LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

March 09/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.march09.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

The Miracle Of Bringing Back To Live The Dead Son Of the Widow In The Town Of Nain
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 07/11-17: "Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us! ’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country."

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honour your father and mother’ this is the first commandment with a promise

Letter to the Ephesians 06/01-09: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honour your father and mother’ this is the first commandment with a promise: ‘so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’
And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free. And, masters, do the same to them. Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality.'
 

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 09/16

We are terrorized/Sara Assaf/Now Lebanon/March 08/16
Saudi Arabia takes action on Hariri business conglomerate/Now Lebanon/March 08/16
Analysis: Israel's next war with Hezbollah will be swifter and decisive/Alon Ben-David/Jerusalem Post/March 07/16
Netanyahu: Gulf States' decision to blacklist Hezbollah a sign of improving ties with Israel/Lahav Harkov, Ariel Ben Solomon/Jerusalem Post/March 07/16
Report: Obama considering UN resolution on peace process/Ynetnews/Reuters/March 08/16
Lebanon’s ticking bomb: Hezbollah’s defiance and political paralysis/Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
The Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Barakat/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
What can Biden’s visit to Israel achieve/Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
Between Donald Trump and Hassan Nasrallah/Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
Syria: Iranian Policy Caught Between Russia and Turkey/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/March 08/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on March 09/16

We are terrorized
Saudi Arabia takes action on Hariri business conglomerate
Hassan Yaaqoub in Hospital as Warrant Issued against his Brother
Report: Lebanon Rejects to Extradite Fayad to U.S.
Latest Gulf Measures: Visa Snub and Cancellation of Tickets
Mustaqbal Says Nasrallah Remarks Reflect 'Anxiety', Urges Hizbullah to 'Reevaluate' Stances
Change and Reform Demands Holding Municipal, Parliamentary Polls at Same Time
Moody's Says GCC Measures Have Limited Impact on Financial Situation
STL Acquits Khayat, al-Jadeed of All Charges
Abbas Voices Keenness on Camps Stability in Jordan Talks with Mashnouq
In Activist Video, Rivers of Rubbish Flow in Lebanon
Salam Urges Nasrallah to 'Stop Attacking' Saudi, Says Won't Allow Lebanon 'Collapse'
Arab Parties in Israel Condemn Blacklisting Hizbullah, Drawing Anger
Analysis: Israel's next war with Hezbollah will be swifter and decisive
Netanyahu: Gulf States' decision to blacklist Hezbollah a sign of improving ties with Israel
Lahav Harkov, Ariel Ben Solomon/Jerusalem Post/March 07/16
Saudi Arabia welcomes GCC’s stance against Hezbollah
Lebanon’s PM urges Hezbollah not to attack Saudi

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 09/16

American Dead, 12 People Hurt in Tel Aviv Stabbings as Biden Visits
New Syria Peace Talks to Start in Earnest by Monday, Says U.N.
Tunisia Hunts Jihadists after Deadly Border Raid
Saudi Executes Citizen for Drug Trafficking
ISIS fire from Syria kills two in Turkey
Russia, West differ on UN report on Iran’s nuclear program
Biden tells Arab crowd of ‘nasty’ US campaign
Iran conducts ballistic missile test
Syrian opposition still undecided over Geneva
US denies building air bases in northern Syria
Al-Qaeda in Syria seizes key hilltops from regime
Palestinian woman tries to stab Israeli police, shot dead
EU agrees to work for Turkish deal on migrants
IDF can put Lebanon back 300 years if Hezbollah attacks, officer tells Saudi paper

Links From Jihad Watch Site for March 09/16
Iran threatens to walk away from nuke deal after new missile test
IAEA: Iran nuke deal limits public reporting on possible violations
Tunisia: 50 dead in Islamic State bid to “establish a new emirate”
Austria: Sharia patrol beats man who told them to stop threatening his wife and daughter for not being correctly dressed
New Jersey: Muslims, Jews break bread together at synagogue, Muslims pray in Jewish sanctuary
Surrender: Police in Swedish city tell women not to walk alone for fear of Muslim migrants
Islamic Republic of Iran conducts new missile tests, defying “our main enemies, the Americans”
Muslim cleric: Islamic State “brought into being by Jews, Christians, Western powers, and Islam’s enemies”
Dutch find ten Syrian war crime suspects among Muslim migrants
Australia: Muslim accused of raping six women and targeting 72 more
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Time Magazine Blames America’s Crumbling Infrastructure on “Islamophobia”
Denmark: 16-year-old girl, convert to Islam, charged with planning jihad attacks on two schools, one Jewish
“Islamophobic hate crime” turns into Muslim terrorist investigation
They prefer boys in Afghanistan”
UK’s Sharia courts run by clerics who support amputation for theft, child marriage, marital rape, wife-beating

We are terrorized
Sara Assaf/Now Lebanon/March 08/16
When Saudi Arabia froze its military aid to Lebanon as a response to the Lebanese government's failure to condemn attacks on Saudi missions in Iran, the anti-Hezbollah March 14 public expected their leadership to “jump on the occasion,” and re-ignite a political confrontation that had lost its punch in Lebanon over the years. But apart from a meaningless joint cabinet statement that failed to convince the Kingdom, and solidarity visits to the Saudi embassy coupled with a nation-wide petition focused on vague promises to abide by the Arab consensus, there were no tangible actions taken.
Few days later, when Hassan Nasrallah stepped up criticism of Saudi Arabia, accusing it of directing car bombings inside Lebanon, the March 14 public again expected their leadership to react by counter-attacking Nasrallah’s claims, as they previously have done in such cases. But both Future Movement leader Saad Hariri and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea did not react forcefully.
Then when member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council classified Hezbollah as a "terrorist" organization, the March 14 public was shocked to witness Lebanon’s rejection of a joint statement classifying Hezbollah as a terrorist organization at the Arab summit in Tunisia, noting that this stance was taken – on behalf of the Lebanese government – by Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, a leading figure in the Future Movement, the Lebanese party closest to Saudi Arabia.
According to Oxford Dictionaries, terrorism is “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.”
Can one argue that the targeted assassinations of numerous March 14 political figures, starting with late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005… cannot be classified as terrorism?
Can one argue that Hezbollah’s military invasion of West Beirut in May 2008 to intimidate its political opponents and tip the balance of power in its favor… does not fall the definition under terrorism?
Can one argue that overthrowing ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government in 2011, and using Hezbollah’s “Black Shirts” militia to coerce Members of Parliament to vote against Hariri… cannot be viewed as a form of terrorism?
Can one argue that Hezbollah’s military assistance to the Syrian regime as of 2012, under the flag of sectarian “Jihad,” with the aim of smashing a revolution that was back then made up mostly of unarmed and peaceful protestors… does not count as terrorism?
Can one argue that inciting violence, smuggling arms, reporting to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and having paramilitary wings in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen… cannot be classified as terrorism?
Truth is when hostages are interviewed under the eye of their kidnappers, they always vehemently affirm that they are being fairly treated and that the hostage-takers are not terrorists, but rather principled men who abducted them for a just cause. Of course, they do so under coercion and in fear of their kidnappers, who have ultimate control over their lives.
March 14 politicians today are acting exactly in the same manner. They have become hostages of Hezbollah, just like the whole of Lebanon. Since 2005, they have survived assassinations, riots, threats, deadly clashes and a military invasion of Beirut. They have acknowledged the lethal capabilities of Hezbollah and evaluated the dangers of provoking this party at times where a Saudi-Iranian proxy war is fueling the whole region. They even recently received a new warning message from Hezbollah, when its supporters burned tires and blocked roads in Beirut, just because a Saudi-owned TV station aired a program mocking Nasrallah. The weapons of Hezbollah are always there, breathing down our necks, in every election, every negotiation, every turning point and every decision.
11 years after the Cedar Revolution, what is left is a weakened and disunited March 14 coalition, that has slowly but surely surrendered Lebanon to Hezbollah, and is obviously reluctant today to wage even a minimal political confrontation against the “Party of God,” who has become the most powerful and commanding force in Lebanon.
So yes, Hezbollah is a terrorist organization.
But it is mostly terrorizing us, inside Lebanon.
And we are just too terrorized to shout it out.
**Sara Assaf is a political activist. She tweets @Saraassaf.

Saudi Arabia takes action on Hariri business conglomerate
Now Lebanon/March 08/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/03/08/now-lebanon-saudi-arabia-takes-action-on-hariri-business-conglomerate/
Saudi Oger has not paid its employees in four months, prompting complaints.
Saad Hariri. (AFP)
BEIRUT – Saudi Arabia has taken action against the Hariri family’s Saudi Oger business conglomerate after its failure to pay employees, according to a Jeddah-based daily.
Okaz newspaper reported Monday that the Saudi Labor Ministry formed a committee to resolve the issue of late payments, which has controversially left employees of the company—Saudi Arabia’s second-largest construction contractor—without their salaries for the past four months.
“The ministry has taken a collection of measures with relevant authorities to hold the company accountable,” a source told the Saudi newspaper.
The source added that Saudi authorities have “cut a number of [government] services for the company, at the forefront social security provision, and the services of the Directorate General for Passports.”
According to Okaz, the move comes after Saudi employees of the company—which is under the chairmanship of Future Movement leader Saad Hariri—filed complaints that they had not received their salaries for four months, causing them financial hardships.
One of the affected Saudi employees, Sayar Shammari, told the newspaper that Saudi Oger first justified the salary problems on Saudi Arabia’s budget cuts, blaming Riyadh for not paying it for completed contracts.
“The [company] then declared that it does not have money… in light of the withdrawal of many projects it was commissioned to implement,” the engineer explained.
Okaz reported that a senior Saudi Oger official issued an internal memo promising that the beleaguered company would pay a month’s salary to all employees within a week of mid-February; however the promise was not honored.
The memo also stipulated that the delayed salaries would be provided for in regular installments starting from March, but, once again, the money has yet to be distributed, according to the newspaper.
Other reports of Saudi Oger’s financial problems have emerged in recent weeks, with a state-owned French broadcaster saying in late February that French nationals had not been paid in months.
Radio France International (RFI) reported that the company’s woes were due to “mismanagement,” saying the Hariri family’s business empire was “ready to fall apart.”
“They are laughing at us,” one of the French employees told the outlet, in reference to the senior managers of the company.
The burgeoning crisis in Saudi Oger even promted France’s envoy to Saudi Arabia to send a letter to Saad Hariri “asking him to resolve the cases of French staff who had not been paid for four months,” according to reports in both Reuters and RFI.
**NOW’s English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated the Arabic-language source material.
 

Hassan Yaaqoub in Hospital as Warrant Issued against his Brother
Naharnet/March 08/16/Former MP Hassan Yaaqoub, who has been in detention since December, remained in hospital on Tuesday as a judge issued an arrest warrant against his brother in the kidnapping of Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Mount Lebanon Examining Magistrate Peter Jermanous issued the warrant against Hussein Yaaqoub after hearing his testimony, which came only hours after the ex-lawmaker was taken to Beirut General Hospital amid high security measures after suffering a heart attack. The ex-lawwaker's hospitalization came the same day his mother was taken to Hotel Dieu Hospital after complaining of chest pain and partial paralysis in her arm. Sheikha Imthal fell ill when her son Hussein was apprehended at the Rafik Hariri International Airport before boarding a flight based on a judicial arrest warrant. Hassan Yacoub was charged in December for his involvement in Gadhafi's abduction. Hannibal was abducted in a Syrian area near the Lebanese border on December 11 before being smuggled into Lebanon's Bekaa region. He was handed over hours later to Lebanese security forces. Lebanese authorities have charged Hannibal with withholding information about the disappearance of revered Shiite cleric and founder of the AMAL Movement Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978 along with two companions. The Yaaqoub brothers are the sons of Sheikh Mohammed Yaaqoub – one of the two companions who disappeared with al-Sadr in Libya.

Report: Lebanon Rejects to Extradite Fayad to U.S.
Naharnet/March 08/16/The Justice Ministry has recommended not to extradite Ali Taan Fayad to the United States to face weapons charges, Lebanese judicial sources have said. The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Tuesday that the General Prosecution was informed by the government via the Justice Ministry about a decision not to extradite Fayad. General Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud, who has been reviewing his case, will likely refer Fayad to the office of the Prosecutor of Appeals in Baabda to decide whether the suspect should be set free or remain in detention, the sources added. Fayad, also known as Ali Amin, was arrested at the Rafik Hariri International Airport upon his arrival to Beirut following his release by the Czech authorities last month.He was one from a group of three who were arrested in Prague in 2014 while allegedly trying to sell weapons to undercover U.S. law enforcement agents who pretended to be from a Colombian terrorist group. Fayad's return to Beirut came on the same day that five Czech citizens who went missing in Lebanon in July returned home in a swap deal struck by the Czech government for their release.

Latest Gulf Measures: Visa Snub and Cancellation of Tickets
Naharnet/March 08/16/Lebanon came under more pressure by Gulf states this week after a Lebanese official delegation was not granted a visa to the UAE amid reports that Saudi Arabian Airlines has ordered a stop in ticket sales to Lebanon. Youth and Sports Minister Abdul Motleb al-Hennawi regretted the decision not to grant the delegation a visa to attend an Arab youth gathering in Dubai. He told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Tuesday that the UAE authorities should have dealt with this event in the right spirit rather than politically. Last Wednesday, the Saudi-led bloc of six Gulf Arab nations formally branded Hizbullah a terrorist organization, ramping up the pressure on the party fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in Syria. The move by the Gulf Cooperation Council comes less than two weeks after Saudi Arabia announced it was cutting $4 billion in aid to the Lebanese army and security forces. The kingdom and other Gulf states followed up that move by urging their citizens to leave Lebanon, affecting tourism. Reports said that the Algerian and Tunisian delegations were not granted visas to the UAE as well. Both Algeria and Tunisia have condemned the GCC decision to blacklist Hizbullah.
Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas said Saudi Arabian Airlines has urged travel agencies in Kuwait to stop booking flights to Lebanon on the kingdom's national carrier. The airline also urged the agencies to allow travelers, who have already booked their flights, to redeem their tickets, al-Qabas added. The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Hizbullah's blacklisting reflects deeper regional divisions between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shiite powerhouse Iran, Hizbullah's main backer. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran earlier this year after protesters angry over the kingdom's execution of influential Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr set fire to the Saudi Embassy and another diplomatic mission inside Iran.

Mustaqbal Says Nasrallah Remarks Reflect 'Anxiety', Urges Hizbullah to 'Reevaluate' Stances
Naharnet/March 08/16/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday strongly condemned Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's “attacks and baseless accusations against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council states and the rest of Arab countries,” saying they reflect “anxiety and arrogance.”“Instead of appreciating the huge and constructive role that KSA has played for long decades towards Lebanon, especially after the July 2006 war, he started launching shameful and fabricated accusations against the kingdom and the Arab states,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. "Sayyed Nasrallah's remarks about KSA and the GCC states reflect a state of anxiety and arrogance that Hizbullah and its officials are going through, despite their repetitive claims that they are achieving one victory after another,” Mustaqbal added. It warned that Nasrallah and Hizbullah are “harming Lebanon and the Lebanese, undermining their interests and sabotaging their present and future through implicating them in open-ended conflicts with their Arab neighbors.”Mustaqbal also accused Hizbullah of “staging terrorist and criminals acts through turning the party into a mercenary militia that engages in civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other places in the Arab region and the world.”“Hizbullah is invited to conduct a serious and profound reevaluation of its deviation from the confrontation against the Israeli enemy, through returning to the country and the Lebanese state instead of continuing its current course,” the bloc added. It also warned Hizbullah against becoming “a tool used by foreign forces for sabotage and for stirring sectarian conflicts in the Arab and Muslim worlds.” Mustaqbal's remarks come amid an unprecedented deterioration in the ties between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon against the backdrop of Hizbullah verbal attacks and a Saudi-Iranian flareup in the region. Riyadh launched a series of measures against Lebanon and Hizbullah on February 19 when it announced that it was halting around $4 billion in military aid to the Lebanese army and security forces. It has also pushed the GCC to label Hizbullah as a “terrorist” organization and accuse it of "terrorist acts and incitement in Syria, Yemen and in Iraq."Nasrallah hit back on Sunday, noting that “Saudi Arabia is angry because its bets in Syria and Yemen have failed.”“The Lebanese know very well that the Saudi scheme in Syria was to topple the regime without caring who might rise to power, be it Daesh (Islamic State group), al-Nusra (Front) or groups of similar ideology. Those confronting Saudi Arabia in Syria are the real defenders of Lebanese interests,” he added, referring to his party's fighters.

Change and Reform Demands Holding Municipal, Parliamentary Polls at Same Time
Naharnet/March 08/16/The Change and Reform bloc urged on Tuesday officials to respect constitutional deadlines and to therefore hold the municipal elections as scheduled on May 8. Former Minister Salim Jreissati said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “Seeing as the municipal polls are being held on May 8, then then the parliamentary elections could be held on the same day.” He explained that this proposal is possible through including an additional ballot box at voting stations dedicated to the parliamentary polls.Earlier on Tuesday, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq vowed that the municipal polls will be held on time “regardless of any political disputes.” The municipal elections will be held in Mount Lebanon on May 8, in Beirut and the Bekaa on May 15, in South and Nabatiyeh on May 22, and in the North and Akkar on May 29. The parliamentary elections were twice postponed over differences between the political blocs over an electoral law.The elections were supposed to be held in 2013, but they were postponed to 2015. They were again delayed last year. Both postponements led parliament to extend its own term, creating widespread popular outrage.

Moody's Says GCC Measures Have Limited Impact on Financial Situation
Naharnet/March 08/16/Moody's said that the latest measures taken by Gulf Cooperation Council states, which urged their nationals to refrain from traveling to Lebanon, will not have a direct impact on the country's financial situation. The credit rating company said that the proportion of visitors coming from the GCC countries has already fallen since 2011 for security reasons. Moody's said that the rate of Lebanese citizens and passengers arriving from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE to Lebanon has fallen to 1.6 percent in 2015 of the total visitors to the country. The number of visitors from the GCC countries has dropped by 55 percent since 2011. Moody's pointed out that the escalation in tension between Lebanon and the Gulf states could negatively affect the Lebanese community working there if their residency permits were declined a renewal. It pointed out that the Lebanese diaspora is a loyal source of deposits for Lebanese banks particularly that the growth in bank deposits allows the financial organization to keep funding the rising state's debt. Moody's said that a freeze in renewing the residency permits of Lebanese, if it happens, could lead to a slowdown in remittances and the influx of deposits to Lebanon. However it did not expect the governments of the Gulf states to resort to expelling Lebanese employees. Late in February, the GCC countries issued travel warnings to Lebanon in a sign of escalating tensions between Lebanon and the Gulf. Riyadh announced a halt to a $4 billion in grants to the Lebanese army and security forces. The moves came due to what Riyadh said were stances taken by Lebanese officials and "hostile" positions linked to Hizbullah. Last week the six-member GCC declared Hizbullah a "terrorist" group in the latest step against the organization as ties between its main backer Iran and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia deteriorate.

STL Acquits Khayat, al-Jadeed of All Charges
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 08/16/The Appeals Panel of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Tuesday acquitted al-Jadeed television and its vice chairwoman Karma al-Khayat of all charges of contempt. The panel issued its judgment with “two separate opinions and one partially dissenting opinion,” the STL said in a statement.Presided over by STL President Judge Ivana Hrdlièková and consisting of Judge Janet Nosworthy and Judge Walid Akoum, the Appeals Panel reversed Khayat's conviction under Count 2 and set aside a fine of 10,000 Euros imposed on her by the Contempt Judge.The panel also affirmed Khayat’s acquittal under Count 1 and al-Jadeed’s acquittal under both counts. This case concerned al-Jadeed's August 2012 broadcast of five episodes regarding purported confidential tribunal witnesses and their online availability “in violation of an order issued by the Pre-trial Judge on August 10, 2012.” The accused, al-Jadeed and Khayat – at the time al-Jadeed's Deputy Head of News and Political Programs – were each charged with two counts of contempt of court for “knowingly and willfully interfering with the administration of justice by:
1. Broadcasting and/or publishing information on purported confidential witnesses in the Ayyash et al. case, thereby undermining public confidence in the Tribunal’s ability to protect the confidentiality of information about, or provided by, witnesses or potential witnesses (Count 1);
2. Failing to remove from Al Jadeed TV’s website and YouTube channel information on purported confidential witnesses in the Ayyash et al. case, thereby violating the 10 August 2012 Order (Count 2).”On September 18, Contempt Judge Nicola Lettieri issued a judgment acquitting al-Jadeed on both counts while acquitting Khayat on Count 1 and finding her guilty on Count 2.
Consequently, on September 28, the Contempt Judge sentenced Khayat to a fine of 10,000 Euros.
In the proceedings before the Appeals Panel, the Amicus Curiae Prosecutor appealed al-Jadeed’s acquittal on both counts and Khayat’s acquittal on Count 1. In addition, the Defense appealed Khayat’s conviction on Count 2.
The STL has indicted five Hizbullah members for involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 assassination. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has dismissed the court as a U.S.-Israeli scheme against his group and vowed that the accused will never be found.

Abbas Voices Keenness on Camps Stability in Jordan Talks with Mashnouq
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 08/16/Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday expressed keenness on the stability of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon during talks with Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.“Mashnouq made a brief visit to Jordan, during which he met with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas at his Amman residence,” Lebanon's National News Agency reported. “Talks tackled the latest developments, especially the situations at the Palestinian camps in Lebanon,” NNA said.Abbas stressed to Mashnouq his “readiness to exert all efforts possible to preserve the stability of the camps and expressed keenness on the best ties with the Lebanese government,” the agency added. Some of the twelve impoverished and overcrowded Palestinian camps in Lebanon witness frequent deadly clashes and security incidents. By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving security inside to the Palestinian factions. This has created lawless areas in many camps, and Ain el-Hilweh in particular has gained notoriety as a refuge for extremists and fugitives. The camp is also home to more than 54,000 registered Palestinian refugees who have been joined in recent years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the fighting in Syria. More than 450,000 Palestinians are registered in Lebanon with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.

In Activist Video, Rivers of Rubbish Flow in Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 08/16/Activists poked fun at the Lebanese tourism ministry over a video it commissioned showing natural beauty by releasing their own aerial footage of garbage festering across the country. Rubbish has piled up on beaches, mountain forests and river beds across Lebanon since the closure in July of the country's main landfill in Naameh. Called "Rise Above Lebanon's Political Garbage", the mock video commissioned by the "You Stink" protest movement shows mountains of rubbish across the country. In one of the shots filmed by a drone, plastic bags containing rubbish can be seen stretching for miles like overflowing rivers. Denouncing a "scandal", the protest movement said its video is "a parody of the tourism ministry's campaign entitled 'Rise Above Lebanon,'" a reference to the footage commissioned by ministry. In that video, Lebanon, once nicknamed the "Switzerland of the Middle East", is seen from a totally different angle. Spectacular aerial views show pristine beaches, lush mountains, rivers, archeological sites -- all rubbish-free. In its video footage, "You Stink" also called on the Lebanese people to join a protest on Saturday in Beirut -- the first demonstration to be organized by the group in months. Activists and doctors have warned that the uncollected rubbish could trigger diseases, such as cholera, among the population. Under public pressure, the government approved in September a plan to tackle the rubbish crisis, but campaigners said it was too vague and did not meet their demands. It later decided to send the trash abroad but its plans collapsed after a firm tasked with handling the export scheme reportedly submitted forged documents. Prime Minister Tammam Salam has even threatened to resign and the government has met on several occasions to try and find a solution to the rubbish to no avail. In past demonstrations protesters have demanded the government resign over its failure to clean up the country.

Salam Urges Nasrallah to 'Stop Attacking' Saudi, Says Won't Allow Lebanon 'Collapse'
Naharnet/March 08/16/Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Monday urged Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to stop his verbal attacks against Saudi Arabia, as he stressed that he will not allow the country to “collapse.”“Hizbullah played a role in resisting Israel before going abroad and interfering in the affairs of other countries,” Salam lamented in an interview with Al-Arabiya television. “I call on Sayyed Nasrallah to stop attacking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he added. Salam's appeal comes amid an unprecedented deterioration in the ties between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon against a backdrop of a Saudi-Iranian flareup in the region. Riyadh launched a series of measures against Lebanon and Hizbullah on February 19 when it announced that it was halting around $4 billion in military aid to the Lebanese army and security forces. It has also pushed the Gulf Cooperation Council to label Hizbullah as a “terrorist” organization and accuse it of "terrorist acts and incitement in Syria, Yemen and in Iraq." Saudi Arabia has linked its measures to Lebanon's refusal to join the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in condemning attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran last month, and alleged Hizbullah "terrorist acts against Arab and Muslim nations."“I tell the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, that the historic ties between us and them will continue and will remain strong and we are exerting efforts to consolidate them,” said Salam on Monday. “We admit that a mistake has happened and has strained the relation between us and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries,” he added. “We have not been successful in implementing the dissociation policy in a proper manner,” Salam admitted. Noting that his government is “walking in a minefield,” the PM stressed that “the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia have a special place in the hearts of the Lebanese.” “The current government cannot compel any group to do anything and consensus must govern all issues,” he told Al-Arabiya. Pledging that Lebanon will not “abandon Arabs” or “its Arab identity,” Salam called on all Lebanese parties not to subject the country to “what it cannot withstand.” “We will not allow Lebanon's collapse and I don't think that the GCC states do not want the presence of a government in Lebanon although they have the right to address remarks to us,” he added. “We cannot unravel the relation we have now in the cabinet because that would subject Lebanon to collapse,” he said about Hizbullah's presence in the cabinet. As for the statement that the cabinet issued in the wake of Riyadh's measures, Salam added: “We preferred to express our stance in a cabinet statement, which prevented the government's collapse although it did not satisfy everyone.”“We won't be outside Arab consensus but Hizbullah is a main component of Lebanon,” he went on to say.

Arab Parties in Israel Condemn Blacklisting Hizbullah, Drawing Anger
Naharnet/Associated Press/March 08/16/Arab parties in Israel's parliament have condemned the recent designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization by several Gulf Arab states. Two parties from the Joint List, an alliance of Arab-backed parties, on Monday criticized the move by the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu snapped back by asking how they would respond when Hizbullah fires rockets at their communities. "Will you still condemn (the designation) when Hizbullah is shooting missiles at your villages? Do (you think) they will distinguish between (your) blood and ours?," Netanyahu wondered. Hizbullah fired thousands of rockets at Israel in the summer of 2006 during the Jewish state's aggression on Lebanon. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah recently threatened to strike a chemical facility in Haifa in northern Israel. Lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman also blasted the Joint List, calling its condemnation “beyond absurd, proving that every day this band of terrorists that continues to sit in the Knesset is an embarrassment to Israeli democracy.”The Arab parties drew anger last month after meeting relatives of Palestinians who killed Israeli civilians. Israel's Arab minority enjoys full citizen rights but often face discrimination in areas like employment.

Analysis: Israel's next war with Hezbollah will be swifter and decisive
Alon Ben-David/Jerusalem Post/March 07/16
Last week, locals gathered in the northern town of Shlomi for a special event paying tribute to the 300th Brigade, the military unit that for the past 42 years has kept the western part of the border with Lebanon secure.
One by one, retired commanders took to the microphone and regaled the young soldiers with tales, running down the history of the area and the events no one will ever forget – the Avivim school bus massacre, the Ma’alot school massacre, the Coastal Highway attack, the murder of members of the Haran family in Nahariya, and other scars that have been etched into the landscape of the scenic Western Galilee.
The sense was that Israeli inhabitants of the North were being forced to pay a price for their decision to settle there, but it wasn’t always like this. Since the War of Independence all the way until the 1970s, Lebanon was the least threatening neighbor, the tranquil country to our north.
The joke during that time was that, if war broke out, the IDF would conquer Syria while the IDF Philharmonic would conquer Lebanon. Since 1970, however, the year in which Palestinian terrorist organizations were evicted from Jordan and relocated to Lebanon, the Land of the Cedars has turned from harmless neighbor to terrorism haven. Today, it is home to the most significant military threat facing Israel.
There are those who say Hezbollah is analogous to a small kitten that would often scratch you a bit – no more – but slowly, gradually grow to become a predator tiger. The organization, today, boasts 41,000 fighters in both conscripts and the reserves. Many of them have gained combat experience in Syria. Hezbollah also has more firepower at its disposal than 95 percent of regular militaries in the world.
Many of us err when we refer to it as “a terrorist organization.” From a moral standpoint, it is. But, from a professional point of view, this is an inaccurate characterization. Indeed, Hezbollah has the capability to rain thousands of rockets and missiles on Israel in one day. It can also dispatch enough ground forces to capture towns adjacent to the border fence, making it an army in every sense of the word. These words are not intended to sow fear. The odds of Hezbollah actualizing this capability and embarking on war against Israel are low. The organization is stretched thin from a strategic standpoint – so thin that it simply cannot afford to even play with fire, let alone initiate hostilities against us.
This past decade was the quietest ever in the Galilee, certainly in the last 40 years. It is becoming more apparent that the Syrian civil war will not end soon, which means that Hezbollah can ill afford the luxury of starting trouble in the North.
In hindsight, the Second Lebanon War looks different. Time has not dulled the seriousness of the failures that were exposed at the time, including the rudderless political and military leadership. Nonetheless, the war did bring unprecedented quiet to the North. Never has deterrence against Hezbollah been more effective.
A decade later, Hezbollah is, indeed, much stronger than it ever was, but it also has very little appetite – at least for the time being – for another war with Israel, especially one that will bring destruction upon Lebanon. Hezbollah continues to arm itself and grow stronger, and many wonder if attack tunnels are being built underneath us in the North just as they are from Gaza. The answer, apparently, is no, but this is not so comforting. The meandering border that separates Israel and Lebanon makes a tunnel superfluous and unnecessary.
It would not be unreasonable to assume that Hezbollah has the capability to move a battalion of fighters into Israel through the thick shrubbery along the frontier – without anyone noticing. That is what the IDF is referring to when it talks about “2,500 above-ground tunnels” made possible by the tortuous, winding, flora-covered boundary that offers cover for Hezbollah.
While retired commanders told of how the military dealt with border infiltrations during the years in which there was no border fence, today the IDF is not making do with a fence and deterrent measures. Instead, it is making physical and geological changes to the landscape, undertaking a massive engineering project aimed at carving new cliffs near border towns that will make it harder for Hezbollah to spring a surprise.
The IDF also has calibrated its war plans, ripping up its previous blueprint of trying to suppress rocket fire by fruitlessly chasing after rocket-launchers. Instead, the IDF has prepared plans that are aimed at bringing a war in the North to a quick, decisive end. In the spirit of Ofer Shelah’s spoton book, Ha’ometz L’natzeach (The Courage to Win), the IDF is no longer satisfied with merely relying on the binary model – one which holds the option of either conquering all of the territory or waging a long, protracted war of attrition along the border.
In the spectrum that separates these two options, the army says it has found methods and actions that are supposed to bring a quick end to the fighting – this time with a result much more in our favor.
Gabi Ashkenazi, the former IDF chief of staff, often told his charges that in the next war it is forbidden to ask who won. This is the same spirit behind the plans drawn up by his successor, Gadi Eisenkot. The word “victory” doesn’t appear there, but they do prescribe the need to register “a ringing achievement,” one that reverberates long after the fact, so much so that it would not begin the countdown to the next round of fighting. The IDF high command is preparing a number of surprises for Hezbollah. The next war will be a tough, painful one, and the hope is it won’t come to pass. But if it does, it is supposed to end differently than the most recent ones.

Netanyahu: Gulf States' decision to blacklist Hezbollah a sign of improving ties with Israel

Lahav Harkov, Ariel Ben Solomon/Jerusalem Post/March 07/16
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday praised the Gulf states that declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization, hours after Balad and Hadash, two of the parties in the Joint List, condemned the decision because, for among other reasons, it is good for Israel. Addressing the Knesset’s plenary in a speech about foreign policy, Netanyahu described the decision as “very important and even amazing,” but added that “what is equally amazing is that two parties in the Knesset criticized it.” “Will you continue criticizing them when Hezbollah shoots rockets at your villages? Do they differentiate between blood and blood? [Hezbollah] wants to destroy the country, and you’re in the country. Have you gone crazy? Excuse my expression,” he said. Netanyahu pointed to changes in the Arab world, which demonstrate that more countries in the Middle East understand that Israel is not their enemy and stands with them in the fight against Iran and Islamic State, “even if [the changes] haven’t reached certain parts of the Knesset.”
The changes in the Arab world “have great potential to change the diplomatic reality in the region. They give hope for a better future for all nations in the Middle East. I hope these ties will help advance our relations with the Palestinians, or at least the Palestinians who want to live with us in peace,” the prime minister said. A Balad source said, “It is important to clarify that the decision of the Gulf interior ministers is risky, because it inflames the Sunni-Shi’ite conflict and adds oil to the fire of the bloody conflict and the ethnic divide in Lebanon and Syria in particular and in the Arab world in general. “It is very dangerous to label Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, an organization representing a large part of the Lebanese people, despite the criticism of their participation in the fighting in Syria,” the source said. Balad said in a statement that the decision against Hezbollah serves the regional interests of Israel and its allies. Balad, established in 1995, has a pan-Arab nationalist ideology, similar to that of the Ba’ath Party of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Its original party head, former MK Azmi Bishara, fled to Qatar in 2007 after being accused of spying for Hezbollah. He had previously praised Hezbollah and the previous Syrian president Hafez Assad, the father of the current leader. However, there are differing views within Balad and Israeli- Arab society as a whole, with some supporting the Syrian rebels.
Hadash, led by Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh, also condemned the Gulf states’ decision, attacking Saudi Arabia for spearheading the effort to blacklist Hezbollah. “After Saudi Arabia failed in its attempt to harness Lebanese society and political forces against Hezbollah by halting its military aid to Lebanon, and after the Syrian people have succeeded in keeping Syria united, comes the decision to label Hezbollah as a terrorist organization that proves that Gulf states are totally loyal to neo-colonialist and Zionist forces, the enemies of Arabs,” Hadash said. Other MKs reacted angrily to the Arab lawmakers’ position.
Intelligence Services Minister Israel Katz, who is a member of the security cabinet, turned to the Knesset Ethics Committee to look into how Arab MKs are sabotaging Israel. “Ayman Odeh and [Balad chairman] Jamal Zahalka: Join Azmi Bishara in Qatar, or go to Syria,” Katz said.
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman said the stance of Hadash and Balad is “beyond absurd and only proves again that every day that passes and this group of terrorists continues to sit in the Knesset is a disgrace to Israeli democracy.” They represent “the worst extremists in the Arab world,” he said. Netanyahu’s remarks about Hezbollah were part of a debate on foreign policy, initiated by Yesh Atid, during which the opposition slammed the prime minister, saying he is leading the country into crisis. “Mr. Prime Minister, Israel cannot go without a foreign minister because of petty political concerns,” said Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid. “We must recognize that we have a deep and significant problem in Israel’s foreign relations, and take care of it.” Netanyahu also holds the Foreign Affairs portfolio. Lapid listed the many foreign politicians with whom he has met in recent months, saying they all could not understand Israel’s policies and goals.
“I defended the government, but I and no one else has an answer to the question, ‘What does the government want?’ Everything is stuck. Nothing is moving,” he said. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) focused his speech on mocking Lapid, saying the Yesh Atid head wants to be Netanyahu’s foreign minister and so will prevent the Likud leader from ever losing his premiership. Turning to Netanyahu, Herzog said: “Israel doesn’t have a policy. Sitting and doing nothing isn’t a policy. ‘Managing the conflict’ isn’t a policy... Israel, under your leadership, has no policy, so how can it have a foreign policy? How can it have public diplomacy? How can we explain the lack of policy? Yair, Yair, what exactly are you explaining... even if you want to look like a foreign minister?” Herzog said that, even though he doesn’t “make speeches as well as Bibi and Yair,” he works hard and has a diplomatic plan, which he proceeded to describe and defend again.
Liberman, who was foreign minister until last year, has criticized the prime minister’s foreign policy in recent weeks, but he and his faction were conspicuously absent from much of Monday’s debate, including the vote to accept Netanyahu’s message at the end, which the prime minister won. Netanyahu’s message was that Israel’s foreign relations are improving in all areas, and he brought examples of the many leaders from around the world who come to the country. The prime minister recounted that, when he was a child, when a foreign leader visited Israel, it made it into newsreels at the movie theaters.
Now, he said, leaders visit so often, that many don’t even make it into the 8 o’clock news. “Can I get some diplomatic isolation so I have time to breathe?” he quipped.
Israel, he pointed out, has diplomatic relations with 161 countries, more than ever before, as well as others with which it has unofficial ties. “I can count on my fingers the countries that don’t have any relations with Israel: North Korea, Iran, the Islamic State, the Houthis,” he said.
The true picture of Israel’s international standing, Netanyahu said, is that “there are problems, but there is a great flourishing in our relations with the nations of the world. As a responsible government, we will continue to strengthen our ties with these states, and I am convinced that the diplomatic momentum we see will continue and increase. There will be obstacles, but the trend is clear and undeniable." “Our [international standing] comes from our strength and our consistent and determined policy. The way to protect our standing is not to weaken ourselves with dangerous concessions. If there’s something that will harm our standing, it is only that. The way to strengthen our standing is to continue growing stronger in all areas. That is w hat we did and what we will continue to do,” he said.
**Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.

Saudi Arabia welcomes GCC’s stance against Hezbollah
Saudi Gazette, Riyadh Tuesday, 8 March 2016/Saudi Arabia’s council of ministers on Monday reaffirmed the decision of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to consider Hezbollah militia’s leaders, affiliated factions and organizations “as terrorists, ” during a sessions chaired by Saudi King Salman Al-Yamama Palace in Riyadh. The Cabinet noted that the GCC took the decision against Hezbollah “after taking into account its continuing hostilities and its flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Gulf states and its destabilizing of regional security and stability, as well as its practices which are contrary to humanitarian values and international laws.” Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Adel Al-Turaifi said that the cabinet welcomed the ‘Tunisia Declaration,’ adopted recently by the 33rd session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, reiterating its strong condemnation of terrorism, its supporters and financiers. The Cabinet said it valued the strong message of the declaration, which condemned the attack on Saudi missions in Iran as well as the Iranian activities aimed at destabilizing the security and stability in Bahrain and other Arab states.

Lebanon’s PM urges Hezbollah not to attack Saudi
Al Arabiya News Channel Tuesday, 8 March 2016/Lebanon’s Prime Minister Tammam Salam has urged the head of Shiite movement Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah to not attack Saudi and Gulf countries, in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya News Channel late Monday. Salam stressed the importance of strengthening Lebanon as a nation during an interview with Al Arabiya News Channel’s Panorama program which discussed whether it is “Lebanon's job to control Hezbollah's behavior?” Last week, Gulf states declared Hezbollah a “terrorist” group, in the latest regional move against the organization fighting in support of Syria’s regime. Gulf nations have taken a series of measures against Hezbollah since Saudi Arabia last month halted a $3 billion program funding French military supplies to Beirut. Hezbollah is backed by Iran, with whom Saudi Arabia's relations have worsened this year. The two are on opposing sides in conflicts in Syria and Yemen. Salam decried Hezbollah’s intervention in the region and said it has reflected negatively on Lebanon. He hailed historic ties between Gulf states and Lebanon, and said relations are continuing. The premier hailed Saudi Arabia for hosting and backing the Taif agreement in 1989, which provided “the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon.”

American Dead, 12 People Hurt in Tel Aviv Stabbings as Biden Visits
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/March 08/16
A Palestinian went on a stabbing spree along the Tel Aviv waterfront Tuesday as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the city, leaving an American tourist dead and 12 people wounded, police said. The attacker around 21 years old from the town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank was shot dead by police, Israeli authorities said. Video that spread online showed a man running down a road and lunging at someone through a car window while being chased. The attack caused panic, and one witness told Israeli television he hit the assailant with his guitar, with a hole visible in the wood of his instrument. Police said the attacker wounded a number of people in the Jaffa port area, a touristic zone of Israel's commercial capital, before going on toward a restaurant and stabbing others. There were no details on the American's identity. Biden met former Israeli president Shimon Peres after his arrival at a location about a 15-minute walk from where the stabbings occurred. "I heard two guys screaming that there was an attack," said a woman who gave her name as Emily. "I ran in the opposite direction and ran into a man who was on the ground in his blood."She said she "covered him with my jacket. He was badly injured and we waited together for the ambulances to come." A wave of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories since October has killed 184 Palestinians and 28 Israelis. Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes or demonstrations.
Four separate assaults
Biden is due to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday. When meeting Peres on Tuesday, he spoke of an "unvarnished, complete commitment to the security of Israel. And I hope we will make some progress." The White House has said Biden will not be pursuing any major new peace initiatives during his visit despite the wave of violence. The number of attacks had diminished recently, but there were four separate assaults Tuesday. Two occurred in Jerusalem, including one that saw a Palestinian shoot and seriously wound two Israeli police officers before being shot dead. Earlier, a Palestinian woman attempted to stab Israeli police forces in Jerusalem's Old City before being shot dead. Also on Tuesday, a Palestinian stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jew in a liquor store in Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv. The victim and owner of the shop pounced on the attacker, seized his weapon and killed him, police said.Police said they suspected it was a "terrorist" attack but had not excluded other possible motives. Before Tuesday's violence, Biden's visit had been overshadowed by a new blow to the rocky relationship between U.S. President Barack Obama and Netanyahu. Netanyahu's decision not to accept an invitation for talks with Obama in Washington later this month "surprised" the White House, which first learned of it through news reports. The Israeli premier's office defended the decision by saying Netanyahu did not want to interfere in U.S. presidential primary elections.Obama and Netanyahu's testy personal relationship was worsened by the Israeli premier's forceful opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, including in a speech to the U.S. Congress. But they have sought to set aside their disagreements in recent months and work out a new 10-year defense aid package for Israel as well as demonstrate that the ties between the two traditional allies remain strong. Biden's visit comes with Obama having acknowledged there will be no comprehensive agreement between Israelis and Palestinians before he leaves office in January 2017.
Expecting 'nothing'
Talks are expected to include discussions on the defence aid package, currently worth some $3.1 billion annually in addition to spending on projects such as missile defense. Biden and Netanyahu also plan to talk about the fight against the Islamic State group. But while Obama has resigned himself to not achieving any major breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there have been suggestions he may seek to somehow kickstart peace efforts at a complete standstill for two years. That has included speculation the United States could break with traditional practice and support a U.N. resolution related to resolving the conflict, which Israel strongly opposes. The United States has traditionally vetoed resolutions at the U.N. Security Council opposed by Israel. Biden's visit is part of a tour of the Middle East. On Monday he was in the United Arab Emirates, where he said Washington was going to have to "squeeze the heart of" the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq to wipe it out. However, he also ruled out a military solution to end Syria's conflict and called for a political transition. His comments came as President Bashar Assad's regime and its opponents are to resume U.N.-sponsored peace talks in the coming days in Geneva while a fragile ceasefire holds in Syria. After his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Biden will travel to Jordan. Senior Palestinian official Ahmed Majdalani said he was expecting "nothing" from Biden's visit.
 

New Syria Peace Talks to Start in Earnest by Monday, Says U.N.
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 08/16/A new round of talks aimed at ending the war in Syria will begin in Geneva in earnest no later than March 14, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mediator said Tuesday. U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has said the new round of indirect talks between Syria's warring sides will officially start on Wednesday, but that they would likely not get seriously under way immediately. His spokeswoman Jessy Chahine confirmed his plans to resume the talks "as of the afternoon of March 9". She said de Mistura and his team stand "ready to receive all of the participants as of this day... (and) will be conducting preparatory meetings prior to substantive discussions". However, she said that this week was "very logistically challenging", since a major car show in Geneva had filled up all the city's hotels, and participants would be arriving on various dates. "But the envoy will start substantive meetings with those who are in Geneva by the latest on March 14," Chahine said. The U.N. is hoping to restart peace talks that collapsed last month, building on a ceasefire that has led to the first significant decline in violence in Syria's nearly five-year civil war. The truce between President Bashar Assad's regime and non-jihadist rebels is part of the biggest diplomatic effort yet to resolve Syria's conflict, which has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions. The partial truce, which was negotiated by Washington and Moscow and which does not apply to the Islamic State group or the Al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, has largely held despite widespread skepticism before it took effect, observers say. Like during the first round of talks in February, the next round will consist of so-called "proximity talks", in which de Mistura will meet with the different sides separately.The Syrian regime said Monday it would attend the renewed talks in Geneva starting on March 14. The opposition, meanwhile, has said it was still considering whether to go despite the major lull in fighting. The head of the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee, Riad Hijab, however said a small HNC delegation would travel to Geneva to meet the international task force monitoring the truce. Both that task force, and another one monitoring efforts to increase humanitarian aid deliveries to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria, are scheduled to meet in Geneva Wednesday, Chahine said. Since a 17-nation group backing the Syrian peace process agreed early last month to work to significantly increase aid access in the war-ravaged country, some 150,000 of the nearly half-million people living in besieged areas have been reached, the World Food Program said Tuesday.

Tunisia Hunts Jihadists after Deadly Border Raid
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 08/16
Tunisian security forces pressed a search for jihadists near the Libyan border on Tuesday after a deadly raid the authorities described as an unprecedented assault by the Islamic State group. Analysts said Monday's attacks show that jihadists are keen to spread their influence from Libya to Tunisia and to set up a new stronghold in the country. Prime Minister Habib Essid said about 50 extremists were believed to have taken part in the coordinated dawn attacks on an army barracks and police and National Guard posts in the border town of Ben Guerdane. He said that 36 attackers had been killed and seven captured in a fierce firefight that also saw the deaths of seven civilians and 12 security force personnel. Essid told a news conference that the militants "murdered one internal security force member in his own home". He said three civilians and 14 security personnel were also wounded. "The (security forces') reaction was rapid and strong. We won a battle and are prepared for any others," Essid said. "Now they know Tunisia is no easy pushover and that it is not so simple to set up an emirate in Ben Guerdane." On Monday, Essid said that the operation's aim had been to create a "Daesh (IS) emirate" in the town. Michael Ayari, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, agreed, saying the attacks were an "extension of the armed conflict so far confined to Libya". Some IS jihadists "consider that Ben Guerdane could become a strategic 'liberated' zone that would include southeastern Tunisia and the Tripoli region," he said. Interior ministry spokesman Yasser Mesbah said the search for any militants still at large was continuing in the border area. He said a nighttime curfew imposed in the town after the attack had been well respected and that the situation was "stable". Essid also called for vigilance and promised a full investigation.
"There are lessons to be learned from this terrorist attack. There will be a thorough assessment of what happened, and we will draw all the conclusions," Essid said. "It may be that there was a failure at a certain level, that of intelligence, other elements."Carnegie center researcher Hamza Meddeb said the attacks could have been to avenge the killing of dozens of people last month in a US air strike on an IS training camp near the Libyan city of Sabratha. The city lies just 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Tunisia's border and several Tunisian militants were said to have been killed in the US raid.
"Some wounded jihadists had said (after the raid) that IS would seek revenge by carrying out attacks in Tunisia," said Meddeb. A U.S. official has said one of those "likely killed" in the February air strike was Noureddine Chouchane, a senior IS operative behind attacks in Tunisia. On Monday, President Beji Caid Essebsi described the attack as "unprecedented" and was "maybe aimed at controlling" the border region, vowing to "exterminate these rats". The United States and the European Union also condemned the attacks, with Washington offering to help Tunis confront militants. Residents said the assailants appeared to be natives of the region. They stopped people, checked their ID cards apparently to seek out members of the security forces, and announced their brief takeover of Ben Guerdane as "liberators". On Tuesday the authorities said the situation in Ben Guerdane was "stable", and that "large quantities" of arms and ammunition had been recovered. It was the second deadly clash in the border area in less than a week as Tunisia battles to prevent the large number of its citizens who have joined IS in Libya from returning to carry out attacks at home.Two deadly IS attacks on foreign tourists last year that have dealt a devastating blow to Tunisia's tourism industry are believed to have been planned from Libya. Jihadists have taken advantage of a power vacuum in Libya since the NATO-backed overthrow of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 to set up bases in several areas, including near Sabratha. Tunisia has built a 200-kilometer (125-mile) barrier that stretches about half the length of its border with Libya in an attempt to stop militant incursions.

Saudi Executes Citizen for Drug Trafficking
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 08/16/Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed one of its nationals convicted of drug trafficking, bringing to 71 the number of locals and foreigners put to death this year. Abdullah Rouwaili had been found guilty of trafficking amphetamines and was put to death in the northern Tabuk region, the interior ministry said. Most people executed in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword. The 71 executions so far this year include 47 death sentences for "terrorism" carried out in a single day on January 2. In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people, most of them for drug trafficking or murder, according to an Agence France Presse count. Rights group Amnesty International says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for two decades. However, the tally was far behind those of China and Iran. The kingdom has a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.

ISIS fire from Syria kills two in Turkey
AFP, Istanbul Tuesday, 8 March 2016/Eight rockets fired from a militant-controlled area of Syria slammed into a Turkish border town on Tuesday, killing two people including a four-year-old child, reports said. Some of the Katyusha-type rockets hit empty areas of the town of Kilis, but at least one caused casualties, Turkish media quoted the mayor Hasan Kara as saying. A woman aged 54 was killed in the strike while shrapnel hit a passing car in which two children aged six and four were travelling, the state run Anatolia news agency said. The four-year-old boy later died of his wounds on the way to hospital, it added. The six-year-old was also wounded. It is the first such incident since January 18, when a rocket fired from an ISIS-controlled position in Syria killed a janitor and wounded a pupil at a school in Kilis. Television footage showed anxious residents inspecting a crater made by one of the rockets as another missile slammed into the ground nearby. Mayor Kara urged residents not to panic, CNN-Turk said. The Dogan news agency said that the rockets had been fired from an area in Syria controlled by ISIS militants. The Turkish army then struck back by firing on ISIS positions in Syria according to the rules of engagement, it quoted security sources as saying. Turkey has on occasion been accused by its western allies of not doing enough to combat the threat of ISIS, which has captured swathes of Iraq and Syria right up to its border. But Ankara is now playing a key role in the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and hosting foreign warplanes at its Incirlik airbase for strikes on the group. The latest attack comes after Turkish armed forces launched repeated artillery strikes in the last two weeks on ISIS positions in Syria. A fragile ceasefire backed by Turkey has taken effect in Syria, but the deal does not apply to territory held by the ISIS group and al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front. From mid-February, Turkish artillery had also shelled targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Syria, with the military saying it was responding to incoming fire. But Turkey has not shelled any positions held by Syrian Kurdish fighters inside Syria since the ceasefire was implemented on February 27. Washington had urged Ankara to halt its fire on the PYD and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Russia, West differ on UN report on Iran’s nuclear program
The Associated Press, Vienna Tuesday, 8 March 2016/Russia and the West overcame differences to strike a landmark nuclear deal with Iran but are now divided on how well the UN atomic agency is reporting on whether Tehran is meeting its commitments. Western nations want more details while Moscow opposes their push. Because all six want to avoid conflicts that could complicate Iranian compliance of a deal that was years in the making, their differences are mostly playing out behind the scenes. Vladimir Voronkov, Moscow’s chief delegate to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, which is monitoring the deal, acknowledges there is a dispute that could affect the amount of information made public about Iran’s nuclear program in the future. “In our view it’s an absolutely balanced document,” Voronkov said ahead of a discussion of the latest IAEA report on Iran by the agency’s 35-nation board scheduled for Tuesday. “But some of our colleagues would like to have more details.”The United States, Britain, France and Germany negotiated the deal with Iran along with Russia and China, and all six countries will continue to have much deeper insight into whether Iran is upholding its side of the agreement than what the IAEA reports to other nations on its board. But Voronkov told The Associated Press that diplomats from some of those Western countries believe the Feb. 26 IAEA report was too superficial to provide the broader view they feel is needed to show Iran that the world was watching. China shares the Russian view. Iran complains that the report is too detailed, leaving IAEA chief Yukiya Amano caught in the middle.
Striking a balance
He feels he has struck the right balance, considering Iran is no longer in violation of U.N. and agency demands to curb its nuclear program and opposes pressure from member countries. His February report was much less detailed than pre-nuclear deal summaries of Iran’s atomic activities. It was restricted essentially to ticking off the major obligations that Iran agreed to when the deal took hold Jan. 16 and stating that most were met or minor deviations quickly remedied. Asked about the new IAEA approach, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday: “I’m not aware of reporting requirements that changed.”Under the deal, Iran agreed to restrict the number of centrifuges used to make enriched uranium, material that can power reactors or be used for the core of a nuclear weapon, depending on its level of enrichment. It also pledged to crimp work on advanced centrifuges and get rid of most of its enriched uranium stockpile.
Critics say that the report falls short on particulars on these issues. “The report does not list inventories of nuclear materials and equipment or the status of key sites and facilities,” says former IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen. “Without detailed reporting, the international community cannot be sure that Iran is upholding its commitments under the nuclear deal.” Amano pushed back Tuesday, telling the AP his reporting on Iran will continue to be “factual, impartial and include the information which the agency considers necessary.”But two diplomats from EU nations said an EU statement will allude to concerns of underreporting in some of the same language used by Amano, urging the IAEA to provide “the necessary information” on Iran’s nuclear activities in its next quarterly report. They demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the statement before it was delivered.

Biden tells Arab crowd of ‘nasty’ US campaign
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 8 March 2016/Speaking before an Arab audience in his trip to the UAE, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden offered his views Tuesday on the “petty, venal and mean” politics in America ahead of the November presidential election. Biden, a Democrat, blamed gerrymandered congressional districts “where the Lord Almighty could not defeat a Republican” for pushing the GOP toward increasingly more conservative candidates. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (L), prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, shakes hands with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden before their meeting in Dubai, UAE, March 8, 2016. (Reuters) Biden told young Emiratis gathered in Dubai, that means the party offers candidates who say they are going “waterboard people ... and indiscriminately carpet-bomb,” an oblique reference to leading Republican candidate Donald Trump. “If Ronald Reagan were alive today, he could no more get the nomination of the Republican Party than I can get the nomination,” Biden said. “I’m not joking. So what you see is this movement to the extreme in the Republican Party.” Those gathered to listen to Biden, a mix of young Emirati men and women identified by local leaders as innovators, quietly listened and laughed at times to the vice president’s more than hour-long talk. The meeting took place in Emirates Towers, a few floors above the offices of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the United Arab Emirates’ vice president and prime minister. None followed up to ask about Trump’s most-explosive comment for those living in the Gulf - his December statement in which he suggested banning Muslims from traveling to the United States. Already, that’s seen angry denunciations in the region of the GOP front-runner, whose name adorns a golf housing estate project on the outskirts of the futuristic city, home to the world’s tallest building. The United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven individual emirates, slowly has widened the role of an elected Federal National Council. However, the council serves mainly an advisory role. The country’s president is the ruler of oil-rich Abu Dhabi and there has been no widespread dissent in this nation following the 2011 Arab Spring. Biden went on to discuss “all this chaos” caused by the Republican presidential candidates who have “gone overboard.”“The problem with American politics today is that it has become so petty, so mean,” he said. “The American public are not going to let it stand.”The Emirates is one of the most important US military and political allies in the Persian Gulf. Biden visited the country’s Al-Dhafra Air Base on Monday. The Emirates also hosts regional offices for numerous American companies in industries including aerospace, energy, technology and hospitality. Dubai state-owned airline Emirates is the largest operator of Chicago-based Boeing Co.’s 777 wide-body jet. Despite those close ties, the Emirates and Saudi Arabia remain concerned about Shiite power Iran’s influence across the region following the deal it struck with world powers including the U.S. over its contested nuclear program. Saudi and Emirati troops are now fighting in Yemen against Shiite rebels there. Biden met with both Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the trip. In both discussions, “terrorism” came up, according to the state-run WAM news agency, which often serves as a nod toward Iran’s activities in the region by the Gulf’s Sunni-ruled nations. Biden is set to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan as well on his trip.

Iran conducts ballistic missile test
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 8 March 2016/Iran launched several ballistic missiles during a military exercise on Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency reported, amid reports that the released footage appears to the same as a previous launch in October. The US voiced concerns of the tests, with Washington threatening to take bring the issue to the UN Security Council if confirmed. Meanwhile, a French diplomatic source said that the government was “checking this information. Iran's ballistic weapons program constitutes a source of preoccupation,” the source told Reuters. “The design by Iran of missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons would contravene U.N. Security Council resolution 2231 which calls on Iran to abstain from all activity in this field,” the source added.
The source said it was too early to discuss what measures could be taken if the tests proved true.
‘Deterrence power’
IRNA said the missiles, launched from silos in several locations across the country, demonstrated the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ “deterrence power” and its readiness to confront threats. State TV ran what it said was video footage of the operation, showing missiles in underground silos and flashes of light from nighttime launches. According to the Iran-affiliated network Press TV, the test shows firing the of “Emad” model medium range ballistic missile. The test came two months after the United States sanctioned businesses and individuals linked to Iran's missile program over a test of the medium-range Emad missile carried out in October 2015. The United Nations said that test, which took place after Iran reached a nuclear deal with world powers in July, violated Security Council Resolution 1929 which barred Iran from undertaking any work on nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. That resolution expired when the nuclear deal was implemented in January, but a new resolution then came into force under which Iran is “called upon” not to undertake any work on missiles “designed to” deliver nuclear weapons. Iran says none of its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons. Iran claims to have surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers, capable of striking Israel and US military bases in the region. (With the Associated Press and Reuters)

Syrian opposition still undecided over Geneva
The Associated Press Tuesday, 8 March 2016/The main Syrian opposition coalition will decide later this week on whether to take part in peace talks scheduled to resume Wednesday in Geneva, the head of the group said Monday, while violence across the north of the Syria claimed the lives of over a dozen people, despite a partial cease-fire. Riad Hijab, head of the Higher Negotiations Committee, acknowledged in a teleconference with journalists that Russian bombardment has decreased following the "cessation of hostilities," which came into effect Feb. 27. Yet he added that President Bashar al-Assad's government has not released any detainees and said the flow of aid to besieged rebel-held areas was too small. These were among the main preconditions for the opposition to attend the indirect peace talks. The most recent round collapsed last month as the Syrian government launched a new ground offensive. Hijab said that while the Russian airstrikes have become less frequent, the Syrian government has continued to attack rebels. "The Russians and the Iranians have caused a catastrophic humanitarian situation that is killing Syrians," Hijab said. Russia and Iran have been the primary backers of Assad's government since the country's conflict began five years ago. The war has killed 250,000 people and displaced half the country's population. An opposition-held town in northern Syria was bombed by planes earlier Monday, killing at least 12 people, monitoring groups said. The bombs struck a fuel depot in Abu Adh-Dhohour, in Idlib Province. Hijab called the attack "a massacre." The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bodies found in the wreckage were burned beyond recognition. It said it was too early to tell if the casualties were civilians or militants. The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition network, put the toll at 15 dead, all civilians. Insurgents shelled a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo, killing five civilians, Syria's state news agency SANA reported. The next round of "proximity talks" between the government and the opposition is due to begin Wednesday in Geneva, but U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura has said the target is a "penciled date." Some envoys could show up as late as March 14, he has said. In New York, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq clarified that talks would start on the afternoon of March 9 even if some participants arrive later. Pressed on whether the HNC will participate in the negotiations, Hijab said a decision will be taken "in the coming days. Before the end of the week." Hijab told journalists that the opposition would not allow Assad to take any role in the 18-month transitional period envisaged in the U.N. roadmap. He also said that they would not accept Assad being permitted to run in future presidential elections. He said that Assad and top officials in his government "should be tried by international tribunals."The cease-fire, which was sponsored by Russia and the U.S., does not include al-Qaida's branch in Syria known as the Nusra Front and the Islamic State group. Hijab also said that "unfortunately" all Russian airstrikes had been targeting moderate rebels. He said that a map distributed by Russia's Defense Ministry about rebel positions was not accurate, adding that he sent a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon to complain about the map. Meanwhile, Russia has said it is aiming to step up humanitarian aid to Syria's war-battered people by opening up its military facilities in Syria for international aid cargos. Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Monday that Russia "is ready to provide all necessary help to international and foreign organizations in the delivery of humanitarian aid." He said this assistance will include allowing the unloading and temporary storage of aid cargos at the Russian naval base in Tartus, as well as receiving and storing aid at the air base in Hemeimeem. Konashenkov said Russia is also ready to provide vehicles to help deliver cargos from Tartus and Hemeimeem to Syrian regions in need. According to the U.N., a humanitarian convoy reached three areas in Kafr Batna with food and health assistance for 20,000 people on Friday. Deliveries to the remaining three areas on Monday will provide aid for more than 16,000 people.

US denies building air bases in northern Syria
AFP, Washington Tuesday, 8 March 2016/The Pentagon on Monday denied reports it is building two airfields in northern Syria as part of the battle against the ISIS group. Syrian military and security officials have said the United States is expanding an airfield in Rmeilan, in Hasakeh province, and new reports have surfaced of a base near the Kurdish city of Kobani. "We are not building or operating any air bases in Syria," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. Still, the United States has acknowledged it has sent about 50 special operations forces on the ground in northern Syria, helping train and equip local anti-ISIS fighters. "That we have people there and that we have made deliveries there, and that they have to get there by some means should be no secret, but we are not going to comment on the means," Davis said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in January that the Rmeilan airstrip had been widened and was "nearly ready" for use by American planes. The United States is supporting a Kurdish-Arab alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces against the ISIS group in northern Syria, providing it with air cover as part of a broad coalition battling the militants.

Al-Qaeda in Syria seizes key hilltops from regime
AFP, Beirut Tuesday, 8 March 2016/Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate and allied militants seized a set of strategic hilltops held by pro-regime forces in the country’s north late Monday, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants battled government loyalists and overran three hilltops in the Al-Eis area south of Aleppo city. “Fighters from Al-Nusra Front, Jund Al-Aqsa, and other groups seized the central Al-Eis hilltop and surrounding hills as well,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. The militants detonated five car bombs during their offensive. “The hilltops are important because they reinforce the regime’s presence in the outskirts of Aleppo and gave them a presence near the main highway south towards Damascus,” Abdel Rahman said. Aleppo province is broken up into a complex patchwork of territories under the control of various groups. The group is dominant in the east, while rebel groups – some allied with Al-Nusra – control much of the west. Government forces based south of Aleppo have tried to expand their control north and east. Further west in Idlib province, at least 19 civilians were killed in an air strike believed to have been conducted by either Russian or regime planes, the Observatory reported. The raid struck a diesel market in the town of Abu Duhur, controlled by a coalition of groups including Al-Nusra. Three of those killed were women. Monday was the tenth day of a landmark ceasefire across parts of the country brokered by the United States and Russia. The truce does not include areas held by ISIS and Al-Nusra.

Palestinian woman tries to stab Israeli police, shot dead
AFP | Jerusalem Tuesday, 8 March 2016/A Palestinian woman attempted to stab Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday and was shot dead, Israeli authorities said, the latest in a five-month wave of such attacks. The incident occurred hours before US Vice President Joe Biden was due to arrive for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Israeli police said the woman moved toward border police officers, pulled a knife from her bag and sought to stab them near Damascus Gate, the main entrance used by Palestinians to enter the walled Old City where several attacks have occurred. The woman was said to be around 50 years old and from Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, where Damascus Gate is also located.

EU agrees to work for Turkish deal on migrants
Reuters, Brussels Tuesday, 8 March 2016/European Union leaders welcomed Turkey’s offer on Monday to take back all migrants who cross into Europe from its soil and agreed in principle to Ankara’s demands for more money, faster EU membership talks and quicker visa-free travel in return. However, key details remained to be worked out and the 28 leaders ordered more work by officials with a view to reaching an ambitious package deal with Turkey at their next scheduled summit, on March 17-18. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron among others hailed the surprise Turkish proposal at an emergency summit in Brussels as a potential breakthrough in Europe’s politically toxic migration crisis. More than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond have flooded into the EU since early 2015, most making the perilous sea crossing from Turkey to Greece, then heading north through the Balkans to Germany. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told EU leaders that Ankara was willing to take back all migrants who enter Europe from Turkey in future, including Syrian refugees, as well as those intercepted in its territorial waters. “With this game-changing position in fact our objective is to discourage illegal migration, to prevent human smugglers, to help people who want to come to Europe through encouraging legal migration in a disciplined and regular manner,” he told a news conference after the summit. In exchange for stopping the influx, he demanded doubling EU funding through 2018 to help Syrian refugees stay in Turkey and a commitment to take in one Syrian refugee directly from Turkey for each one returned from Greece’s Aegean islands, according to a document seen by Reuters. He also asked to bring forward EU visa liberalization for Turks to June from end-2016 and to open five more negotiating chapters in Turkey’s long-stalled EU accession process.

IDF can put Lebanon back 300 years if Hezbollah attacks, officer tells Saudi paper

A Senior IDF offiicer told a Saudi newspaper on Monday that "the IDF could put Lebanon back 300 years and in parallel conquer the Gaza Strip and destroy all of its infrastructure." The officer told journalist Majdi Halbi of the Elaph news site that despite the IDF capability, the army is subject to the political echelon that in the officer's estimation will not order such action. Regarding Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's threat to target the ammonia plant in Haifa, the officer said Israel was prepared for such an attack and was aware that its strategic infrastructure could be cut off during a confrontation with the militant Shi'ite organization. "The organization [Hezbollah] and its leader know very well what Israel's reaction will be, so it will not set out on such an adventure," he said. The officer revealed that Israel sent messages to Hezbollah, via a third party country, warning it to think twice before attacking Israel and that it would regret the action. "Just like what happened during the Second Lebanon War in 2006," he added. The officer said it was possible that Hezbollah was digging attack tunnels on the northern border with Israel, and that Hezbollah was expert in using tunnels in populated civilian areas during war but he didn't expand further on the topic. "Israel respects its enemies capabilities and assumes that they are capable of espionage. Nasrallah is a serious leader and he knows what Israel's reaction will be if he attacks. He should leave the current situation on the border as it is without embarking on a path that will destroy everything that he has built," the officer said. On Gaza, the senior officer said it is a question of "when and not if" regarding the next military confrontation with the coastal enclave, adding that "such a clash could happen sooner rather than later due to the fact that Hamas's situation is deteriorating."
"We estimate that there are attack tunnels leading from the Gaza Strip into Israel but we do not have the ability to prevent all of them with 100 percent success. We are prepared for a confrontation that will bring about great destruction, but we hope that we will not get to this situation," he said.

Report: Obama considering UN resolution on peace process
Ynetnews/Reuters/March 08/16
US president said to be mulling applying pressure in Security Council to push for negotiations; White House 'surprised' at prime minister's decision to cancel trip to Washington later this month after being invited to meet the US president. US President Barack Obama’s administration is considering a United Nations Security Council resolution to serve as a blueprint for Israeli-Palestinian talks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The US has repeatedly vetoed such resolutions in the past.  That move would be just one element of a plan to receive the peace process, according to the Journal. The newspaper added that other elements might be a presidential speech and joint statement from the Quartet. The report offered one possible scenario: “the US would push Israel to halt construction of settlements in the Palestinian territories and recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state… Palestinians would in turn be asked to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and end claims on a right of return for Palestinian refugees.” That scenario would entail establishing two states based on the 1949 armistice lines, with land swaps to reflect population changes since then. According to the report, Palestinian officials said they were open to an intervention by Obama. Obama and Netanyahu have frequently butted heads. In March 2015, Netanyahu invoked the president’s ire with his pre-election statement that a Palestinian state would not be created under his government, seen by the White House as a repudiation of the two-state solution that consistently been at the heart of all negotiations involving the US. Although Netanyahu backtracked from this statement the day after the election, Obama told the press that he had told the Israeli leader that “it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing negotiations were possible." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined an offer to meet US President Barack Obama at the White House later this month and canceled his trip to Washington, the White House said on Monday.
Netanyahu decides against Washington trip
Meanwhile, Netanyahu's decision to nix his US visit marked the latest episode in a fraught relationship with Obama that has yet to recover from their deep differences over last year's US-led international nuclear deal with Iran, Israel's arch foe. The White House said the Israeli government had requested a Netanyahu meeting with Obama on either March 18 or 19 and that two weeks ago he was offered a March 18 encounter. "We were looking forward to hosting the bilateral meeting, and we were surprised to first learn via media reports that the prime minister, rather than accept our invitation, opted to cancel his visit," White House spokesman Ned Price said in an emailed statement. "Reports that we were not able to accommodate the prime minister's schedule are false," he said. Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he had declined the offer because of the heated US election campaign. The Prime Minister's Office said that Israel's ambassador to the US informed the White House last week there was a "good chance" Netanyahu would not make the trip. Netanyahu also saw little to show for such a trip, given that the new defense Memorandum of Understanding is "far from being agreed yet," according to Channel 10. Several Israeli media quoted Israeli officials as saying that no appropriate time could be found for the meeting before Obama's departure for Cuba. Netanyahu had been expected to visit Washington this month not only to see Obama but to address the annual conference of the leading U.S. pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC. In the past he has sometimes spoken to the group via satellite. The prime minister made a speech to the US Congress last March criticizing the then-emerging Iran nuclear deal and was denied a meeting with Obama during that visit in what was widely regarded as a diplomatic snub.
But the two leaders met at the White House in November and sought to mend ties. In recent months, differences over defense aid have underscored continuing tensions over the Iran deal. Netanyahu and his aides suggested in February if Israel were unable to reach an accord with Obama, it could wait for the next president to secure better terms. Current US defense aid to Israel, worth about $3 billion annually, expires in 2018. The two sides are seeking an extension before Obama leaves office in January 2017.
US Vice President Joe Biden, on a five-day trip to the Middle East, is due to visit Israel later this week and hold talks with Netanyahu.

Lebanon’s ticking bomb: Hezbollah’s defiance and political paralysis
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
Few are the countries that can promise a Guinness book record for the longest garbage lanes, a two-year vacuum with no president, a dysfunctional government and a parliament that convenes less than ten times a year. Lebanon happens to be that country, staring closely at the abyss, as its GDP growth slumps, and indicators of instability multiply. Paralysis on every economic, political, and environmental front has defined the situation in Lebanon for the last two years. It is threatening to move the country from fragile stability to sporadic state of instability if the internal and regional polarization continue to dictate the direction of country’s politics. With more than a million and a half Syrian refugee (37 percent of population), a porous 375-km border with Syria, deepening sectarian Sunni-Shia rift, and a weakening moderate leadership on all sides, the indicators of instability are at their highest mark in Lebanon than they’ve ever been since January 2014.
A more defiant Hezbollah
The conventional wisdom that the war in Syria and its combat and financial toll on Hezbollah would drive it into compromise, is proving to be flat wrong inside Lebanon. Even with an estimate of more than 1200 fighters dead and reports about a serious financial crisis, Hezbollah is only growing more defiant in its home base, and flexing its muscles regionally. The Hezbollah defiance is most evident in its response to the presidential void in the country. After 635 days with no president, and even when the anti-Hezbollah camp nominated two candidates, General Michel Aoun and MP Suleiman Franjieh, who are strong allies of the party, their candidacy never materialized and the Lebanese militant juggernaut chose to continue with the void. For Hezbollah, the overarching goals in Lebanon go way beyond the presidency. The compromise from its opponents namely former prime minister Saad Hariri and head of the Lebanese forces Samir Geagea to nominate Hezbollah’s allies Aoun or Franjieh is neither a deal maker nor breaker for the party. Instead, its strategy appears to be focused on avoiding a larger compromise on the cabinet formation that would accompany the election of a new president. In this context, Hezbollah still rejects the return of Hariri as a prime minister, and is clearly opting for the current status quo of a weak government, rather than a grand bargain with its opponent. The conventional wisdom that the war in Syria and its combat and financial toll on Hezbollah would drive it into compromise, is proving to be flat wrong inside Lebanon
Hezbollah’s hardline position on the Lebanese presidency cannot be seen apart from its escalating rhetoric against Saudi Arabia and other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. Following the halt of the Saudi aid to the Lebanese military, and the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization by the GCC states, the party’s leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a scathing speech, that came very close to declaring war on Riyadh. Nasrallah did not shy away from talking about his party’s role in three regional wars: Syria, Iraq and Yemen. In essence, Hezbollah today is in the midst of regional polarization between GCC countries and Iran. Instead of formulating a policy to insulate Lebanon, Hezbollah’s intervention in regional conflicts and inability to accept larger compromise in Lebanese politics, is dragging Beirut into the eye of the storm. It’s a lose-lose situation for the Lebanese, who are paying the heavier cost for a tougher GCC policy, and a more bullish Hezbollah.
Threat of radicalization
The polarization inside Lebanon and regionally over politics in Beirut is only prolonging the stagnation and feeding the threat of radicalization inside the country. Hezbollah’s defiance and rejection of a deal with the strongest Sunni leader today Saad Hariri, is both weakening the former Prime Minister and increasing the Sunni-Shiite rift inside the country. In a recent visit to Washington, an ally of Hariri said on background that his moderate party, the Future Movement, “cannot hold forever the resentment and anger on the street.” He referenced disaffected Sunnis in the far North who are turning to Salafism and extremism because of the toll of the Syrian conflict and in response to Hezbollah's actions. A military source in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) told me that a major concern is the infiltration of Syrian refugees in Lebanon by extremist groups such as ISIS and Nusra. “Of course we have sleeping cells amongst the refugees” the high-ranking Lebanese officer said, adding that “containment and being vigilant is the only approach we can afford, and we are cognizant of the fact that there will be attempts in the future.”While the LAF has been receiving steady aid ($75 million annually) from Washington, and has taken a more robust role in stabilizing Lebanon, its capabilities are being challenged by the divisive political environment and the stagnation. Absent of a grand compromise in Lebanon that would end the Presidential void, produce a functional cabinet and a new parliament, the country is sitting on a ticking bomb as Hezbollah grows more defiant and as the fire goes on with no end in sight in neighboring Syria.

The Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Barakat
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
Egypt’s public prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, died in a car bombing on June 29, 2015. Interior Minister Magdi Abdel Ghaffar revealed in a recent press conference evidence implicating members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, who were supported by security and intelligence elements from the Palestinian Hamas movement. This shows the depth of the existential conflict between the Egyptian state and the top extremist organization, the Brotherhood. Abdel Ghaffar said six perpetrators were arrested, all of whom admitted being affiliated to the party. A video of their confessions was shown at the conference. According to Egyptian newspaper Youm7, the terrorist cell consisted of 48 members. Fourteen members, most of whom graduated from Al-Azhar, participated in the assassination. Their ages ranged between 20 and 30 years, and they were trained in Gaza. The principal accused of managing the operation is fugitive Brotherhood doctor Yahya Mussa, who was spokesman for the Ministry of Health during the party’s rule in Egypt. Egypt public prosecutor’s death shows the depth of existential conflict between the state and the extremist organization
Terrorist history
The organization is no stranger to this kind of terrorism, starting from the assassination of Judge Ahmad al-Khazindar during the reign of King Faruq.Hamas is also an expert in special operations of that kind, specifically in Egypt, where it worked with Lebanese movement Hezbollah to exploit the country’s uprising and security the day President Hosni Mubarak was ousted, when prisons were stormed and prisoners escaped. The involvement of Palestinian Islamist extremists has proved to be a constant element in the most infamous terrorist operations in Egypt, starting from the days of Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna.

What can Biden’s visit to Israel achieve?
Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
Vice President Joe Biden will set off for a journey to Israel this week and, with the exception of a trip in January 2014 to attend the funeral of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, this will mark his first diplomatic visit to the country since 2010. Following talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, Biden will head to Palestine to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Despite these meetings, the trip does not appear to be related to any attempt to restart stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinian. Moreover, VP Biden will arrive at the heels of a major uptick in terrorist attacks in Israel and the West Bank, the majority of which were brutal stabbings, leaving at least 29 Israelis and three foreign nationals dead and hundreds of others injured since October 2015. At least 180 Palestinians were killed during the same time period, with reports indicating the majority were attackers who were shot dead by Israeli security forces while they carried out or attempted to carry out an assault. The frequency of stabbing attacks has steadily decreased since the New Year began but the aftermath of the latest escalation remains fresh, with neither side likely interested in new talks.
Nearly six years ago to date, VP Biden noted during his trip that “There is no space between the US and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security.” This is and was undoubtedly true; however, there was apparently – as Biden would soon discover – a wide space between the US and Israel when it came to settlement building. After Biden reiterated that DC remains committed to offering unwavering support for Israel’s sovereignty and safety, the trip spiraled into a diplomatic disaster when Israel’s interior ministry publicly announced during Biden’s visit that over 1,000 new housing units would be built for ultra-orthodox residents in East Jerusalem.
With peace talks off for now, Israeli leaders will likely work to ensure VP Biden’s trip is the cordial diplomatic event that 2010 should have been. Following the confirmation of the settlement building, Biden reportedly arrived 90 minutes late to dinner with PM Netanyahu. While some claimed the entire incident was merely the result of a poorly timed public announcement of a plan that had long been in the works, others argued it was a deliberate attempt to embarrass the Vice President of the United States. What was certain was that it underscored the futility of US officials’ efforts to facilitate a deal between Netanyahu’s administration and the PA at that time. Biden himself – while still in the country – said that the confirmation of the housing units was “counter to the constructive discussions” he had just had with Israeli leaders. Ultimately, Israel apologized and six years later, it appears unlikely any such scandal will rock Biden’s visit this time around.
The next 10 years
Haaretz has reported that the meetings will focus on negotiating DC’s military aid to Israel over the course of the next ten years; with this matter on the table and peace talks off for now, Israeli leaders will likely work to ensure VP Biden’s trip is the cordial diplomatic event that 2010 should have been.
Despite the lack of serious focus on the conflict during Biden’s visit, in addition to the defense aid negotiations, the vice president should nonetheless attempt to address a number of concerns with Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog recently published a detailed four-point approach, what he referred to as an “emergency plan” to immediately address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and pave the way for a two-state solution. Notably, Herzog further called on Israel to hold a regional conference with Arab states in an effort to discuss shared security threats – an extremely worthy initiative that should be embraced by the region. Biden should – if only behind closed doors – endorse the entirety of Herzog’s plan. VP Biden must also acknowledge Iran’s reprehensible promise to begin compensating Palestinian family members’ of extremists who die after targeting Israelis. Offering financial incentives to kill Israelis highlights the fact that Iran prioritizes maintaining recent level of bloodshed over rebuilding the Gaza Strip or paying Palestinian teachers’ salaries. VP Biden must reassure Israelis that DC remains aware of Tehran’s nefarious activities, despite renewed relations between the US and Iran. In his meeting with President Abbas, VP Biden should reiterate the need for Palestinian leadership that actively battles incitement – not encourages it. On the one hand, it is disappointing that VP Biden’s visit – which could perhaps be one of the last senior US official visits to Israel and Palestine during President Barack Obama’s presidency - will likely not prove to be a seized opportunity for addressing critical matters. On the other, as far as diplomatic dealings go, the trip is unlikely to go any worse than the one in 2010 did.

Between Donald Trump and Hassan Nasrallah
Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/March 08/16
Last week, an MBC program that aired a comedy sketch impersonating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah outraged his supporters in Lebanon, who expressed their anger on social media and on the streets. Meanwhile, comedian John Oliver - who hosts the HBO program Last Week Tonight - mocked U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and created a Twitter hashtag against him. Prominent commentators considered the Last Week Tonight episode as one of the most significant political responses against Trump. Most of the points that Oliver raised have been separately mentioned in the past on other satirical programs, but he managed to include all of Trump’s contradictions and follies in one coherent segment that was creatively and successfully put together.
Journalism and satire
This style of mixing journalism with satire has become hugely popular, as was Oliver’s segment on Trump. Of course no one protested on the streets, like what happened in Lebanon, where we are still discussing the concept of satire before even getting to content. The protesters see this as a huge threat to people whose fates and minds are under Hezbollah’s control. Satire seems more dangerous to the party’s image than death. The professionalism of the episode that mocked Nasrallah cannot be compared with that of Oliver’s, but we are trying to laugh despite all attempts by Hezbollah officials and supporters to shut us up. It is easy to gather Nasrallah’s contradictory statements, and perhaps this is what worries Hezbollah. Fear of satire is widespread in Arab societies, and has increased following the Arab Spring. Regarding the sketch about Nasrallah, protests did not erupt because the content was weak, but because of laughter at clear flaws. The protesters see this as a huge threat to people whose fates and minds are under Hezbollah’s control. Satire seems more dangerous to the party’s image than death.

Syria: Iranian Policy Caught Between Russia and Turkey
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/March 08/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/03/08/amir-taheriasharq-al-awsat-syria-iranian-policy-caught-between-russia-and-turkey/
With Russia and Turkey trying to seize the initiative on Syria, there are signs that Iran, also a key player in the crisis, may be distancing itself from Moscow and moving closer to Ankara. The first sign of this came on Sunday when the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a press conference in Tehran that his government would not endorse a Russian proposal for turning Syria into a federal state. “Iran defends Syria’s unity and integrity and the control of all its territory by the government,” Rouhani said. Hours later, the spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow denied speculation regarding a rift with Tehran over Syria. “We shall continue coordinating with Iran over Syria within the framework of the international action group on Syria,” he said. To some analysts, however, that denial was more of an implicit confirmation.
“The mention of the international action group is significant,” says Hamid Zomorrodi, a commentator on Iranian strategies. “Tehran had thought of an exclusive double act with Moscow and the effective exclusion of the US and its Arab allies from shaping Syria’s future. When Moscow says Iran would be heard in the context of the international group, a different picture emerges, especially when we know that the US also favours a federal structure for Syria.”In fact, US Vice-President Joseph Biden has gone even further by hinting at the possibility of dividing Syria into three mini-states.
Iran opposes the federal structure and the carving-up formulae for two reasons.
The first is that, either formula could block Iran’s easy access to Lebanon, where Tehran has established itself as the de facto power through the local branch of Hezbollah. Russia may end up controlling the coastal strip of Syria through a mini-state dominated by the Alawite minority which, if assured of solid Russian support would have no reason to look to Tehran for support. Another chunk of Syria could emerge as a Kurdish state, a development that could trigger secessionist sentiments among Iran’s own Kurds, estimated to number 4.5 million. The rest of Syria, composed of a Sunni Muslim majority, would be hostile to Iran which has been arming and aiding the Assad clan for years.
Opposition to the emergence of an independent Kurdish state is the key factor in what looks like a tentative rapprochement between Tehran and Ankara. After a visit to Tehran, Turkish Premier Ahmet Davutoglu declared that he had reached “full agreement with Iran on opposing any division of Syria.” “Neither Turkey nor Iran would allow a new version of Sykes-Picot to be imposed,” he said, referring to a treaty drafted in 1916 by Britain, France, Italy, and Russia to divide the Ottoman possessions in the Levant.
“We witness the emergence of an interesting situation,” says Nasser Zamani, an Iranian analyst. “Iran is with Russia for keeping President Bashar Al-Assad in power for as long as possible. But Iran and Russia diverge when it comes to the future shape of Syria. On that score Moscow is closer to Washington than to Tehran. The situation with Turkey is different. Tehran and Ankara diverge on the fate of Assad, with Iran wanting to keep him and Ankara wanting to get rid of him as fast as possible. Tehran and Ankara are united in opposing the division of Syria, each hoping that the future government in Damascus would be beholden to them.”
To complicate matters further, Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei has just launched his “Looking East” strategy with the aim of building a Tehran-Moscow axis to reshape the Middle East by reducing, if not totally eliminating, the influence of the United States and its allies. A split with Moscow on Syria, currently the key issue in the region, would undermine that strategy before it is fully installed. The Rafsanjani faction, of which Rouhani is a member, still hopes for an unofficial Tehran-Washington axis that would allow the Islamic Republic to act as a regional “superpower” with America’s blessing.
Some analysts believe that Tehran could end up finding itself caught in a cobweb of contradictory aims and strategies leading to being side-lined by other rival powers in the region.