LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

March 19/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.march19.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 01/18-25: "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus."

I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory

Letter to the Ephesians 03/01-13:"This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given to me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 19/16
March 14, in defense of our great LebanonéNayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
Hezbollah’s role in 9/11 ‘goes under the radar’éKhalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
Hezbollah: Liars, guns and moneyéAnthony Elghossain/Now Lebanon/March 18/16

Lebanon’s economy at risk/Myra Abdallah & Amin Nasr/March 18/16
Russia backs self-ruling Kurdish buffer state at Turkey’s back dooréDEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 18, 2016
Will Riyadh cancel aid to EgyptéAyah Aman/Al-Monitor/March 19/16
Why executions in Iran have hit a 27-year highéDr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
Obama between Riyadh and JakartaéAbdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
Syria: Russia is withdrawing in order to stayéMaria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/March 18/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on March 19/16
Lebanese minister: Israel spies on Lebanon using illegal Internet networks
March 14, in defense of our great Lebanon
Hezbollah’s role in 9/11 ‘goes under the radar’
Hezbollah: Liars, guns and money
Security Council Urges Lebanese Officials to 'Act Responsibly,' and Elect a President
Report: Kuwait Deports 1,100 Lebanese and Syrians
Bulldozers Start Work at Costa Brava as ISF Deploys near Bourj Hammoud Dump
Report: New Members Join IS from Lebanon
General Security Arrests Lebanese Human Trafficker
Health, Economy Ministries in Saber-Rattling over Wheat
Ghassan Salameh Eyeing to Head UNESCO

Lebanon’s economy at risk

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 19/16

Russia backs self-ruling Kurdish buffer state at Turkey’s back door
Maher al-Assad moved from key command: pro-regime outlet
EU, Turkey Strike Deal to Send back Migrants
IS Claims Five Russian Troops Killed Near Syria's Palmyra
Armed Palestinian killed, two arrested in foiled attacks in West Bank
EU leaders approve migration deal with Turkey
EU studying civilian security mission to Libya
Arab coalition destroys Houthi arms in Taez
Erdogan: Kurdish militants could also hit Europe
Attackers fire rockets at gas facility in Algerian Sahara
Russian probe: ‘Criminals’ behind plane crash in Sinai
Former Pakistan military ruler, facing trial, heads to Dubai
Followers of Iraqi cleric Sadr rally in Baghdad
White House calls on Turkey to respect democratic values

Links From Jihad Watch Site for March 19/16
Ivory Coast: Al-Qaeda murderers drank beer before starting jihad attack.
New York: Muslim gets 22 years prison for recruiting for the Islamic State.
FBI: UC-Merced stabber was inspired by the Islamic State.
Arizona: Muslim who trained and armed Garland jihadis convicted.

Lebanese minister: Israel spies on Lebanon using illegal Internet networks
Jerusalem Post/March 18/16/Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb has stated that Israeli companies provide illegal Internet services to governmental and military institutions, thereby enabling Israel intelligence services to spy on Lebanon. "The source authorized to lay international communications and Internet cables is the Telecommunications Ministry on behalf of the Lebanese state," Harb said in a press conference Tuesday. Harb's remarks came after a technical team in the Lebanese Telecommunications Ministry uncovered an "Israeli espionage device" Monday night near a military base in southeastern Lebanon. The team confirmed that the device was old, but it had served Israel in spying on the Lebanese army. "Under no circumstances must the ministry give anyone a license to establish or operate international telecommunications networks. This is a crime against Lebanon's sovereignty and its public institutions. We will keep persecuting every website violating this policy, " Harb further stated. In an attempt to ride the wave of the Lebanese outcry against illegal internet networks, Hassan Fadlallah, a member of parliament affiliated with Hezbollah, voiced strong concern that the illegal Internet networks would serve Israeli espionage services.

March 14, in defense of our great Lebanon
Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
No one in Lebanon “owns” the historical day of March 14. It is neither the property of parties competing over it, nor an occasion to hold festivals and announce stances. March 14 is not a political alliance to hold, or agree to hold, parliamentary and municipal elections. It is not an occasion to spite the March 8 coalition and its parties, which held on to Syrian tutelage following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, and continued to involve Lebanon in the Syrian swamp. Some of these March 8 parties have gone as far as getting involved in Bahrain and Yemen, and have ruined Lebanon’s relations with brotherly countries.March 14 is the spirit of sovereignty, independence and freedom. It is the basis for a bright future that respects humans and citizens regardless of their politics or religion. March 14 rejected tutelage, occupation and dependency. It represents loyalty to all the martyrs who fell, and all those who survived assassination attempts. March 14 is slain politician and publisher Gebran Tueni’s oath on the unity of the Lebanese people to defend our great country. It is the dream of the civil state that late Bishop Gregoire Haddad called for. It is a country of human rights, as set down by late diplomat Charles Malek, who helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the economic dream that almost faded away with the assassination of Hariri.
Mobilization
March 14 is the youths who set up tents in Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut to protest Syrian troops’ presence in Lebanon, and eventually forced politicians to join them in this independence revolution that defeated the Syrian occupier. March 14 is the people who went to Martyrs’ Square on that historical day in their millions - the biggest protest Lebanon has ever witnessed, and which will be a lesson for future generations. They went to the square on their own; no one mobilized them - on the contrary, parties followed them. Those people only raised the Lebanese flag that day - proof that they had not been broken by proxy wars. March 14 harmonizes with the “Free Your Mind” campaign that An-Nahar newspaper launched a month ago, which aims to push the Lebanese people to a revolution that does not destroy, but rather sets proper foundations for the future. We are aware that political parties and sectarian affiliations are more able to influence people. However, we are also aware that the Lebanese people - who resisted Israeli occupation, rejected Syrian tutelage and thwarted the plan to establish a substitute country for the Palestinians on their land - deserve a country that suits them.
They deserve to have institutions that look after them and provide them with the best services. It is in their interest to build a state of institutions. We are betting on the Lebanese people and on March 14 supporters, who are not bound by political parties or sects.

Hezbollah’s role in 9/11 ‘goes under the radar’
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/March 18/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/03/18/khalaf-ahmad-al-habtoor-hezbollahs-role-in-911-goes-under-the-radar/

Iran’s proxy in Lebanon Hezbollah works hard to promote itself as the Lebanese resistance against Israeli encroachment and as a political organization representing all Lebanese citizens. In reality, it is anything but. It began life as an Iranian arm on the Mediterranean operating under the pretence of standing against Israel to justify its terrorist activities against Arab and Western interests. Hezbollah’s concern for Palestinian interests is nothing but a front to attract recruits. The conflict it unwittingly unleashed with Israel in 2006 with its kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldiers caught its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah by surprise. He was later to admit the if he had known the abductions would result in a full-scale conflict, he would not have given the orders. Hezbollah’s terror operations, hostage-taking and assassinations going back as far as the 1980s are well known, but the fact that a US District Judge has ruled that Hezbollah colluded with the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon is not deemed worthy of front page news in the United States or Europe.
The story has been picked-up by Asharq Al-Awsat and the Jerusalem Post but has almost been ignored by the Western media whose governments are actively pursuing lucrative deals with Tehran now that its coffers overflow with more than $100 billion following the lifting of sanctions.
Given the emotional trauma experienced by the American people on that fateful day which still haunts many, especially the victims’ loved ones, the relative silence of the Western media on the case is peculiar – and that is an understatement. Even stranger is that the US has erased both Iran and Hezbollah from its terror threat list in spite of overwhelmingly evidence to the contrary. If the American people were polled as to their knowledge of this, I predict there would be very few who have any inkling at all.
Moreover, President Barack Obama has displayed his displeasure at measures taken by Saudi Arabia and other GCC states to brand Hezbollah terrorist, to halt aid to the Hezbollah infiltrated Lebanese Army and to issue travel advisories warning citizens not to visit Lebanon. On 15 December 2011, Judge George Daniels ruled that Iran and Hezbollah materially and directly colluded with al-Qaeda to attack America on its own soil and, thus, they are responsible to pay compensation to the families of victims. He did not pick his findings out of thin air. His judgment against Iran’s supreme leader, its former president Ali Rafsanjani, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah was supported by 53 pages of evidence as well as testimony given by three Iranian defectors, three members of the 9/11 Commission, CIA operatives and investigative journalists.
Summary of findings
* Iran assisted the al-Qaeda terrorists by permitting them to travel freely from Afghanistan to other countries via Iran where their passports weren’t stamped to permit ease of entry into the United States.
* Terrorists fleeing the US-led invasion were given sanctuary in Iran along with their families.
* A witness testified that Iran procured a Boeing 757-767-777 flight simulator using front companies to facilitate the training of the hijackers’ pilots.
* An Iranian government memorandum proves that Iran’s Supreme Leader knew in advance of the impending attacks.
* The official 9/11 Commission states that “a senior Hezbollah operative” identified as Imad Mughniyah, coordinated al-Qaeda’s activities and either he or one of his henchmen were on the same Beirut to Tehran flights taken by the hijackers.
* Hezbollah aided the hijackers in planning and advised them on the mechanics of the attacks.
Hezbollah likes to take a back seat in a futile attempt to prove to the Lebanese people and the world its eschewed terrorism, which is why it partners with other groups behind the curtain.
President Obama may not wish to acknowledge how dangerous Hezbollah is to Lebanon, the region and the world, but with the clock ticking on his tenure, I can only hope that the eyes of America’s next president are open wide.
However, that curtain has opened to expose Hezbollah’s collaboration with its Saudi affiliate to strike the Khobar Towers residential complex and with al-Qaeda to bomb US embassies in Africa as well as the USS Cole. In 1992, Hezbollah instructed Islamic Jihad to bomb the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in retaliation for the killing of its former Secretary General Abbas al-Moussawi.
More recently, an Egyptian court has indicted Hezbollah operatives for illegally entering Egypt for the purpose of colluding with other groups to release their terrorist buddies from prisons during the 2011 revolution.
Last week, the US court ordered Iran to pay $11 billion to the victims’ families who were plaintiffs in the case as well as $3 billion to various insurance companies. The families concerned are delighted but without the support of the Obama administration, which has refrained from pointing any finger at either Iran or Hezbollah for 9/11, their chances of receiving damages for their pain and suffering are close to nil.
As reported by Asharq Al-Awsat, intelligence from Argentina, Mexico and Canada has revealed that Hezbollah is expanding its nefarious activities with support from Iran are being expanded in Venezuela, Mexico, Nicaragua, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and the area between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. An individual, linked to Hezbollah who was arrested by Mexican authorities after being caught with fake papers and drugs at the border with the US, has exposed the presence of Hezbollah units around the world under orders to pinpoint potential targets.
An intelligence report compiled by Sid Blumenthal, a close friend of Hillary Clinton, is particularly revealing. Upon information drawn from Israeli intelligence sources, it accuses Hezbollah of setting up a base in Cuba to master mind terrorist attacks throughout Latin America.
In the meantime, even as the US government is soft on Iran and Hezbollah, on Thursday, Saudi Arabia announced it will freeze the bank accounts and seize properties of anyone suspected of belong to Hezbollah or of being a sympathizer. Other GCC countries are deporting Lebanese expatriates with known links to the organization. Whatever cloak of innocence Hezbollah wraps around itself it can never be big enough to hide its criminal acts. President Obama may not wish to acknowledge how dangerous Hezbollah is to Lebanon, the region and the world, but with the clock ticking on his tenure, I can only hope that the eyes of America’s next president are open wide.

Hezbollah: Liars, guns and money
Anthony Elghossain/Now Lebanon/March 18/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/03/18/anthony-elghossain-hezbollah-liars-guns-and-money/

For decades, Hezbollah has carefully crafted—and celebrated—an image of cleanliness and commitment: unlike the Lebanese state, political parties, and other one-time or would-be militias, Hezbollah has delivered goods and services to their constituents without dipping their hands into the cookie jars available to those engaged in politics or large-scale commerce in the Levant.
But the Partisans of God are lying.
Hezbollah deals with plenty of folks—drug smugglers, arms traffickers, counterfeiters, thieves and businesspeople dabbling in licit and illicit trade throughout the far-flung Lebanese diaspora—whose moral deficiencies rival those of its sworn enemies. (Never mind that Iran has given Hezbollah tens of millions—and, sometimes, hundreds of millions—of dollars a year since its inception. And never mind that Hezbollah tacitly supports the corrupt politics of patronage pursued by its friends in the Lebanese state, state-sponsored councils and large-scale commercial enterprises. If Hezbollah had clean hands—and, again, it doesn’t—that would be because it’s too busy reaching for handouts from Tehran while letting its friends pick at the dirt in Lebanon. Anyhow…) Because the profits of cooperating or the penalties of not cooperating with Hezbollah typically exceed those related to complying with or not complying with international, American, European and Lebanese laws, Hezbollah has had its pick of partners for quite some time. And because none of Hezbollah’s partners—those of principle, profit or fear—have an interest shining a light on their collusion with the party, it’s been able to do keep its dirt in the dark.
Increasingly, however, Hezbollah’s business is going public. Officials around the world—including in the United States, Latin America and Europe—have continued to cooperate on investigations that link Hezbollah to Columbian drug cartels and common criminals alike. Researchers and journalists have devoted more attention to the earthly concerns—or, as one seminal book puts it, “the global footprint”—of the Party of God. In the next few months, pursuant to the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, various executive offices, departments and agencies of the US government will report to the US Congress on the nature and extent of many of Hezbollah’s global enterprises.
In broad terms, US officials will report on Hezbollah, states and other actors. They’ll report on financial transactions, media contracts, narcotics trafficking (and related activities), and significant transnational crime (and related activities) involving Hezbollah and its agents, affiliates, accomplices, intermediaries and/or facilitators (referred to generally as “relevant others” in this article, though not under US law). They’ll also report on any state that supports Hezbollah, in which Hezbollah maintains significant parts of a global logistics network or in which Hezbollah raises, manages, transacts with or launders money. They’ll identify any foreign financial institutions—including central banks—that knowingly conduct significant transactions for, on behalf of, or in connection Hezbollah or relevant others. And US officials will also report on those that help Hezbollah—or others—evade sanctions and other applicable laws and restrictive measures: for instance, money launderers that help Hezbollah or relevant others conceal money from drug trafficking or even engage in ordinary financial transactions that would be legal if the Party of God weren’t a US-designated “foreign terrorist organization.”
The US Congress has required officials—including those in the US State Department, the US Treasury Department, the US Drug Enforcement Agency, and the like—to present as much of this information as possible in unclassified form. Hezbollah and those that enable it are already preparing to cope with the pressure of publicity.
But the US Congress has basically prodded American officials to begin stacking evidence to widen the scope of applicable law. In their reports, for instance, US officials may soon provide evidence that could lead to Hezbollah’s designation as a foreign narcotics trafficker or significant transnational criminal organization—not only a foreign terrorist organization. After (allegedly!) reaping the rewards of narcotics trafficking and criminal enterprises to reduce dependency on Iran and counteract the consequences of its designation as a foreign terrorist organization, Hezbollah and others will now realize the risks they’ve invited by broadening their business.
In today’s Lebanon, of course, American efforts like sanctions, reports or any envisioned public pressure won’t affect the Party of God politically or military—and certainly not in an immediate sense. In public, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and a cadre of officials and fellow-travelers will probably take to the airwaves to deny, deny, deny. And at some point, as they did when they assaulted Beirut in 2008 or invaded Syria in 2013, they’ll decide they must defend, defend, defend. They’ll legitimize what is illegal. Reacting to these measures, those that support Hezbollah will continue to support it and those that oppose Hezbollah will continue to oppose it. None of the Lebanese, mind you, will give two shits about long-winded testimony on Capitol Hill, a court case in the US Southern District Court of New York or Hezbollah’s “import-export businesses” in the Tri-Border area or Togo or Benin. They’ve got plenty to fight about in Lebanon and throughout the region.
But bankers and businessmen will care. In the long term, moreover, they’ll come to care more and more as their risks—and awareness of such risks—rise. In addition to penalizing parties like Hezbollah and its partners today, such sanctions will scare off individuals and companies tomorrow. As states, banks, businesses and communities around the world find it increasingly costly to do business with Hezbollah, they will shun it and its agents and affiliates. Like the Partisans of God themselves, most of these men—the very sorts of individuals, caring about their bottom lines, that Hezbollah managed to enlist in the first place—will take money over guns and God.
**Anthony Elghossain is a legal advisor and writer based in Beirut and London. He tweets @aelghossain

Security Council Urges Lebanese Officials to 'Act Responsibly,' and Elect a President
Naharnet/March 18/16/The U.N. Security Council has reiterated its call on Lebanon's rival politicians to elect a president and appealed for more support from the international community for the Lebanese army and police. “The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their deep concern over the 21-month vacancy in the presidency of Lebanon and the current political stalemate in government, which seriously impair Lebanon’s ability to address the security, economic, social and humanitarian challenges facing the country,” they said in a statement issued on Thursday, The Council expressed concern over the parliament’s failure to elect a president following a lack of quorum and reaffirmed its call on all Lebanese officials “to act responsibly and with leadership and flexibility to urgently convene a parliamentary session and proceed to the election” of a head of state. The members of the Council called on “all Lebanese leaders to adhere to Lebanon's Constitution and to the Taef Agreement and National Pact, to put Lebanon's stability and national interests ahead of partisan politics.” They also urged all parties to facilitate the functioning of public institutions. The statement was issued a day after they were briefed by U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and by Dimitry Titov, the assistant secretary-general for the rule of law in the department of peacekeeping operations. Lebanon has been without a head of state since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014. The Council also appealed for international support for Lebanon’s army and security forces. It underscored the crucial role played by them in extending the authority of the state and supporting the country’s stability. The members of the Council reiterated their call for the continuation of international support for the army and police through additional and expedited assistance in counterterrorism and border protection.

Report: Kuwait Deports 1,100 Lebanese and Syrians
Naharnet/March 18/16/Around 1,100 Lebanese and Syrian nationals will be banned from renewing their residence permits in Kuwait for having direct links to Hizbullah, the Kuwaiti al-Qabas daily reported on Friday. A well-informed security source told the daily on condition of anonymity that a list “of those banned from renewing their residency permits” in Kuwait will include the names of “blocked” 1,100 Lebanese and Syrians for having direct links to Hizbullah. The source pointed out that several of the expelled were requested to leave the country within a period of one month while the more “dangerous ones” will be immediately deported. “The security forces in Kuwait received a list of names of Lebanese and Syrian nationals who were deported from the Gulf countries earlier,” the source added. However, it confirmed saying: “Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Khaled requested the investigators in the case to be accurate with regard to the information obtained before unjustly placing a 'security block' on anyone.”On Thursday, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper said that Kuwait authorities have started to prepare lists of Hizbullah supporters to prevent their arrival in the country and others in anticipation of their deportation. Security sources from Kuwait's state security general directorate revealed that the names include Lebanese, Syrians and supporters from other nationalities. They also include media officials and businessmen. These measures began a week ago shortly after the Gulf Cooperation Council decided to consider Hizbullah as terrorist. The GCC's blacklisting of Hizbullah comes in wake of Saudi Arabia's decision in February to halt an army grant to the Lebanese army over the party's harsh stances against the kingdom and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil's abstention to vote in favor of Arab League resolutions condemning attacks against Riyadh's embassy in Iran.
The Arab League last week also voted in favor of labeling Hizbullah as a terrorist group, amid the abstention of Lebanon, Iraq, and Algeria. Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries have also issued travel advisories against Lebanon. A number of Lebanese expatriates living in these countries have also been deported.

Bulldozers Start Work at Costa Brava as ISF Deploys near Bourj Hammoud Dump
Naharnet/March 18/16/Preparation works kicked off Friday at the Costa Brava seaside site in Khalde where the government has decided to set up a garbage landfill as part of a plan to resolve the country's long-running waste management crisis. “Bulldozers have started earthmoving works at the Costa Brava dump,” media reports said in the afternoon. Speaking to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Choueifat municipal chief Melhem al-Souqi said the municipality was “surprised” by the start of works at Costa Brava. “The garbage that has accumulated on the streets will be land-filled in Naameh,” he noted. Meanwhile, Bourj Hammoud's municipal chief told the radio station that garbage will start arriving at the area's dump as of Monday at the latest. “There is no popular opposition as some are claiming,” he stressed. Voice of Lebanon, which interviewed several residents who oppose the presence of a landfill in their area, said policemen have deployed outside the site in anticipation of any unrest or protests. Lebanon's unprecedented trash management crisis erupted in July 2015 after the closure of the Naameh landfill which was receiving the waste of Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The crisis, which sparked unprecedented protests against the entire political class, has seen streets, forests and riverbanks overflowing with waste and the air filled with the smell of rotting and burning garbage. On Saturday, the cabinet decided to establish two landfills in Costa Brava and Bourj Hammoud and to reactivate the Naameh landfill for two months as part of a four-year plan to resolve the country’s waste problem despite the rejection of many residents and civil society activists. A landfill’s location in the Shouf and Aley areas will be determined later following consultations with the local municipalities, the cabinet said.

Report: New Members Join IS from Lebanon
Naharnet/March 18/16/A group of young men from the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh have joined the ranks of the extremist Islamic State group, raising the number of new members from Lebanon to 14, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday. A source close to the IS confirmed to the daily that the group has called these youth to follow security training sessions in order to task them afterward with missions inside Lebanon. “The militant group does not suffer scarcity in fighters to attract members from here and there,” it said, and added that the IS has only called them up to join security courses in preparation for future missions inside Lebanon. “These members shall return back to the camp when they are requested to,” the source pointed out.Lebanon's security forces have arrested over the past few months numerous terrorists who are affiliated with the extremist groups involved in the fighting in Syria.

General Security Arrests Lebanese Human Trafficker
Naharnet/March 18/16/The General Security agency arrested on Friday a Lebanese man wanted for forgery and human trafficking, the latest capture in a series of similar cases.
Aa.Sh. admitted to investigators that he is a member of a network that smuggles Syrians to and from Lebanon by handing them fake IDs and fictitious hotel bookings in exchange for sums of money, said a communique issued by General Security.The suspect was referred to the judiciary as General Security continues to pursue his accomplices, it said. The general-directorate of the agency warned Arabs and foreigners not to fall in the trap of such acts. General Security has in the past months apprehended several individuals with ties to networks involved in human trafficking.Last month, it announced the arrest of a Lebanese national accused of heading a group involved in such activities.

Health, Economy Ministries in Saber-Rattling over Wheat
Naharnet/March 18/16/The Health and Economy Ministers have been rattling sabers over alleged carcinogenic wheat, exchanging accusations at a time when the health of the people is at stake. In remarks to As Safir daily published on Friday, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour expressed surprise at the behavior of Economy Minister Alain Hakim, saying “we can't unveil a scandal of this magnitude and remain silent.”Abou Faour said at a press conference he held on Wednesday that four out of six imported wheat samples taken by his ministry's inspectors contained ochratoxin. But Hakim snapped back, saying wheat samples that the economy ministry had tested were carcinogen-free. His remarks infuriated Abou Faour, who issued a statement on Thursday reiterating that the ministry took six wheat samples on Feb. 2, four of which contained ochratoxin. The statement said that on Feb. 24, the inspectors took 12 samples from wheat imported from the U.S. and another 12 from those imported from Russia. Of those imported from Russia, five contained ochratoxin. “Rather than denying the issue, it (the economy ministry) should find ways, if possible, to monitor the wheat in the market and to work on stopping the entry of new wheat shipments before examining them,” it added. A meeting was set to take place last Monday between Abou Faour, Hakim and Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb to discuss the issue. But the meeting, which was postponed to Wednesday, was later canceled after the growing problems between the Health and Economy ministers. Hakim reiterated in remarks to As Safir that the wheat, which is imported to Lebanon, falls under critical inspection in accordance with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The newspaper said that the result of samples taken form the grain silos at Beirut Port by the inspectors of the Economy Ministry's Consumer Protection Directorate on March 10 showed that there were no cancerous substances in the wheat. This prompted the directorate to express doubts on the results of the tests carried out by the Health Ministry. Hakim told al-Joumhouria that he had full confidence in the laboratory that tested the samples sent by his ministry. “Even if there were carcinogenic substances in the wheat, would we deal with the issue by stoking panic among citizens?” asked Hakim. He added that Abou Faour was only after an advertisement campaign. The two ministers exchanged accusations last year on imported sugar after Abou Faour claimed that the shipments did not meet health standards.The Health Minster launched an anti-corruption campaign last year, forcing the closure of butcheries, the seizure of expired goods and even the arrest of businessmen.His campaign started with food safety inspections of restaurants and supermarkets, but has expanded far beyond that.

Ghassan Salameh Eyeing to Head UNESCO
Naharnet/March 18/16/Lebanon's ex-Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh has announced his bid for the leadership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization that is based in Paris. He made the announcement during an interview with LBCI TV on Thursday. If chosen, he would replace Bulgaria's Irina Bokova, whose term expires in 2017 and who has been nominated for the post of U.N. secretary-general. The U.N.'s next chief will take up his or her post on January 1, 2017, replacing Ban Ki-moon who has held the job for two five-year terms. Salameh, who is professor of international relations at Sciences-Po (Paris) and the founding dean of its Paris school of international affairs, was minister of culture in 2000-2003. He has served as special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general and as the political adviser to the U.N. mission in Iraq. He is the co-chairman of the board of the International Crisis Group and the founding chairman of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture. Salameh is also an author.

Lebanon’s economy at risk
Myra Abdallah & Amin Nasr/March 18/16
What would happen if Gulf countries take further economic measures against Lebanon?
It has been almost two weeks since member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The declaration of GCC member states came shortly after Saudi Arabia decided to halt $4 billion worth military aid to the Lebanese army. Saudi Arabia’s move was seen as a punitive measure that aimed to send a message to Riyadh’s allies rather than its enemies in Lebanon. However, the GCC’s declaration, objected to by a number of Arab countries and Lebanon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gibran Bassil, was a signal that Gulf countries may be planning to act beyond just freezing military aid. Economic activity between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia has always been a stimulant to the Lebanese economy. On one hand, Saudi investments in Lebanon's contractual, industrial and touristic sectors form a solid pillar of the economy, with Lebanese citizens living and working in Gulf countries also benefiting from this economic activity. Lebanese Customs statistics show that Gulf imports make up approximately 35% of Lebanon’s total exports, with Saudi Arabia alone importing approximately 12%. Many Lebanese are worried that Lebanon’s economy would be deeply affected should Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries decide to boycott Lebanese products in an effort to pile more pressure on the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.
“GCC member states are Lebanon’s main trade partner in industrial and agriculture products,” said economic expert Walid Bou Sleiman. “Regarding the export of agriculture products, Gulf countries import approximately 60% of total Lebanese exports. When the [political] disagreement started between Lebanon and the GCC, the latter alluded that economic sanctions might be imposed on Lebanon.” “However, the latest statements of Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister explicitly confirmed that [Saudi’s] problem is not with the Lebanese government or people but with one determined political faction," Bou Sleiman argued.
Despite concerns that Lebanese citizens have raised over the probability of economic sanctions against Lebanon, economic experts whom NOW spoke to argued that sanctions are unlikely to be imposed. The economic exchange between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon has always been constant and important, especially in the agriculture sector. “Gulf countries’ imports of Lebanese agriculture products are worth $920 million,” said Professor Jassem Ajaka, consultant to the Minister of Economy and Trade Nicholas Nahhas. “These figures amount to 10% of Lebanon’s economy.”
In addition, after the GCC labeled Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, many Gulf countries deported Lebanese families on short notice. Lebanese citizens who live and work in Gulf countries are currently uncertain whether or not they are at risk of deportation too. “The minister [of economy and trade] visited Saudi and the Emirati ambassadors recently and asked them if there is a plan to deport Lebanese people from Gulf countries, which both them firmly denied. However, they told us that people who have security files will be deported,” said Ajaka, claiming that only people who have connections to Hezbollah either through phone calls or messages supporting the party are at risk of deportation.
Since Lebanese-Saudi relations began in 1952 with the visit of President Camille Chamoun to Riyadh, the Lebanese have received attractive offers to work in Saudi Arabia during the Saudi oil boom. Today, there are more than 300 thousand Lebanese citizens working in Saudi Arabia. In return, the Saudi Arabian government has invested heavily in Lebanon’s tourism and hospitality, and real-estate sectors. “Saudi Arabia has been politically, financially and militarily investing in Lebanon ever since the Taif Agreement. It will not leave Lebanon now and offer it to Iran that easily. In addition, Lebanese people have been working in the oil sector in Gulf countries since the 1960s. Therefore, they are not considered as a burden on the Gulf economy. Rather, Gulf citizens are now benefiting from their experience,” Ajaka said.
“There won’t be any sanctions on the Lebanese agriculture sector,” said Ibrahim Tarshishi, head of the National Union of Farmers in Lebanon. “All sects in Lebanon benefit from the agriculture sector. The people who work in this sector are from all Lebanese regions, sects, and political affiliations.” Tarshishi told NOW that despite the war in Syria and the political divergences between Saudi Arabia and the Syrian regime, the import and export of agriculture goods has been maintained. The only major change is that some Syrian exporters have been refused entry to Saudi Arabia. The same thing could happen with Lebanese exporters but this does not mean that Saudi Arabia will boycott Lebanon entirely. “In addition, Saudi Arabia will not harm the Sunni community in Lebanon. A large number of truck owners and drivers are Sunnis. Therefore, limiting entry visas to Lebanese citizens is unlikely to happen,” Tarshishi argued.
Similarly, experts whom NOW spoke to confirmed that Saudi Arabia’s problem is not against the Lebanese government, only Hezbollah’s influence over it. In addition, Saudi Arabia has always been a main supporter the Sunni community in Lebanon, specifically the Future Movement. Imposing sanctions on Lebanon would also mean imposing sanctions on the community that Saudi Arabia has been supporting and funding for decades. “Saudi Arabia will not harm Lebanese categories that are important to her,” said Ajaka.
“If Gulf countries decided to boycott Lebanese products, unfortunately, Lebanon does not have a plan B to revive its economy,” said Bou Sleiman. “Lebanese farmers suffered greatly when borders were closed during the war in Syria. If Gulf countries boycott Lebanese products, Lebanon does not have an alternative market to export its products, and this will put Lebanese farmers and the agriculture sector in a catastrophic situation.”
Myra Abdallah tweets @myraabdallah/Amin Nasr tweets @Aminknasr

Russia backs self-ruling Kurdish buffer state at Turkey’s back door
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 18, 2016
Just four days after drawing down the bulk of Russian forces in Syria, President Vladimir Putin was quietly redrawing the Syrian map on federal lines, and planting Russian influence in its first semiautonomous region. debkafile’s intelligence sources report that the Russian leader's hand was behind the establishment of the Syrian Kurdish federal region on March 17, at a meeting of Kurdish Democratic Union Party leaders in the Syrian town of Rmeilan.
The new self-ruling entity covers three Kurdish-controlled enclaves:: Jazira, Hassakeh and Qamishli and the two cities of Kobani and Afrin, They include areas captured in battle from the Islamic State.
One of the DUP leaders, Nawaf Khalil, noted the presence at the ceremony of representatives of the three enclaves, some parts of which are still controlled either by the Syrian army, Syrian rebel groups or ISIS.
The Syrian Kurds are expected next to fight, with Russian backing, to connect the three enclaves into a contiguous self-ruled territory 500-kilometer long, adjacent to the Turkish border.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has warned repeatedly that Ankara would not tolerate the establishment of Kurdish self-rule in Syria and would send his army across the border to prevent it. Our sources report that Putin has assured Kurdish leaders that the Russian air force would be there to defend the new region if Turkey invaded.
Erdogan tried to enlist the Obama administration for action to deter the Kurds from its step.
But the State Department only responded to the Kurdish initiative after the event. "We don't support self-ruled, semiautonomous zones inside Syria,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby Thursday night. “Whole, unified, nonsectarian Syria -- that's the goal."
The new Kurdish federal region turns out to be the first no-fly zone over northern Syria, which the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia long advocated, but which has finally comes into being under the Russian aegis.
President Bashar Assad, Moscow’s ally, strongly opposes the Kurdish move, as the first step in the country’s breakup into ethnic or religious federal entities. But Assad is helpless to fight back or bomb the Kurdish enclaves when Moscow stands behind them and some Russian warplanes remain in Syria for any contingencies.
debkafile’s military and intelligence sources find significance in the location of the Kurds’ ceremonial declaration of their semiautonomous region: The only US base in Syria is located outside Rmeilan. It houses US and allied special operations forces with helicopters for fighting the Islamic State.
Clearly, Putin was perfectly willing to show the Americans what he was about.
In any case, US officials, such as Secretary of State John Kerry, have been talking freely to Middle East leaders about a federal solution for Syria as Washington’s Plan B, should the current talks between the warning sides in Geneva fail to reach an accord on a political solution for ending the calamitous five-year war.

Maher al-Assad moved from key command: pro-regime outlet
Albin Szakola/Now Lebanon/March 28/16/BEIRUT – A popular pro-regime Facebook page has claimed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s powerful brother has been moved out of his de-facto command of the elite 4th Armored Division. “Maher al-Assad has been transferred from the command of 4th Armored Division’s 42nd Brigade to the General Staff [of the Syrian Army],” the Latakia News Network—which has a following of over 200,000 people—alleged overnight Thursday. Latakia News Network’s post was met with shock and incredulity by the regime-supporting fans of the Facebook page. One commentator, Hagop Georgi, asked the administration of the outlet if their report was true “or just empty words?” He added that officers transferred to the Syrian army’s General Staff were “quasi-frozen,” implying their influence and status was checked. Another Facebook user, Hussein N Ismail, voiced hope that the Latakia News Network confirmed their report so that followers of the outlet “lose trust in the news on your page.”The administrators of the group responded to both posts with assurances that the report was correct, prompting Ismail to insist that he heard Maher al-Assad had not been transferred. Yet another commentator warned the Latakia News Network that “you can’t hide the dog that has already barked,” in reference to their highly controversial claim. The post by the Facebook news page adds further fuel to rumors swirling around Maher al-Assad. The pro-rebel Al-Etihad press claimed on March 16 that the Syrian president’s brother had been transferred to the General Staff’s Information Department, a move that would “deprive him of his influence as a field officer [commanding] one of the strangest strike units in the Syrian army.”Al-Etihad added that General Ali Mahmoud would replace Maher al-Assad as commander of the 4th Armored Division’s 42nd Brigade. Although Maher al-Assad is technically only the commander of the brigade, he has de-facto leadership over the whole 15,000-man strong 4th Armored Division, which is one of the key units protecting the Syrian regime.
Amin Nasr translated Arabic-language source material.

EU, Turkey Strike Deal to Send back Migrants
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/March 18/16/EU leaders approved a controversial deal with Turkey to curb the huge flow of asylum seekers to Europe, with all migrants arriving in Greece by Sunday to be sent back. Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipila said the 28 EU leaders approved Friday the deal negotiated with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a bid to end an unprecedented crisis dividing the continent. "The Turkey deal was approved," Sipila wrote on Twitter. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka confirmed that the expulsion of migrants arriving on the Greek islands would begin on Sunday. "Deal with Turkey approved. All illegal migrants who reach Greece from Turkey as of March 20 will be returned!" Sobotka wrote on Twitter. More than 1.2 million migrants have come to Europe since January 2015 in the continent's biggest migration crisis since World War II, and around 4,000 have drowned while trying to cross the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece. But the deal comes at a heavy cost for Europe, with many members of the bloc expressing misgivings about the legality of the deal and Turkey's human rights record. Turkey has demanded an acceleration of its long-stalled bid for EU membership, the doubling of refugee aid to six billion euros ($6.8 billion) and visa-free travel in return for taking back all new irregular migrants coming to Greece, the main entry point to Europe. Davutoglu is now set to formally sign off on the accord at a final meeting with EU leaders. Tusk's proposal for the EU-Turkey agreement approved by EU leaders, in principle, as it is now up for final talks with the Turkish prime minister," a senior EU official told AFP.But in a sign of the tensions that remain between Ankara and Brussels, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blasted several EU states for taking only a "handful of refugees" in contrast to the nearly three million Turkey has admitted, most of them fleeing the Syrian war. Erdogan also accused the Europeans of supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) days after a bombing in Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels allegedly linked to the group.
"European countries are paying no attention, as if they are dancing in a minefield," he said. Critics have said the mass expulsion planned under the EU-Turkey deal could infringe international law on the treatment of asylum seekers. Under the terms of the plan, the EU would take in one Syrian refugee from Turkish soil in exchange for every Syrian readmitted to Turkey from Greece. The move is meant to discourage them from risking their lives in often rickety and overcrowded boats operated by smugglers. EU officials insisted the deal would be stressed repeatedly each application would be treated individually, with full rights of appeal and proper oversight. EU sources said last-minute sticking points were cleared up over the deal's legality, Turkey's membership bid, the date for launching the agreement and a plan to double the amount of aid to Turkey to six billion euros ($6.8 billion).
Another major hurdle that was overcome was opposition from Cyprus, rooted in long-standing tensions with Turkey over Ankara's refusal to recognize its government on the divided island. Many European Union states have expressed concerns about Ankara's human rights record, including its treatment of the Kurds and a crackdown on critics of the government. The United Nations and rights groups fear the deal could violate international law that forbids the mass deportation of refugees. Amnesty International set up a sign outside the summit venue: "Don't trade refugees". The crisis has left Europe increasingly divided, with fears that its Schengen passport-free zone could collapse as states reintroduce border controls and concerns over the rise of populism and anti-immigrant sentiment. The deal also envisages major aid for Greece, where tens of thousands of refugees are trapped in dire conditions after Balkan countries shut their borders to stop them heading north to richer Germany and Scandinavia. The agreement does not however affect the more than 46,000 refugees and migrants already in Greece. Greek Interior Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis described the overwhelmed border town of Idomeni where many of the migrants are camped out as a "modern-day Dachau". British Prime Minister David Cameron was also hosting a meeting with Merkel and several other EU leaders on how to tackle migration flows from lawless Libya, which appeared to be increasing again.

IS Claims Five Russian Troops Killed Near Syria's Palmyra
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/March 18/16/The Islamic State jihadist group has claimed the killing of five Russian troops in fighting near the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. "The soldiers of the caliphate, by the grace of God, have killed five Russian soldiers and six members" of the Syrian army, IS said in a statement. The group also claimed the killing of several members of Lebanon's Hizbullah in the clashes near Palmyra. A website linked to IS, Aamaq, carried a similar claim, adding that one of the Russians killed was a military advisor. "The fierce battles around Palmyra city in the east of Homs province left five Russian soldiers dead on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as several others from the Hizbullah militia and Afghan Shiite militias," Aamaq claimed. "Four of the Russian soldiers were killed in Qasr al-Halabat west of Palmyra during an attempt to storm the area that IS forces foiled, while the advisor whose corpse was shown in a video distributed by the agency died (Thursday) in the Dawa area," it added. Aamaq was referring to a video showing the bloodied corpse of a man in military gear that it claimed was the advisor. The footage also shows equipment presumably captured after the clashes, including a customised AK-74M rifle, a helmet and a compass. A packet of bandages was filmed with instructions written in Russian. IS seized Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in eastern Syria known as the "Pearl of the Desert", last May, sending shock waves across the world.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Russian advisors were present near Palmyra, but it could not confirm whether any Russian forces had been killed there in recent days. President Vladimir Putin, Assad's main backer, on Monday ordered the withdrawal of most of Russia's armed forces from Syria. The Russian air force has however continued to strike jihadist targets since the surprise announcement, particularly around Palmyra. At a press briefing Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not confirm either the presence of Russian advisors around Palmyra or the IS claim of the soldiers' killing. "The advance (on Palmyra) is carried out by contingents of the Syrian army," Peskov said. On Thursday, however, Putin had warned that Russia would remain engaged in Syria's war. "Our uncompromising attitude to terrorism remains unchanged," he said, adding that "fierce fighting" was raging near Palmyra. Putin also named four Russians, including a military advisor, killed in action in Syria since Moscow launched its military intervention on September 30. Previously, the defense ministry's official toll had been three, excluding a soldier who reportedly committed suicide. A total of 1,799 Syrian civilians including 431 children have been killed in Russian air strikes, according to an updated toll by the Observatory. Another 1,276 IS members have also died, as have 1,567 rebels and fighters from the Al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, it added. The Observatory accused Russia, a permanent U.N. Security Council member, of being "a key accomplice in the killing of Syrian civilians, on a daily, continuous basis, using the fight against IS as an excuse".Moscow has denied claims of hitting civilian and non-jihadist rebel targets.
 

Armed Palestinian killed, two arrested in foiled attacks in West Bank
Jerusalem POst/March 18/16/ Israeli authorities said on Friday that soldiers and police thwarted two potential stabbing attacks in the West Bank, resulting in the death of one knife-wielding Palestinian assailant and the arrest of two others. A Palestinian armed with a knife was shot and killed by an IDF soldier and an Israeli civilian during what authorities are describing as an attempted stabbing in the West Bank. The incident occurred at the Gush Etzion Junction south of Jerusalem. According to the IDF, the Palestinian drove to the junction and tried to stab soldiers who were manning a post near the roadway. The troops noticed the assailant coming towards them and shot him dead. No Israelis were injured in the incident. Moments earlier, IDF soldiers and police arrested two Palestinian teens said to be armed with knives near the Sha'ar Binyamin industrial zone in the West Bank. The youths are suspected of planning to attack Israelis, according to authorities. A Palestinian motorist who drove the youths to the scene fled, and authorities are searching for the vehicle and its driver. The two youths were taken into custody for questioning. Israeli security personnel at the scene grew suspicious of the two Palestinians as they were approaching the industrial zone area. St.-Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman, 21, was killed last month while trying to stop two Palestinian teenage terrorists from stabbing shoppers at a Rami Levy supermarket in the Sha’ar Binyamin industrial zone. Also on Friday, a Border Police officer suffered light injuries to his head during the course of rock-throwing demonstrations staged by Palestinians in the West Bank village of Ni'lin. Israeli forces responded to the rioters by using crowd dispersal methods. The injured officer was treated at the scene and evacuated for further evaluation, according to official statements.

Amid Russia's withdrawal, ISIS announces the killing of Russian military adviser in Syria
A Russian military adviser was recently killed in battles with Islamic State fighters west of the ISIS-controlled city of Palmyra in Syria, the ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq announced Thursday afternoon. The ancient city of Palmyra, whose Arabic name is Tadmur, was seized by ISIS in May 2015 after destroying its notorious prison, where Syrian political dissidents were imprisoned. After ISIS took over the city, an international outcry to save its ancient archeological sites began. The ISIS announcement came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Monday that Russia will start withdrawing a main part of its forces in Syria. In an interview Wednesday with Al-Jazeera TV, the leader of the largest Syrian opposition faction, Ahrar al-Sham, said: "The Russian announcement was surprising, and we need to understand whether Russia indeed intends to withdraw its forces from Syria, especially in light of the Russian statements that made clear that Russian forces will remain in the two Russian military in Tartus and Hmeymim." "We are ready to negotiate with Russia on if it would force Assad's regime to accept the demands of the Syrian people," the Ahrar al-Sham leader added.He also spoke of what he foresees as Assad’s fall, vowing that group will not persecute those who adhere to the same sect of Shi’ite Islam that the current president does. "[W]e do not intend to take revenge on the Alawite population,” the opposition leader sta

EU leaders approve migration deal with Turkey
AFP, Brussels Friday, 18 March 2016/European Union leaders approved on Friday a migration deal with Turkey, Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipila said on Twitter. "The Turkey deal was approved," Sipila said. European leaders agreed a common position to put to Turkey’s prime minister in a bid to clinch a vital deal to tackle an unprecedented wave of migrants and refugees that have fled to the continent. The 28 states spent the day haggling over the proposal, under which Turkey would take all migrants from Greece to help curb Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II. The deal would exact a heavy price including an acceleration of Turkey’s long-stalled bid for EU membership, billions of euros in extra aid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals. Critics have raised concerns that the “one-for-one” deal could also violate international law and pointed to Ankara’s human rights record.
“Agreement on EU position, @eucopresident will present it to Turkish Prime Minister before our EU Council tomorrow,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel tweeted, referring to European Council President Donald Tusk. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a “good opportunity to stop the business of human traffickers” involved in an unprecedented influx of 1.2 million people from Syria and elsewhere since 2015. Merkel however insisted on “preconditions” and clear plans to deal with the logistics of processing thousands of asylum seekers on the Greek islands and sending them back to Turkey. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said as he boarded a plane in Ankara that the proposed deal was “clear and honest” but added: “Turkey will never become an open prison for migrants.” He is due to meet Tusk, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at 0730 GMT before EU leaders meet again for final consultations expected at 1200 GMT, EU officials said. A senior EU official said Tusk had a “common position” to put the Turkish premier, adding that he had “understood everyone’s red lines” for the negotiations.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said it would be an “intense” day.
Cyprus problem
One major hurdle that appeared to have been overcome was opposition from Cyprus, rooted in long-standing tensions with Turkey over Ankara’s refusal to recognize its government on the divided island. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades indicated he could be ready to “compromise” on his objections to the EU, opening new “chapters” in Turkey’s accession process, after earlier threatening to block the entire deal. The deal also envisages major aid for Greece, where tens of thousands of refugees are trapped in dire conditions after Balkan countries shut their borders to stop them heading north to richer Germany and Scandinavia. Highlighting global attention on the issue, Hollywood star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie on Thursday visited the island of Lesbos, the principal port of entry for migrants to Europe. Meanwhile in the bleak camp of Idomeni on the Macedonian-Greek border, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei on Thursday had his hair cut by a migrant barber to draw attention to their plight.

EU studying civilian security mission to Libya
Reuters, Brussels/Benghazi Friday, 18 March 2016/The EU’s foreign policy chief has warned the bloc’s foreign ministers that nearly half a million people displaced in Libya could migrate to Europe, saying that Brussels is also studying a civilian security mission to Libya. “There are more than 450,000 internally displaced persons and refugees in Libya who could be potential candidates for migration to Europe,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini wrote in a March 12 letter seen by Reuters. Mogherini said planning was underway for a mission to rebuild Libya’s police, counter-terrorism and border management operations to work with the United Nations. “The possibility of setting up a team of ‘deployable experts’ on migration and security issues ... could be explored,” Mogherini said.
‘Deepening the nation’s crisis’
The interim temporary government in Libya said on Friday moves to impose a new UN-backed unity cabinet on the country without a vote of approval by the eastern parliament risked deepening the nation’s crisis. The unity government-in-waiting has called for an immediate transfer of power, and its prime minister said in an interview broadcast on Thursday it would move to Tripoli from Tunis in the “next few days”. Since 2014 Libya has had rival parliaments and governments, one set based in Tripoli and the other in the east. Both are backed by loose alliances of former rebels and armed brigades which emerged amid the chaos that followed the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi five years ago. Western governments have been pushing for the unity government to start work, saying it holds the best hope for ending Libya’s turmoil and tackling the growing threat posed by ISIS militants. The interim temporary government said in a statement on Friday that while it supported the unity cabinet, any attempt to impose it represented an “abuse of Libyan sovereignty and a lack of respect for the democratic process”. “It will deepen the Libyan crisis and the economic situation, increase division, and shatter the political accord built on consensus,” it said. It also warned local and international parties to work with the new government only after parliament gave its approval. The internationally-recognized eastern parliament has repeatedly failed to vote to approve the unity government, but a majority of its members signed a statement of support last month. The United States and European powers cited that statement when they declared on Sunday that the unity cabinet was the “only legitimate government in Libya”. The unity government and the Tunis-based presidential council that appointed it have faced stiff opposition from hardliners on both sides of Libya’s political divide. On Tuesday, the prime minister of the government based in Tripoli warned the unity cabinet not to move there, and it remains unclear whether some of the many factions in the capital would oppose it with armed force

Arab coalition destroys Houthi arms in Taez
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Friday, 18 March 2016/An Arab coalition aircraft destroyed a Houthi weapon arsenal in the southwestern city of Taez, as the Popular Resistance and forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government fight the militias in the city on Friday. The airstrikes, carried by the coalition, destroyed a large arsenal of weapons of the militias in Taez, which is the country’s third largest city, allowing the Popular Residence and forces loyal to President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi to progress in their continued fight against the militias that began last week, said Colonel Abdul-Aziz al-Majidi, an official at the National Chamber of army operations and Popular Resistance. The move comes as the Popular Resistance and forces in the western province of Taez plan to take control of the road between Taez and the port city of al-Hudayda. The spokesman for the Arab military coalition said on Thursday that major combat operations in Yemen are coming to an end, after which the coalition will work on “long-term” plans to bring stability to the country. Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri said that major military combats were coming to a close and that the next phase of rebuilding and reconstruction will begin shortly. Forces loyal to Yemen’s president broke the siege by the Iranian-allied Houthis around the city of Taez last week, as the United States raised the possibility of a Syrian-style truce in Yemen. Supporters of Hadi, backed by the coalition, have been trying for months to lift the siege of the southwestern city and open up supply routes. The coalition has been trying for a year to roll back gains by the Houthi militia and restore the internationally recognized government of Hadi, who is currently in Saudi Arabia.

Erdogan: Kurdish militants could also hit Europe
AP, Ankara Friday, 18 March 2016/Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday warned Europe that it, too, could fall victim to attacks by Kurdish militants following a terror attack in Ankara that killed 37 people. Speaking at ceremony to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli in the coastal town of Canakkale, Erdogan said, “there is no reason why the bomb that exploded in Ankara cannot explode in Brussels, in any other European city.”“The snakes you are sleeping with can bite you any time,” he added. Meanwhile, in the mainly Kurdish province of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey, police found a bomb in a car parked near a regional government office and school, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. A bomb team successfully defused 150 kilograms of explosives. Turkey has been wracked by conflict in mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast and suffered a string of attacks, including two on its capital that were claimed by an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Brussels and Washington, like Ankara, list the PKK as a terrorist organization. But the West supports Syrian Kurdish groups that Turkey considers as affiliates of the PKK and a threat to its national security.

Attackers fire rockets at gas facility in Algerian Sahara
The Associated Press, Algiers, Algeria Friday, 18 March 2016/Unknown attackers fired rockets at a gas facility in Algeria Friday, energy groups Statoil and BP and an Algerian local official said. There were no immediate reports of injuries to the employees on the site in the Sahara Desert. An Algerian local official said the assailants fired homemade rocket launchers around 6 a.m. at the Krechba gas facility, jointly operated with foreign companies and overseen by Algerian state-run gas company Sonatrach. Army reinforcements have been sent to the area from other regions, according to local security officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the operation. Norwegian energy group Statoil said the Salah Gas asset in Krechba, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) south of Algiers in the Sahara Desert, was “hit by explosive munitions fired from a distance.”The Stavanger, Norway-based company said it, and the joint venture organization in Hassi Messaoud, had mobilized their emergency response organizations. Statoil said it has been in touch with its three employees at Krechba, who are safe and not injured. Norwegian foreign ministry spokeswoman Ane Haavardsdatter Lunde said she could confirm there had been an attack and “as we understand it the Algerian security forces have now full control over the facility.” She had no further comment. British energy group BP said it “has been informed of a rocket attack” on the Krechba site but “there are no reports of any injuries to personnel at the site.” The facility has been shut down as a safety precaution, BP’s statement said. It said it is in touch with the In Salah gas joint venture team. The In Salah gas field is the third largest in Algeria, jointly operated by Statoil, BP and Sonatrach. In January 2013, a band of al-Qaeda-affiliated militants attacked the Ain Amenas complex in Algeria. After a four-day standoff, the Algerian army moved in. At least 37 hostages, mostly foreign workers, died in the battle.

Russian probe: ‘Criminals’ behind plane crash in Sinai
Al Arabiya/Friday, 18 March 2016/A Russia committee probing the crash of a Russian airplane in the Sinai Peninsula last year said Thursday it was not “terrorism” but a “criminal activity” behind downing of the plane.The committee said it referred the case to Egypt’s attorney general.

Former Pakistan military ruler, facing trial, heads to Dubai
AP | Dubai Friday, 18 March 2016/Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf left Pakistan early Friday morning to receive medical care abroad, his aides said, leaving behind his trials on treason and murder charges for a city where he lived in exile for years. The 72-year-old former military chief has pledged to return to Pakistan, where he seized power in a 1999 bloodless coup, and the country’s supreme court granted him permission this week to travel abroad for treatment of a back injury. However, prosecutors and others in Pakistan greeted his departure with suspicion that Musharraf may remain abroad to avoid his trials, some of which carry the possibility of a death sentence. “What once began as a historic treason trial, either radically altering the civil-military imbalance or shaking the foundations of democracy in the country, is now all but over in name,” the country’s English-language Dawn newspaper wrote in an editorial Friday. Musharraf flew out of Pakistan’s port city of Karachi early Friday morning aboard a commercial flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, his lawyer Anwar Mansoor Khan and aide Mohammad Amjad said. Spokeswoman Aasia Ishaq said he might seek care in either the U.S. or Britain for a vertebra fusion surgery, as well as visit the American Hospital in Dubai. Officials in Dubai did not respond to a request for comment Friday, the start of the Emirati weekend. The state-run WAM news agency also did not report on Musharraf’s arrival to the home of the world’s tallest building and luxury malls. Musharraf’s aides all uniformly said he would return to Pakistan, though many remain suspicious about the timing of his illnesses. “For sure he will come back to the country,” Ishaq said. “Our president is not the kind of person who shall be deemed as coward ... If he wanted to flee the cases, he would have not come back home at the first stage.”Musharraf has owned a home in Dubai and lived there and in London in self-imposed exile for some 4 1/2 years after stepping down from office in 2008. He returned to Pakistan in 2013, hoping to run for president as a democratic candidate, but quickly became embroiled in a series of criminal trials over his rule. Those cases include a treason trial over suspending Pakistan’s constitution in 2007 when he declared emergency rule and fired almost all the senior judiciary, a charge that carries the possibility of a death sentence. He faces a murder case over his decision to launch a raid on Islamabad’s Red Mosque and affiliated women’s seminary the same year over it harboring militants, an operation that saw over 100 people killed. He was accused of orchestrating the murder of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti, though a court early this year acquitted him. He also faces trial on accusations he was involved in the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who also lived for a time in exile in Dubai. Musharraf repeatedly has declared his innocence and described the cases against him as being politically motivated

Followers of Iraqi cleric Sadr rally in Baghdad
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News Friday, 18 March 2016/Thousands of Iraqis staged a protest on Friday outside the capital Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone to demand anti-corrpution measures, heeding a call by influential Shiiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. At around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT), riot police stood aside and allowed leaders of the demonstrators to cut and pull aside barbed wire barriers to allow them to cross a bridge that leads to the zone, which houses government offices, the parliament and embassies.“Let’s get rid of them, they’re all thieves!”, chanted the demonstrators as they rushed across the bridge, aiming to hold their weekly Friday prayer at a Green Zone gate that leads to the parliament building. The Interior Ministry earlier said it had not authorized any sit-down protest, amid concern about clashes with the forces guarding the zone. Sadr earlier rejected the calls to cancel a planned sit-in of the Green Zone, which he called “a bastion of support for corruption.” He published a statement on his website on Thursday in response to politicians who asked him to drop the protest over concern that it could lead to violence near the sensitive district, which houses government offices and embassies. Sadr called for the sit-in last week to press Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to replace cabinet ministers with technocrats unaffiliated with political parties in order to counter systemic political patronage that has abetted corruption. Sadr, heir to a Shiite clerical dynasty in Shiite majority Iraq, has threatened a no-confidence vote in parliament unless technocratic ministers are named soon. But his al-Ahrar bloc commands just 34 of 328 seats in parliament, and since he may not be able to vote down an eventual new cabinet, he has had to resort to street protests to maintain pressure on Abadi, leveraging his popularity among the poor in Shi’ite districts of Baghdad.(With Reuters)

White House calls on Turkey to respect democratic values
AFP, Washington Friday, 18 March 2016/The White House on Thursday called on the Turkish government to respect democratic values, amid allegations of a fresh press crackdown. “We urge Turkish authorities to ensure their actions uphold the universal democratic values enshrined in Turkey’s constitution, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press,” said spokesman Josh Earnest. The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been accused of authoritarianism and muzzling critical media as well as lawmakers, academics, lawyers and non-government groups. Turkish police early this month seized control of the top-selling Zaman, which opposes Erdogan, drawing international condemnation. “The United States continues to be troubled by the Turkish government’s use of appointed trustees to shut down or interfere with the editorial operations of media outlets that are sometimes critical of the government,” Earnest said. We call on the Turkish government to ensure full respect for due process and equal treatment under the law, and in a democratic society, critical opinions should be encouraged, not silenced.” On Thursday, Turkey stood accused once more of violating press freedoms, this time by the German news weekly Der Spiegel, which said it has been forced to withdraw its Istanbul correspondent. A diplomatic source told AFP the Turkish government was also refusing press cards to eight of some 20 German journalists based in the country, meaning they would likely also have to leave.

Will Riyadh cancel aid to Egypt?
Ayah Aman/Al-Monitor/March 19/16
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia announced on Feb. 8 that the kingdom, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was prepared to send ground troops to Syria to fight alongside the US-led international coalition. This fanned a spark of diplomatic disagreement between Cairo and Riyadh.
Suddenly, without stating any clear justifications or setting another date, Egypt’s Prime Minister Sharif Ismail canceled his Feb. 10 visit to Saudi Arabia. The visit had been scheduled to finalize the Egyptian-Saudi Coordination Council's agreement to make 30 billion riyals ($8 billion) in investments in Egypt, as pledged by Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud in December. The agreement included filling Egypt's oil needs for five years and supporting Saudi vessel traffic in the Suez Canal. The aid package came after the countries discussed developing military cooperation and the establishment of a joint Arab force.
An Egyptian government official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The Egyptian-Saudi Coordination Council meeting was postponed as a result of the failure to reach a final consensus on the nature of the projects presented by Cairo and the proposed financial value to implement these projects.”
The official said the meeting hasn't been rescheduled yet, "but intensive contacts are underway to speed up agreement on investment projects before the end of March 2016." Egypt hopes to reach an agreement when Salman visits Cairo on April 4, he said.
“Cairo aims to secure its petroleum needs for five years with soft loans, an estimated quantity of 700,000 tons [5 million barrels] per year,” he said. “The government is also banking on a new Saudi investment in the capital administrative projects, the reclamation of 1.5 million acres, and in the real estate and tourism sectors.” According to observers, the Saudi aid is now governed by several parameters related to the volatile regional situation in Yemen and Syria on the one hand and the drop in oil prices on the other. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry announced Feb. 16 that the Saudi and UAE decision to send ground troops into Syria does not fall within the scope of the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism, the 34-member coalition Saudi Arabia launched in December. He confirmed Egypt's support for a political, not military, solution in Syria.
Both Egyptian and Saudi officials deny their disagreement will affect the strong relations between the countries. But the facts seem to indicate otherwise.
Saudi Arabia is extremely sensitive to any political position that does not match its vision on regional issues. This is reflected by the kingdom halting its planned $4 billion in aid to the Lebanese army and security forces, apparently because Lebanon disagreed with Saudi Arabia's stance on Hezbollah.
It seems Cairo still links its participation in any Arab military alliances to obtaining financial aid to improve its situation back home. This position governed Egypt's decision to become a major player in the Gulf War during the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. According to International Monetary Fund estimates, Egypt obtained at the time $100 billion worth of Gulf aid, $10 billion of which was provided by Saudi Arabia — not to mention the Saudis' participation in canceling the nation's foreign debts.
Cairo had sent indirect letters throughout 2015 threatening to object to external military interventions. In an April speech, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said, “The Egyptian army is only for Egypt.” In the same month, Egyptian security forces authorized a protest in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Cairo denouncing the Saudi intervention in Yemen. Egypt also received a delegation representing former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The kingdom thus excluded Egypt from the dialogue with the Yemeni factions before the Geneva negotiations in June. On the Egyptian and Saudi military coordination, Khaled Okasha, a retired Egyptian military general and chairman of the National Center for Security Studies, told Al-Monitor, “Different visions among allies are normal and acceptable, and the disagreement may be resolved through the constantly open channels between Cairo and Riyadh.”
Okasha explained, “The Saudi-Egyptian dispute over ground intervention in Syria does not necessarily apply to other military coordination issues." He noted that Sisi attended the recent conclusion of the Northern Thunder military maneuvers in Saudi Arabia, which confirms the continuation of military cooperation regardless of "divergent visions and positions regarding the Syrian issue.”Observers believe Saudi Arabia's policies of coordination and alliance with Egypt primarily aim to revive the region's Sunni coalition in the face of Iran, Saudi Arabia’s No. 1 political enemy. Cairo hampers this objective, however, in light of the Egyptian-Turkish dispute. Okasha said, “Egypt still has a fixed position toward Turkey, but this hostility may be broken if Turkey makes good initiatives. In politics there are no permanent or perpetual enemies.” Questions remain on the table about the extent to which Saudi Arabia will use the support and aid pressure card against Egypt in return for Cairo adopting clear and explicit positions in line with the kingdom’s vision, especially with regard to the military solution of the Yemeni and Syrian crises, as well as Iranian interference in the region. Salman's agenda during his upcoming visit to Cairo early next month may bring answers to these questions.

Why executions in Iran have hit a 27-year high
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
The Islamic Republic of Iran has hit the highest rate of executing people since the year 1989. The official number indicates that Iran executed nearly two times more people in 2015 in comparison to 2010 when the hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in office, as well as roughly 10 times more than the number of executions in 2005. Approximately 1000 people were executed in 2015, according to the latest report from the United Nations investigator, Ahmed Shaheed, the special rapporteur for human rights in Iran. The unofficial number is higher. The peak of the executions in 2015 was between April and June in which nearly four people were executed every day on average. Most of the executions were carried out in prisons located in urban areas such as Ghezel Hesar and Rajai Shahr in Karaj, and Adel Abad in Shiraz. a in the number of executions being carried out per capita. Most of the executions in Iran are being done by hanging. In addition to the alarming increase in executions, fundamental rights of Iranians and ethnic and religious minorities appear to have regressed in 2015 as well. In addition, this year witnessed the highest level of disqualification of political candidates, 61 percent, since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, 1979.
Groups targeted
Iranian authorities claim that these executions are overwhelmingly related to drugs offenses. Nevertheless, many of the executions were linked to other issues. Only around 65 percent of those executed, were charged, with violating Iran’s narcotics law. In other areas, according to Amnesty International, the Islamic Republic remains a leading executioner of minors. In addition to the alarming increase in executions, fundamental rights of Iranians and ethnic and religious minorities appear to have regressed in 2015 as well. Currently, 160 juvenile offenders are on Iran’s death row. Other human rights groups also believe that Iran has executed more juveniles than any other country. Michael G. Bochenek, senior counsel of the children’s rights division at Human Rights Watch pointed out “Iran is almost certainly the world leader in executing juvenile offenders.” Some articles in Iran’s criminal code allows girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 to receive death sentences. In addition, ethnic and religious minority communities, including the Sunni, Arabs, and Bahai continue to be systematically targeted and discriminated against. Sunnis are the largest minority in Iran. They have long complained that “Iranian authorities do not appoint or employ them in high ranking government positions such as cabinet-level ministers or governors. They have also raised concerns regarding reported restrictions on the construction of Sunni mosques in Shiite-majority areas, including the capital Tehran, and the execution or imminent execution of Sunni activists the government alleges were involved in terrorist-related activities.”Other groups include journalists, artists, writers, musicians, and human rights activists who witness arbitrary arrests, detentions and prosecutions. Amnesty International and the United Nations do not have executive power to force Iran to reform its law or hold Iranian leaders accountable, but the UN can offer recommendations such as the latest one in which Iran is asked to “take the necessary steps to ensure and that it citizens fully enjoy the rights and freedoms awarded to by the Iranian constitution with special emphasis on the right to freedom of expression, the right to political activity and their right to assemble”. According to Nazanin, a lawyer based in Karaj, “Iran’s judiciary and parliament will ignore these recommendations and not follow up with them”.
Rowhani’s pledges
One of Rowhani’s main promises was to promote and reform restrictive laws in relation to civil liberties and social justice. “The situation has not changed since Rowhani came to power. They only talk about their victory with regards to the nuclear deal, while a lot people and religious minorities face daily discrimination”, Morteza, an Iranian teacher in city of Esfahan pointed out. When it comes to the number of people being executed as well as the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, Iran’s president would not change the status quo regardless of whether he is being presented as a moderate or hardliner.
The major institutions which have power over these matters are the judiciary system (its head is appointed by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), the ministry of intelligence, the office of the supreme leader, the Revolutionary Guards, and paramilitary groups such as the Basij.
In order to preserve interests and power, an Iranian president will not stand against powerful political establishments, and will support the ruling dispensation. In fact, the number of executions increases and rights for ethnic and religious minorities appear to deteriorate when the Islamic Republic has “moderate” or “reformist” president. The above institutions tighten the rules in order to send a message to the Iranians that a non-hardline president does not mean that the country is liberalizing its politics.

Obama between Riyadh and Jakarta
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
Barack Obama was the only U.S. president who managed to gain the love of Arabs and Muslims during the toughest of times. He launched his presidency in our region in a friendly manner that we were unfamiliar with. He delivered two speeches from the heart of two of the most important historical Muslim cities, Cairo and Istanbul. His speech at Cairo University was a magnificent piece of literature in which he spoke about his vision of Islam and peace, his experience in Jakarta, and his partially African and Muslim descent. He gained the love of many from among the 300 million Arabs who are usually angry at the United States. Obama, the 44th US president, was undoubtedly the first to enter Muslims’ hearts. His biggest mistake relates to Syria. No one understands why the president of the strongest country in the world refuses to help people of whom half a million have been slaughtered. In his interview with The Atlantic magazine, we feel that he has probably changed a lot of his views. At the start of his presidency he appeared to us as warm, enthusiastic and wanting to communicate. In this interview, however, we feel he is cold, frustrated and withdrawn.
Extremism
At the start of his presidency, Obama appeared to us as warm, enthusiastic and wanting to communicate. In this interview, however, we feel he is cold, frustrated and withdrawn. The angry punches Obama directed at his friends included Saudi Arabia. Many of Riyadh’s rivals celebrated his criticism of the kingdom, which has the longest stable relationship with the United States in the region. The interview revealed that Obama “developed” his understanding of extremism and terrorism, as his opinions now are opposite to what we heard from him at Cairo University. Back then, he proposed cooperation to fight extremism. He is now blaming Saudi Arabia and cooperating with Iran, about which he thinks he has discovered good traits that his predecessors had not. Extremism is neither a state nor a religion, but a general phenomenon. Blaming others and making accusations does not eliminate it. Extremism is a serious ideological virus that has spread in Muslim societies, including those in the West. Obama said he lived part of his life in Indonesia, where the majority were tolerant Muslims, but when he visited it later he found extremism due to Saudi intellect. Extremism in modern Islam is complicated. In the early 1980s it appeared in Saudi Arabia and its surroundings, but this coincided with the extremist 1979 revolution in Iran, and the launching of a war against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the name of Islam with Saudi-US-Pakistani partnership. Religion was politicized at that time, but before then I did not know or hear of any mosque in my city Riyadh that preached about politics. Clerics did not make TV appearances to discuss world affairs. There were no charities or youth camps run by people with certain religious or other affiliations. What was common back then was the traditional Saudi Salafi Sunni concept that was well-known for being conservative regarding social affairs, but left politics to relevant figures. The 1979 revolution in Iran, and the subsequent adoption of violent jihad, produced extremism as we see it today. These new Iranian rulers were the first to use religion in managing foreign affairs. Obama complains of extremism that reached Jakarta, but we too complain of it in Riyadh, Cairo and Casablanca. Riyadh did not used to be like that. I lived there during the same period that Obama lived in Jakarta.

Syria: Russia is withdrawing in order to stay
Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/March 18/16
Russia’s withdrawal from Syria was not a surprise to those who have been following it foreign policy. In Oct. 2015, President Vladimir Putin said: “Our goal... is to stabilize the legitimate power in Syria, and to create conditions for the search for political compromise.”Despite his open declaration of intentions, outsiders have been listening more to the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Defense, which cite fighting terrorists as a key reason for Russian airstrikes in Syria. A few days before Moscow’s intervention, ground forces in Syria and Iraq had been expecting the fall of Damascus in two weeks, maximum a month. The situation was extremely imbalanced in favor of extremist groups and rebels due to Western and Gulf support. This imbalance and the fall of Damascus would destroy any fair peace process, and dramatically increase civilian casualties and displacement.
Balance of power
During Russia’s air campaign, Washington and Moscow made significant efforts in pushing the warring sides to the negotiating table in Geneva, and have achieved a long-awaited truce that the White House acknowledged has gone better than expected despite numerous violations. For the successful continuation of negotiations, Russia needed to announce its withdrawal, thus maintaining the equilibrium reached between the warring sides. Russia has returned to the Middle East and will not leave, especially since it feels that most of its regional plans are being successfully implemented. This equilibrium is pushing the Syrian regime to be more compliant, and the rebels to be more willing to talk in the knowledge that if negotiation fail, Russia will most likely return with its full air power. It is vital to take note that the withdrawal is partial. Russia is leaving the S-400 missile system in Syria, and while declaring the withdrawal of its main force - officials say around 1,000 military personnel will remain - it had not clarified how many were previously deployed. Russia says both its bases in Syria will keep functioning regularly, and will be strongly protected. Meanwhile, it says it will keep striking “terrorist” targets.
As such, the partial withdrawal is most likely a political maneuver rather than a real step. Putin does not need new approval from parliament to send forces back to Syria, as the one granted in September remains in force and parliament is not going to cancel it. Russia is withdrawing to reinforce its positions in Syria.
It has reached its main goal of stabilizing the regime, and strengthened the chances for negotiations. It has trained its air force in a real war and demonstrated its military power. Keeping its mighty S-400 in Syria completely changes the balance of power. Moscow has managed to kill most of the Russian citizens who left the country to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and posed a grave threat to its national security. Russia will most likely get more involved in the peace process. It has returned to the Middle East and will not leave, especially since it feels that most of its regional plans are being successfully implemented.