network of nuclear power plants, not to develop bombs
as the West fears. Uranium must be enriched to a high degree - about 90 percent
fissile purity - for a nuclear weapon. Senior US officials met with Araqchi
earlier this week in Geneva. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked
about a series of bilateral meetings officials from the six-power group held
with Iranian officials in Europe this week ahead of next week's negotiations in
Vienna. "Gaps remain, there's no question about that," Psaki told reporters in
Washington about the US bilateral meeting earlier this week, without giving
details. Asked if a deal could be reached by next month’s deadline, Psaki said:
"Our focus remains on the July 20 deadline and that has not changed."
Feared Palestinian abduction of three missing yeshiva boys
in Hebron district
DEBKAfile Special Report June 13, 2014/The three missing 16-year
old boys from Yeshivat Etzion near Hebron are feared kidnapped by Palestinian
terrorists. They were last seen Thursday night at 9.30-10 at outside Alon Shevut
thumbing a lift after reporting to their families they were on their way home.
One of the boys was able to notify the IDF tof their abduction. Heavy military,
Shin Bet and Border Guard forces are combing through the Hebron sector,
including the Palestinian villages around the town, backed by deep intelligence
operations. But so far have found not trace of the boys. One of the missing
teens is an US citizen. .Ambassador Dan Shapiro hs been updated. Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu issued a special statement holding Palestinian Authority head
Mahmoud Abbas and his unity government responsible for the fate of the missing
boys. He has held an urgent security meeting in Tel Aviv and been in touch with
the boys’ families.
The Palestinian Authority has not responded in any way to the incident and no
terrorist organization has claimed responsibility. Various extremist Palestinian
organizations have of late increasingly called over their media and from the
prisons holding terrorists for an all-out effort to kidnap Israeli soldiers and
civilians as bargaining chips for the release of jailed terrorists. Palestinians
are crowding around the IDF and roadblocks thrown up to support the search and
throwing stones. Five Palestinians in the village of Dura in the Hebron sector
of the West Bank were detained during the day over a burnt vehicle. Police are
investigating the incident for any ties to the boys’ disappearance. Israel has
thrown up security roadblocks on the roads leading from the West Bank south to
the Gaza Strip and east to the Jordanian border in case the purported
Palestinian kidnappers try and carry the three missing Israeli boys outside the
country into the Gaza Strip, Sinai or Jordan. Security has also been reinforced
on the Lebanese border with special measures In the absence of any physical or
other leads to the boys’ whereabouts, debkafile’s intelligence and cyber experts
point to some important aids for supporting the hunt.
One is to identify the cellphones carried by the missing boys, at least one of
which may have remained active after their disappearance. This would enable the
searchers to map the route and timeline of their movements, after contact was
lost at 9:30-10:00 pm Thursday night. Depending on the types of cellphones,
there may even be a record of an area of hundreds of square meters on which to
home in on by GPS – even though the hilly terrain of the Gush Etzion area does
not offer the best conditions for cellular contact The military, security and
intelligence agencies are no doubt engaged in an intensive effort by Open Source
Intelligence (OSINT) to scan Arab public and social media for the slightest
clues. OSINT has become a valuable source of intelligence data for all the
world’s security services.
Even taking into account that terrorist organizations like Hamas will use open
media for psychological warfare and for planting red herrings, precious
information can still be gleaned from Facebook and Twitter, and the chats,
rumors and comments racing through smartphones, a mode of communication which
has caught on with the Palestinians in a big way, especially youngsters.
Iraq crisis caught Obama unprepared
Yitzhak Benhorin /Published: 06.13.14/Ynetnews
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4529971,00.html
Analysis: Obama says he's not ruling out any options, but
no one is buying it anymore. As the Iraqi army abandons its posts to Islamists,
the Obama administration is not left with many options.
US President Barack Obama was sitting in the Oval Office next to Australian
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and tried to come up with an alibi for the
astonishing events in Iraq that caught the White House with its pants down.
"Just because you say a war has ended, doesn't mean it's over," Senator John
McCain, who lost the 2008 presidential elections to Obama, said mockingly. The
promise to end the war in Iraq was one of the main campaign pledges that led
Obama to the presidency. Red with anger, House Speaker John Boehner yelled into
the TV networks microphones, "It’s not like we haven't seen over the last five
or six months these terrorists moving in, taking control of Western Iraq. Now
they've taken control of Mosul. They’re 100 miles from Baghdad. And what's the
president doing? Taking a nap!"
Iraq Crisis Obama tried to explain that he and the National Security Council are
not asleep, but rather working around the clock. "This is an area that we've
been watching with a lot of concern, not just over the last couple of days but
over the last several months," Obama explained. "Over the last year we have been
providing them with additional assistance to try to address the problems that
they have in Anbar, the northwest portions of the country, as well as the Iraqi
and Syrian border," Obama continued. "That includes in some cases military
equipment, it includes intelligence assistance, includes a whole host of
issues." However, "What we’ve seen over the last couple of days indicates the
degree to which Iraq's going to need more help... from us and from the
international community," he added. The American aid came in the form of
military vehicles, hundreds of Hellfire missiles and other weaponry from Uncle
Sam's arsenal. F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters are also on their way to
Iraq. But maybe it's best these arms doesn't arrive at all. The Americans had no
idea that the Iraqi army they equipped, trained and funded with billions of
dollars, would desert these areas without a fight, and leave the American
equipment to be taken by the terrorists. According to the British Telegraph, 800
jihadist fighters from Mosul, a city of 2 million, succeeded in chasing off
30,000 soldiers and 25,000 policeman.
These security forces, who were funded and trained by the Americans but failed
to fight, allowed the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" to wash over the
country. This was the Americans' doomsday scenario. Three years after leaving
Iraq, they are watching on TV how extremist Islamist forces, more cruel than
al-Qaeda, are racing towards Baghdad in American armored vehicles and besieging
the oil fields in the northern part of the country.
The Iraq crisis already caused a big wave of refugees fleeing areas seized by
Islamists The greatest mistake of George W. Bush's presidency was Iraq. Obama's
greatest mistake was Syria. And now the Islamist forces are erasing the border
between the two states. These artificial borders were drawn by the British and
French in the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement and exist solely on paper. In reality,
Bashar Assad and Nouri al-Maliki are fighting over control of Damascus and
Baghdad and don't really care about borders.
Signs declaring "you break it, you buy it" hang near fragile products in
American stores. "If you break Iraq, it is yours," former US secretary of state
Colin Powell warned Bush junior before the American invasion in March 2003. And
this is exactly what happened. Iraq was broken into different districts -
Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite.
After almost a decade of casualties and billions of dollars that emptied out the
American coffers, the Americans left Iraq in December of 2011. 4,477 Americans
were killed in the war in Iraq and 32,000 were wounded. But even after the US
military left Iraq, thousands of American contractual workers continued training
the Iraqi army, and the United States spent $15 billion so far to rehabilitate
the Iraqi army. Now, these American contractual workers are being smuggled to
safety. Then-president Bush was the one who signed on an exit date for US forces
with the Iraqi government, while it was Obama who happily carried out that
withdrawal. After all, he was elected with a mandate from the public to get out
of Iraq. But even he can't escape blame. Obama's true responsibility in this
crisis lies in his disastrous handling of the Syria crisis. In her memoir "Hard
Choices," former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton writes that she
supported arming the Syrian rebels in the early stages of the civil war, but the
White House refused. Former US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was even
blunter when told CNN that the Obama administration's failure to arm the
moderate opposition in Syria in a much earlier stage prevented Assad's ouster,
and allowed the jihadists into Syria. Those jihadists later started moving
freely between Syria and Iraq and operate training camps in the desert. The
Iraqi government has asked the Americans to bomb these training camps, but
Washington refused. The Americans have a score to settle with Shiite Prime
Minister al-Maliki who, instead of being the prime minister of all Iraqis, only
advanced his Shiite agenda and actively caused the division in Iraq. They
would've liked to re-educate him, but they don't have time for this.
Obama said he was looking at "all options," but the world as a whole and the
Middle East in particular are no longer buying it. American troops won't be sent
to fight on Iraqi soil - this is obvious. But the American president is aware of
the fact that a lot is at stake "in making sure that these jihadists are not
getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria, for that matter."
What to do? What are the options? Not many. Military analysts explain that an
aerial strike alone won't solve the problem. The United States can't strike from
the air when it doesn't know what's happening on the ground. Without Americans
in the field to guide the attacks they'd have to count on Iraqi forces on the
ground, but the Pentagon just doesn't trust them. Another option is launching
drones towards intelligence targets. At the moment, however, the Kurds in the
north are taking over the oil fields in Kirkuk, and the Iranians have announced
that they are sending Revolutionary Guard Corps to Baghdad to help al-Maliki. In
Washington, the Pentagon put the military option on the president's desk, and he
needs to make a decision.
An alarm bell that violent extremists are on the rise
June 12, 2014/By David Ignatius /The Daily Star
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2014/Jun-12/259771-an-alarm-bell-that-violent-extremists-are-on-the-rise.ashx#axzz34Xt8RugV
The capture Tuesday of Mosul, the hub of northern Iraq, by Al-Qaeda-linked
militants is an alarm bell that violent extremists are on the rise again in the
Middle East. And it’s a good time for President Barack Obama to explain more
about how he plans to fight this menace without making the mistakes of the past.
Obama needs to alert the country to the renewed extremist threat partly to
clarify the record. Just 19 months ago, he won re-election arguing that his
policies had vanquished the most dangerous core elements of Al-Qaeda. But the
organization has morphed, and deadly new battles are ahead.
The campaign theme that the worst terrorist threat had been licked was vividly
drawn in the third debate between Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney, on
Oct. 22, 2012.
Romney tried to shake Obama’s optimistic narrative about Al-Qaeda. “It’s really
not on the run. It’s certainly not hiding. This is a group that is now involved
in 10 or 20 countries, and it presents an enormous threat to our friends, to the
world, to America long term, and we must have a comprehensive strategy to help
reject this kind of terrorism.”Obama countered Romney’s statement with his basic
campaign mantra:
“We ended the war in Iraq, refocused our attention on those who actually killed
us on 9/11. And as a consequence, Al-Qaeda’s core leadership has been
decimated.”
Obama scored points later in that debate when he dismissed Romney’s concerns
about Iraq. “What I would not have done is left 10,000 troops in Iraq that would
tie us down. That certainly would not help us in the Middle East.” The
transcript records Romney sputtering back: “I’m sorry, you actually – there was
a ...”
Obama had the better of that exchange, certainly for a war-weary America that a
few weeks later gave him a new mandate. But looking back, which picture was
closer to the truth? Probably Romney’s. The return of Al-Qaeda isn’t Obama’s
fault; there are too many complicated factors at work here. But it helps explain
the seething rage of many Republicans about Benghazi. They argue that the attack
there on Sept. 11, 2012, which killed four Americans, was an early warning sign
of rising chaos and extremism in the Middle East – and that Obama made it
through Election Day partly by minimizing this problem.
Much of the Republican Party’s fury over Benghazi is misplaced, imagining
conspiracies that don’t exist and smearing the reputations of respected public
servants. But there’s a piece of the Benghazi critique that’s real: Extremism is
back and Benghazi was a precursor.
Obama made a solid start in framing a new counterterror strategy in his
graduation address at West Point last month.
“Today’s principal threat no longer comes from a centralized Al-Qaeda
leadership. Instead it comes from decentralized Al-Qaeda affiliates and
extremists,” he said. He proposed a new Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund of up
to $5 billion, “which will allow us to train, build capacity and facilitate
partner countries on the front lines.” Good idea, but progress has been too
slow.
The administration is finally developing a serious strategy for Syria, which
will include a CIA-trained guerrilla army to fight both President Bashar Assad
and Al-Qaeda extremists. In addition, (if skittish Arab allies agree), U.S.
Special Operations forces will train Free Syrian Army units to create a
stabilization force for liberated areas. If the ambitious plan moves forward,
the hope is to train 9,600 fighters by the end of this year.
The extremist fire is burning hottest with the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater
Syria, which spans both countries. This group is so toxic that it’s disowned by
Al-Qaeda and is feuding with Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. Senior U.S.
intelligence officials tell me that ISIS is now recruiting fighters from some
other affiliates, including the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
and the Somali-based Al-Shabab.
Zawahri, cautious and uncharismatic, “is not coping very well,” the intelligence
official explains. The true heir to Osama bin Laden may be ISIS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, who is “more violent, more virulent, more anti-American” than
Zawahri, the official says. The extremists are resurgent. After assuring America
in 2012 that they were on the run, Obama now must frame a strong response that,
as he rightly says, avoids the mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan. That may be his
real legacy issue. **David Ignatius is published twice weekly by THE DAILY STAR.
The Mufti who is more Khomeinist than a Mullah
By: Amir Taheri /Asharq Alawsat
Friday, 13 Jun, 2014
http://www.aawsat.net/2014/06/article55333175
Having written about politicians of many nationalities for decades, I thought I
had become vaccinated against being surprised by how low they could wallow in
cynicism. And yet last week I was surprised to learn I was not beyond being
surprised. Here’s why: In the past few days, the official media in Tehran have
published a number of accounts by an Iranian delegation sent to Syria to monitor
the so-called presidential election won by President Bashar Al-Assad with 88.7
percent of the votes. The first surprise came when Assad, a weakling with an ego
the size of Everest, told the visitors that he owed his “victory” to “guidance
by Imam Khamenei.”This was a surprise because exactly at the time that Assad was
making his sycophantic remarks, Ali Khamenei was ordering his minions to stop
calling him “Imam.” A statement issued by his office insisted: “The Leader does
not counsel the use of the title of ‘Imam’ . . . The title ‘Ayatollah Al-Ozma’
[Grand Ayatollah] is sufficient.”
The Supreme Leader was reacting to a number of thinly disguised attacks from
senior clerics in Qom who have never recognized him as a religious leader,
although they accept him as the Islamic Republic’s chief political figure. Last
month, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Wahidi warned against those who “leapfrog and
call themselves Hojjat Al-Islam, then Ayatollah, then Grand Ayatollah.” He did
not name Khamenei, but everyone recognized the target.
Another Grand Ayatollah, Shobeiri Zanjani, has reminded everyone that Iran
practices Twelver Shi’ism, meaning it has only 12 imams, the last of whom is
“Hidden” and will return at the end of time.
Everyone knows that if Assad is still around, it is largely thanks to support
from Tehran. Thus he has every reason to be grateful to the leadership in
Tehran. What he is not obliged to do, however, is to be the “bowl that is hotter
than the soup,” as we say in Persian, or “more Catholic than the Pope,” as they
say in the West.
Assad is an ophthalmologist with no knowledge of Islamic theology. He is also
the leader of a Nationalist-Socialist Ba’ath Party, a supposedly secularist
outfit. The religious sect to which he belongs, the Alawites, has never been
recognized as part of Islam by the Twelver Shi’ite clergy. So he could be
excused for not knowing the difference between an imam and an ayatollah.
But if Assad has the excuse of his ignorance of Islam, what about Ahmad
Badreddin Hassoun, who bears the lofty title of Grand Mufti of Syria? This
gentleman provided the second surprise of the week by offering a weird narrative
of early Islamic history. In a meeting with the Khomeinist parliamentary
delegation, Hassoun described Assad’s “victory” as a “blessing for Syrian
people.” That much is understandable insofar as the gentleman is an employee of
the Assad government. What is not understandable, let alone justifiable, is his
attempt to put a religious gloss on what is an example of naked political
cynicism. According to accounts published by members of the Iranian delegation
in the official media in Tehran, Hassoun claimed that after the Prophet’s death,
Muslims developed the concepts of “caliph” and “imam” side by side. In that
system, Hassoun went on, the imam was chosen “with assent from Allah,” while the
people chose the “caliph” by swearing bay’ah (fealty). In other words, God and
people made different choices. In that dualist system, the “caliph” could not
fulfill his duties without the backing of the “imam.” Thus the first three
caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman, needed Ali as “imam.” (Hassoun does not say
what happened when Ali himself became caliph.) Trying to apply his theory to the
present power structure in Iran and Syria, Hassoun claims that the “admirable
success” of the Islamic Republic in Iran was due to “Imam” Khomeini and, after
him, “Imam” Khamenei. According to Hassoun, The Islamic Republic’s various
presidents, including Akbar Rafsanjani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani,
are modern versions of the “caliph,” while Khomeini and Khamenei have played the
“imam.”
Hassoun then claims that in Syria today, Assad plays the role of a “caliph”
sustained by Khamenei’s “imam.” Leaving aside Hassoun’s pseudo-Islamic jargon,
his analysis is correct. Assad is sustained by Khamenei. However, Assad’s
position is best described by a pure Persian word: satrap, a provincial
governor. He is satrap of Syria, with Khamenei playing the Shahanshah, the King
of Kings. There is nothing new there; for almost 1,000 years Syria was an
Iranian satrapy. What is new, however, is that Assad is as much a caricature of
a satrap as Khamenei is of a King of Kings.
Hassoun’s despicable sycophancy does not stop there. In the meeting with
Khomeinist parliamentarians, he asked them whether they had heard Khamenei’s
latest speech. They replied that they had not because they were in Syria
monitoring the presidential “election.”
Hearing that, Hassoun feigns surprise and hurt. “What is more important than
hearing the latest guidance of the Imam?” he demands. “I will never miss the
Imam’s speeches,” Hassoun boasts. “Each time I listen, I learn a world of
wisdom.” Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand that Khamenei, as the political
leader of a beleaguered regime facing growing discontent within and sustained
pressure from without needs whatever alliances it can make, even with a
discredited dictator such as Assad. I also understand why Hassoun, whose
fortune—maybe even life—depends on the continuation of the Assad regime, should
try to curry favor with the foreign patron of that regime. Both positions make
sense in terms of power politics. What I object to is mixing religion with naked
political calculation.
Iraq going down the Syrian path
Friday, 13 June 2014
By: Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2014/06/13/Iraq-going-down-the-Syrian-path.html
We can easily understand the reasons why the situation in Iraq could get more
complicated, by following up what is happening in Syria. The two countries are
witnessing a political transition stained by blood. The difference between them
is that Iraq has already witnessed misery, a security vacuum and the lack of
political equilibrium.
The situation in both countries remains unsettled and both regimes are engaged
in critical battles of survival on fragmented grounds against various groups
which are actually very similar in both countries. These groups include al-Qaeda
and its affiliated groups, Shiite militias in Iraq, Alawite groups in Syria, the
regime’s drained forces in both countries and foreign military and logistical
support.
The geographical situation in the land of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers is
parallel with the tribal expansion. The history and the fate of both countries
are joined and embedded in the land of Mesopotamia. It is no coincidence that
two Baathist regimes ruled Iraq and Syria via similar militaries and repressive
rules. Chaos arose after the fall of the first and infected the second.
Iraq is the main news headline today. In order to understand what is happening
there, we should observe the recent developments of Iraq’s division into three
political and military areas: troubled areas in the north and west, threatened
or involved areas - including the center of Baghdad and its surroundings - and
quiet but concerned areas in the south and Kurdistan.
The three big provinces, Anbar, Nineveh and Salahuddin are witnessing a heavy
rebellion against the state. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – the
most brutal and daring organization in the world – is leading this rebellion.
Many armed groups in the region are following ISIS and are eager to fight
against the government and the regime’s representatives.
It is almost the same scenario that took place in Syria. At first, with the
initial emergence of ISIS and al-Nusra, the Free Syrian Army opposing Assad’s
regime allied with them, only to later discover that the objectives of the
al-Qaeda affiliated group were different. Thus, they became enemies. ISIS was no
less dangerous than the forces of Assad’s regime, and this is how the war
erupted between them.
“Maliki’s government wants to punish its opponents, such as Mosul leader Usama
al-Nujayfi, by letting their areas be consumed by terrorism. But the government
fears that the danger may spread into its regions of influence, like Baghdad.”
The number of armed insurgents in the province of Nineveh and Anbar is massive.
ISIS has a few thousand fighters. The majority of the soldiers were associated
with Saddam’s regime. This combination of armed forces can lead to the formation
of a huge force threatening Baghdad, but it is most likely that it will end up
like the Syrians rebels. The allied, armed rebel groups along with their tribal
backers, will be fighting against these terrorist groups. The Anbar scenario
will be repeated: when Anbar tribes allied with U.S. forces against al-Qaeda
after al-Qaeda threatened them and intended to settle in their regions and rule
them through their princes and jurists. The government of Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki is now in trouble, especially as it was obviously cooperating with
ISIS. It is obvious because it intentionally withdrew from the city of Mosul
that fell without a single battle. Maliki’s government wants to punish its
opponents, such as Mosul leader Usama al-Nujayfi, by letting their areas be
consumed by terrorism. But the government fears that the danger may spread into
its regions of influence, like Baghdad. It is expected for this monster to grow
and threaten everyone, this is why it was unexpected that Maliki asked to be
granted the right to declare a state of emergency.
In fact, he does not need to because he has ruled in a way that is quite similar
to a state of emergency. He unilaterally governs Iraq. He is the defense and
interior minister, and the commander of the armed forces, the intelligence, and
the finance ministries. He also supervises the judiciary! Therefore, he does not
need to declare a state of emergency, unless the reason behind it was to remain
in power for a longer period of time by postponing the appointment of another
prime minister.
Maliki is a dictator clinging to power. His opponents and allies are no longer
interested in him. Shiite forces that chose him four years ago are not backing
the renewal of his term this time. However, he is willing to burn Iraq if it
would allow him to remain in power, for an alleged critical state of security
and emergency. He is acting like Bashar al-Assad, the governor of Syria who has
set his country on fire in order to stay in power, refusing all offers of
reconciliation that do not guarantee his extended stay in power.
The fall of Mosul paves the way for a third phase of Iraq’s new history after
the fall of Saddam Hussein and the withdrawal of U.S. forces. If the battles
remain limited to where they are now, then perhaps it could generate a political
solution that unites the different parties and ends the insurgency. If not, the
circle of violence will expand towards the Kurdish north and center, where the
stronghold of the regime lies, and the fall of Mosul will to a full-scale and
horrifying civil war.