LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

March 16/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.march15.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today
You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness
"Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11/37-48:"While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you. ‘But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practised, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honour in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market-places. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.’ One of the lawyers answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.’And he said, ‘Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs."

God did not call us to impurity but in holiness.
"First Letter to the Thessalonians 04/01-09: "Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you knows how to control your own body in holiness and honour, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrongs or exploits a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you. Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another;"

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 16/16
Report: Lebanon finds 'Israeli' spying device in border area/Roi Kais/Ynetnews/March 15/16

Fadlallah on Illegal Internet Services: It is Dangerous and Aggravating
Rifi Resumes Duties as Justice Minister, Albeit from Home
Qasem Soleimani defends Hezbollah/Arash Karami/Al-Monitor/March 15/16
Putin to Assad: Do svidaniya/Laura Rozen/Al-Monitor/March 15/16
The intifada of attrition/Shlomi Eldar/Al-Monitor/March 15/16
European Union Caving to Turkey's Blackmail/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/March 15/16
U.S. Policy Made 2015 the Worst Persecution of Christians "in Modern History"/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/March 15/16
Arab-Turkish ties amid Ankara’s domestic policies/Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
We will all come to miss Obama’s realism/Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
Emergence of the real Barack Obama/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
Amid lull in fighting, a moment of hope for Syria/Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
Scaling back in Syria/Smadar Perry/Ynetnews/March 15/16
What is Happening in Saudi Arabia/Hussein Shobokshi/Asharq Al Awsat/March 15/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on March 16/16
US Court Says Hezbollah, Tehran Responsible for 9/11 Attacks
Seven on Trial in UAE on Charges of Leaking State Secrets to Hizbullah
Ban, World Bank President in Beirut on March 25
Angelina Jolie Visits Refugees in Lebanon on Fifth Anniversary of Syrian Conflict
Fayad Charged with Supporting Colombian Terrorist Group
Fadlallah on Illegal Internet Services: It is Dangerous and Aggravating
'Countdown' Begins for Implementation of Lebanon's Garbage Plan amid Skepticism

Hariri: March 15 holy day in Syrian people history
Hariri: March 15 holy day in Syrian people history
Nazarian during conference on energy adaptation policy: For political power determination
Mashnouk: waste plan implementation to kick off within 48 hours
Palestinians in North Deny Presence of 'Cell Plotting to Assassinate Rifi, Fatfat'
26 Suspects Indicted in Terrorist Bombing Plots in Beirut, North
Israeli Spy Device Found South of Lebanon
Report: Lebanon finds 'Israeli' spying device in border area
Qasem Soleimani defends Hezbollah
 

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

Suspect Dead, Policemen Hurt in Brussels Raid Linked to Paris Attacks
Russia seeks to reassure Israel over Syria pullout plan
Iran: Missile tests do not violate nuclear deal
Syria grimly marks fifth civil war anniversary
First Russian planes fly out of Syria base
UN: Pursuing war criminals in Syria should not wait for end of war
Erdogan wants to broaden definition of terrorists to include supporters
Clashes spread to new areas of southeast Turkey after bombing
Civilians flee Iraq town as battle looms
100,000 relief aid food parcels arrive in Saada from Saudi
Saudi king: ‘North Thunder’ military drill raised combat readiness
Italy offers to help Egypt probe murder of Giulio Regeni
ISIS using more child soldiers as fighters quit
 

Links From Jihad Watch Site for March 16/16
Pakistan: Major Muslim orgs say law protecting women from abuse is un-Islamic.
Nigeria: Senate rejects gender equality bill, Muslim senators say it violates Sharia.
Islamic State publishes “kill list” with names and addresses of Minnesota cops.
Belgium: Muslims fire on police during raid on Paris jihad suspects.
Banner at churches, synagogues: “Say no to anti-Muslim bigotry”.
California: Muslim gets 8 years for lying about links to the Islamic State.
Israel: Muslim cleric gets 11 months jail for inciting violence against Jews.
Latest survey finds 25% of French teenagers are Muslims.
Muslim screaming “Allah” stabs two Canadian soldiers.
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Progressive Brownshirts.
Hugh Fitzgerald: “Raping me is his prayer to God. It’s allowed. It’s halal.”
AP’s “Refugee shot by Salt Lake City police” is Muslim migrant who was beating man with metal bar.
Iran’s elections: Contrary to media reports, “in the Assembly of Experts, the radicals won 75 percent of the seats”.

US Court Says Hezbollah, Tehran Responsible for 9/11 Attacks
Alsharq Al Awsat/: Mohammed Ali Saleh/Washington- A US judge ordered Iran to pay over $10 billion in damages to families of victims who died on September 11, 2001. The default judgement was issued by US District Judge George Daniels in New York on Wednesday. Under the ruling, Tehran was ordered to pay $7.5 billion to 9/11 victims’ families, including $2 million to each victim’s estate for pain and suffering, and another $6.88 million in punitive damages. Insurers who paid for property damage and claimed their businesses were interrupted were awarded an additional $3 billion in the ruling. Saudi Arabia was legally cleared from paying billions in damages to families of 9/11 victims last year, after Judge Daniels dismissed claims that the country provided material support to the terrorists and ruled that Riyadh had sovereign immunity. Saudi attorneys argued in court that there was no evidence directly linking the country to 9/11. In response to the latest ruling, Iran on Monday rejected the US “ridiculous” court ruling that the Islamic republic pay more than $10 billion in compensation over the Al-Qaeda-claimed 9/11 attacks. “This judgement is so ridiculous… more than ever before, it damages the credibility of the US judicial system,” state television quoted an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman as saying. “Such judgements also send a very dangerous message to terrorists and to their supporters: Kill people… not only will we not prosecute, but we will even target your greatest enemies instead,” Hossein Jaber Ansari said. “We also see the US administration as a partner in such verdicts,” Ansari added. Tehran’s role in 9/11 has been debated heavily over the years. The 9/11 Commission Report stated that some hijackers moved through Iran and did not have their passports stamped. It also stated that Hezbollah, which the US designates as a terrorist organization supported by Iran, provided “advice and training” to Al-Qaeda members. In a court document filed in 2011 regarding the latest case, plaintiffs claimed Hezbollah “provided material support” to Al-Qaeda, such as facilitating travel, plus “direct support” for the 9/11 attacks. As a result, the plaintiffs argued Iran was responsible. While the report suggested further investigation into the issue, President George W. Bush has said, “There was no direct connection between Iran and the attacks of September 11.”

Seven on Trial in UAE on Charges of Leaking State Secrets to Hizbullah
Naharnet/March 15/16/The Supreme Federal Court of Abu Dhabi has adjourned to April 18 a hearing in the case of seven suspects, including three Lebanese, accused of providing classified information to Hizbullah. At a hearing held on Monday, the public prosecution told the court that the first defendant, a public official, handed one of the suspects classified information about the UAE armed forces' procurement contracts, as well as a list of names and ranks of state security officers. The court heard that another accused, an Egyptian geologist working for a petroleum company, handed over information to the other suspects about oil production in Abu Dhabi. She divulged names of the oil fields and provided a map that shows where these fields are located, the prosecution said. It told the court that one of the accused obtained top secrets on the UAE's defense sector and passed it on to Iran. He allegedly took photos of the premises of the interior and foreign ministries, a military camp and state security facilities. Another member of the network who is on trial is charged with taking photos of foreign embassies in the UAE and airports at Abu Dhabi and Dubai and handing them over to Hizbullah. All the defendants denied the charges against them on Monday. Authorities have enacted tougher anti-terror legislation, including harsher jail terms and have introduced the death penalty for crimes linked to religious hatred and extremist groups. The UAE stepped up security measures since the wave of Arab Spring protests that swept the region in 2011. On March 2, the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes the UAE, considered Hizbullah a terrorist organization.

Ban, World Bank President in Beirut on March 25
Naharnet/March 15/16/The two-day visit of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Beirut has been set for March 25, diplomatic sources in New York said. The sources told al-Mustaqbal daily published on Tuesday that during his visit Ban will discuss with Lebanese officials the political developments and the country's economic situation. The burden of the Syrian refugees will also be on the agenda of the talks, they said. Ban will be accompanied by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, the sources added. Their visit would come a month after more than $10 billion were pledged at a London conference to help fund schools, shelter and jobs for refugees from Syria's civil war. At the London meeting, the world leaders aspired to bring new urgency to the effort to help the 4.6 million Syrians who have sought refuge in neighboring countries including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Another 6 million people or more are displaced within Syria, and a quarter of a million have been killed. Previous calls for international donations have come up short, and the five-year war has driven a chaotic exodus of hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees to Europe. About 1.2 million Syrian refugees have been registered in Lebanon but their numbers are higher.

Angelina Jolie Visits Refugees in Lebanon on Fifth Anniversary of Syrian Conflict
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 15/16/Hollywood star and Special Envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie arrived in Lebanon on Monday night to mark the fifth anniversary of the eruption of the Syrian conflict. She paid a visit on Tuesday to several Syrian refugee camps in the country, including those in the eastern Bekaa region of Saadnayel, where she gave a press conference under the pouring rain. Jolie stressed that the international community must address the root causes of the global refugee crisis. "We cannot manage the world through aid relief in the place of diplomacy and political solutions," she sai at a press conference in the Bekaa. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have sought refuge in the Bekaa. Jolie said she had hoped to be in Syria helping victims return to their homes on the fifth anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar Assad. She said it's "tragic and shameful that we seem to be so far from that point." "We should never forget that for all the focus on the refugee situation in Europe at this time, the greatest pressure is still being felt in the Middle East and North Africa, as it has for each of the last five years," Jolie added. After a tidal wave of refugees poured into Europe last year, some countries began erecting political and physical barriers to migration, which have left tens of thousands of refugees stuck in squalid conditions in the Balkans this spring. Jolie called on such countries to adhere to their international obligations to aid refugees. "The reason we have laws and binding international agreements is precisely because of the temptation to deviate from them in times of pressure," she said. Jolie met Khuloud, a 38-year-old mother of four now living in a tent in the Bekaa Valley, who was left paralyzed three years ago by a sniper in Syria, according to the U.N. refugee agency. "Never once during our discussion did she ask for anything, did she stop smiling, or talk of anything other than her desire for her children to have the chance to go to school and have a better life," the actress and activist said. "When I saw her beautiful smile, and her dedicated husband and children looking after her, I was in awe of them. They are heroes to me. And I ask myself, what have we come to when such survivors are made to feel like beggars?" Jolie later visited Beirut "where she met a group of women living in poor conditions, a damp collective shelter, that left them and their families exposed to sickness," said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Jolie had made a number of low-profile trips to Lebanon in her role as UNHCR envoy. Lebanon has struggled to deal with an influx of refugees that now represents a quarter of its four-million-strong population, and last year began making it harder for Syrian refugees to stay. Almost 4.3 million Syrians have fled civil war since 2011 and most remain in the region, mainly in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Some 1.2 million are registered in Lebanon and about 630,000 in Jordan, most living outside formal refugee camps.

Fayad Charged with Supporting Colombian Terrorist Group
Naharnet/March 15/16/The State Commissioner to the Military Court charged on Tuesday Ali Fayad with backing a Colombian terrorist organization and selling arms and ammunition to the group. Judge Saqr Saqr issued the charges against Fayad, also known as Ali Amin, after receiving his file from Judge Samir Hammoud. Saqr accused Fayad of backing the Colombian group and selling it arms, missiles and other material to use them in attacks against Americans. The judge referred the suspect to First Military Examining Magistrate Riad Abu Ghida. Fayad 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 returned to Beirut on February 1, the same day that five Czech citizens who went missing in Lebanon in July were set free in a swap deal struck by the Czech government for their release.

Fadlallah on Illegal Internet Services: It is Dangerous and Aggravating
Naharnet/March 15/16/Head of the parliamentary media committee MP Hassan Fadlallah stressed that the illegal internet networks uncovered lately is a serious issue that must be controlled by the state, As Safir daily reported on Tuesday. “Illegal internet networks are a dangerous issue that is growing even bigger. The State must put hands on it because it has legal financial and security repercussions” Fadlallah told the daily. He stressed that he will call the committee for a meeting next Monday to tackle the issue.Parties to take part in the assembly will include Ministers of Telecommunications, Interior and Defense in addition to State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud and Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim. As Safir said it has obtained information that there are four illegal “communication crossings” with a tremendous ability of 40GB per second WiFi network speed which is equivalent to a third of the international capacities set by the Ministry of Telecommunications in service (150GB per second). Butros Harb, the Telecommunications Minister, told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that “initial investigations have shown a relation with the al-Barouk network.” He added that he will brief the public on Wednesday of all the information obtained so far. Later on Tuesday LBCI said that Judge Ibrahim charged two individuals, Imad Lahhoud and Hagop Antranik, with installing fiber-optic cables and illegal internet networks in the area of al-Zaarour. Last week, and during a meeting of the committee it was unveiled that anonymous parties described as a “mafia” are taking advantage of internet services by installing internet stations that are not subject to the state control. The owners of these stations are buying international internet bandwidth with nominal cost from Turkey and Cyprus which they are selling back to Lebanese subscribers at reduced prices. It has been reported that wireless internet towers and technical equipment were placed illegally in some mountainous terrains including Tannourine, al-Dinnieh, Sannine and al-Zaarour.Smuggled internet services initiate risks namely the possibility of security breach as it lacks the basic control standards exposing Lebanon's security to third parties including Israel. Adding to the above is the fact that smuggling online services outside legal frameworks is a waste for the state's treasury amounting to over $2 million losses on a monthly basis.

'Countdown' Begins for Implementation of Lebanon's Garbage Plan amid Skepticism
Naharnet/March 15/16/Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq said on Tuesday that a plan approved by the cabinet to resolve the country's eight-month trash crisis will be implemented within 48 hours despite skepticism on its transparency and results. “We urge politicians and activists against obstructing” the plan, al-Mashnouq told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3). A meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Monday did not set the date for its implementation, ministerial sources said. Salam tasked the security forces with enforcing the temporary solution that calls for opening three landfills over fears that some parties would “disrupt public order.”Although the officials, who attended the meeting that was held at the Grand Serail, “did not agree on the zero hour,” the sources told An Nahar daily published on Tuesday that “the countdown has started.” Garbage collection “trucks are working as usual,” they said. But “the opening of the three landfills in Bourj Hammoud, Costa Brava and Naameh will take place at the same time, which means that the zero hour will be decided by the contacts,” which will be held with the involved officials on Tuesday, the sources added.Other ministerial sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that the plan's implementation will start within three days. The only obstacles hindering the execution of the government's decision are linked to financial incentives, they said. The government's plan calls for opening the Bourj Hammoud landfill that lies north of Beirut and Costa Brava, which is located south of the capital, for four years pending a permanent solution. As for the Naameh landfill, it will be opened for two months only to take in tens of thousands of tons of trash that have piled around the country. Rubbish has piled up on beaches, in mountain forests and river beds across Lebanon since the closure of the landfill, where the garbage of Beirut and Mount Lebanon was being dumped, in July 2015. The government said it will distribute millions of dollars to municipalities that agree to host the landfills and add spending over the next four years on development projects in those areas.Despite the incentives, officials representing these constituencies have expressed doubts on the viability of the cabinet's plan. Among those being skeptical about the government's move is Tashnag Party leader MP Hagop Pakradounian, who said the announcements made by the cabinet contradicted those proposed by a ministerial committee that had been tasked with resolving the waste crisis. He met with Salam on Tuesday to inquire him more about the details of the plan. Following his talks with the PM, the lawmaker said the Tashnag party will announce its final stance from the Bourj Hammoud landfill after the meeting of its central committee on Wednesday night. Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan also said in a statement: “We won't remain silent to the environmental and health crimes committed in Bourj Hammoud and Khaldeh (Costa Brava).”“We can neither trust the government, nor its solutions and promises,” he added. Other skeptics include the civil society and mainly the “You Stink” campaign, which on Monday blocked several major roads that lead to Beirut during the early morning rush hour.The activists claim that the government's measures to open the landfills are not transparent. They held a demonstration in Beirut on Saturday to reject the option of temporary landfills and demand a more long-term waste-disposal plan.

Hariri: March 15 holy day in Syrian people history
Tue 15 Mar 2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday considered that March 15 was a holy day in the history of the Syrian people against despotism and terrorism. "History shall not have mercy upon a regime that perpetrated the most atrocious crimes against its people and opened the doors of Syrian to terrorism," Hariri tweeted, echoing Syrians calling for ceasing war. "Stop killing the Syrian people. Get out of Syria and return to your country." Hariri also hailed his Syrian "brothers" whom he said were facing "the most savage killing, destruction and displacement machines."

Hariri: March 15 holy day in Syrian people history
Tue 15 Mar 2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday considered that March 15 was a holy day in the history of the Syrian people against despotism and terrorism. "History shall not have mercy upon a regime that perpetrated the most atrocious crimes against its people and opened the doors of Syrian to terrorism," Hariri tweeted, echoing Syrians calling for ceasing war. "Stop killing the Syrian people. Get out of Syria and return to your country."Hariri also hailed his Syrian "brothers" whom he said were facing "the most savage killing, destruction and displacement machines."

Nazarian during conference on energy adaptation policy: For political power determination
Tue 15 Mar 2016/NNA - Water and Energy Minister Arthur Nazarian said that the implementation of the Paris Declaration requires the rallying of all efforts, most importantly determination by the political power to adopt such a declaration. Minister Nazarian's fresh words on Tuesday came during his patronage of the conference on energy adjustment policies, entitled "Beyond Paris Summit 21: Adjustment Policies in Mediterranean Region", organized by the Directorate General of Electricity and Water Resources of the Ministry of Energy and Water, at "Le Royal" Hotel in Dbaye, Beirut.The Conference is organized in collaboration with the Environment Ministry, the International Office for Water, Global and Mediterranean Basins Network, ESCWA, the Lebanese Center for the Conservation of energy and the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Minister Nazarian said that today's conference comes as part of the follow-up mechanism of the Paris Declaration adopted in the recent climate summit Cop 21, which was held in Paris on December 2015. The Declaration draws a road map for the countries of the world, including Lebanon, to work to mitigate global warming and face future challenges relating to water, energy and nutrition. French Ambassador to Lebanon, Emmanuel Bonne, said that the Paris agreement was historic and an important platform in the process of progress in the field of comprehensive development, stressing the importance of its implementation.
On the trash dossier, Ambassador Bonne stressed that this topic should be amongst priorities that should be resolved. He also expressed readiness to cooperate with all in order to put control mechanisms to face up to all future infringements in light of climate change. European Union Mission Head in Lebanon, Ambassador Christina Lassen, said that the Paris conference constitutes a binding precedent agreement for all countries of the world. Ambassador Lassen stressed that "the EU plays a positive role in promoting sustainable development," disclosing the presence of 17 sustainable development goals, including socio-economic objectives, which draw the limits of cooperation for the coming 15 years to come. Lassen also considered Lebanon's contribution at the Paris conference was a good start and constitutes the first step in the translation of these aspirations to alleviate the repercussions of climate change.

Mashnouk: waste plan implementation to kick off within 48 hours
Tue 15 Mar 2016/NNA - Environment Minister Mohammad Mashnouk affirmed on Tuesday that the waste plan implementation would kick off within 48 hours. "It is a matter of preparation and execution and cooperation between all parties," he said. Mashnouk signed on Tuesday a cooperation agreement with Electricite du Liban's Chairman Kamal Hayek to execute the Polychlorinated Biphenyls (POP) management in the electricity sector and implement a national strategy to get rid of the Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This agreement, between the Environment Ministry and the EDL, will also ensure Lebanon's commitment to the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Also, this project aims at determining contaminated transformer, disposing of contaminated equipment and enhancing the capacity of the Ministry of Environment and EDL to manage and provide support for the management of the project. In his word delivered on the occasion, Mashnouk said that this meeting today was a necessity for it got us to care for pollution problems and eliminate contamination in biphenyl and power transformers. The Minister called on activists, Lebanese citizens and all those righteous to protest against this crisis, to have confidence in the government. "We are talking today about an environment that faced a 20-year old problem accumulation and not just from trash, but also from quarries and violations in that respect..." he said. "Dozens of the solutions proposed, tenders offered and the search for landfills were being, unfortunately, hindered by politics," he said, affirming that there was nothing shameful in the landfill solution.

Palestinians in North Deny Presence of 'Cell Plotting to Assassinate Rifi, Fatfat'
March 15/16/Palestinian factions and popular committees in north Lebanon denied Tuesday reports about the presence of an alleged assassination squad at the al-Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp. In a statement, the groups denied “media reports about the presence of a cell at the al-Beddawi camp that is plotting to assassinate resigned justice minister Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi and MP Ahmed Fatfat” of the al-Mustaqbal bloc. “Our camps in general and the al-Beddawi camp in particular enjoy stable security situations due to the efforts that are being exerted by the (Palestinian) resistance factions and the high coordination with all Lebanese security agencies,” the statement said. “We will remain neutral in Lebanon and we will not side with a party against another. We support Lebanon’s stability and security and we will not allow anyone to use our camps as a launchpad for any security violation,” the factions and committees vowed. They also expressed readiness to “cooperate in assessing and probing any information about the presence of any individual posing a security threat to Lebanon's stability.” On Sunday, Rifi announced that he has received information about an alleged “Syrian-Iranian” plot to assassinate him and Fatfat.“The reports are true and I come from a security background. I served for 40 years in the Internal Security Forces and led the agency as its director general for eight years. Normally, I have ties with all the friendly Arab and foreign security agencies and communication is still ongoing,” Rifi told Orient News TV. The resigned minister revealed that he received a phone call in recent days from a certain figure after which he held a meeting with the caller's representative. “He asked me to be cautious seeing as there is information that four individuals at a Palestinian camp in northern Lebanon have been tasked with assassinating either Ashraf Rifi or Ahmed Fatfat with a bomb-laden car or motorbike,” said Rifi. “They would appear to be members of the terrorist Daesh (Islamic State) group but in reality it would be a Syrian-Iranian intelligence scheme,” the resigned minister noted.

26 Suspects Indicted in Terrorist Bombing Plots in Beirut, North
March 15/16/Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abou Ghida issued on Tuesday an indictment against 26 suspects linked to various terrorist bombings and attempted attacks throughout Lebanon. The indictment was made against 26 suspects, some of whom are in custody, while others are at large. The suspects are mainly Lebanese and Syrians. They are accused of “plotting to carry out terrorist acts and bombings in various Lebanese territories.” One fugitive, Syrian “Abou Walid”, is present in Syria's Raqa and is a member of the Islamic State extremist group.
He is accused of plotting terror attacks, while his accomplices transported explosives and weapons from Syria to Lebanon, said the indictment. The weapons and explosives were hidden in several regions and used in Beirut and the North. Other suspects transported suicide bombers to carry out terror bombings. Syrians Imad Ghayyath and Amer al-Freij, known as Walid, carried out two suicide attacks in Beirut's southern suburb of Dahieh, which led to the death and injury of dozens of people. The date of the bombings were not disclosed. The area, a Hizbullah stronghold, has been a frequent target of bombings linked to extremists involved in the Syrian conflict, which erupted in 2011. The latest bombing in Dahieh took place on November 12, 2015 and it left at least 40 people dead. The IS claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israeli Spy Device Found South of Lebanon
Naharnet/March 15/16/An Israeli spy device was found on Tuesday adjacent to a Lebanese army position to the east of the southern border town of Markaba. The transmission and photographic device was found planted near the blue line opposite a helicopter airstrip and a Lebanese army post in the area, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said. Lebanon has frequently reported Israeli espionage devices being found in the south of the country and elsewhere. Scores of people accused of spying for Israel have also been arrested in Lebanon since April 2009, most of them army members or telecommunications employees. Furthermore, the Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said Tuesday that Israeli troops accompanied by a bulldozer approached the outer-part of the technical fence in the outskirts of Adaiseh and removed the concrete barriers from a disputed area.
 

Report: Lebanon finds 'Israeli' spying device in border area
Roi Kais/Ynetnews/Published: 03.15.16,
Hezbollah's TV channel reports transmission and photographic spy device found near the Blue Line, not far from a Lebanese army post and airstrip in the village of Markaba. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station reported on Tuesday that a transmission and photographic spy device was discovered on the Israel-Lebanon border, which the station said belonged to Israel. According to the report, the device was found near the Blue Line and not far from a Lebanese army post and airstrip in the village of Markaba. Hezbollah's official website accused Israel of "violating Lebanese sovereignty after planting spying and photographic devices east of the village of Markaba in southern Lebanon."The official Lebanese news agency reported the device was a black box equipped with a sensor to detect movement.Lebanese news site ElNashra reported that large number of troops from the Lebanese army and security forces arrived at the spot where the device was found, as well as a patrol of UNIFIL troops. The Lebanese army announced its intention to file a complaint with UNIFIL, saying that "Israeli troops removed cement barrier blocks from a disputed area, changing its features." Throughout the years, Lebanon has repeatedly claimed to have discovered Israeli espionage devices in its territory. In December, Lebanese media reported that two Israeli devices were found within two days in Lebanon - one was destroyed by the Lebanese army and the second reportedly remotely blown up by Israel. In March 2011, the Lebanese army announced it had found and dismantled a device disguised as a rock, which Israel planted near the southern port city of Tyre. In December 2010, the Lebanese army announced it had dismantled Israeli spying devices hidden in the mountains. That was two weeks after the Lebanese government filed a complaint with the UN Security Council, claiming Israel planted espionage equipment in southern Lebanon. The Syrians also made similar claims, with the official Syrian news agency claiming in March 2013 that Israeli devices were found in its coastal area.

Fadlallah on Illegal Internet Services: It is Dangerous and Aggravating
Naharnet/March 15/16/Head of the parliamentary media committee MP Hassan Fadlallah stressed that the illegal internet networks uncovered lately is a serious issue that must be controlled by the state, As Safir daily reported on Tuesday. “Illegal internet networks are a dangerous issue that is growing even bigger. The State must put hands on it because it has legal financial and security repercussions” Fadlallah told the daily. He stressed that he will call the committee for a meeting next Monday to tackle the issue. Parties to take part in the assembly will include Ministers of Telecommunications, Interior and Defense in addition to State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud and Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim. As Safir said it has obtained information that there are four illegal “communication crossings” with a tremendous ability of 40GB per second WiFi network speed which is equivalent to a third of the international capacities set by the Ministry of Telecommunications in service (150GB per second). Butros Harb, the Telecommunications Minister, told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that “initial investigations have shown a relation with the al-Barouk network.” He added that he will brief the public on Wednesday of all the information obtained so far. Later on Tuesday LBCI said that Judge Ibrahim charged two individuals, Imad Lahhoud and Hagop Antranik, with installing fiber-optic cables and illegal internet networks in the area of al-Zaarour. Last week, and during a meeting of the committee it was unveiled that anonymous parties described as a “mafia” are taking advantage of internet services by installing internet stations that are not subject to the state control. The owners of these stations are buying international internet bandwidth with nominal cost from Turkey and Cyprus which they are selling back to Lebanese subscribers at reduced prices. It has been reported that wireless internet towers and technical equipment were placed illegally in some mountainous terrains including Tannourine, al-Dinnieh, Sannine and al-Zaarour. Smuggled internet services initiate risks namely the possibility of security breach as it lacks the basic control standards exposing Lebanon's security to third parties including Israel. Adding to the above is the fact that smuggling online services outside legal frameworks is a waste for the state's treasury amounting to over $2 million losses on a monthly basis.

Rifi Resumes Duties as Justice Minister, Albeit from Home
Naharnet/March 15/16/Resigned minister Ashraf Rifi has resumed his duties as justice minister by signing the ministry's mail and following up on its files, although without being present at the ministry building, media reports said on Tuesday. “As of Monday, Minister Ashraf Rifi returned to his duties as justice minister, though from afar. His team is working at the ministry while he is signing mail and following up on files from his office in Ashrafieh,” LBCI television reported. It quoted sources close to Rifi as saying that he is “still an incumbent minister who enjoys full jurisdiction and has a duty to perform his missions.”“Rifi cannot accept to paralyze a vital public institution such as the judiciary and he cannot dodge his responsibilities,” the sources added, noting that the minister's return to his tasks “does not mean that he has decided to retract his resignation, which remains unofficial pending a decision from the relevant authority.”LBCI pointed out that the role of acting justice minister Alice Shabtini stopped “the moment Rifi resumed his duties.”Al-Jadeed television said Shabtini has signed several decrees and documents in her capacity as acting justice minister. “Rifi has submitted his resignation to the prime minister in written form, but the acceptance of his resignation requires a decree signed by the president in addition to the PM's approval,” LBCI noted, quoting legal experts. “As long as there is no president and as long as Prime Minister Tammam Salam has not issued a decree accepting the resignation,” Rifi remains the justice minister, the TV network added. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 and Salam's government has since been acting in caretaker capacity. Rifi announced his resignation in a February 21 press conference, accusing Hizbullah of “dominating the government's decision.” His resignation statement also cited alleged Hizbullah interference in the case of ex-minister Michel Samaha, who is facing charges of having planned "terrorist" acts in collaboration with the Syrian regime. Rifi accused Hizbullah of blocking his efforts to transfer the case against Samaha, a former close confidante of Damascus, to Lebanon's highest court, the Judicial Council. Samaha was freed on bail in January under a controversial Military Court ruling that sent shockwaves across Lebanon. The ex-minister was arrested in August 2012 and charged with attempting to carry out "terrorist acts" over allegations that he and Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk transported explosives and planned attacks and assassinations of political and religious figures in Lebanon. Samaha was sentenced in May 2015 to four-and-half years in prison, but in June Lebanon's Cassation Court nullified the verdict and ordered a retrial.

Qasem Soleimani defends Hezbollah
Arash Karami/Al-Monitor/March 15/16
The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, rejected accusations that the Islamic Republic of Iran is looking to stir up trouble in the region, a complaint that is often leveled against Iran by Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, in particular Saudi Arabia.
During a memorial for martyrs at Al-Rasool mosque in Kerman, Soleimani gave a rare speech in which he defended Iran’s policies in the region, addressed accusations of sectarianism and criticized Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. On the country’s regional policy, Soleimani said, “Since the principles of the Islamic Republic have no similarities to its enemies' principles, they cannot accept [Iran's] policy, so they call it adventurism.” He added, “Everyone, especially our youth, has to realize this in gatherings and not be subject to political whisperings that adventurism is taking place in our country."
Iran currently has a number of forces fighting alongside the Syrian army and Hezbollah in Syria. They have been battling a variety of Sunni opposition groups backed by Sunni countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, which accuse Iran of helping the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for sectarian reasons. Soleimani rejected these accusations.“Takfiris [Sunni extremists] and the fiery beliefs of takfiris are at the homes of Sunni brothers, and those who created this believe that with it they will bring Iran and Shiites to their knees,” he said. “Today, more than anywhere else in the world, the personal homes of Sunnis have been invaded by takfiri groups.”
Referring to the Islamic State, Soleimani asked, “Is it [provocation] that Iran … defends Muslims? Is it wrong that Iran stands against a group that in one region buys and sells 2,000 women and children and has made them suffer a heavy tragedy? Is it wrong that Iran has stood against anti-Muslims and has prevented the destruction of mosques?”In response to regional rival Saudi Arabia's accusation that Iran has been meddling in the kingdom's internal affairs, Soleimani said, “In the history of the Islamic Republic, there is no point at which we have … been [agitating] the Saudis or their government, and always it has been the Saudis who have been adventurous against Islam and us.” He then accused the Saudis of bombing Yemen, killing men, women and children.
​Regarding the Lebanese Shiite Islamist group Hezbollah, which Saudi Arabia and the Arab League designated a terrorist organization, Soleimani said, “Hezbollah, as an Arab and Islamic army, has never been adventurous against Saudi Arabia.” Presumably addressing Hezbollah’s ability to expel Israeli forces out of south Lebanon, Soleimani said, “What all the Arab armies were not able to do from 1947 until the 1960s, [Hezbollah] did.”On accusations of sectarianism, Soleimani said, “In which country have we tried to turn a Sunni brother into a Shiite? In fact, conversely, our lives were shields for Sunnis.”
Soleimani also defended the type of government in Iran, saying, “The existing democracy and complete independence of our country has made us different than other countries, and the difference between Iran and the rest of the countries is not a negative or bad difference, but a pure and exemplary difference.”

Suspect Dead, Policemen Hurt in Brussels Raid Linked to Paris Attacks
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/March 15/16/Police shot dead one suspect on Tuesday during a major Belgian-French anti-terror operation in Brussels linked to the Paris attacks, after gunmen opened fire and wounded four officers. The dead person had not been identified but prosecutors said it was not Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the November Paris massacre which killed 130 people, and who fled to Brussels after the attacks. Armed police came under fire as they carried out a search on a property in the Forest suburb in the south of the Belgian capital, sparking a series of gun battles in which one suspect was killed, prosecutors said. "Police were fired at," Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, told AFP, adding that the search was "linked to the Paris attacks investigation." "A body was found during a search of a house ... his identity has not been established yet but whatever the case, it is not Salah Abdeslam," Van Der Sypt was later quoted as saying by the Belga news agency. Three Belgian police officers were wounded by gunfire during the initial search of the property, while a fourth was hit by gunfire during the huge police mobilization afterwards.  'Assault weapons' Dozens of security forces in balaclavas armed with submachine guns cordoned off the scene, while police vehicles with flashing lights rushed into the search area, AFP reporters said. A police helicopter hovered overhead checking reports that other suspects might have escaped over the roofs. The local mayor said that two people were believed to be holed up in a house, but as the operation appeared to be winding down, authorities later only mentioned the suspect who was killed, without saying if they were searching for more. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed earlier that French police were also involved and said the attackers used assault rifles. "A team made up of Belgian and French police came under fire, apparently from assault weapons, during a raid," he said after arriving in the Ivory Coast capital following a weekend shooting rampage by jihadists there that killed 18. People in two schools and two nurseries near the scene were asked to remain indoors and the security cordon around the area was extended, the local mayor's office said. Parents at the cordon line became increasingly distressed as they were unable to get to their children, before they were eventually let out one by one, accompanied by armed police. Police also started letting people back into their homes. The incident took place across the street from an Audi auto factory and the train lines leading to the Gare du Midi railway station from where Eurostar trains run to London and Thalys trains to Paris.
Terror lockdown . Two weeks after the Paris attacks Brussels was put on five days of lockdown with authorities warning of an imminent threat of violence amid an ongoing manhunt for Abdeslam. Soldiers are still on guard at key areas including train stations and EU institutions with Belgium remaining on its second highest terror alert. Abdeslam, 26, who is believed to have played a key role in organizing the Paris attacks, fled across the border to Belgium hours after the killings in the French capital and is now one of the most wanted men in Europe. A French police source said the operation was "not targeting Salah Abdeslam" but was "aimed at people connected to one or several of the 11 Belgians who have been charged." Since mid-November, 11 people have been arrested and charged in Belgium in connection with the killings and eight are still in detention. Abdeslam was reportedly holed up for three weeks after the Paris attacks in an apartment in the Schaerbeek district in north Brussels, where police found a fingerprint, traces of explosives and possible suicide belts. Belgian authorities found two other properties used by the attackers before the Paris massacres -- a flat in the industrial town of Charleroi and a house in the rural village of Auvelais near the French border.

Russia seeks to reassure Israel over Syria pullout plan
Reuters/Ynetnews/Published: 03.15.16
While Moscow's deputy ambassador stresses his country will 'do everything so that Israel's national security interests are not harmed in the process,' IDF chief notes ramifications of Russian move aren't clear yet. A Russian diplomat sought to reassure Israel on Tuesday that its security would not be harmed by the winding down of Moscow's intervention in the Syrian civil war, but the IDF's chief of staff said the ramifications were not yet clear. Israeli officials have privately said Russian forces sent in last year to help Syrian President Bashar Assad turn the tide against a now five-year-old rebellion also served to restrain his anti-Israeli allies - Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia. Israel was further helped by a hotline to the main Russian airbase at Hmeymim in Syria, which let it continue covert strikes to foil suspected Hezbollah or Iranian operations against it on Syrian turf without fear of accidentally clashing with Moscow.
Russia blindsided world powers on Monday by announcing that the main part of its forces in Syria would start to withdraw. Russia's deputy ambassador to Israel on Tuesday described the two countries' Syria coordination as remaining intact. "We will try to ensure that this (Syria) crisis is resolved, and we will also do everything so that Israel's national security interests are not harmed in the process," the envoy, Alexey Drobinin, told Ynet, without elaborating. He clarified that the Russian decision was made in an effort to promote negotiations between the sides. "Russia is sending a clear message to everyone involved in the Syria crisis - it's time to give political dialogue a chance, a change for an internal Syrian dialogue between the government and the different factions in the opposition," he said. He also asserted that despite the fact Russian forces were leaving the war-ravaged country, their mission has not yet ended. "In order to defeat ISIS, the Nusra Front and other terror organizations, we have to put together an extensive international coalition with the US, European countries, and Arab nations. Russia cannot do the work for everyone," Drobinin stressed. In separate remarks to Army Radio, Drobinin said Russia would maintain its military presence at Hmeymim airbase as well as a Mediterranean naval centre at Tartus.  "Israel is a neighboring country. It cannot be indifferent to what is happening in Syria. We take this into account, of course," he said. "We have an ongoing dialogue with the Israeli side on all levels - the military level and diplomatic level." Zvi Magen, formerly Israel's ambassador to Moscow, told Ynet that "the discussion is not the withdrawal of troops, but the announcement that they will stop fighting, and that has a different type of meaning. Russia is probably not going anywhere, but it was more important for Putin to announce that he is now stopping the fighting."'Israel had no prior knowledge about Russia withdrawal'. Israel has occasionally fired across the Golan Heights in response to spillover shelling or bombed advanced arms it suspected were to be transferred to Assad's Lebanese guerrilla allies, Hezbollah. Past strikes in Syria, attributed by foreign sources to Israel, killed Syrian troops as well as Hezbollah fighters - though the exact number remains unclear. President Reuven Rivlin was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. Drobinin said that would be "a very good opportunity to air opinions and provide answers for any questions the Israeli side might have". Rivlin's role is largely ceremonial. His Russia trip was set before the Syrian withdrawal announcement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government declined to be drawn on the issue. But the IDF's chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, told members of Knesset that Israel had no advance knowledge of Russia's pullback plan, whose impact he deemed hard to gauge."At this stage, humility and caution are required in trying to understand the vector in which the Syrian theatre will develop with the exit of Russian forces," Eisenkot told members of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in a closed-door briefing. Eisenkot said that the Russian intervention had so far strengthened Assad's position in ceasefire talks with rebels. Israel has voiced doubt about the truce prospects in Syria, which it anticipates will end up partitioned on sectarian lines. Eisenkot predicted that the Russian withdrawal would be carried out gradually, but not fully, with Moscow maintaining two bases in Syria while thinning out overall troop deployments.
*Attila Somfalvi contributed to this report.

Iran: Missile tests do not violate nuclear deal
AFP, Canberra Tuesday, 15 March 2016/Tehran's recent ballistic missile tests did not violate a UN resolution and were not illegal, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tuesday after being questioned on the issue by Australia. The United Nations Security Council met Monday at the request of the United States to discuss the missile tests that have raised the prospect of new sanctions. But Zarif said that under Resolution 2231, adopted a few days after Iran struck a landmark nuclear deal with world powers last year, Tehran was within its rights to carry out the tests. He said the wording of the resolution did not use obligatory terms so "Iran is not obliged by 2231".Secondly, it covered only missiles "designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads", he told reporters in Canberra. "Since we do not have nuclear warheads and we have undertaken not to develop them, and the international community has put in place the best mechanisms money can buy in order to make sure that we do not develop nuclear weapons... we do not design any missiles to carry things we do not have," Zarif said. "So these missiles do not fall within the purview of 2231 and they are not illegal." Iran fired two long-range ballistic missiles on March 9, one day after similar tests that came fewer than two months after the Iran nuclear deal was implemented. Zarif stressed that the missiles were being developed only for Iran's defence. Under the historic nuclear deal, most UN sanctions resolutions against Tehran were lifted, but an arms embargo and restrictions on ballistic missile technology remain in force. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had raised the question with her Iranian counterpart, and they had had a "very detailed discussion"."We discussed the perception, the political circumstances surrounding the timing of this," she said. "It is Australia's position that should the UN Security Council wish to investigate this matter, then that would be the proper legal process for it to do so."

Syria grimly marks fifth civil war anniversary
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 15 March 2016/Read Al Arabiya English’s full coverage of Syria’s fifth anniversary with exclusive interviews, analysis, interactives, photo galleries and the latest news here. Syria on Tuesday marked its fifth war anniversary, a grim milestone as peace talks were underway in Geneva with international powers aiming to end the conflict. The U.N. refugee agency released a statement on the anniversary, saying international solidarity with its victims of the conflict is failing to match and reflect the scale and seriousness of the humanitarian tragedy. "Syria is the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time, a continuing cause of suffering for millions which should be garnering a groundswell of support around the world," said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. Meanwhile, a fresh round of peace talks beginning on Monday were referred to as “Syria’s moment of truth.”Saying there was no “plan B” but a return to war, U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura asked to hear from all sides but said he would have no hesitation in calling in the big powers, led by the United States and Russia, if the talks get bogged down. “If during these talks and in the next rounds we will see no notice of any willingness to negotiate... we will bring the issue back to those who have influence, and that is the Russian Federation, the USA... and to the Security Council,” he told a news conference. The talks are the first to be held in more than two years and come amid an unprecedented cessation in hostilities sponsored by Washington and Moscow and accepted by President Bashar al-Assad’s government and most of his foes. The truce, the first of its kind in a 5 year-old war that has killed 250,000 people, has sharply reduced the fighting over the past two weeks, giving rise to hope that this diplomatic initiative will succeed where all previous efforts failed. The cessation was agreed after de Mistura called off a previous attempt to convene talks last month. On Monday night, President Vladimir Putin said “the main part” of Russian armed forces in Syria would start to withdraw. Syria announced President Bashar al-Assad had agreed on the “reduction” of Russian forces in a telephone call with Putin. Western diplomats urged caution and the anti-Assad opposition expressed bafflement, with a spokesman saying “nobody knows what is in Putin’s mind.”The Kremlin also said Putin and Syria leader Bashar al-Assad agreed on the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria in a phone call. Syria’s opposition on Monday, meanwhile, welcomed Russia’s announcement, saying a serious withdrawal would put pressure on Syrian authorities and give peace talks a positive impetus. “If there is seriousness in implementing the withdrawal, it will give the talks a positive push,” said Salim al-Muslat, spokesman for the rebel High Negotiations Committee.“If this is a serious step it will form a major element of pressure on the regime, because the Russian support prolonged the regime. Matters will change significantly as a result of that.”(With AFP, AP, Reuters)

First Russian planes fly out of Syria base
AFP, Moscow Tuesday, 15 March 2016/A first group of Russian military planes on Tuesday left Moscow’s base in Syria heading for home after President Vladimir Putin’s shock order to withdraw most of his forces from the war-torn country, the defence ministry said.
“The first group of Russian planes has flown out of the Hmeimim air base for their permanent bases on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that they included Su-34 bombers and a Tu-154 transport plane.
The ministry said that aircraft would leave the air base in groups made up of one transport plane carrying technical personnel or equipment accompanied by Russian warplanes. “Each group in this format will fly according to a prearranged route to the border of the Russia Federation and after crossing it all the planes will fly on independently to their own bases,” the statement said. Putin on Monday stunned the West by ordering the withdrawal of the main part of Russia’s forces in Syria some five-and-a-half months after Moscow started its bombing campaign in support of long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad.Russia’s withdrawal came as fresh talks started in Geneva on the fifth anniversary of the start of the brutal five-year conflict in Syria that has cost some 270,000 lives.

UN: Pursuing war criminals in Syria should not wait for end of war
Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters Tuesday, 15 March 2016/United Nations human rights investigators on Syria said on Tuesday that preparing prosecutions against war criminals should not be delayed until the end of the conflict, now entering its sixth year. The UN Commission of Inquiry, which has documented atrocities committed by all sides in the war, has compiled a confidential list of suspects and begun providing judicial assistance to authorities investigating foreign fighters. President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that “the main part” of Russia’s armed forces in Syria would start to withdraw, telling his diplomats to step up the push for peace as U.N.-mediated talks resumed in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition. “Now for the first time, there is hope of an end in sight,” Paulo Pinheiro told the U.N. Human Rights Council as UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura carried out his mediation efforts in the same building. “The adoption of measures that lay the ground for accountability need not and should not wait for a final peace agreement to be reached,” Pinheiro told the forum, flanked by co-commissioners Carla del Ponte and Vitit Muntarbhorn. Serious violations continue, with thousands detained and tortured, many dying in custody, he said. ISIS - which is not part of the cessation of hostilities - continues to use suicide bombs and has more than 3,000 Yazidi women as sexual slaves, he added. Pinheiro urged the government and opposition to agree to confidence-building measures including unconditional and immediate release of all prisoners arbitrarily detained and to set up a mechanism to trace those missing. Syrian Ambassador Hussam Aala said that rebel groups were targeting residential areas in Damascus and Aleppo with shelling and rockets, depriving civilians of water, and using medical facilities as command centres. “The Syrian government continues to send relief to all areas in need without discrimination...We have been responsible in abiding by the cessation of hostilities in order to preserve Syrian blood,” he told the forum.

Erdogan wants to broaden definition of terrorists to include supporters
Reuters, Ankara Monday, 14 March 2016/Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday it was necessary to broaden the definition of terrorists to include supporters of terrorism, who are equally guilty. Speaking after another bombing in the Turkish capital which killed 37 people, Erdogan said: "It's not only the person who pulls the trigger, but those who made that possible who should also be defined as terrorists, regardless of their title," adding this could be a journalist, an MP or a civil society actor.

Clashes spread to new areas of southeast Turkey after bombing
Reuters, Diyarbakir Tuesday, 15 March 2016/Four people were killed in clashes between security forces and Kurdish militants on Tuesday, security sources said, as fighting widened in southeast Turkey following a suicide bombing that killed 37 people in the capital Ankara. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters blocked roads and halted vehicles in the Kaynartepe neighborhood of the city of Diyarbakir and clashed with security forces sporadically through the night as a police helicopter flew overhead, witnesses said. No one has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s car bomb that tore through a crowded transport hub in Ankara, but security officials have said it involved two militants, one of them female, from the outlawed PKK. Violence has surged in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since a 2-1/2 year PKK ceasefire collapsed in July. The militants have focused their strikes on security forces in southeastern towns, some of which have been under curfew. One police officer and three militants were killed in the fighting in the Baglar district of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, the security sources said. A curfew was imposed in Baglar’s Kaynartepe neighborhood from 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) after moves by militants to set up barricades, dig ditches and plant explosives, authorities said. The curfew was later widened to encompass more city streets as clashes continued in the morning. Gunfire and explosions rang out across the city and police in armored vehicles parked on street corners called for people to stay inside. Conflict in Diyarbakir, the southeast’s largest city, has until now has been focused in the Sur district, parts of which have been devastated by the fighting. Also on Tuesday, Turkish police shut Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge, a key transport link spanning Asia and Europe, to traffic and were searching a suspicious vehicle, broadcasters CNN Turk and NTV reported. Live footage of the bridge showed a series of white vehicles parked behind another lone white sedan near the European exit. Bomb disposal experts were near the vehicle, CNN Turk reported.

Civilians flee Iraq town as battle looms
AFP, Baghdad Tuesday, 15 March 2016/Terrified residents were fleeing the Iraqi town of Hit as security forces closed in Tuesday and jihadist fighters hunkered down to defend one of their main bastions in Anbar province. After regaining control of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi from ISIS earlier this year, Iraqi forces have been advancing up the Euphrates Valley in recent weeks. Officials are vowing to launch a final operation to retake Hit, a key hub along the Euphrates, in the coming days. Police colonel Fadhel al-Nimrawi said thousands of families had recently fled Hit to Al-Baghdadi, a town to the northwest, and other locations in Anbar where displaced civilians are gathered. “At least 120 families arrived in Al-Baghdadi yesterday but there are thousands of families still in there,” he told AFP. He said most of the civilians had gathered in the Jamaiya and Al-Omal neighbourhoods near the main market of Hit, a city that lies around 145 kilometres (90 miles) west of Baghdad. Some ISIS fighters fled the town on Sunday and Saturday, including some top foreign leaders who had been based in Hit, according to several senior security officials. “It is clear however that some of them remain, they are mostly deployed in defensive positions around the city,” Nimrawi said. Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against ISIS in Iraq, said an operation in Hit would come soon. “Unfortunately, Hit is still under Daesh control but it will be retaken in the coming days,” he told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. Hit residents had hoped when ISIS fighters pulled out on Sunday that government forces and allied tribal fighters would swoop in to seal the recapture of the city. But while some ISIS fighters left, others rotated in and civilians in Hit fear being trapped in the town for the final battle. “So far, there are no security forces in Hit, the inhabitants are scared because they know there will be a big military operation,” said Naim al-Kaoud, the leader of the Nimr tribe. Over the weekend, ISIS fighters also abandoned the town of Rutba -- deep in the Anbar desert -- only to move back in 24 hours later, according to security officials. They still control the town but their foreign leaders did not return and are believed to have moved towards Al-Qaim, a town on the border with Syria. Iraqi forces, backed by a US-led coalition, have been battling to regain ground from ISIS since the jihadists seized control of large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in mid-2014.

100,000 relief aid food parcels arrive in Saada from Saudi
Al Arabiya/Tuesday, 15 March 2016/An aid convoy carrying food assistance from King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center arrived in Taiz. In the same context, about two hundred twenty tons of food, medicine and medical equipment arrived in Saada to support Al-Salam Hospital. That assistance is provided by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center in coordination with the coalition.

Saudi king: ‘North Thunder’ military drill raised combat readiness
Saudi Gazette, Riyadh Tuesday, 15 March 2016/Saudi King Salman said here on Monday that the presence of leaders and representatives of 20 friendly countries at the closing ceremony of the North Thunder military exercise proved their eagerness to further strengthen military ties.Thanking them for their attendance, King Salman said the North Thunder maneuvers raised the level of combat readiness and helped assess the ability to manage military operations to achieve the unity of ranks and ward off dangers facing Arab and Islamic nations. King Salman was chairing the weekly session of the Council of Ministers at Al-Yamama Palace. Following the Cabinet session, Minister of Culture and Information Adel Al-Turaifi said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency that the ministers congratulated the King, the Crown Prince and the Deputy Crown Prince on the success of the closing maneuvers of the North Thunder exercise and the military parade associated with the exercise with the participation of Saudi Armed Forces and forces from a number of countries. The Cabinet commend the efforts exerted by the authorities concerned in organizing the exercise which achieved its objectives. Saudi Arabia concluded on Thursday a 20-country joint military exercise that aimed at unifying armed tactics for the region’s stability. King Salman was present along with many leaders and representatives to witness the conclusion of exercises in Hafr Al-Batin where the event took place. The Cabinet reiterated that anyone who belongs to Hezbollah, sympathizes with it, supports it financially or harbors any of its members will be severely punished. The Cabinet also praised the security authorities for their unrelenting pursuit of those “involved in terror activities.”This article first appeared in the Saudi Gazette on March 15, 2016.

Italy offers to help Egypt probe murder of Giulio Regeni
AFP, Cairo Tuesday, 15 March 2016/Italy’s chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone on Monday offered Rome’s assistance in the Egyptian investigation into the murder of an Italian graduate student after his abduction in Cairo. Giulio Regeni, a Cambridge University PhD student who was researching Egyptian labour movements, disappeared on January 25 and his badly mutilated body was found a week later. Egypt’s attorney general Nabil Sadeq discussed the investigation with Pignatone, who was visiting Cairo along with his deputy Sergio Colaiocco after an invitation. “The Italian side proposed its assistance to Egyptian investigators and to provide all information in its possession,” said a statement, stressing the determination of both parties to shed light on the case. Last Thursday, the European Parliament called on Egypt to cooperate in the probe, saying it came within the context of deaths in custody in the North African country. In February, Egyptian Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar rejected charges of security forces being involved in the murder of Regeni. The 28-year-old’s slaying became a cause celebre among academics around the world and has turned the spotlight on what rights and opposition groups say are increasing abuses by security services under the military-backed government in Cairo. Police and intelligence services in Egypt are frequently accused of carrying out torture in arbitrary detention or the killing of detainees.

ISIS using more child soldiers as fighters quit
AFP, Washington Tuesday, 15 March 2016/ISIS is relying more heavily on child soldiers as growing numbers of fighters desert the militant group, the United States said Monday. That may indicate the group’s leaders are “struggling with their ability to recruit and retain manpower,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a daily briefing. He would not confirm reports that Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq had captured a US citizen who defected from ISIS. “We are working closely with the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to try to get more information to confirm the veracity of these reports,” Kirby said. However, “more and more” defectors are leaving ISIS’s ranks, prompting the group to rely more heavily on child soldiers, the spokesman added. “Originally, they would rely on children for intelligence streams, getting information... and then using them to conduct suicide attacks, which they still do,” Kirby said. “Now we get more reports about them using children in actual engagements side by side with adult fighters,” he added. “All those are good indications they are struggling with their ability to recruit and retain manpower.”However, the United States still considers the threat from ISIS “very seriously,” Kirby said. “They are still very lethal.”US forces have led a military coalition of 60 countries fighting ISIS for nearly two years. The militant groups controls vast areas of territory in Iraq and Syria. Russia has announced it would begin withdrawing its forces from Syria, saying its bombing campaign had helped “radically change the situation in the fight against terrorism.”
 

Putin to Assad: Do svidaniya
Laura Rozen/Al-Monitor/March 15/16
WASHINGTON — In a surprise move that he said he hoped would bolster Syria peace talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would start to withdraw most Russian military forces from Syria starting March 15. The decision to partly withdraw from Syria, which Putin said he discussed during a phone call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad March 14, is likely to put pressure on the Assad regime to negotiate more seriously at UN-hosted peace talks with the opposition, which resumed in Geneva on March 14. The decision follows remarks from Syria’s foreign minister over the weekend that any talk of Assad’s future was a “red line” at the Geneva talks. “I hope today’s decision will be a good signal for all conflicting parties” at the Geneva talks, Putin said following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on March 14, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. “I hope it will sizably increase trust of all participants in the process.”
Putin and Assad, in a phone call initiated by the Russian leader March 14, “discussed the implementation of the joint statement by Russia and the United States … on [the] cessation of hostilities in Syria,” according to a Kremlin readout of the call. “They share the view that the cease-fire has made possible a dramatic reduction in the bloodshed in the country. … It has also made it possible to put in place conditions for starting a peace process under UN aegis.” “Mr. Putin said that Russia’s armed forces have fulfilled their main mission in Syria and a timetable for the withdrawal of the aerospace forces’ main air grouping has been agreed,” the readout continued. “Russia will maintain an aviation support center in Syria in order to monitor compliance with the cease-fire.”Putin’s announcement on a partial Syria withdrawal seemed to take US officials by surprise.“We have seen reports that President Putin has announced a planned withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria,” a senior US administration official told Al-Monitor March 14. “We expect to learn more about this in the coming hours.”
Putin and Obama subsequently discussed the matter in a phone call Monday, the White House said.
“They discussed President Putin’s announcement today of a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria and next steps required to fully implement the cessation of hostilities with the goal of advancing the political negotiations on resolution of the conflict,” a White House readout of the call said. “President Obama welcomed the much-needed reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation, but stressed that continuing offensive actions by Syrian regime forces risk undermining both the Cessation of Hostilities and the UN-led political process.” Samuel Charap, a Russia expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said Putin had largely achieved his objectives.
“His objective was to force the US and its allies to the bargaining table on his terms,” Charap told Al-Monitor March 14. “He achieved that objective. Beyond that, an extended, large military presence in Syria doesn't really do much for him. It's more of a liability than an asset.”But Paul Saunders, a Russia expert at the Center for the National Interest and a contributor to Al-Monitor, said it was also notable that Putin was saying mission accomplished when his original declared rationale for intervening in Syria was to defeat the Islamic State (IS). “It is striking, and many in … and out of the region will take note of the fact that President Putin said that withdrawal is going to take place because the Russian forces have achieved their objective,” Saunders told Al-Monitor March 14. “Because when they went in, it was framed very much in terms of strikes on [IS]. That mission is not really completed.”
“What has actually been accomplished is this rather tentative temporary cessation of hostilities leading to some kind of successful peace process between Assad and the forces of the opposition,” Saunders said.
Putin “is trying to send a message to both sides,” Saunders said. “Certainly for the Assad regime side, it makes very clear to them that they better actually negotiate seriously.”
But the announced partial withdrawal “does not mean Russia is just walking away,” Saunders added. “The pace of the withdrawal … also provides leverage. It can be slowed, it can be accelerated. Moscow has the continuing leverage that it needs.”A former Russian diplomat said Putin’s announced decision to partly withdraw from Syria is probably due to a combination of reasons. “First of all about some deal with US (maybe, on a range of issues regarding transition and Geneva talks) and possibly with the [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia],” the former Russian diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor. “Then about a master stroke on the first day of ‘resumed’ negotiations … in terms of showing good faith and ‘inviting’ others to reciprocate in their ways. If others take it for weakness and start massive attack on Assad, birds can return. Withdrawal is partial, and infrastructure remains.”The Syrian opposition, for its part, said it welcomed Putin’s announcement and that serious withdrawal would put pressure on the regime and give peace talks a positive impetus.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, speaking at a televised news conference in Damascus March 12, vowed the Assad delegation to Geneva would not discuss future Syrian presidential elections in Geneva. “We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency,” Moallem said. “Bashar [al-Assad] is a red line; the property of the Syrian people. I advise them that if this is [the opposition’s] thinking, they shouldn’t come to the talks. They must abandon these delusions.” But UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said tough rhetoric was not unexpected heading into such sensitive negotiations and what mattered more is what is happening inside the rooms. “There is always, in any negotiations, especially as delicate and important and crucial like this one, a lot of strong statements,” de Mistura told reporters March 14, following a meeting with the Syrian government delegation, which is led by Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari. “We should be talking between us about what will be the outcomes of the discussions and the negotiations — that will be the judgement.”The agenda at this round of talks was focused on governance, a new Syrian Constitution and new Syrian elections, as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 2254, he said. “I don’t know whether anyone else has a plan B here. I am only aware of a plan A, which is giving a maximum of chances and the maximum of pressure [by] the international community to ensure that the Intra-Syrian Talks … is given the maximum of opportunities,” de Mistura said. The current round of talks is expected to last until March 24, then break for a week or so and then resume, he said.

The intifada of attrition
Shlomi Eldar/Al-Monitor/March 15/16
The current intifada will not yield substantial change for the Palestinians or bring about a diplomatic breakthrough. This is the belief of Fatah activists who served as field leaders in the first and second intifadas.The first intifada (1987-1993) ended with the Oslo Accord, which on paper promised the creation of a Palestinian state within an established time frame. The second intifada (2000-2005), after terrible bloodshed, led to Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the rise of Hamas. If this is so, why don’t Fatah field leaders think the current intifada, being carried out by individuals, will bring about positive change, in the best-case scenario, or lead to tremendous chaos, in the worst-case scenario? In these activists' opinion, which is shared by Palestinian journalists who covered the germination of past intifadas and their results, today's intifada is doomed to fail because no leader has emerged to lead the would-be insurrectionists.
In the first intifada, which broke out in December 1987 as a popular uprising in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp, Fatah field operatives immediately took charge, acting on their own, and created a central command structure. That’s where the process of mobility for a new Palestinian leadership began. Ihab al-Ashkar, for instance, was a key activist in the central command, orchestrating collective actions, such as protests, confrontations with the Israeli military and general strikes, and handling contact with the Palestinian leadership in Tunisia.
Other young Palestinians consolidated their power through the waves of the uprising and had their status as leaders strengthened after they were arrested by Israel and sent to prison. For instance, Hisham Abd al-Razzaq, Mousa Abed al-Nabi, Sufian Abu Zaida and Qadura Fares, as well as senior field leaders Mohammed Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub, who were expelled from the territories, became leaders in exile, returning after the signing of the Oslo Accord. Most of the former field operatives are convinced today that if Israel had not reached an agreement with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, it would have had to reach an agreement with them, as the leaders on the ground in the territories.
The second intifada completely changed the Palestinian political map and created a new political leadership. Hamas also became a leading political actor when it won the 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. Marwan Barghouti, a leader of the Tanzim, Fatah's militia, is a notable example of an operative who started out as a middle manager among activists and became a prominent leader in the second intifada. Although Barghouti is serving five life sentences after being convicted in Israel of involvement in terror attacks, his name is mentioned as someone who could one day succeed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, although such a scenario seems unlikely unless Israel agrees to release him from prison. In recent months, Palestinians and Israelis have been seized by the third intifada, which is quite different from the previous rebellions. There is no doubt that this individual intifada is more authentic than its two predecessors, as it is unfolding without the guidance of field activists, instead riding a wave of despair among the Palestinian population. In effect, the number of young people who decide one morning to carry out a stabbing, shooting or vehicular attack in Israel is no fewer at this point than if they had had guidance from field operatives.
The local leaders of the previous intifadas believe that this absence of guidance is the main weakness of the current intifada. In their view, without leadership, there’s no direction, no responsibility and no aim. The individual intifada has not sprouted a new leadership, although the despairing youths who have carried out attacks have also condemned and challenged the current Palestinian leadership, that is, the Palestinian Authority (PA), Fatah and Hamas. No central command structure has arisen to direct the third intifada. The name of not even one activist has come to the fore, someone to define the goals of the intifada for the young insurrectionists. Since September, after dozens of attacks, a grim picture is becoming increasingly clear: Despair, economic distress and personal distress are driving young Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis. Most of them act using basic means, like knives.
Veteran Fatah field operatives do not think the current intifada will strike fear in Israelis or bring meaningful pressure to bear on the Israeli leadership to compromise and reach some kind of diplomatic agreement, as the two previous intifadas did. To this, one can add international apathy toward the situation in the territories. In the past, the US administration pressed Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement to prevent an escalation of hostilities and more bloodshed, but this time, such involvement is not a factor able to alter the situation. In addition, international public opinion has not paid particular attention to the intifada or the situation in the territories, leaving the impression that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has exhausted everyone. It appears that not one world leader is interested in getting near this sick bed, where there is no chance, based on past experience, to save the patient.
The obvious conclusion is that what is underway is an intifada of attrition. It could continue for a long time and lead to chaos in the PA, including, as has been examined in Al-Monitor, the end of Abbas' rule. The Palestinian president is between a rock and a hard place — between youths rising up against Israel and his desire to prevent a loss of control that could bring about the collapse of the PA and his government. Abbas also knows, however, as do other senior PA leaders, that in the foreseeable future, there will be no diplomatic movement, which itself puts his position in danger.
A Palestinian journalist told Al-Monitor that he had found through investigation that most of the youths who carried out attacks against Israelis had dreamed of working in Israel to break the cycle of economic distress and make an honorable living. It is a paradox that perhaps most precisely expresses the character of the third intifada: work or attack. Despair or hope. In the meantime, despair rules. Hope is not visible on the horizon.

European Union Caving to Turkey's Blackmail?
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/March 15/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7620/turkey-blackmail-eu
When Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled that the detention for 92 days of two journalists, Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, constituted a breach of their basic rights, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not hide his anger, and said he would not obey the supreme court's ruling.
Turkish courts, controlled by Erdogan's government, put the newspaper Zaman, one of the last remaining media critics of Erdogan, under state control. A court actually appointed administrators to run the newspaper. Editor-in-chief Sevgi Akarcesme said that this was effectively the end of media freedom in Turkey.
Turkey ranks 149th amongst the 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index 2015.
Quite realistically, Nigel Farage, a British opposition figure, accused Turkey of "blackmailing" the EU over the Syrian refugee crisis and its proposed EU membership.
Turkey has been sliding into an ugly Islamist despotism. Yet its relations with the European Union (EU) which it aspires to join has rarely been better. Some call it a mutually "transactional" improvement: "pragmatism." Others, in less diplomatic language, call it Turkish blackmailing on the back of the refugee crisis. Even Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutogu admitted that his latest round of negotiations with Europe's leaders was a fine bargaining "a la Kayseri," a Turkish city famous for its tough-bargaining merchants.
In reality, modern Turkey has never been this galactically distant from the core values enshrined by the European civilization and its institutions, including even the EU.
When Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled that the detention for 92 days of two journalists, Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, constituted a breach of their basic rights, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not hide his anger. He said he would not respect or obey the Supreme Court's ruling.
The journalists had been charged with espionage and terrorism after their secular newspaper, Cumhuriyet, ran photos and a story about Turkish intelligence sending trucks full of arms to jihadists fighting in Syria. Prosecutors demand life sentences for the prominent journalists.
Erdogan does not mind playing the supreme leader beyond the check on power of law. In a March 11 speech, Erdogan said:
"The Constitutional Court has to be one of the institutions that should be the most sensitive about the interests and rights of the state and the people. But this institution and its president have not hesitated to rule against the country and its people on one of the most concrete examples of a massive attack towards Turkey in recent times."
Turkey is now a country where the elected president publicly says that he will not obey a ruling from the Supreme Court.
In one of its boldest moves against free speech, Turkish courts, controlled by Erdogan's government, put the newspaper Zaman, one of the last remaining media critics of Erdogan, under state control. A court actually appointed administrators to run the newspaper. Editor-in-chief Sevgi Akarcesme said that this was effectively the end of media freedom in Turkey. She said: "The media has always been under pressure, but it has never been so blatant." The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu that press freedom in Turkey is "under siege."
Unsurprisingly, Turkey ranks 149th amongst the 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index 2015.
It's not just the press. Prosecutors also detained four prominent businessmen who run a multibillion-dollar conglomerate for alleged ties with Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who was formerly a staunch political ally of Erdogan. Gulen's followers broke with Erdogan after the two groups entangled in a power-sharing struggle in late 2013.
The newspaper Zaman too, was a Gulenist outlet critical of Erdogan's undemocratic practices. After its seizure by the judiciary, the newspaper now features a distinctly pro-government slant. One of its front pages after take-over featured a picture of a smiling Erdogan.
Against such a gloomy background, the EU's ties with Turkey, instead of going into the deep-freeze, are flourishing. Two ministers from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government have voiced support for Turkey's EU membership bid in an apparent praise for Turkey's potential "usefulness" in Europe's efforts to deal with a pressing refugee crisis. "I am for the opening of the chapter on justice and human rights, finally," German Justice Minister Heiko Maas of Social Democrats (SPD) told German magazine, Spiegel, in an article published on March 11. Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said: "It is right to accommodate further the negotiations on Turkey's EU membership now."
Such praise came when Turkey and the EU are in negotiations over a re-admission agreement in which Turkey will take back some of the illegal Syrian migrants who reach Greek shores –-and then travel to central Europe—in return for a visa-free travel regime for 79 million Turks and speeding up Turkey's several decades-long membership process. After the latest round of talks with the EU, Davutoglu proudly told reporters of a "Kayseri-style bargaining" not hiding his pleasure at tricking the Europeans by the notorious business cunning and acumen of the people of Kayseri.
Quite realistically, Nigel Farage, a British opposition figure, accused Turkey of "blackmailing" the EU over the Syrian refugee crisis and its proposed EU membership. The Ukip party leader told the European Parliament it was "outrageous" that Turkey had been offered concessions on joining the bloc in exchange for doing a deal to accept more refugees and migrants.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) recently said angrily that he would not obey a supreme court order to release two journalists after 92 days of detention. Nigel Farage (right), a British opposition party leader, accused Turkey of "blackmailing" the EU over the Syrian refugee crisis and its proposed EU membership.
None of what has been going on in Turkey is surprising. By a popular vote, the country has been dragged into an Islamist tyranny. Yet it is only by a grotesque irony that the European leaders might surrender.
Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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U.S. Policy Made 2015 the Worst Persecution of Christians "in Modern History"
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/March 15/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/03/15/raymond-ibrahim-u-s-policy-made-2015-the-worst-persecution-of-christians-in-modern-history/

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7521/us-policy-christian-persecution
In 35 nations Islamic extremism "has risen to a level akin to ethnic cleansing" of Christians.
Something else stands behind this rise of genocidal "Islamic extremism": U.S. foreign policy. In every Muslim nation where the U.S. has intervened in the name of "freedom and democracy," Christian life has exponentially worsened.
For years the Obama administration has refused to list Boko Haram as a terrorist organization, and has argued that its violence had nothing to do with Islam and was a result of poverty and grievances. Instead, the U.S. pressured the Nigerian government to make concessions, including by building more mosques—the very structures, as the Nigerian lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe said, where Muslims are radicalized and recruited for the jihad.
Globally empowering forces hostile to Christians is synonymous with globally empowering forces hostile to America.
The primary achievement of U.S. foreign policies, apart from wasted American blood and treasure—
is the unprecedented rise in Muslim nations of Islamic forces outspokenly bent on destroying America.
2015 was the "worst year in modern history for Christian persecution," according to Open Doors, a human rights organization that has been documenting the persecution of Christians since 1955.
According to its latest data, more than 7,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2015 — almost twice as many as in 2014. In addition, more than 2,400 churches were attacked, damaged or destroyed — again, more than double the number of the previous year.
In the words of Open Doors' CEO, David Curry:
The 2016 World Watch List [which ranks the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted] documents an unprecedented escalation of violence against Christians, making this past year the most violent and sustained attack on Christian faith in modern history. ... This research has concluded that after the brutal persecution of Christians in 2014, 2015 proved to be even worse with the persecution continuing to increase, intensify and spread across the globe. ... The level of exclusion, discrimination and violence against Christians is unprecedented, spreading and intensifying.
Who or what is behind these unprecedented levels of persecution? Some of it is related to the tendency of non-Western nations to associate Christianity with the "hated West." Four are Communist nations — Vietnam (ranked #20), Laos (#29), China (#33), and North Korea (#1), where "Christianity is not only seen as 'opium for the people,' as is normal for all communist states, it is also seen as deeply Western and despicable," notes the report. Three are reclaiming their religious heritage in contradistinction to what is portrayed as a depraved West — Hindu India (#17), Buddhist Bhutan (#38) and Myanmar (#23). And two — Mexico (#40) and Columbia (#46) — are fueled by organized crime and drug cartels.
"Islamic extremism" is cited as the source of persecution for the remaining 41 nations that make the list of 50 worst persecutors of Christians. North Korea aside, the rest of the eight nations where Christians experience the worst form of persecution ("extreme persecution") are all Islamic. In 35 nations, Islamic extremism "has risen to a level akin to ethnic cleansing" of Christians.
A close examination of the report indicates that something else stands behind this rise of genocidal "Islamic extremism": U.S. foreign policy. In every Muslim nation where the U.S. has intervened in the name of "freedom and democracy," Christian life has exponentially worsened. Put differently, among those who most despise "freedom and democracy" — radical and jihadi Muslims — tend to be the ones most empowered by U.S. foreign policies.
Iraq today, according to the report, is the second worst nation in the world in which to be Christian. Afghanistan is fourth, Syria fifth, and Libya tenth. A decade ago, none of these countries even made the top 10 list. Syria and Libya — when they were ruled by secular autocrats who were eventually demonized by U.S. politicians and media, and then underwent U.S. intervention — did not even make the top 20.
In 2004, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was ranked 32 and scored only 35.5 (out of 100). After a decade's worth of American lives and treasure were wasted, Iraq is now scores 90 and is the worst Muslim nation in which to be Christian. The situation is the same in those other Muslim nations that the U.S. government brought "freedom and democracy" to -- and with Syria, which it continues trying to bring "freedom and democracy" to:
Syria: A decade ago it was ranked #47 and scored only 24.5. A nation must score at least 50 to count as containing "sparse persecution." Today it is ranked #5 and scores 87 , or "extreme persecution."
Libya: A decade ago it was ranked #22 and scored 41; today it ranks #10 and scores 79.
Afghanistan: A decade ago it ranked #11 and scored 53; today — a decade after the U.S. declared "victory" over al-Qaeda and the Taliban — it is ranked #4 and scores 88.
Even in nations where U.S. intervention is not obvious, Christian persecution has reached unprecedented levels. In Nigeria, Boko Haram — an Islamic group possibly more savage than ISIS — slaughtered more Christians in 2015 than any other terrorist group. Yet for years the Obama administration has refused to list Boko Haram as a terrorist organization, and has argued that its violence had nothing to do with Islam and was a result of poverty and grievances. Instead, the U.S. pressured the Nigerian government to make concessions, including by building more mosques — the very structures, as the Nigerian lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe said, where Muslims are radicalized and recruited for the jihad.
In May 2013, soon after Nigerian forces killed 30 Boko Haram members in a particularly strong offensive, Reuters reported that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry "issued a strongly worded statement" to the Nigerian president: "We are ... deeply concerned by credible allegations that Nigerian security forces are committing gross human rights violations, which, in turn, only escalate the violence and fuel extremism" from Boko Haram.
Those many Americans indifferent to all this persecution "over there" would do well to connect the dots: Globally empowering forces hostile to Christians is synonymous with globally empowering forces hostile to America. Those Muslims who hate and persecute Christians also hate, and seek to persecute, Americans for exactly the same reason: Westerners all are hated non-Muslim infidels.
In short, the primary achievement of U.S. foreign policies, apart from wasted American blood and treasure.
is the unprecedented rise in Muslim nations of Islamic forces outspokenly bent on destroying America.
**Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War in Christians (a Gatestone Publication, published by Regnery, April 2013), is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Arab-Turkish ties amid Ankara’s domestic policies
Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
Many Arabs who are enthusiastic about the collapse of the Syrian regime do not condemn Turkey’s crackdown on freedoms, such as freedom of the press. These Arabs, particularly anti-regime Syrians, voice their admiration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His opposition to the regime, and the fact that Turkey hosts so many Syrian refugees, are significant points. Erdogan’s record includes great political and economic achievements, but his record on human rights continues to worsen. Despite that, admiration and fascination - sometimes based on naivety, other times on malice - continue among Arabs and Syrian opposition groups.Recent weeks have witnessed worrying developments regarding Turkish freedoms. Authorities seized Zaman newspaper, which now publishes pro-government content. Before that, the government voiced anger following a court decision to release prominent journalists who were jailed after exposing Ankara’s involvement in sending arms to extremist groups in Syria.
Ongoing crackdown
Since 2002, Turkish policies have systematically harmed freedom of expression, freedom of the press and individual rights. Journalists who criticize Erdogan and his governance are restrained, either by exclusion from work or prosecution. This in addition to increased monitoring of the internet and social media. Youth groups affiliated with the ruling AK Party have physically attacked people who oppose Erdogan. Some Turkish commentators compare current government practises to the era of military rule. Erdogan’s record on human rights continues to worsen. Despite that, admiration and fascination continue among Arabs and Syrian opposition groups. Perhaps ignoring the ordeal of Turkish journalist Jean Dundar, who was accused of treason for publishing evidence of the intelligence’s involvement in funding extremist groups in Syria, reflects the extent of silence of those who blindly admire Erdogan. They also overlook his ill practises toward the Kurds. Even before all these violations surfaced, they never questioned his policy on Syria, even though it is based on interests, not good intentions. This silence represents moral and political failure, as it implies that those who oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad do not oppose him because of his tyranny as much as to replace him.

We will all come to miss Obama’s realism
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
You have to hand it to Barack Obama. Most presidents wait until they are safely out of office to launch their valedictories, summing up what they have learned about the world after years working at the most demanding job there is. Not President Obama. In an extraordinary series of long interviews with The Atlantic, he clearly spelled out that it was the horribly botched invasion of Libya that cemented his cautious, realist view of foreign policy. The first admirable and all-too-rare thing about Obama—in contrast to the fantasies of George W. Bush—is his intellectual readiness to stare failure squarely in the face. When asked about Libya he could not be clearer. ‘It didn’t work,’ the president sombrely makes clear, the invasion was a mistake. As ethical realism morally depends on seeing the world as it is, warts and all, and then trying to make it better, Obama finds himself squarely in the philosophical tradition of Aristotle, Thomas Moore, and Edmund Burke. Three practical foreign policy insights logically flow on from Obama’s ethical realism. First, he clearly acknowledges the real limits of American power to transform societies. Nation-building, an obvious failure from Haiti to Afghanistan, Libya to Iraq, must no longer be the fool’s gold that drives American responses to intervention. At the time of the campaign to oust Gaddafi, Obama warned, “There is no way we should commit to governing the Middle East and North Africa. That would be a basic, fundamental mistake.” Or as T.E. Lawrence (who was far better at working with local cultures than the Americans have proved) put it, work with local people, help them, but do not dictate to them.
The first admirable and all-too-rare thing about Obama—in contrast to the fantasies of George W. Bush—is his intellectual readiness to stare failure squarely in the face. Second, the President is rightly annoyed at the lack of the French and British follow through in Libya, both during the military campaign and in its aftermath. Obama is still rightly angry with then French President Sarkozy, who seemed more interested in ‘trumpeting’ French military successes than in following through on the ground. Likewise, the White House gives Prime Minister David Cameron a hard time, noting that he seemed to be distracted by other priorities the minute the shooting died down. While all this is true (the Franco-British bombing runs would have been far riskier had the US on its own not taken out Gaddafi’s air defences), the President perhaps misses the larger point that the West as global ordering entity simply does not exist anymore. France is suffering through endemic economic decline, falling ever further behind pacifist Germany, while the UK has to be begged by the US to spend a paltry two percent of its GDP on defence. There are no longer two pillars to the western alliance: There is America and a Europe in absolute decline.
Intellectually depleted Washington
Third, the President rightly reserves a good deal of his wrath for an intellectually depleted Washington foreign policy establishment, which never met an intervention that it didn’t like. I well remember from my own decade in Washington, the striking fact that---apart from myself—so often at high-level policy meetings the question was not whether there would be an intervention (that was taken for granted), but merely the specific tactics that would be used to carry the mission out. It is almost impossible to explain to outsiders that—for all the supposed intellectual firepower in America’s capital—in reality an expansionist, interventionist, one-size-fits-all groupthink has dominated the place for years. In heroically ignoring the very people, both Democrats and Republicans, who are primarily culpable for the Iraq war (and astoundingly are still taken seriously), the present White House has done the world a huge service.
The world will come to greatly miss Barack Obama’s cautious, grounded realism, his steadfast ability not to shoot first, and ask questions later. But the political problem remains that his administration could well be seen historically as merely a brief interlude between the mindless neoconservative expansionism of George W. Bush and the garden variety crusading Wilsonianism of Hillary Clinton, who is a card-carrying member of the Washington foreign policy elite. Obama has groomed no realist foreign policy heir, nor has he ideologically remade the Democratic party in his image: it remains a bastion of interventionist Wilsonians, with realism merely a minority view within its ranks. As such, a Clinton victory will presage a return to a more aggressive American interventionism around the world. Remember Secretary Clinton led the charge on Libya, is for arming the Ukrainian rebels (as though that would give President Putin pause), and wants the US to take a much more activist role in Syria, without exactly spelling out what that means. It is over this political failure to remake the Democratic Party in his realist image that posterity may judge Barack Obama somewhat more harshly. But given what is likely to follow, I imagine that history will come to rate the Obama foreign policy far more highly than it is viewed at present. The bitter truth is that we will all come to miss Obama’s realism.

Emergence of the real Barack Obama
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
“It is complicated,” a confused US President, Barack Obama, answered when asked “Aren’t the Saudis your friends?”In his extremely interesting interview to The Atlantic magazine, Obama broke all the fundamentals of American foreign policy as if he was part of a peaceful rebellion inside the White House during his last days in office. Obama’s criticism did not spare any of the traditional US allies. As described in the report, it seemed like he wanted to distance the US from its traditional allies, expressing his outrage over the US foreign policy doctrine that is compelling him to treat Saudi Arabia as an ally. What reveals the depth of the dysfunctional strategic American thinking during Obama’s term is its blatant inability to determine “all” the sources of danger threatening the United States. Even the sources that it considered a danger were not dealt with in a correct manner. While scolding those who want to employ the American power to defeat their opponents – alluding to the Arab-Iranian conflict – Obama said that only three threats in the Middle East warrant direct US military intervention – threats posed by al-Qaeda and ISIS, threats to the continued existence of Israel and the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.
The red line
President Obama bragged with a strange stubbornness adding that he nearly “touched” the red line in dealing with Bashar al-Assad, who used the deadly nerve agent, sarin or sarin-like gas, against his own people. He said that this is the best decision he ever made. What reveals the depth of the dysfunctional strategic American thinking during Obama’s term is its blatant inability to determine “all” the sources of danger threatening the United States. All this is besides his strong desire to come to terms with the Khomeini regime despite the objections raised by Gulf and Arab countries. This also highlights the thinking of this president who first came to power with major help from the media. He said that the Saudis and people in the Gulf should share the region with Iran and be good neighbors to each other. Obama clearly oversimplified the conflict between the invading Iranian-Khomeini project and Arab countries that only want to be safe from Tehran’s networks - the same Iran that was accused lately by the American judiciary of supporting al-Qaeda, the organization which executed the September 11 attacks. As a result of this, Iran was ordered to pay $10.5 billion in damages by a US judge. In a speech delivered in the year 1987, Khomeini had said that giving up Jerusalem, forgiving Saddam and those who offended them is easier than leaving Saudi Arabia alone – this is a matter of another kind. What good neighborhood is Obama talking about? Something worse is lurking behind-the-scenes. According to Jeffrey Goldberg, the author of The Atlantic article, Obama is attacking Saudi Arabia behind closed doors. He is going against reason, public good, proper functioning of institutions, reality… and America’s biggest and constant interests. Such a situation is unlikely to continue.

Amid lull in fighting, a moment of hope for Syria
Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/March 15/16
The years of starvation and chemical weapon attacks – including the worst massacre since Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in Halabja – could not prevent Syrians from taking to the streets and protesting against Bashar al-Assad’s disgraced regime during recent days. The scenes of anti-regime demonstrations proved that the endless barrel bombings of civilian infrastructure, mass torture and what the UN has said is “extermination” of civilians has failed to kill the revolution. Amid an unprecedented lull in fighting since the conflict erupted years ago, the tenuous cessation of hostilities agreement implemented on February 27th has been marred by a number of violations but has undoubtedly and significantly stemmed the bloodshed. In what was reminiscent of 2011 – the period of activism before the country descended into hell – demonstrators gathered across cities in peaceful protest.
Writer Iyad el-Baghdadi translated a tweet from Arabic to English, indicating that no less than 104 protests took place against the regime in Syria on March 4th alone. “Each and every one of these protests raised nothing but the revolution's flag. No black flags, no chants for any group other than FSA,” he noted.
Such resilience is deeply touching and indicative of what has been true since the most embryonic stages of the revolution: Assad must go. To note, stories of heroism are not difficult to come by in Syria, with White Helmet workers rushing toward the injured at a freshly bombarded site – perhaps a market, a hospital or a school – or journalists diligently tracking both Assad and ISIS atrocities against Syrians, braving the threat that both barbaric factions represent to themselves and their loved ones. Enduring Assad’s brutal rule as well as the rise of nefarious actors and immediately protesting at the first opportunity - what remarkable resolve. The renewed protests against the regime come at a pivotal moment in the Syrian conflict. If the calls for Assad to step down have not been silenced after five years of war they never will be. Meanwhile, the worst refugee crisis since World War II continues to spiral out of control, with UNICEF officials confirming that the vast majority of people fleeing to Europe are women and children. As the West deals with refugee camps on their soil, the uncomfortable truth that the influxes of Syrian refugees will not be stopped unless Assad steps down is becoming all the more evident.
In October 2015, a survey issued to German refugees showed that nearly 70 percent said they fled Syria because of the Assad regime. Such a point is one that cannot continue to be ignored; the longer the Assad regime stays in power, the worse the refugee crisis will become. Months ago, in an interview with Reuters, United Nations refugee chief Antonio Guterres said that it is, “only when the poor enter the halls of the rich, do the rich notice that the poor exist.” As haunting images and reports of life inside Greece and France’s tent cities continue to surface - and as Balkan states lock up their borders - such a quote rings so very true.
At the same time, the security situation in Syria may be on the brink of drastically changing. In what was a shocking announcement, Russia has reportedly indicated it will begin withdrawing its forces from the country on March 15. According to Russian media, President Vladimir Putin reportedly confirmed his troops would pull out, with the exception of military personnel that will remain at the naval base in Tartus and the airbase near Latakia. Putin claimed that “the tasks set to the defense ministry are generally fulfilled.”
Moscow's plans
While it is too soon to assess whether such a public confirmation is actually indicative of a major shift on the ground, any scaling down of Russia’s aerial campaign is a positive development. Moreover, Moscow’s sudden plans to withdraw can be marked as a win for the opposition. The spokesman for Syria’s High Negotiations Committee responded to the reports by saying that, “Nobody knows what is in Putin's mind, but the point is he has no right to be in our country in the first place. Just go.”There is no reason to immediately assess that Russia will do precisely what it is saying it will. After all, Putin repeatedly claimed the purpose of Moscow’s aerial campaign in Syria was to defeat ISIS, while the majority of airstrikes then reportedly targeted other factions opposed to the regime. But nonetheless, the report came as relevant parties sat down once again for negotiations in Geneva. With Russia backing down, the opposition is entering talks with an upper hand. Negotiations in Geneva are likely to hit the same stalemate that they have in the past, with Assad refusing to step down and the opposition rightly refusing to allow a regime guilty of multiple war crimes to remain in power. That said, the cessation of hostilities agreement has set a solid foundation for talks that previous attempts at negotiations lacked and all efforts must be made to ensure that this bloody fifth anniversary is the last.

Scaling back in Syria
Smadar Perry/Ynetnews/Published: 03.15.16
Op-ed: While Russia is significantly reducing its presence in Syria, Putin has no intention of backing out completely: Moscow will retain control of its strategic assets in the divided country, and a good deal of its influence as well. When Russian President Vladimir Putin dropped his Middle-East changing bomb on Monday, he made sure to point out what he left for himself. Yes, he'll start scaling down the Russian military's presence in Syria starting Tuesday morning, but he'll still keep hold of the Tartus port, his country's only naval base in the area. He'll also still have the airport at Hmeymim and the Air Force base in Latakia. A retreat, yes, but one that preserves strategic assets. Putin has conducted business in Syria without much sentiment towards Bashar Assad. The Kremlin profilers have recently described the Syrian President as an illegitimate, weak, tired, and stressed leader. After all, Russia has been the one holding the reins in his fragmented country for the past six months, and didn't do it for Assad's benefit, but in order to protect Moscow's strategic interests.
Even if Syria were to change its face and Assad were to disappear, Russia isn't planning on letting go of its assets, which could extend its reach into every corner of the Middle East. It's important to take note of the meeting held in Amman this week, with fairly little press attention, between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Even though Washington claimed on Monday that the government did not know about the Russian retreat in advance, there are those who claim that Moscow gave Washington an update about the decision, which led the White House to issue optimistic statements regarding the Geneva talks between the Syrian government and opposition representatives. However, the talks are of little consequence. It's hard to believe the two sides will be able to stitch together a deal. The power in Syria will still reside in the hands of the Russian President and his aids, with Obama keeping his distance.  Putin doesn't care if Syria eventually becomes a federation that consists of three cantons. Russia intends to keep "Alawitestan" (the part of Syria run by Assad, who is an Alawite Muslim), the axis that connects Damascus with the shoreline in the north. What happens in the Kurdish region or the Golan Heights will be Hezbollah's purview, without Russia there to stabilize things.
Assad gave a weak, mumbling response on Monday. As far as he's concerned, the decision comes at a particularly bad time: The Russian forces' entry into Syria at the end of September coincided with the retreat of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Assad's allies, which returned to Tehran and left Hezbollah alone on the field of battle. However, now that he hears the complaints in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, Assad knows he can't trust Nasrallah's men fully.  It's interesting to see if Assad will be able to convince Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force, to return his men to the region. In addition, it's unclear whether Tehran will issue a command to Hezbollah, ordering a reinforcement of the Syrian regime, or what the heads of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra have in mind. According to Putin the Russian forces have achieved all of their goals in Syria. What he's really saying is that Russia is tired of confronting ISIS and paying a price for his clashes with Jabhat al-Nusra, which is the local al-Qaeda franchise. Putin, who follow's Obama's passive conduct, has also reached the conclusion that the bleeding mud of the war in Syria, which is going nowhere, could cost him politically at home.
In any case, even if many fighters are packing up and moving out – the Russians aren't leaving Syria. They're just scaling down.

What is Happening in Saudi Arabia?
Hussein Shobokshi/Asharq Al Awsat/March 15/16
What is happening in Saudi Arabia? This is a question that is repeated by many observers of Saudi affairs around the world due to the new and different developments there that are atypical of Saudi policy. For decades, Saudi Arabia has been known to manage crises behind the scenes and its calm rhythm. Saudi Arabia has developed claws and fangs in its approach to foreign and military policy. It has decided to play a leading and proactive role in reducing the negative developments in the region whether that is by combatting extremist and terrorist organisations or confronting Iran’s increasing regional aspirations.
Saudi Arabia quickly realised that it has a growing responsibility to find new ways of confronting these challenges because the West in general and the United States specifically no longer has the conviction, appetite and ability to intervene militarily in the region as it used to do. Saudi Arabia also knows that its position in the Arab and Islamic worlds means that it cannot choose to stand in the ranks of spectators and watch the consequences of political and security issues in the region that are unprecedented and crazy. Of course, all of this has implications on relations with neighbouring countries. Those countries that wanted to join in with these efforts are most welcome and those that do not should not be trusted at all- an example of this is what happened to Lebanon recently.
A sense of responsibility and its leading position made Saudi Arabia take these proactive steps in an influential and remarkable way. This is a new and changing world; the major powers have redrawn the map of priorities and Russia is preoccupied with sorting its issues out and maintaining the security of its back door. The old European continent is afflicted with a series of violent social and economic crises that have made it miserable. Even its most important economic and security partner the United States is showing strange and unprecedented negativity and is not offering any assistance to solve European problems. Finally, the United States itself is preoccupied with new social challenges and monitoring China’s growth and the threats that this poses. It is trying to stop this danger affecting them and their interests. Thus the Middle East has become an empty playground for every extremist group and regional powers with an appetite, dubious agendas and plans to export odd revolutions and this is what is happening now. Saudi Arabia has changed, yes; because circumstances dictate a change of this kind. The region is still in the stage of instability because the elements that cause concern still exist. However, the Saudi position that influences the Arab and Muslim positions sends the message that Saudi Arabia will not stand by and watch what is happening.
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