LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 06/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

Bible Quotations For Today
The Healing Miracle of the Paralytic
The Gospel of Saint Mark ( 02/1-12): "When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was in the house. Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them. Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”— He said to the paralytic— “I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.” He arose, and immediately took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden
First Letter to Timothy 05/24-25/6-01-05: "The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgement, while the sins of others follow them there. So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden. Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honour, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them on the ground that they are members of the church; rather they must serve them all the more, since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these duties. Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness, is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

Question: “What is the Judgment Seat of Christ/Bema Seat of Christ?”
GotQuestions.org
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/03/05/what-is-the-judgment-seat-of-christbema-seat-of-christ/
Answer: Romans 14:10-12 says, “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat…so then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Second Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” In the context, it is clear that both scriptures are referring to Christians, not unbelievers. The judgment seat of Christ, therefore, involves believers giving an account of their lives to Christ. The judgment seat of Christ does not determine salvation; that was determined by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (1 John 2:2) and our faith in Him (John 3:16). All of our sins are forgiven, and we will never be condemned for them (Romans 8:1). We should not look at the judgment seat of Christ as God judging our sins, but rather as God rewarding us for our lives. Yes, as the Bible says, we will have to give an account of ourselves. Part of this is surely answering for the sins we committed. However, that is not going to be the primary focus of the judgment seat of Christ. At the judgment seat of Christ, believers are rewarded based on how faithfully they served Christ (1 Corinthians 9:4-27; 2 Timothy 2:5). Some of the things we might be judged on are how well we obeyed the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), how victorious we were over sin (Romans 6:1-4), and how well we controlled our tongues (James 3:1-9). The Bible speaks of believers receiving crowns for different things based on how faithfully they served Christ (1 Corinthians 9:4-27; 2 Timothy 2:5). The various crowns are described in 2 Timothy 2:5, 2 Timothy 4:8, James 1:12, 1 Peter 5:4, and Revelation 2:10. James 1:12 is a good summary of how we should think about the judgment seat of Christ: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”
Recommended Resources: Your Eternal Reward: Triumph & Tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ by Erwin Lutzer and Logos Bible Software.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 06/16
The Healing Miracle of the Paralyzed/Elias Bejjani/March 06/16
Who's really taking Christian homes in Iraq/Omar Sattar/Al-Monitor/March 05/16
Post Elections Iran and GCC Security: Any Changes/Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
Will Iran Vote Dislodge IRGC Deep State/Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
What Syria’s Ceasefire Should Lead to/Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
The War against ISIL Shifts to Africa/Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
Egypt: The failure of the Brotherhood revolution/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
Breaking the farmers chain of desperation/Ehtesham Shahid/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
Outdated Muslim rhetoric strengthens the far right/Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
No one should have the authority to allow child marriage/Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation/Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/March 05/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on March 06/16
Saudi says it will take arms bound for Lebanon
Report: Salam Tasks Mashnouq Instead of Bassil at Islamic Summit
Report: Halted Arms Grant Will be Delivered to Saudi Arabia
Jumblat Meets with Hariri at Center House
Protests Against Reduction in UNRWA Services Continue
Raad: Our concern is not opening internal battles but rather preserving stability, civil peace despite conspiracy against Resistance
Hariri bound for Riyadh
Lebanese Leen Hayek...best voice in 'The Voice Kids'
Enemy gunboat violates territorial waters to a distance of 220 meters
NLP student organization rallies in front of Foreign Ministry, protests against Bassil
Araiji at Lebanese Book Fair Opening: We hope the destructive vacuum ends by electing a President to restore balance to institutions
Wahhab: Presidency postponed for regional reasons unless Hariri decides to nominate Aoun
Waste Crisis Rescue Conference: For a contingency plan to address daily, backlog of waste in 8 months
"We Want Accountability" activists head to Grand Serail

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 06/16
Killings, violations as Syria fragile truce continues
Syrian rebels seize Iraq border crossing from ISIS
Saudi FM reiterates: Assad must go at start of transitional process
Syrian opposition group elects new leader
Lavrov, Kerry call for prompt start to Syria talks
US: ISIS ‘losing’ as campaign to retake Mosul begins
Turkish police fire tear gas to raid top newspaper
Turkish PM in Iran talks ending regional strife
Erdogan mulls giant ‘refugee city’ in north Syria
Veteran Sudan opposition leader Turabi dead at 84
Libya’s future threatened by ‘terrifying’ ISIS: UN chief
Libya health minister demands release of frozen funds

Links From Jihad Watch Site for March 06/16
Pope Francis condemns “diabolical” Islamic State attack on Yemen aged care home
Sweden: 46% of women over 16 are afraid to go out after dark for fear of rape by Muslim migrants
UK: Queen Mary University Palestine Solidarity Society hosts jihad terrorist murderer as featured speaker
Twitter not taking down ISIS accounts, but banning users who report terrorists
UK: Muslim Uber driver tells Jewish bus driver he will “kill all the Jews”
German water park segregates men and women after two sex attacks by Muslim migrants
Germany: 15-year-old Islamic State Muslima who stabbed cop concerned after her arrest that her hijab was in place
German cafes stop selling pork sausages to spare the feelings of Muslim “refugees”
UK’s Express: “A group of British men have been charged with funding terrorism”
Geller: SPLC Blames Me for the San Bernardino Jihad Massacre

The Healing Miracle of the Paralyzed
Elias Bejjani
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/03/06/elias-bejjani-the-healing-miracle-of-the-paralyzed/
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11/28-30)
The habit of praying for others in any manner or pattern is a desirable religious practice, especially when the prayers are for the sake of those who are sick, persecuted, oppressed, poor, lonely and distressed, or have fallen prey to evil temptations.
Praying for others whether they are parents, relatives, strangers, acquaintances, enemies, or friends, and for countries, is an act that exhibits the faith, caring, love, and hope of those who offer the prayers. Almighty God, Who is a loving, forgiving, passionate, and merciful Father listens to these prayers and always answers them in His own wisdom and mercy that mostly we are unable to grasp because of our limited human understanding. "All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21/22)
On the fifth Lenten Sunday the Catholic Maronites cite and recall with great reverence [ ] the Gospel of Saint Mark( 2/1-12): "The Healing Miracle of the Paralytic": "When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was in the house. Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them. Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”— He said to the paralytic— “I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.” He arose, and immediately took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
This great miracle in its theological essence and core demonstrates beyond doubt that intercessions, prayers and supplications for the benefit of others are acceptable faith rituals that Almighty God attentively hears and definitely answers.
It is interesting to learn that the paralytic man as stated in the Gospel of St. Mark, didn't personally call on Jesus to cure him, nor he asked Him for forgiveness, mercy or help, although as many theologians believe Jesus used to visit Capernaum, where the man lives, and preach in its Synagogue frequently. Apparently this crippled man was lacking faith, hope, distancing himself from God and total ignoring the Gospel's teaching. He did not believe that the Lord can cure him.
What also makes this miracle remarkable and distinguishable lies in the fact that the paralytic's relatives and friends, or perhaps some of Jesus' disciples were adamant that the Lord is able to heal this sick man who has been totally crippled for 38 years if He just touches him. This strong faith and hope made four of them carry the paralytic on his mat and rush to the house where Jesus was preaching. When they could not break through the crowd to inter the house they climbed with the paralytic to the roof, made a hole in it and let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on in front of Jesus and begged for his cure. Jesus was taken by their strong faith and fulfilled their request.
Jesus forgave the paralytic his sins first (“Son, your sins are forgiven you) and after that cured his body: "Arise, and take up your bed, and walk". Like the scribes many nowadays still question the reason and rationale that made Jesus give priority to the man's sins. Jesus' wisdom illustrates that sin is the actual death and the cause for eternal anguish in Hell. He absolved his sins first because sin cripples those who fall in its traps, annihilates their hopes, faith, morals and values, kills their human feelings, inflicts numbness on their consciences and keeps them far away from Almighty God. Jesus wanted to save the man's soul before He cures his earthy body. "For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?" (Mark 08:/36 & 37).
Our Gracious God does not disappoint any person when he seek His help with faith and confidence. With great interest and parental love, He listens to worshipers' prayers and requests and definitely respond to them in His own way, wisdom, time and manner. "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened". (Matthew 07/07 &08)
In this loving and forgiving context, prayers for others, alive or dead, loved ones or enemies, relatives or strangers, are religiously desirable. God hears and responds because He never abandons His children no matter what they do or say, provided that they turn to Him with faith and repentance and ask for His mercy and forgiveness either for themselves or for others. "Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. 5:14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, 5:15 and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up". (James 5:13)
There are numerous biblical parables and miracles in which Almighty God shows clearly that He accepts and responds to prayers for the sake of others, e.g.:
Jesus cured the centurion's servant on the request of the Centurion and not the servant himself. (Matthew 8/5-133:
Jesus revived and brought back to life Lazarus on the request of his sisters Mary and Martha. (John 11/1-44)
In conclusion: Almighty God is always waiting for us, we, His Children to come to Him and ask for His help and mercy either for ourselves or for others. He never leaves us alone. Meanwhile it is a Godly faith obligation to extend our hand and pull up those who are falling and unable to pray for themselves especially the mentally sick, the unconscious, and the paralyzed. In this realm of faith, love and care for others comes our prayers to Virgin Mary and to all Saints whom we do not worship, but ask for their intercessions and blessings.
O, Lord, endow us with graces of faith, hope, wisdom, and patience. Help us to be loving, caring, humble and meek. Show us the just paths. Help us to be on your right with the righteous on the Judgment Day.
God sees and hears us all the time, let us all fear Him in all what we think, do and say.

Saudi says it will take arms bound for Lebanon
AFP, Paris Saturday, 5 March 2016/Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Saturday the kingdom will keep French military supplies previously intended for Lebanon under a $3 billion aid program, as Riyadh toughens its stance against Hezbollah. Last month the oil-rich Gulf state halted the program in protest against Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group fighting in support of Syria's regime - which Saudi opposes. "We didn't stop the contract. It's just going to Saudi Arabia, not to Hezbollah," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a news conference in Paris. "We have a situation where Lebanon's decisions have been hijacked by Hezbollah. The contracts will be completed but the clients will be the Saudi military." On Wednesday the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council declared Hezbollah - which has lawmakers in the Lebanese parliament - a "terrorist" group in the latest step against the organisation as ties between its main backer Iran and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia deteriorate. Gulf monarchies had already sanctioned Hezbollah in 2013 in reprisal for its armed intervention in Syria. Last week Riyadh upped measures against the group, freezing assets and prohibiting dealings with three Lebanese nationals and four companies.

Report: Salam Tasks Mashnouq Instead of Bassil at Islamic Summit
Naharnet/March 05/16/Prime Minister Tammam Salam has tasked Agriculture Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq instead of Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil to represent him at the Extraordinary Islamic Summit on Palestine end of this week, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday. “The invitation has been addressed to Salam and he is free to assign any of the ministers,” sources at the Grand Serail told the daily. They denied claims that Salam has deliberately excluded Bassil from the event against the backdrop of his latest positions that drew dispute in the Arab Foreign Ministers and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meetings. The 5th Extraordinary Islamic Summit on Palestine and al-Quds al-Shareef will be held in Jakarta on Sunday and Monday. Lebanon's Foreign Ministry abstained from voting on a statement of Organization of Islamic Cooperation that condemned Iran, in what was described as “in line with Lebanon's dissociation policy.”The OIC statement followed an extraordinary meeting that was requested by Saudi Arabia after protesters in Iran in early January set fire to the embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city of Mashhad. The Foreign Ministry's stance drew controversy and even led to a series reactions from Gulf states that included halting a $4 billion Saudi aid to the Lebanese army and military forces, and travel warnings to Lebanon.

Report: Halted Arms Grant Will be Delivered to Saudi Arabia
Naharnet/March 05/16/The French weapons that were supposed to be given to the Lebanese army as part of a Saudi grant will be delivered to Saudi Arabia after the donation was halted last month, the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat quoted sources on Saturday. French diplomatic sources following up closely on the Lebanese file and the Saudi decision that halted a $4 billion grant to the Lebanese army and security forces told the daily that they “understand” Riyadh's position in light of the “fabrications of Hizbullah” and believe that the “Lebanese government’s official decision is confiscated by the party.” “The weapons contract signed with French companies will continue and the companies will not be harmed by the aid suspension,” unnamed French sources told the daily, pointing out that the French Defense and Foreign Ministers were on a mission to Riaydh in that regard. They added that the production of arms will continue under the Saudi deal. and that they will be delivered to Riyadh instead of to Lebanon. They pointed out that with regard to the arms deal here, Riyadh is the "decision maker" about what to do with these weapons in accordance with the developments that could emerge in Lebanon. They concluded saying that Paris respects the Saudi decision. Later on Saturday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir confirmed the reports and said: “Our army will receive a batch of French weapons that were initially ordered for Lebanon.”Saudi Arabia has halted a $4-billion military and police funding program for Beirut in response to what it said were "hostile" positions linked to Hizbullah, and for failing to join other Arab nations in condemning attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran last month.

Jumblat Meets with Hariri at Center House
Naharnet/March 05/16/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat held talks Friday evening with al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri.
According to a terse statement issued by Hariri's office, the two leaders discussed “all the political developments in the country.”The meeting was also attended by Health Minister Wael Abou Faour and Hariri's advisers Nader Hariri and Ghattas Khoury. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and the Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah and some of their allies have been boycotting the electoral sessions. Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his suggestion was rejected by the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Jumblat had initially voiced support for Hariri's move and was even described as the initiative's “architect” but he has recently renewed his backing for the presidential nomination of MP Henri Helou, a member of his centrist Democratic Gathering bloc. Hizbullah and the FPM, and most recently March 14's Lebanese Forces, have argued that FPM founder MP Michel Aoun is more eligible than Franjieh to become president given the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Protests Against Reduction in UNRWA Services Continue
Naharnet/March 05/16/Palestinian factions in Tripoli's refugee camp of al-Beddawi held a sit-in on Saturday protesting the UNRWA's continued reduction in medical and educational services that it supplies to the refugees due to lack of funds, the state-run National News Agency reported. Palestinian Resistance factions, the popular committees and members of the civil society in al-Beddawi camp in the northern city of Tripoli held a sit-in in the presence of members of the Central Crisis Cell and the camp's officials, NNA added. The campaigners voiced calls to increase pressure on UNRWA to undo the procedures which “has transformed our people into walking dead at the gates of hospitals.”The new measures by UNRWA kicked off early this year and led to several protests in Palestinian refugee camps.UNRWA decided to adapt its hospitalization support in Lebanon. The reasons for this adjusted policy include increasing support for tertiary care and alleviating the burden of costly surgical operations. In addition, a cost-sharing element for secondary care was introduced in line with international good practice, according to UNRWA.

Raad: Our concern is not opening internal battles but rather preserving stability, civil peace despite conspiracy against Resistance
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - "We are concerned not with creating battles on the internal scene but rather with safeguarding stability and civil peace, in spite of the conspiracy targeting the Resistance," said "Loyalty to Resistance" Parliamentary Bloc Member, Deputy Mohammad Raad, on Saturday. Speaking during a memorial ceremony in tribute to Hezbollah Martyr Mohamad Hasan Nehmeh held in the town of Kfour, Raad said: "In Lebanon, we approach matters with wisdom, patience and foresightedness," adding that "Lebanon shall always be governed through diversity which we consider as fate."

Hariri bound for Riyadh
Sat 05 Mar 2016 /NNA - Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri left Beirut Saturday evening heading to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on a family visit.

Lebanese Leen Hayek...best voice in 'The Voice Kids'
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - Lebanese contestant Leen Hayek, who hails from al-Mina region in Tripoli, won the best voice title in the young talent competition program "The Voice Kids" on Saturday evening.

Enemy gunboat violates territorial waters to a distance of 220 meters
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - "An Israeli gunboat violated the Lebanese territorial waters off Ras al-Naqoura at 17:44 hours on Saturday, to a distance of 220 meters for 4 minutes," an Army Command Orientation Directorate communiqué indicated. The breach is being followed-up in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

NLP student organization rallies in front of Foreign Ministry, protests against Bassil
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - The Student Body of the National Liberals Party (NLP) organized a sit-in on Saturday in front of the Foreign Ministry protesting against Minister Gibran Bassil's stances which "harmed the interest of Lebanon's youth in Gulf countries."Head of the Students' organization, Simon Dergham, said in a statement that the axis of Iran will not be allowed to ruin the future of Lebanese youth. "We will not allow Minister Bassil to drag us into subordination to the party of weapons...or the dominance of Iran."He added that the NLP will continue to follow the national principles set by former president Kamil Chamoun and preserve the relations he set with most of Arab countries. "We must differentiate between states that support the army and state institutions, and a state that decided to support Hezbollah and its statelet." Dergham vowed that Lebanese youth will remain moderate and warned against mixing between the Shiites of Wilayat al Fakih and the Shiites of Imam Mohammad Mehdi Chamseddine, who represent the genuine image of moderate Shiites. Addressing Bassil, Dergham accused him of following his failures at the ministries of energy and communications with a resounding failure at the foreign ministry. "We will not allow you, your political team and the Iranian domination to break Lebanon's will in preserving their nation and extending a hand to the most honourable of friendly states."

Araiji at Lebanese Book Fair Opening: We hope the destructive vacuum ends by electing a President to restore balance to institutions
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - Culture Minister Raymond Araiji hoped Saturday that the "destructive state of void in the country will come to an end by electing a new President of the Republic; thus, restoring democracy and balance to Lebanese institutions and constitutional life."Araiji's words came during his inaugural address at the 35th Lebanese Book Fair held at "Saint Elie Monastery" in Antelias, amidst a crowd of officials and prominent dignitaries.Araiji praised the efforts exerted to make the Book Fair a yearly successful event, describing it as an "influential act of culture and civilization that flows with faith, a source of honor and pride for Lebanon, and a symbol of its continuously pioneering role."

Wahhab: Presidency postponed for regional reasons unless Hariri decides to nominate Aoun
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - Arab Unitarian Party Head, former MP Wi'am Wahhab, considered Saturday that the "presidential elections are postponed for the time being until all regional tracks are achieved, unless revelation dawns former PM Saad Hariri by deciding to nominate General Michel Aoun as a presidential candidate, being a unanimous Christian choice."Speaking during his patronage of the cornerstone laying event of the new municipal building in Jahlieh area amidst a crowd of dignitaries and citizens, Wahhab said: "We have for long accepted the Lebanese integration, and we have to respect the will of others.""A Christian will exists in support of General Aoun as President of the Republic, which ought to be respected," he underscored. Wahhab praised the relentless efforts undertaken by PM Tammam Salam during the current difficult circumstances witnessed in the country, while calling for "activating the government's work, especially with regards to solving daily living matters, most prominently the public wastes issue, to be followed by the electricity and oil dossiers."Wahhab also stressed that "security in Lebanon is a red line, in light of an ongoing international and regional resolution to protect it," adding that "this decision is stronger than any decision of sabotage, despite various security incidents in the country."He paid tribute herein to "the army, internal security forces and public security for their honorable proactive accomplishments in the fight against terrorism, which have spared Lebanon numerous terrorist operations targeting its security."

Waste Crisis Rescue Conference: For a contingency plan to address daily, backlog of waste in 8 months
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - The Environmental Movement held Saturday its "Waste Crisis Rescue Conference" at the UNESCO Palace, which ended by declaring a "contingency plan to address the backlog of waste at a cost of $15 million within a period of 8 months, and daily waste at a cost of $35 million for the same duration."Conferees voiced strong objection to "all non-environmental, unsustainable proposals" and decided to form a special crisis cell, composed of representatives of civil society, unions, municipalities, university professors and industrialists, in addition to the Lebanese army, to address the waste problem. A meeting is to take place with the ministerial committee to follow-up on the waste dossier by upcoming Tuesday the latest, and to work on a modern law that respects a hierarchy solution in addressing the trash issue.Conferees also called on environmentalists to "run for the upcoming municipal elections."

"We Want Accountability" activists head to Grand Serail
Sat 05 Mar 2016/NNA - "We Want Accountability" activists are heading from in front of Beirut Central Inspection building to the Grand Serail to stage a sit-in and call upon Prime Minister Tammam Salam to urge the Inspection Board Chairman, George Awwad, to perform his duties, National News Agency correspondent reported on Saturday.

Killings, violations as Syria fragile truce continues
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 5 March 2016/A total of 135 were killed last week and more violations were registered as Syria’s fragile truce continued on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that a total of 135 people were killed in the first week of a fragile truce in Syria in areas covered by the cessation of hostilities agreement. In areas not covered by the ceasefire, which came into force on Feb. 27, 552 people were killed, the Britain-based Observatory that monitors the country's five-year-old civil war said. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday it had registered nine ceasefire violations in Syria over the past 24 hours. In a statement, it said there had been six violations in Aleppo province, one in Damascus, one in Latakia and one in Daraa. It also said that Syria’s Idlib province was attacked from the territory of Turkey. Russian air forces did not made strikes on armed formations, the ministry added. Turkish troops fire on YPG. In the same day, an official from the Kurdish YPG militia said the Turkish army had fired on YPG members near Qamishli city in northeast Syria, close to the Turkish border. Redur Xelil, an official from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) said: “There was firing by Turkish troops at members of the People’s Protection Units near the city of Qamishli which caused serious injury in one person. There was then an exchange of fire between the two sides. “The situation is now tense,” Xelil said. The YPG has been an important partner for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria, but has also been fighting Syrian insurgent groups in northwestern Syria near Aleppo in recent weeks. Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist group, an extension of Kurdish militants who have fought a three-decade insurgency in its own southeast.
Syria peace talks
In hopes of rekindling Syria’s negotiations between it warring sides, the UN envoy for Syria said in statements published Saturday that peace talks set for March 9 will begin the following day with participants due to arrive in Geneva over several days. Staffan de Mistura told the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat it was his “intention” for the talks aimed at ending Syria's five-year war to begin in the afternoon of March 9.But he said he expected them to begin in earnest on the following day. “I think that we will begin on March 10. That is when the process will start,” he said according to an Arabic translation of his remarks published by the newspaper. While some delegates are expected to arrive in Geneva on March 9, others are not expected until March 11 or even 14 because of “problems with hotel reservations,” De Mistura is quoted as saying. He said preparatory meetings will be held ahead of “in-depth discussions separately” which each faction. A first round of talks in early February was cut short amid intensifying Russian air strikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. But a fragile ceasefire drawn up by Russia and the United States and backed by the UN Security Council that entered into force on February 27 is now in its second week, despite accusations of violations.
(With Reuters, AFP)

Syrian rebels seize Iraq border crossing from ISIS
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 5 March 2016/A border crossing with Iraq was seized by Syrian rebel fighters from ISIS militants on Friday. According to the Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the al-Tanf border crossing has been controlled by ISIS since May last year. Prior to that, it had been under the control of Syrian government forces and had been the last border crossing with Iraq that was under their control, according to Reuters news agency, ISIS, which controls a swathe of territory spreading from Iraq into central Syria, still controls the Bukamal Syria-Iraq border crossing near Deir al Zour. The Observatory said the rebel fighters who took the crossing crossed into Syria from Jordan. The crossing is a 240 km drive from Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, which has been under ISIS control since the middle of last year.(With Reuters)

Saudi FM reiterates: Assad must go at start of transitional process
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 5 March 2016/The Saudi foreign minister said Saturday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go at the start of a transitional political process and not at its end, Al Arabiya News Channel reported. It is not the first time Adel al-Jubeir stressed that Assad must cede power. He had also previously urged for the implementation of Geneva I peace communique, drawn up at an international conference in 2012 in the Swiss city. While the communique does not mention Assad’s role in Syria, Damascus grudgingly accepted the principles of the document as it endorses political transition. A UN-brokered international roadmap foresees a transitional authority by the middle of this year and elections by mid-2017. “Assad has to leave at the beginning of the process,” the Saudi minister, whose country backs the Syrian opposition, told reporters in Paris. Referring to the sequence of events, he said: “There is a transitional body, power shifts from Assad to the transitional body, and then he goes.”After that “the transitional body drafts a constitution, prepares for elections. Some are arguing that no, Bashar leaves at the elections in 18 months, that’s not how we think.“For us it is very clear, he leaves at the beginning of the process, not at the end.”Syria peace talks set for March 9 will begin the following day with participants due to arrive in Geneva over several days, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said earlier Saturday. A first round of talks in early February was cut short amid intensifying Russian air strikes in Syria in support of Assad's forces. But a fragile ceasefire drawn up by Russia and the United States and backed by the UN Security Council that entered into force on February 27 is now in its second week, despite accusations of violations. The Saudi minister said there was no possibility that Assad could remain in power. “The Syrian people have spoken when they took up arms against Bashar al-Assad and their message is very very clear: he is not going to be their president... they have already decided with their feet, with their guns,” he said. Discussing Syrian opposition reluctance to travel to Geneva to resume peace talks, he admitted that “they can't go into talks empty-handed.”Syria’s main opposition leader Riad Hijab said Friday that conditions were not yet right for talks to resume, stressing shortfalls in humanitarian aid and breaches of the ceasefire implemented a week ago. “Our position is to support them 200 percent,” said Jubeir. “We don’t question. We may advise, express our views to them, but we support them,” he added. Jubeir made his announcement after the Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Nayef ended his visit in France. The crown prince had met with French President Francois Hollande on Friday to discuss “anti-terrorism” efforts and ways to boost security cooperation between the two countries.(With AFP)

Syrian opposition group elects new leader
The Associated Press, Beirut Saturday, 5 March 2016/One of the main Western-backed Syrian opposition groups elected a new leader Saturday after the term of its former chief ended, it said in a statement. The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition said longtime member Anas al-Abda was elected president, replacing Khaled Khoja. It added that three other officials from the group have been named vice presidents. The coalition was once the main Western-backed opposition group. It is currently part of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, which was to represent the opposition in indirect peace talks with the Syrian government next week in Geneva. However, the talks was thrown into doubt Friday, when HNC chief Riad Hijab said that circumstances were not suitable to resume the talks next week. Despite a truce brokered by the US and Russia, Syrian military operations are still ongoing, detainees have not been released by Damascus and little aid is entering rebel-held besieged areas, Hijab said in Paris. The cease-fire went into effect on Feb. 27 and since then violence has dropped. The cease-fire does not include the ISIS group and the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria known as the Nusra Front. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group that tracks Syria's civil war, reported on Saturday that during the first week of the cease-fire, 132 people, including 35 civilians, were killed in areas included in the agreement. The group said another 552 people were killed in areas where ISIS has a significant presence. That would represent a significant decline since before the cease-fire, when around 5,000 people were killed each month in Syria. The five-year war has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced half the country's population.

Lavrov, Kerry call for prompt start to Syria talks
Reuters, Moscow/Beirut Saturday, 5 March 2016/Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a late phone conversation on Friday called for a prompt start to the next round of Syria peace talks, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The talks, under the aegis of the United Nations were originally due to begin on March 7 in Geneva, but have been postponed until March 9, due to “logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down,” the U.N. said. “The two sides called to start the negotiations as soon as possible ... between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the opposition, during which the Syrians themselves should determine the future of their country,” the ministry said in a statement. Kerry and Lavrov also reaffirmed the need for mutual cooperation to ensure the end of hostilities in Syria, the ministry said. Meanwhile, the United Nations Syria envoy expects a staggered start to peace talks next week, with participants arriving over several days for “indirect meetings,” he said in an interview with pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat. “I see us beginning on March 10 when we will launch the process,” said envoy Staffan de Mistura. “Some (participants) will arrive on the ninth. Others, because of difficulties with hotel reservations, will arrive on the 11th. Others will arrive on the 14th.”The talks will be conducted indirectly, not face-to-face. “We will hold preparatory meetings and then go into detail with each group separately,” he said. De Mistura attempted to convene peace talks in January, but these failed before they had even started in earnest. The five-year Syrian civil war has killed more than a quarter of a million people and created a massive refugee crisis for Lebanon, Turkey and the European Union. The new effort follows the implementation of a partial truce a week ago, though fighting continues in many parts of Syria as it does not include the Islamic State and Nusra Front groups. The reduction in violence has made aid deliveries easier in some areas of the country, but de Mistura said the Syrian government should be processing aid faster. “Lorries are waiting for 36 hours,” he said. “And medical aid must be allowed.” On Wednesday the World Health Organization said Syrian officials had rejected the delivery of medical supplies, including trauma and burn kits and antibiotics, in a convoy to the besieged town of Moadamiya two days earlier. De Mistura said he plans to invite members of the government, the opposition, civil society and women to the peace talks. “Women are important to us because they have a lot to tell us about the future of Syria. We will meet with them separately,” he said. 135 killed in Syria . A total of 135 people were killed in the first week of a fragile truce in Syria in areas covered by the cessation of hostilities agreement, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday. In areas not covered by the ceasefire, which came into force on Feb. 27, 552 people were killed, the Britain-based Observatory that monitors the country's five-year-old civil war said.

US: ISIS ‘losing’ as campaign to retake Mosul begins
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 5 March 2016/The chief of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition on Saturday announced plans to seize Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul from ISIS, which has been held by the militants since June 2014, describing the militant group as “losing.”The operation’s current strategy is to cut the main road connecting Mosul to the ISIS-stronghold city of Raqqa in Syria, the coalition’s US special envoy Brett McGurk said at a press conference in the capital Baghdad. The ground operation will see the participation of both the Iraqi Army forces and Peshmerga, the Kurdish forces from the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan to the north. McGurk also said ISIS is losing a battle against forces arraigned against if from many sides in Iraq and Syria and the focus would turn to stabilizing cities seized back from them. McGurk, however, declined to put a timeline on when the group would be defeated or when Mosul and Raqqa, the main cities under its control in Iraq and Syria respectively, would be retaken. McGurk met in Baghdad Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who said in December that 2016 would be a year of “final victory” over the group in Iraq. "Daesh is feeling pressure now from all simultaneous directions and that’s going to continue .. that’s going to accelerate,” McGurk said at the press conference, using an acronym for ISIS. “Daesh is losing; as they lose we focus increasingly on stabilization,” he added, referring to plans being made to rehabilitate and police cities recaptured from militants. ISIS has come under pressure from air raids and ground forces actions by various parties in both countries, but they still hold large tracts of land. McGurk’s announcement comes despite Iraq’s defense minister saying that the battle to retake Mosul was scheduled later this year. ISIS militants captured Mosul in a shock 2014 offenses after the Iraqi army fled the city. The Iraqi Army deserting Mosul has led to the rise of the Shiite-dominated volunteer forces called the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). The units were formed after a religious edict by the influential spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiite majority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, calling on Iraqis to fight ISIS.The PMU have been effective in snatching from ISIS areas such as Tikrit, the hometown of late President Saddam Hussein. However, the units have been accused of exacting brutal on Sunnis after retaking territory from the militants.(With Reuters)

Turkish police fire tear gas to raid top newspaper
The Associated Press, Ankara, Turkey Saturday, 5 March 2016/Turkish riot police on Saturday fired plastic bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered outside an opposition newspaper the day after it was seized by authorities in a violent raid. “Free press cannot be silenced,” the protesters shouted. Police used large amounts of tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to disperse the crowd of around 500 protesters outside the Istanbul premises of Zaman daily, an AFP photographer at the scene reported. Zaman, closely linked to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s arch-foe the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, was ordered into administration by the court on the request of Istanbul prosecutors. Police also fired the tear gas and water cannon late Friday to move away a hundreds-strong crowd that had formed outside the newspaper offices, following the court order placing the media business under administration. On Saturday, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the building, holding the latest edition of the newspaper in a show of solidarity while the newspaper’s employees entered the building under police scrutiny. The court order was aroused the concern of the United States and the European Union ahead of a crucial summit in Brussels between the EU and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday.  The move, which also affects Zaman’s sister newspaper, English-language Today’s Zaman, and a news agency linked to the group, further reduces the pool of opposition television and newspapers in the country, which is dominated by pro-government television channels and newspapers. Zaman Editor-in-Chief Abdulhamit Bilici addressed his colleagues on the grounds of the newspaper before police had stormed the building. He called the court decision a “black day for democracy” in Turkey as journalists and other newspaper workers held up signs that read: “Don’t touch my newspaper” and chanted “free press cannot be silenced!”The court decision sparked international outrage. “I see this as an extremely serious interference with media freedom which should have no place in a democratic society,” said Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. “It is the latest in a string of unacceptable and undue restrictions of media freedom in Turkey.”Reporters without Borders issued a strongly-worded statement, accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of “moving from authoritarianism to all-out despotism.”Gulen, who has lived in the United States since 1999, was once Erdogan’s ally but the two have fallen out. The government accuses the Gulen movement of orchestrating corruption allegations in December 2013 against ministers and people close to Erdogan as a plot to overthrow it. Authorities have since branded the movement a terror organization, although it is not known to have carried out acts of violence. In reaction, the European Union on Saturday urged Turkey to respect media freedom. “The EU has repeatedly stressed that Turkey, as (an EU) candidate country, needs to respect and promote high democratic standards and practices, including freedom of the media,” the EU’s diplomatic service said in a statement.

Turkish PM in Iran talks ending regional strife
Reuters, Istanbul Saturday, 5 March 2016/Turkey and Iran must develop a “common perspective” in order to end sectarian strife in the region, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a visit to Tehran on Saturday. The neighbors are at odds over the war in Syria: Iran is a key supporter of President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey is his most outspoken critic. The easing of Western sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program means the two neighbors can easily exceed their previous trade target of $30 billion annually, Davutoglu also said in comments broadcast live by Turkey’s NTV news channel.

Erdogan mulls giant ‘refugee city’ in north Syria
AFP, Istanbul Saturday, 5 March 2016/Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested building a new city in northern Syria to house some of the millions of refugees escaping the country’s civil war, reports said Saturday. Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul late Friday that the new city would be located near the Turkish border and said he had even discussed the idea with US President Barack Obama. “I am going to tell you something. What is the formula? We found a city in the north of Syria,” said Erdogan, quoted by the Anatolia news agency. He said that the city would be 4,500 square kilometers in area and its infrastructure could be built in cooperation with the international community. Refugees from Syria could be “resettled” there, he said. Such an area would make the city comparable to some of the largest urban centers in the United States. “We have discussed this with Mr Obama and even set the coordinates but it has not yet come to fruition,” said Erdogan. He gave no timescale for how the project could be realized. Turkey has repeatedly sought to persuade its Western allies to help create a so-called safe zone inside Syria that could house Syrian refugees. But this appears to be the first time that Erdogan has proposed building a permanent city in which they could be housed. Turkey is currently home to an estimated 2.7 million Syria refugees who fled the five year civil war and has complained of the lack of international support in looking after them.

Veteran Sudan opposition leader Turabi dead at 84
AFP, Khartoum Saturday, 5 March 2016/Veteran Sudan opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, one of the fiercest critics of President Omar al-Bashir's government, died of a heart attack on Saturday aged 84, a medical source said. Turabi was taken to the intensive care unit of Khartoum's Royal Care hospital "after suffering a heart attack in the morning and died" there, the source told AFP. As news of his death became known, state television interrupted its regular programming and broadcast Islamic verses from the Koran that are recited for the dead. A key figure in Bashir's regime for a decade after his 1989 coup, Turabi later became one of its fiercest critics and led the opposition in urging a Tunisia-style uprising. He was detained in May 2010, a month after Sudan's first competitive polls since 1986 for denouncing the election as fraudulent. Turabi was the only Sudanese politician to support a warrant issued for Bashir's arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over the regime's conduct of the conflict in Darfur. After breaking ranks with Bashir he formed his own party, the Popular Congress Party. Turabi was detained several times over a career spanning four decades, including in January 2009 two days after he urged Bashir to surrender to the ICC. An ideologue with influence beyond Sudan's borders, Turabi was one of the driving forces behind the introduction of Islamic sharia law in Sudan in 1983, which sparked a devastating 22-year civil war with the mainly Christian, African south that cost an estimated two million lives.The Western-educated Turabi held a master's degree in law from London and a doctorate from Sorbonne University in Paris. He spoke English, French and German fluently as well as Arabic, and his language skills helped him gain access to foreign news media through which he issued repeated calls for an international Islamic revolution.

Libya’s future threatened by ‘terrifying’ ISIS: UN chief
AFP, Nouakchott Saturday, 5 March 2016/UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the future of Libya, and the stability of the whole Sahel region, is at stake as it faces the “terrifying threat” of ISIS. But he warned international powers not to “stoke the fires of conflict” in the country. Ban left Mauritania on Saturday and headed to Algeria as part of a tour of West and North Africa. While meeting Mauritanian leaders, including President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Hademine, in the capital Nouakchott on Friday he said he was “deeply concerned about the situation in Libya”. Chaos has engulfed Libya since the 2011 NATO-backed ouster of dictator Muammar Qaddafi and rival administrations are being urged to sign up to a UN-brokered national unity government to help restore stability. The internationally recognized government is based in the far east of the North African country. The ISIS group and other extremist organizations have exploited the power vacuum, making gains along the oil-rich coastal regions and triggering concern among Western nations over jihadists controlling territory just 300 kilometers (185 miles) from Europe. “There are alarming reports of widespread human rights violations, including serious abuses that may amount to war crimes,” Ban said in his comments Friday. “All those with influence must use it to calm the situation and stop the fighting. It is utterly irresponsible for any outside player to stoke the fires,” he added. Ban said that his special representative Martin Kobler “is facilitating talks on a national unity government” as “we face the terrifying scourge of Daesh (ISIS) expanding in Libya and beyond its borders.” Delays would only worsen the dire humanitarian needs, he warned, adding that “Libya’s future is at stake” and “the reverberations echo far”.
Success in stabilizing Libya would also benefit the whole Sahel region and “our world” in general, he added. The UN chief also called for Mauritania’s help in a territorial dispute between Morocco and a Western Sahara separatist group that has displaced tens of thousands in decades of fighting. “Making progress on the situation in Western Sahara is also of importance here too,” he said, referring to Mauritania. “Numerous refugees share the same culture and family ties with Mauritanians.”The United Nations has been trying to oversee an independence referendum for Western Sahara since 1992 after a ceasefire was reached to end a war that broke out when Morocco sent its forces to the former Spanish territory in 1975. Before visiting Mauritania, Ban held talks in Burkina Faso. He will spend Saturday and Sunday in Algeria.

Libya health minister demands release of frozen funds
AFP, Tunis Saturday, 5 March 2016/The health minister in Libya’s internationally recognized government on Friday demanded the release of Libyan funds frozen abroad, saying the situation in his violence-ridden country was “dramatic”.
“The health situation in Libya is dramatic. We are currently unable to buy what is needed to treat the sick and wounded,” health minister Reida el-Oakley said at a press conference at the UN mission’s headquarters in Tunis. “It’s ridiculous that Libya has to endure financial difficulties in order to ensure supplies of medicines for its people when billions of dollars are blocked” abroad, he said. Oakley said even just “one percent” of such blocked funds would be enough to buy “medicines for Libyans for a year”. In Tunisia, for example, he said there were some $295 million in frozen funds, and deplored the fact that approaches to the Tunisian central bank for more than a year had yielded nothing. “Waiting for the establishment of a consensus government is a false pretext used by countries holding Libyan money,” he said. Oakley urged “the international community to intervene” to help unblock these funds. “This is a humanitarian responsibility,” he said. Chaos has engulfed Libya since the 2011 NATO-backed ouster of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, and rival administrations are being urged to sign up to a UN-brokered national unity government to help restore stability. The internationally recognized government in which Oakley is a minister is based in the far east of the country, while an Islamist militia-backed administration operates in the capital Tripoli. The representative of the World Health Organization in Libya, Sayed Jaffar Hussain, was also at the press conference and said $50 million in immediate funding was needed.
“The world is interested in conflict zones in Iraq and Syria but forgets about Libya. It is a crisis that must be addressed. Children are not vaccinated and women give birth in their homes,” he said. In January, Oakley said that persistent fighting in Libya had forced the closure or partial breakdown of 60 to 70 percent of its hospitals and that the country needed $3 million (2.7 million euros) per day to buy medicine. Last October, the United Nations said that in a country of 6.3 million, “2.44 million people are in need of protection and some form of humanitarian assistance”.

Who's really taking Christian homes in Iraq?
Omar Sattar/Al-Monitor/March 05/16
BAGHDAD — Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units grouping is taking much of the heat for the seizure of Christians’ properties in Baghdad and other provinces. But the organization is trying to counter the claims by tackling the problem itself. The Popular Mobilization Units grouping consists of Shiite armed factions formed after the Islamic State (IS) took control of the Iraqi city of Mosul in June 2014. Among groups fighting with the Popular Mobilization Units are Sunni tribes operating as “Tribal Mobilization” as well as Christian organizations such as the Babylon Brigade. Hakem al-Zameli, head of the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, has accused Christian members of the Popular Mobilization Units of appropriating the property. “A Christian individual claiming to be affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units is seizing homes and blackmailing the owners," Zameli said in a Feb. 18 press conference. “The chief investigator was asked to follow up on this person to limit the seizure of the property of Christians or other minorities."
Popular Mobilization Units spokesman Karim al-Nuri denied the charges.
“These accusations are not true. We wish Zameli had accurate information before making [such] accusations,” Nuri told Al-Monitor. “Weak souls have seized the homes and properties of Christians in Baghdad, and some of them have forged ownership documents with the help of some officials in state institutions.” In response to the allegations, the Popular Mobilization Units helped launch a campaign in February to take back the property. “The Popular Mobilization Units, in collaboration with the Baghdad Operations Command, are participating in a campaign to recover all the Christians’ usurped properties, in order to restore the state’s authority, enforce the law and encourage Christians who have fled or emigrated to return to their homes," Nuri said. “After we complete the recovery of the seized Christian homes in Baghdad, we will launch a similar campaign in Basra, in a bid to end to the accusations."
The problem reflects the security chaos prevailing in Iraq since 2003. This situation has pushed large numbers of Christians and other minorities, such as Sabians and Yazidis, who were threatened by extremist armed groups, to migrate.
Nuri said he does not have statistics on the number of properties involved, but noted, “There are dozens of seized homes and the Popular Mobilization Units’ leadership keeps receiving complaints from Christians ... for us to take the legal measures and recover their homes.”
Last year, the Iraqi Ministry of Justice sought to protect Christians’ rights and property by restricting disposition procedures of buying and selling real estate. “Large numbers of Iraqi Christians are migrating as a result of the security situation in the country. In order to protect their property and titles from being manipulated or forged, Minister of Justice Haider al-Zameli instructed all real estate registration departments to take strict measures when it comes to real estate procedures for Christians," the ministry said in an Oct. 5 statement. “In case a document to sell a Christian property is presented, the seller himself should be present, or an immediate relative (husband, wife, children) or a secondary relative (brother, sister). In addition, an on-site inspection of the property is required to double-check the ownership."
Applications to sell or acquire property by mail must include documents proving ownership.
But the paper trail has failed, according to parliament member Yonadam Kanna, secretary-general of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. Kanna told London-based al-Hayat paper Feb. 6 that “mafias and militias” claiming to be affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units and religious parties continue to forcibly seize Christian properties. Ryan al-Chaldeani, a member of the Christian adjudicating committee in the Popular Mobilization Units, told Al-Monitor that the Christian Movement in Iraq — the political party that formed the armed Babylon Brigade — has created a special office to receive complaints about seized property. “So far, the campaign to recover the Christians’ property has been taking legal and peaceful steps," he said. "I can assure you that those who seized Christian homes and claimed to be members of the Popular Mobilization Units are liars and have nothing to do with us. There are people trying to distort the Popular Mobilization Units’ image and accuse its members of seizing the property of citizens.”Chaldeani, who leads the Babylon Brigade, pointed out, “The campaign to recover the properties will not be limited to evacuating the violators from the homes they have seized. We will arrest and prosecute them, regardless of their positions and their alleged affiliations with political parties.”Seizing the property of minorities in Iraq, or even public property, is not unusual. Ordinary citizens seize state property and build shops or houses, while senior government officials confiscate mansions and real estate.
Although there are no official statistics on the number of Christian properties that have been seized in Iraq, the Chaldean Patriarchate on Aug. 30 handed over to the Baghdad Operations Command 14 titles of Chaldean Christians whose homes had been seized within a few months.
It is worth noting that the number of Christians who have migrated from Iraq since 2003 is estimated at more than 900,000.

Post Elections Iran and GCC Security: Any Changes?
Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
Iran’s elections should not be looked at from the premises of who will knock-out who, the moderates or the hardliners. The elections were a testimony in marrying public sentiments in “urban Iran” with a partially controlled process, shaped administratively beforehand by the regime, to reorient the country towards reaping the benefits of the post sanctions era. In other words, it was a process of recalibrating the balance of power between the “reformists”, allied with other forces, and the hardliners. It was not designed to produce any decisive victory to either camp. The overarching principle was to adapt to the new realities of a post embargo Iran. Now, with Iran’s Council of Experts and Parliament “elections” over, time to ask: Would there be any impact on GCC security outlook as a result?
The question stems from another hypothetical, and indeed challenging, assumption: The “hardliners” want to keep power and push the reformists back. In order for them to do that, the hypotheses goes, they would be inclined to keep the religious fever at a relatively high temperature and always exaggerate the threats of “enemies” like the US or neighboring Arab countries working with the “great Satan” to undermine the revolution. If this did not prove effective enough, they may seek a crisis which aims at galvanizing the population once more behind their fanatic ultranationalist flags. This desire to keep power through illusive images of a common enemy in the form of the US and its allies, may push to create a major security crisis in the Gulf. And this may explain the incidents of the recent boarding of a US Navy boat and arresting its crew or shooting a missile at an American carrier.
An impressive description of the political landscape in the post-elections Iran, circulating currently in Washington, warns us not to take seriously the categories of “moderates” and “hardliners” or even think of Iran’s institutions as real institutions. The analysis, furthermore, asserts that the lines between groups and political forces are “blurred” and it disputes the very foundation of the common views of what is going on in Iran at present.
But let us clean our board first of the “elections”. No, nothing will change after the elections. Iranian elections are not like any other. The elite, under the leadership of Khamenei, “elects” first, and the voters elect after from those who the authorities elected already beforehand. Elections and institutions are meant to be, to a certain degree, a controlled “political breathing space” not a decision maker’s selection process. The Guardian Council (the filter) confirmed 6,229 of 12,123 candidates to run in the parliamentary elections in its final round of qualifications review, and over 80% of those who applied to run for the Council of Experts were already prevented by “the filter”. This was the result of the lessons learned by Khamenei during the Khatami presidency.
Hojjat ol Eslam Ali Saidi, deputy head of the Guardian Council, discussed the IRGC’s role in the elections during a press conference on February 15. The Supreme Leader’s Representative to the IRGC stated that “it is possible” that the IRGC has responded to the Guardian Council’s “inquires” about candidates. According to Iran’s electoral laws, the Guardian Council can use information passed from executive agencies in order to determine the qualifications of each candidate. Saidi explained that the IRGC’s actions do not “constitute interference in the elections” because they are only “responding to the legal bodies of the country. Decision makers have their own forums and they are subject to a different set of rules. Therefore, the potential risk of Iran “fabricating” a crisis in the Gulf is supposedly still standing today as it was yesterday. After all, as we have seen, the IRGC plays a role in first selecting who should run before the public vote. And it is the IRGC, under pressure from seeing its power decreases, which is assumed to potentially make a crisis to escape any unfavorable chances through further escalation.
But what about the blurred lines delimiting political groups like “hardliners” and “moderates” or the disappearing rule of “institutions”?
Let us try to explore another category of differentiating between political groups, or, rather, another dimension which merits to be examined: The form of ownership and appropriation of national revenues and wealth. For, in this regard, we have two distinctive and different forms in the case of Iran-that of collective ownership and appropriation represented in the IRGC and similar entities and that of private and individual ownership. Take the case of Rafsanjani, a very wealthy individual on his own, and IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi or Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Aerospace Division Brigadier, General Amirali Hajizadeh, or better, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, these guys are running an economic empire. They, and the IRGC elite, are active in almost all major economic sectors, including the lucrative smuggling business, which was kind of institutionalized during the long years of sanctions only to gain a life of its own at present, thus enabling it to continue business as usual even after the sanctions. The private sector’s complaints of smuggling have recently grown louder. Rafsanjani was wondering “how Iran’s industry and legal trade can grow if there is a flow of smuggled products entering the country illegally to be sold in the black market?”
These two categories explain a good portion of the “political” frictions in Iran today. The real fight is not political in essence. All political groups “believe in Islam and in defending the revolution” as Khamenei said. According to the Ayatollah, Categories of “moderate” and “hardliner” are promoted by the West. “Moderates in our enemies’ views are those who serve them. But there are no moderates in Iran” he explained. Are there any political differences between these political groups in Tehran? Of course there are. But each group’s political perspective is rooted in how best it can serve a specific form of property that corresponds to its interests. It is formed by its own perspective of the world and Iran’s role in it. Rouhani does not need to be a rich person himself to defend individual property, yet, he believes in individual ownership and defends the views of limiting the role of the IRGC. He is a “political representative” of the individual property camp and an opponent of the “public sector” and its monopolies represented in this case by the IRGC.
Clearly, those who defend individual entrepreneurship and free enterprise see in the IRGS a militarized form of collective property which suffocates their chances of growing . In the case of the IRGC, the yield of its economic empire is divided between the leaders while part of it is appropriated by the State and distributed among allies in different forms. We have seen a similar case in many countries, e.g. Egypt during Nasser. Defending “socialism” and Nasserism in Egypt was synonymous of defending the “Islamic revolution” in Iran, albeit in different terms and in a less feverish manner.
Another case is Syria, where the internal rules of dividing the benefits of the State’s economic sector gave way to the formation of sub gangs. The prominent ones were those who were affiliated with “the leader”, as relatives or partners in private businesses created on the sideline. Individual affiliations emerged to tear apart the artificial unity which enveloped the collective property mode. However, in the case of Iran, and due to its particular circumstance of hostility and sanctions, this artificial unity was cemented by the ever present, and very real, enemies. This presences kept the form in place for longer. And those who have an interests in perpetuating it will do everything possible to achieve that.
The public sector places the natural individual inclination towards individual property in opposition with the collective property. At one point, one of the two wins. This point depends on many factors. The presence of a serious external threat to the enterprise as a whole, the pressing economic needs of the society and the structure of this society, the level of profits are some of them. In the case of Iran, long years of confrontation with the West, the nature of the “collective property” (military) and the overture of all economic sectors to mechanisms of national self-defense through facilitating a degree of presence of the IRGC in them, led to enhancing the process of expanding this form of “State Capitalism” where the right to own is not individual but institutional. It is not the normal high bureaucratic echelon of the “trusted ones” of Egypt, or the Syrian political loyalists of the leadership of the Baath Party and the armed forces, but in the form of the leadership structure of the IRGC and allied institutions and figures. The yields of the IRGC economic empire, legal and illegal, are distributed among the beneficiaries in multiple ways. Favoritism and cronyism is abundant. High salaries and bonuses are common. In certain cases, it suffices to pay back in favors like turning a blind eye to a certain economic activity in return for supporting or facilitating a business opportunity. The distribution of benefits does not take the normal form of a legitimate businessman reaping the profits of his own legitimate business.
We should particularly emphasize here that this form of property is destined to implode from within. Individual interests of members of this “collective” enterprise are intrinsically in conflict with its form-that is to say with the collective nature of ownership and the “all for one and one for all” slogans.
The IRGC is currently grasping to keep the imaginary scarecrow of the enemies surrounding the country alive not only to galvanize the population around its banners, but also as a self-protection mechanism. The message is that “we” will all lose if we do not remain “one”, because our enemies are everywhere around us.”The boundaries between political groups or institutions will remain blurred so long as they are seen only in political terms. Understanding who fights who should be sought in the grounds of the real interests of the various groups and trends. Political discourse stems from genuine beliefs but ultimately corresponds to certain interests of some segments of the society. But how then would all this translates into the field of regional security, or more specifically the field of GCC security?
The Iranian threat to the Gulf is real. The IRGC may very well “fabricate” a crisis there, if there is none. But objectively speaking, this threat would gradually decline if the IRGC got its share of the pie of an opened Iran. Mitigating the threat would be done by accelerating the effects of the internal contradictions within the real base of the IRGC: Its economic empire. Investments have to be intelligently targeted to enhance specific intra-oppositions and facilitate the gradual erosion of the militarized public sector in Iran. Trying to perpetuate the confrontation with Iran in the Gulf does not seem to be a winning card. This does not mean that Iran should not be confronted decisively in its attempts to interfere in the region. It simply means that carefully studied business ties should be expanded between the Arabs and the Iranians in an institution-sector targeted fashion. The fermenting process takes time. And the Arabs can be patient.

Will Iran Vote Dislodge IRGC Deep State?
Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
A coalition of reformers and moderate conservatives have won the Iranian elections for the Majlis and the Assembly of Experts, as the result of some stealth behind-the-scenes maneuvers that tapped into a broad popular demand for economic change and greater engagement with the outside world. When the Guardian Council rejected a large number of reformist candidates for the ballot, the forces aligned with ex-President Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani and current President Hassan Rouhani quietly approached some of the lesser-known certified candidates, including some who were associated with the conservative Principalist slate, and cobbled together a coalition that will now have a small majority in both of the bodies. On the eve of the elections, members of the Basij Militia, now under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were deployed around the country in a conscious move to prevent them from concentrated voting in key urban areas. According to reports, this resulted in 100,000 to 200,000 votes being cut from the hardline slate in both the Majlis and Assembly of Experts elections.
As the result of these clever moves, a reformist/moderate conservative bloc will maintain a slim majority in the parliament (59 seats are to be still decided in runoff elections that will only first take place in late April or early May). Both Rafsanjani and Rouhani won top spots in the Assembly of Experts race. This could be significant in coming years, given that it is expected that the Supreme Leader Khamenei will die before the end of the eight year term. Two of the most hardline clerics, the current head of the Assembly of Experts Mohammed Yazdi and Mohammed-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, were defeated in their reelections, meaning that the only hardliner left on the Assembly is Ahmad Jannati, who also heads the Guardian Council that purged reform candidates from the general ballot.
Two contrary factors underscore the limitations of the electoral shift. First and foremost, the IRGC remains firmly in power through deep state structures that still dominate the Iranian economy. During the two presidential terms of Ahmadinejad, the IRGC took over an estimated 80 percent of the Iranian economy, including the oil sector and all heavy industry. They obtained massive amounts of loans from private banks, which were either siphoned into overseas bank accounts or otherwise squandered. That debt repayment has eaten away an estimated two-thirds of the funds freed up when sanctions were lifted and escrow accounts were reopened.
Iran is in desperate need of massive foreign direct investment, and foreigners will be hesitant until they see that the corruption of the Iranian deep state/IRGC is being at least curtailed. The election results will have very little impact on this make-it-or-break-it factor.
The second factor diminishing the durable impact of the election results is the fact that the majority of the urban-based Iranian population is looking for much more radical reform than that promised by Rouhani and the new Majlis majority. Over 60 percent of the Iranian population is under 30 years of age, and they are fed up with the theocratic state altogether. They do not like Rouhani or Rafsanjani, but they mobilized a show of force voter turnout (a 60 percent turnout of eligible voters, concentrated most heavily in urban areas, especially Tehran) as a loud demand for broader change, which they will not get. As one analyst observed, “If there was a popular vote for Supreme Leader, Khamenei would be defeated by a resounding margin.” If significant change is to come to Iran, weakening the power of the still-entrenched deep state, it will come gradually, as foreign direct investments begin to trickle in and the balance of economic power tilts away from the IRGC. The mandate received by Rouhani and Rafsanjani falls far short of that which could have enabled a “Rectification Campaign” to decapitate the IRGC deep state.

What Syria’s Ceasefire Should Lead to?
Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
The essence of Syria’s civil war is summed up in the triangle: Assad, the non-terrorist opposition and ISIL. Assad fights both the opposition and ISIL (keeping in his mind that a dominant ISIL will leave the world no choice but to side with him). The opposition fights both Assad and ISIL. And ISIL fights both the opposition and Assad. This triangle attracted a host of external powers each with a different agenda than any of its three warring forces. Now, we see the features of the endgame clearly. The west of Syria is for the Russians, Assad, Hezbollah and Iran. The east of Syria is for the opposition, the Arabs and the Turks. This plan B would be implemented if the current talks and ceasefire collapse as they are likely to do. We explained this in details in the last issue of “Middle East Briefing” as it is in fact the real content of the Kerry-Lavrov deal. Both powers would be committed to fight terrorism and stop the flow of refugees each in “its” territory. The real challenge of Syria existed always within this triangle. It still does. The ceasefire should not be seen for what it is not. And it definitely is not “a solution”. There is no point in discussing chances of success of this deal now as the events on the ground will tell us how it will go. But it is always necessary to explore where the ceasefire fits in dealing with the triangle, or the equation that has three variables at once.
Ambassador Fred Hof, a former administration advisor for transition in Syria told “Middle East Briefing” that the US has to facilitate the establishment of a “coalition of the willing” ready to send regional ground forces, led by the US, to fight ISIL in Syria. “The Arabs should see this as the best opportunity to confront Assad and obtain a balanced political solution”, he said.
This is true. Yet, NATO opposes the idea. Putin threatens to bomb the proposed force. The Kurds will fight it if it includes Turkish forces while it is impossible to envisage such a force free of Turkish participation. And Assad will certainly fight it. Hof said that the angry reaction of the Syria’s foreign minister to Saudi statements expressing readiness to send forces to Syria “shows the extent that the Assad regime is nervous about this option”.
Hof, who has been a firm advocate of saving Syria’s civilians from the perpetual butchery going on said that the idea of “an open ended peace talks” must be in the minds until events on the ground sort out a way ahead”.
Another official in the administration who asked to be quoted only on back ground and not be identified said that the idea of Assad remaining in power “for some time” should not be excluded. Pressed to specify the range of the “sometime” he refers to he had this to say “We better be cautious at this critical stage and not talk about any particular time tables. Events will tell us”. In his view, it will be the next administration that will determine the way forward in Syria.
Hof warns, however, that the objective of Putin is to force Obama to swallow his statement about Assad’s “immediate” departure. Yet, the president has already swallowed this statement some time ago. The question has already moved to the following one: How long would he be allowed to remain?
The Arabs, in their turn, say that they have proved their good-will to end the Syrian crisis when they pressured the opposition to respect the ceasefire. Assad, who was asked by Secretary of State to “show some decency” and stop obstructing humanitarian aid, is holding steady on his policy of regaining control over all of Syria. The Iranians recalibrated their approach by reducing the number of IRGC officers in Syria as Hezbollah and other Shia officers from other countries could play the same role under the guide of a small groups of the Revolutionary Guard in Damascus. The move seems to reflect an expectation that the war will carry on for a long time in the future. The Turks are amassing large numbers of soldiers, armored vehicles and artillery units on their borders with Syria.
And the Russians seem to be preoccupied with ways to improve their own overall strategic objective, the center of it is to regain the status of a major global player and be treated by all the others, big and small, as such. The other administration official, however, believes that the circulating assumptions about US-Russian “cooperation” with Russia in Syria “are greatly exaggerated both ways”. “We coordinate with the Russians to avoid any military accidents. And we coordinate with them to reach a cessation of hostility in order to open the road to a negotiated political solution and to reduce civilians’ sufferings. That is it”.
Now, let us step back and look at the general picture to make sense of all the details.
* On the expense of the current confusion of either to work with Putin or to foil his real strategy in Syria, the Obama administration proves, in every single moment of the evolution of this crisis, that it does not have any strategy. This is not because the Pentagon cannot devise a clear objective and provides its necessary means. It is rather due to the strict limits drawn by the White house on both, objectives and means.
* So far, what seems to be the direction of events is to a de-facto partition of Syria. The US, due to restriction of the White House and pressures from European allies, adopted the simplified and wrong view of ISIL first. ISIL is an organic part of the triangle we explained above. It cannot be isolated from the dynamics which created it in the first place.
* In a partitioned Syria, the fight will be against ISIL only. A way to introduce Islamic forces to do the job of taking out the “Islamic” State is resisted by Assad and the Russians. While Hof sees it necessary that the US tells both to back off and do not get even close to the east of Syrian where the Islamic Force is fighting ISIL, we do not see the current administration doing anything even close to that.
The other problem in this scenario is the Turks. Ankara has two objectives in Syria: to fight the PKK and to force Assad out. The relative weight of each objective kept changing in time depending on the course of events. The expansion of PKK friendly groups on the Turkish borders regions made the Kurds a more pressing problem for the Turks. Would anyone be willing to believe that Turkish troops in northern Syria would refrain from bombing Kurdish forces which are also engaged in fighting ISIL?
* In the current fog, Ambassador Hof maybe right in saying that the east of Syria should be the sphere of “the coalition of the willing” in a fight to defeat ISIL. If we keep any uncertainty about the position of the current administration aside, that would mean that the east would be turned into a “separate” entity ruled by the forces which control it. It could be turned into a place where Syrian civilians are relatively safe and the opposition works on developing its governance skills (civil administration, judiciary, police, and reconstruction).
But we cannot brush aside the administration’s total loss of directions, the Turkish factor, NATO’s lack of determination, the Europeans acceptance of a perpetual Assad to get rid of the refugees’ problem, the refusal of Assad to buy into the partitioning plan, Iranian hardliner’s policies, and a host of differences within the opposition itself.
This is a moment that calls for Washington to introduce a policy that consists of the following elements:
– The declaration of the east of Syria as a field for the activities of Islamic forces, supported by NATO, to fight and defeat ISIL.
– The establishment of an adequate multi-nation ground force based in Turkey to go to east of Syria
– Reaching an agreement between the Kurds and the Turks of the limits to which each side can go.
– Reaching an agreement with Moscow on the issue of a fire-free-zone in the north-west (say in Idlib or anywhere else) where civilians are protected and no armed activities exist.
– Roads to subsequent talks should be in mind in every step of this road. The goal is a unified Syria under a legitimate and inclusive regime. Everyone knows that this requires a political solution, either now or later.
– If the Russians are incapable of reining in Assad and his violations of the ceasefire, few manpads should be used from the east of Syria to tell him, the only way he listens, to stop.
As we see from all this, the issue of respecting or violating the ceasefire returns to where it properly is: A short pause that, by standing alone, cannot be sustained. What it needs is a strategy, not a Band-Aid. So long as the ceasefire is not placed in a context of a specific approach, it would end up being a short lull.
To support any strategy related even to leaving the west of Syria to Putin and focusing on the east on and fighting ISIL, the US should work at the same time on reaching a regional understanding to de-escalate regional tension. It may help to divide the prize-Syria- and impose limits on the relevant sides fighting for it. But that will require a decisive stand from Washington. This proved always to be a rare commodity here.

The War against ISIL Shifts to Africa
Middle East Briefing/March 05/16
The United States, Britain, France and Italy are taking the lead in opening two new African fronts against the Islamic State (ISIL). But there are already concerns that a half-baked effort will only make matters worse and actually increase the spread of ISIL’s influence and territorial controls over critical parts of the Magreb and Lake Chad regions. The Pentagon has become concerned that ISIL has established control over a 150 mile stretch of the Libyan coast, including the town of Sirte and areas reaching to within 50 miles of the Tunisian border. When Secretary of State John Kerry was in Tunisia last year, he vowed that the United States would secure the country’s future. When Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi was at the White House, the high-point of the visit was the announcement that Tunisia was classified as a “major non-NATO ally,” opening the door for greater US security assistance.
Despite these American pledges, Tunisia has been rocked by a series of ISIL suicide attacks over the past year, all of which were apparently staged out of ISIL’s new stronghold across the border in Libya. On Feb. 19, US F-15 fighters bombed an ISIL compound in Sabratha, Libya. The target of the bombing was Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian said to have been the mastermind of the 2015 attacks in Tunisia.
So far, the US air strikes have all been “decapitation” operations—aimed at specific ISIL and Al Qaeda leadership targets, based on quick turnaround actionable intelligence. Last March, another US bombing raid was thought to have killed Algerian Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) leader Moktar Belmokhtar. Belmokhtar was also linked to the Ansar al-Sharia attack on the US mission and CIA compound in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, in which US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American officials were killed.
The US and allied plans to conduct more substantial attacks on ISIL’s new African base have been hampered by the fact that Libya has become virtually ungovernable. Two competing “governments” have been unable and unwilling to create a national unity government, despite efforts by the United Nations and Kerry to cobble together a deal. The Libya Dawn coalition of Islamist groups demands that the CIA trained and sponsored Gen. Khalifa Haftar be ousted as head of the Libyan armed forces as a precondition for any deal. The “recognized” government, operating out of internal exile in Tubruk, has been waging a war against the Muslim Brotherhood, led by Gen. Haftar, so the prospects of any kind of unity government deal are remote.
The British have sent a small contingent from their 4th Infantry Brigade to man the border between Tunisia and Libya, which has been bolstered by the construction of a 125-mile long fence that German and British contractors are now outfitting with sensors. But so long as Libya offers a safe haven for ISIL, Tunisia will remain a prize target, given the lack of internal security structures capable of tracking terrorists, once they have entered the country.
It is here that the US and Britain are entering into intensified collaboration with the African front-line states. Washington and London have formally designated the Islamic State actions in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and other Magreb states as “an ISIL invasion,” and are prepared to conduct both covert and overt operations, in full partnership with those front-line states. Plans include expanded training, intelligence sharing and will also involve embedding US and UK Special Forces in some combat units battling against the Islamic State.
The situation in the Magreb is compounded by the fact that Boko Haram, which operates in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, has also formally affiliated with ISIL, and has long been conducting brutal operations on a scale of the Islamic State. Boko Haram was a major recipient of the flood of weapons that hit the black market after the overthrow of Qadaffi. With those weapons in hand, Boko Haram killed nearly 7,000 people in 2014 alone. They have been kidnapping school children and turning them into suicide bombers, as was discovered on Feb. 9, when three of those children attempted to kill masses of people at a refugee camp in northeast Nigeria.
But the war against Boko Haram has taken a turn since the election and inauguration last year of General Muhammadu Buhari as President of Nigeria. Gen. Buhari launched a coordinated conventional war against the ISIL-affiliated group, in coalition with Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Defeated in large-scale military engagements, Boko Haram has reverted to carrying out spectacular terrorist attacks.
To counter those actions, the US is sending in Special Forces to work with the Nigerian armed forces. The deployment came out of a confidential study completed by Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc, the head of Special Operations for Africom (African Command), who pressed for the deployment of Special Forces in non-combat advise-and-train missions. The Nigerians will also likely soon be given the green light to purchase US Cobra helicopters from Israel. In mid-February, Gen. David Rodriguez, head of Africom, hosted Nigeria’s chief of defense staff Gen. Abayomi Garbiel Olonisakin in Stuttgart, Germany at Africom headquarters. The US has also set up a drone operations center in Garoua, Cameroon, staffed by 250 American soldiers, and will send dozens of Special Forces to Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria, where they will stand up an intelligence center, coordinated with the drone operations out of Garoua.
Nigerian counter-terrorism authorities, however, are both enthusiastic and cautious about the new beefed up American cooperation and intelligence-sharing.Even with the desperate circumstances in Africa, there is an underlying skepticism about the viability of American assistance.
The newly activated programs in Libya, Tunisia, Nigeria and elsewhere on the African continent will offer the first test of the effectiveness of the military program, and will either reinforce or disprove the skepticism in the coming weeks and months.

Egypt: The failure of the Brotherhood revolution
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
In the last five years, Egypt has had two revolutions. The first overthrew President Hosni Mubarak, the second toppled his successor Mohamed Mursi and got the Muslim Brotherhood out of politics. Attempts at a third revolution to oust the current government and return the Brotherhood to power have failed.
To carry out a third revolution, the organization conducted the largest media and political campaign in its history. Internationally, the Brotherhood worked hard to marshal human rights organizations, research centers and Western government institutions. It succeeded in raising media attention and sympathy from some international NGOs. Western governments tried to pressure Cairo to cancel the ban on the Brotherhood’s political activities, but in vain. The party was unable to mobilize the Egyptian street against the government, or convince the international community to place sanctions on Cairo.
New TV channels were launched to mobilize the street. Many large channels, newspapers and websites teamed up with new ones to conduct social media campaigns urging the youth to rise up. Agreements were made with Western public relations companies for solidarity with the Brotherhood against the government, but all this failed. The party even failed in exploiting violence, which was carried out by extremist groups in the Sinai and elsewhere, and which the Brotherhood rushed to justify, claiming that the only solution would be its return to power so terrorism would not engulf Egypt. I believe that the Brotherhood knows it is unable to bring about rapid change. It believes in grassroots change via education, media, culture, mosques, syndicates and charities. However, this time it rushed into battle.
Naivety
It was naive to think the Brotherhood could confront the Egyptian army and authorities. It believed that what happened to Mubarak could happen to any president, disregarding the fact that his regime was weak and old. The Brotherhood did not understand that had the army not supported the uprising against Mubarak, it would have failed.There is no place for it in Arab politics unless it embraces new ideas. Fundamentally, there needs to be a revolution within the organization itself. The party might justify its failure by saying security forces prevented people from taking to the streets. However, they tried to do so five years ago, yet people still went out and toppled Mubarak. Egyptians are tired of the Brotherhood and of regional chaos. They want to give the current government the chance to work and succeed. I believe that the Brotherhood’s failure will delay its chances for another decade at least. There is no place for it in Arab politics unless it embraces new ideas, such as the abolition of the concept of itself as an international organization. This concept goes against nationalism - to be Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Saudi or Yemeni is a main requirement to belong to the modern state. There is also a need to enlighten the Brotherhood about many social issues. Fundamentally, there needs to be a revolution within the organization itself.

Breaking the farmers chain of desperation
Ehtesham Shahid/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
Kanayo F. Nwanze is no Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg when it comes to championing philanthropic causes. The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a Nigerian national, doesn’t have the billions to throw his weight behind a good cause. However, he does equally well, if not better, in keeping the focus on challenges facing rural development and what could be done to overcome them.
Nwanze’s contributions over the years go beyond advocacy. He is widely acclaimed for his leadership and understanding of complex development issues. With his pulse on this growing need, he has been repeatedly calling for increased investment in agriculture, especially in Africa.
Nwanze is also associated with the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Food Security and has worked relentlessly to ensure that agriculture remains a central part of the international development agenda. He believes that governments must recognize the concerns of smallholder farmers and other rural poor and looks at food security through the prism of climate change.
He was also instrumental in introducing and promoting New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a high-yield, drought- and pest-resistant variety developed for the continent’s landscape. Nwanze’s struggle to uplift the condition of farm workers proves that dedicated efforts do help in keeping the rural agenda alive. More such individuals are indeed needed around the world.
Stabilizing communities
Nwanze chose the annual IFAD conference, held in Rome last month, to renew his call for action. Officials gathered at the conference, belonging to IFAD’s 176 member countries, also recognized that rural development indeed plays a fundamental role in stabilizing communities and reducing migration and conflict.
They expressed commitment to invest in smallholder agriculture in order to reduce poverty in developing countries. It is indeed hoped that such pledges and commitments are fulfilled as they will only enhance food security, bring about climate change adaptation, and lead to equitable prosperity.
IFAD may have invested $17.6 billion in developing countries since 1978, and laid down projects that have reached 459 million people, but we are still nowhere close to breaking the farmers' cycle of desperation
In Nwanze’s own words, “By working together to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – starting with zero poverty and zero hunger – we can break the chain of desperation” that leads to emergencies and humanitarian disaster”.
Other voices attending the conference also decried the existing system in which farmers aren’t getting their due. Mohamed Ibrahim, an entrepreneur and founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, hit out at African governments for not living up to their commitments to invest in agriculture and rural development.
Ibrahim’s warning was, thankfully, interspersed with hope. “We are by far the least productive region in the agriculture sector but because we have more uncultivated, arable land than anywhere else, it presents opportunities”, he said.
Inclusive platform
Among the outcome from the Farmers’ Forum, a two-day meet held in conjunction with IFAD’s Governing Council, was a plan to make the platform more inclusive. It made a case for inviting pastoralists and livestock breeders to participate in creating stronger links to smallholders and family farmers on the ground. For all the efforts being made to address the plight of farm workers, initiatives such as these are still few and far between. IFAD may have invested $17.6 billion in developing countries since 1978, and laid down projects that have reached about 459 million people, we are still nowhere close to breaking the cycle of desperation.Till that happens, all stakeholders of global development will continue to oscillate between Nwanze’s warnings and Ibrahim’s hope.

Outdated Muslim rhetoric strengthens the far right
Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
Swiss academic and writer Tariq Ramadan discusses relations between Muslims and the West on European TV channels. He tells Muslims what they want to hear, not what they need to know. He holds the West responsible for creating and funding the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Ramadan, grandson of Hassan al-Banna - founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt - says he spends 90 percent of his time responding to Western media outlets that he thinks are unfair to Islam and Muslims. He is not making a difference, but rather solidifying people’s preconceived ideas. Islamist rhetoric in Europe now addresses a massive number of Syrian refugees who have a different culture and mentality than that of Muslims who have long lived there. This rhetoric contributes to strengthening far-right movements in Europe. There are figures similar to Ramadan who also use such rhetoric. This highlights the significance of the call by Arab thinkers in France in the 1980s to establish a religious school to bring together imams to debate and work on the different interpretations of Muslim religious heritage via philology, history, anthropology, psychological analysis and comparative studies.
Some Muslims in Europe isolate themselves from society and refuse to learn the language of the new country they live in. This is the most dangerous way of maintaining identity
When officials in Britain and Germany talked about classifying an Islamic culture that accommodates the values of this or that country, some people were outraged as they considered this a violation of freedom and an attack against plurality and diversity. However, the opposite is true as such measures limit right-wing attacks against Muslims because they integrate Muslim culture with that of the country of asylum or residence. The peak of condescending narcissism is to appear on European media outlets and hold European countries responsible for the emergence of ISIS when, for example, data shows that one in five French people sympathize with the racist right-wing movement the National Front.
Integration
Muslims do not need to tolerate condemnation, rejection and discrimination. They must follow the successful experiences of other countries, religions and races, especially amid the influx of refugees arriving in Europe. The most important thing they must do is understand and accept European values and freedom of expression. Some Muslims in Europe isolate themselves from society and refuse to learn the language of the new country they live in. This is the most dangerous way of maintaining identity as it turns Muslim gatherings into fundamentalist and terrorist cells, as happened in Belgium a few months ago. Refugees must abide by laws that help develop their future, integrate them into society and end their sense of isolation. Far-right movements are growing due to the influx of refugees, the infiltration of extremist organizations, the brutality of terrorist attacks, and the fact that Muslims have not figured out how to deal with their new reality. This has upset relations with the West. Although he is educated and well-spoken, Ramadan’s statements to European media outlets do not serve Muslims, as they reassure them that it is right to isolate themselves. This serves the far right.

No one should have the authority to allow child marriage
Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
As many as 14.2 million girls under the age of 18 will be married every year over the next decade, which translates into 39,000 girls married each day. According to the United Nations Population Fund, one in three girls living in low-to-middle income countries marry before they turn 18, with a further third getting married even before they are 15 years old. Child marriage is a phenomenon that angers people all over the world yet little is done to prevent it. Over the past month, two videos depicting the public’s reaction to child brides have gone viral. It appears that regardless of whether the bystanders are in New York or Beirut, the reactions are those of shock, horror, and disgust. The issue of child marriage is a direct infringement on the rights of young girls and women to choose their life partner. It encapsulates male dominance in a society that is power-hungry. Marriage at a very young age puts a girl’s future in jeopardy. The physical and sexual health of girls is at risk and many die due to sexual trauma. But it’s not just the physical and sexual reproductive health of girls that is at risk, it is the mental health and wellbeing as well. The correct place for a very young girl is not next to her husband but a classroom. Empowering them with skills enable them to contribute to the society and the economy and, in turn, discourage child marriages.
Protecting the vulnerable
In times of humanitarian crises, marriages can be seen as a method to secure the future of young girls. This has been the case in Syria and Jordan where cases of child marriages have gone up since the war began in 2011, a report by Equality Now and the UNFPA have revealed. An Imam in Denmark urged the government to permit child marriages within the refugee communities. Interestingly, he said he would not let his own daughter marry until she was 18 years old. Shifting the power of consent from the father to daughter is the first step that must be taken by governments to ensure the best interest of young girls
The claim that child marriage is a solution to problems of refugees is fundamentally flawed. The solution lies in ensuring safety and security within these camps and to combat the root causes of violence and lack of security. It is necessary to provide access to facilities to the young people languishing in camps, whether they happen to be male or female. The answer lies in ending violence and not marrying them off. Likewise, support and education must be provided to all members of the camp regarding the dangers of child marriage, including the impact on sexual and reproductive health. Issues such as infections, complications during childbirth, and mental trauma suffered by young girls must be openly discussed so that people understand its full implications.
Power of consent
Over the past decade, various countries have attempted to enact laws to tackle this problem. In Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia, the minimum age for marriage has been set to 18 years for women and men alike. However, these laws apply only when consent is not required. If a girl is under the age of 18 in these countries, or in several other countries in the Middle East, then the consent of the father or a guardian is required to register the marriage. By awarding the power of consent to the male guardian, the basic human right of a girl to choose her life partner is violated. Consent is vital in marriage, yes, but it is the consent of the two marrying adults, uninfluenced by the wants, needs, or desires of the extended family that must be taken into account while the marriage is registered. This should apply to all, regardless of the age. Shifting the power of consent from the father to daughter is the first step that must be taken by governments to ensure the best interest of young girls. No one should have the right to overrule and grant marriage certificates to underage girls simply because their fathers have the authority to “consent”. Such a practice must end if the safety of young girl is to be ensured in the region.

Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation
Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/March 05/16
Every Saudi today is well aware of the economic challenges and the critical situation that the country faces. The majority of educated citizens remain resolved to persevere and are willing to contribute in any way to overcome these challenges. The diversification of the nation’s economy is being addressed with a sense of urgency and utmost concern. The whole nation is mobilized to achieve this ambitious goal through the National Transformation Plan which has become a buzz phrase that is attracting public interest and inspiring economists and the private sector to contribute.
The Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF) 2016, which was inaugurated by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah and adviser to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, on Mar. 1, focused on potential privatization opportunities in Saudi Arabia in various economic sectors. The theme of the Forum was Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Collaboration for Impact. The speakers included government officials, policy makers, Saudi economists, business leaders and global experts who discussed the expectations of investors from government and private partners, debated solutions and explored privatization opportunities in education, healthcare, utilities, transportation, infrastructure and municipal affairs.
Many entrepreneurs and young graduates who attended the conference were eager to play a role in supporting the ambitious national transformation plan. I did not meet any defeatists and I did not encounter any skeptics. Everyone I met was full of energy with a positive attitude toward the future.
One of the popular sessions that attracted a lot of young men and women was the one on sports, which was held on the sidelines of the Forum. Many sports enthusiasts were keen to attend the session titled, “The Future of Sports in Saudi Arabia”. Prince Abdullah Bin Musaed, General President of Youth Welfare, spoke about the need to raise the standard of sports in the Kingdom and promised to “create a competitive sector that will have many investment opportunities in the coming years.”The government needs to provide equal opportunities for men and women to guarantee a more progressive knowledge-based society. He said that the sports industry is among the most productive and lucrative businesses in the world and that the government is keen to encourage private investments in sports. He promised that the General Presidency of Youth Welfare would facilitate privatization in the sports sector and said that it is working on enabling qualified managers and addressing the issue of the financial instability of some clubs. He also spoke about promoting sports for Saudi women and plans to establish a special department which will promote women’s sports activities. Hopefully, Saudi women will finally be able to obtain licenses to open their own sports facilities and employ qualified trainers and coaches to encourage sports for women. This move is a very significant development that could influence a new energized generation of healthy and contributing young people.
Developing the economy
During the three-day conference, the panelists addressed three important aspects to develop the Saudi economy: diversification, productivity and SMEs. Business leaders concluded that without solid regulations and guarantees to support businesses, investors will remain reluctant to contribute. Their debate focused on strategies for alternative revenue sources and achieving maximum efficiency services. The experts outlined major national challenges that include creating more jobs for Saudis, providing a positive urban environment and developing health and municipal sectors through privatization. They also listed restrictions that impede the participation of the private sector and stressed the need for public-private partnerships. These recommendations if implemented could really usher in a transformation that would greatly impact our troubled economy. Officials have also announced plans to support small- and medium-sized enterprises, (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. Experts assert that SMEs are key to any economy’s growth, and, therefore, they should be supported to develop a productive service sector and to offer complementary services to large enterprises. However, in order to promote SMEs, the experts urged the need to formulate a structured SME strategy to incorporate public and private ventures. The government needs to allocate a certain percentage of its contracts to SMEs, provide loans to support them, eliminate bureaucratic measures and facilitate licensing procedures. Getting the economy back on track continues to be a national priority. It remains very critical to create enough jobs in non-oil sectors to serve the expanding workforce population. The government needs to provide equal opportunities for men and women to guarantee a more progressive knowledge-based society. Maybe the decline in oil prices is not so bad for Saudi society after all.