LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

llLCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

May 17/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.may17.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 03/05-08:"Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, "You must be born from above." The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’

"I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover, my flesh will live in hope

Acts of the Apostles 02/22-28:"‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him, "I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover, my flesh will live in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence."

Question: "What are the different English Bible versions?"
GotQuestions.org

Answer: Depending on how one distinguishes a different Bible version from a revision of an existing Bible version, there are as many as 50 different English versions of the Bible. The question then arises: Is there really a need for so many different English versions of the Bible? The answer is, of course, no, there is no need for 50 different English versions of the Bible. This is especially true considering that there are hundreds of languages into which the entire Bible has not yet been translated. At the same time, there is nothing wrong with there being multiple versions of the Bible in a language. In fact, multiple versions of the Bible can actually be an aid in understanding the message of the Bible.
There are two primary reasons for the different English Bible versions. (1) Over time, the English language changes/develops, making updates to an English version necessary. If a modern reader were to pick up a 1611 King James Version of the Bible, he would find it to be virtually unreadable. Everything from the spelling, to syntax, to grammar, to phraseology is very different. Linguists state that the English language has changed more in the past 400 years than the Greek language has changed in the past 2,000 years. Several times in church history, believers have gotten “used” to a particular Bible version and become fiercely loyal to it, resisting any attempts to update/revise it. This occurred with the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, and more recently, the King James Version. Fierce loyalty to a particular version of the Bible is illogical and counterproductive. When the Bible was written, it was written in the common language of the people at that time. When the Bible is translated, it should be translated into how a people/language group speaks/reads at that time, not how it spoke hundreds of years ago.
(2) There are different translation methodologies for how to best render the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into English. Some Bible versions translate as literally (word-for-word) as possible, commonly known as formal equivalence. Some Bible versions translate less literally, in more of a thought-for-thought method, commonly known as dynamic equivalence. All of the different English Bible versions are at different points of the formal equivalence vs. dynamic equivalence spectrum. The New American Standard Bible and the King James Version would be to the far end of the formal equivalence side, while paraphrases such as The Living Bible and The Message would be to the far end of the dynamic equivalence side.
The advantage of formal equivalence is that it minimizes the translator inserting his/her own interpretations into the passages. The disadvantage of formal equivalence is that it often produces a translation so woodenly literal that it is not easily readable/understandable. The advantage of dynamic equivalence is that it usually produces a more readable/understandable Bible version. The disadvantage of dynamic equivalence is that it sometimes results in “this is what I think it means” instead of “this is what it says.” Neither method is right or wrong. The best Bible version is likely produced through a balance of the two methodologies.
In choosing which Bible version(s) you are going to use/study, do research, discuss with Christians you respect, read the Bibles for yourself, and ultimately, ask God for wisdom regarding which Bible version He desires you to use.
Recommended Resources: How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versions by Gordon D. Fee & Mark L. Strauss and Logos Bible Software.
What's new on GotQuestions.org?

Pope Francis's Tweet For Today
The gift of the Holy Spirit has been bestowed in abundance so that we may live lives of genuine faith and active charity.
L'Esprit Saint nous a été accordé en abondance pour que nous puissions vivre avec une foi authentique et une charité active.
إن الروح القدس قد أُعطي لنا بوفرة لنعيش بإيمان أصيل ومحبة عامِلة

The Riachi strategy is pure genius! The outcome so far/Rogers Bejjani/Face Book/May 16/16

The electoral lists competing with Hezbollah in municipal elections/Ahmad El Assaad/May 16/16
No mention of Israel, please/Hezbollah asks journalists to avoid implicating Israel in recent assassination of Mustafa Badreddine/Smadar Perry/Ynetnews/May 16/16
Lebanon seeks to ease concerns over US law on Hezbollah/Ynetnews/Reuters/May 16/16/
Badreddine hit sparks fear among Lebanon’s Shiites/Hanin Ghaddar/Now Lebanon/May 16/16
Takfiri culprits/Nicholas Blanford/Now Lebanon/May 16/16
Christian United Front between slogan and defeat/Peter Manoukian·Monday, May 16, 2016
What exactly is happening in Saudi Arabia/Noga Tarnopolsky/The Media Line/Jerusalem Post/May 16/16
Why target Yemen's Mukalla/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/May 16/16
The ‘moderate’ Hassan Rowhani praises Qassem Soleimani’s ‘heroism/Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/May 16/16
Instigators accountable/Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/May 16/16
Are the Arabs asking for too much/Khaled AlmaeenaAl Arabiya/May 16/16
Ahmadinejad's return to public eye in Iran fuels talk of a comeback/Reuters/Ynetnews/May 16/16
The Jihad on Christian Church Tents/Raymond Ibrahim/The Gatestone Institute/May 16, 2016

The Riachi strategy is pure genius! The outcome so far

The electoral lists competing with Hezbollah in municipal elections
No mention of Israel, please/Hezbollah asks journalists to avoid implicating Israel in recent assassination of Mustafa Badreddine
Lebanon seeks to ease concerns over US law on Hezbollah
Badreddine hit sparks fear among Lebanon’s Shiites
Takfiri culprits
Iran’s Soleimani visits Beirut to honor Badreddine
Christian United Front between slogan and defeat
Iran’s Soleimani visits Beirutto honor Badreddine
Municipal Vote: Murr, Kataeb Triumph in Sin el-Fil, N. Metn as FPM Wins in Hadath, Clinches 14 Out of 18 Seats in Jounieh
Rifi Says Authorities to Cooperate with STL if It Asks for Badreddine's DNA
Paris Says Seeking 'Int'l Conference' to Resolve Lebanon's Political Crisis
Maid to Measure: Lebanon Domestics Take to the Catwalk
Arslan Says Parties Used Civil Society Banner to Confront Him in Choueifat
Ahead of South Elections, Uncontested Municipal Wins Start Emerging
Jumblat, Arslan-Backed List Wins Municipal Seats in Baaqlin
Mustaqbal Backs Current Sidon Municipal Chief for Upcoming Polls
Salam Says U.S. Banking Sanctions Must Stay away from Spotlight
Report: Hariri in Paris for Talks with Hollande
Report: Nasrallah Meets Iran Deputy FM in Wake of Badreddine Killing
French FM, Ayrault to visit Lebanon to prepare for international conference on political gridlock, says ambassador
Bassil, Russian Ambassador discuss Vienna meeting on Syria
Bassil, Malcorra underline dire need for political solution in Syria

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 16-17/16
A group of over 100 Canadian politicians and business leaders from Ontario arrive in Israel to strengthen the Israel-Canada relationship.
World Powers Ready to Arm Libya in Fight against IS
U.S., S. Korea, Japan to Hold Joint Drill against N. Korea
Dubai Airport a Transit Point for Drugs Traffic to Europe, Says Italy
Top Kuwait Court Jails Stateless Activist over Protest
Netanyahu Calls Defense Minister to Order over Army Freedom of Speech
HRW Urges Jordan to Ease Transit for Gaza Palestinians
Bangladesh Opposition Official Arrested over Israel Meeting
U.S. Says Bid to Retake Iraq's Mosul from IS Making Progress
U.N. Envoy to Yemen Says Optimistic about Peace Deal
An update on anti-regime protests in Iran
PMOI supporters in Holland denounce Iran regime’s massacre in Syria
IRAN: Statement of Jafar Azimzadeh about the release of Ismail Abdi
Guards attack Kurdish political prisoners in Iran
Iran political prisoner is refused treatment after suspected heart attack

Links From Jihad Watch Site for May 16- 17/16
Iranian Navy Commander: If Americans “make even slightest mistake, their naval vessels will be sunk in the Persian Gulf”.
Al-Qaeda calls for jihad murder of U.S. business leaders.
Muslim nanny who beheaded 4-year-old, paraded head while screaming “Allahu akbar” won’t face trial: she’s insane.
Iran arrests eight for “un-Islamic” Instagram modelling.
European Union may ban deportation of terror suspects.
Oregon pastor accused of “bigotry” for church sign saying Qur’an is “just another book”.
Bangladesh: Muslims beat Hindu, make him do sit-ups by holding ears for “insulting Islam”.
Huffington Post calls on Christians to recognize Muhammad as a prophet.
Islamic State crucifies man for collaborating with the “Crusader coalition”.
Australia: Five Muslims arrested for trying to leave the country and join the Islamic State.
UK: Muslim “shouting all this Muslim stuff” savagely beats gay man.
Australia: Muslim avoids jail for sex assault: he has PTSD.

Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 16- 17/16

The Riachi strategy is pure genius! The outcome so far:

Rogers Bejjani/Face Book/May 16/16
1. The main stream non partisan 14 March elite was disillusioned with the LF, after the latter went to bed with the endorser of Hezbollah and Assad.
2. Mustaqbal, a sovereignist party calling for the rule of law, prosperity, peace, stability....has become the prime enemy in the eyes of LF.
3. The few Ahrar and Chamoun sympathizers who used to defend the LF, have turned their back to the latter and for good.
4. Many LF veterans and new sympathizers are disgusted with a moronic alliance that defies the principles that the LF have fought for since 1975. An alliance based on religion is simply idiotic.

Bravo Melhem!

The electoral lists competing with Hezbollah in municipal elections
Ahmad El Assaad/May 16/16
The electoral lists competing with Hezbollah in municipal elections might win, or they might lose; they might breach here or there, or they might not. But that’s not what it’s about. The important thing is the mere existence of these lists, which adds new data to the Shiite scene. It clearly shows that there is an increasing will to break free from monopoly in the Shiite community, and that there is a growing ambition to put an end to unilateralism. To read more: The electoral lists competing with Hezbollah in municipal elections might win, or they might lose; they might breach here or there, or they might not. But that’s not what it’s about. The important thing is the mere existence of these lists, which adds new data to the Shiite scene. It clearly shows that there is an increasing will to break free from monopoly in the Shiite community, and that there is a growing ambition to put an end to unilateralism.

No mention of Israel, please/Hezbollah asks journalists to avoid implicating Israel in recent assassination of Mustafa Badreddine
Smadar Perry/Ynetnews/May 16/16/Analysis: In unusual move, Hezbollah asks journalists to avoid implicating Israel in recent assassination of Mustafa Badreddine. Possible motive is the terror organization's hesitancy to open second front against Israel, considering it's already busy fighting in Syria.
Senior Hezbollah spokesmen recently contacted senior journalists in Lebanon and members of the foreign press with an unusual request: Don't mention Israel as being involved in the assassination of senior Hezbollah member Mustafa Badereddine. The editor of a Beirut daily told Yedioth Ahronoth on Sunday that his paper's reporters called Hezbollah spokespeople right after the publication of Baderaddine's death, asking for comment. Hezbollah's first statement on the matter pointed a finger at Israel, but a second statement was sent hours later clearing the Jewish state of any involvement. "Don't insert Israel's name into the matter," the editor quoted Hezbollah's people. This is interesting, because it's a contrast to the organization's behavior following three previous assassination cases – those of Imad Mughniyeh, Samir Kuntar, and Jihad Mughniyeh (Imad's son). Following those incidents, Hezbollah was quick to blame Israel and threaten that its revenge will come "in the time and place of our choosing." "No one is buying (Hezbollah) throwing responsibility (for Badereddine's assassination) onto the rebels in Syria," the editor said, "and the insistence to clear Israel also sounds strange." French journalist George Malbrunot of the Le Figaro newspaper said Sunday that "Senior Hezbollah members contacted foreign press outlets and foreign journalists with the same request: Don't involve Israel's name as the one that carried out the assassination." One estimate in Beirut is that Hezbollah's leadership decided to avoid opening a new front against Israel, and prevent the possibility of being dragged into a position in which they have to vow their revenge. "Hezbollah is deeply involved in a war in Syria which is taking great effort and causing it casualties, and Iran beleves that Hezbollah's fighters will not be able to handle two fronts," said sources in the Lebanese capital. Syrian opposition members claimed Sunday that the assassination was an inside job by Hezbollah members who oppose the organization's involvement in Syria. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has begun dealing with the question of Badreddine's heir. One of the leading candidates in the race to replace him as head of Hezbollah's military operations in Syria is Ibrahim Aqil, a close friend and aid of the late Imad Moghniyeh (who was assassinated in Damascus in 2008). Aqil was responsible for intelligence coordination between Hezbollah and Syria during the Second Lebanon War, and if appointed, he'll be working under Talal Hamiyah, head of Hezbollah's foreign operations. Ever since news of the assassination went public, Lebanese leaders have had a hard time hiding their schadenfreude regarding Hezbollah's troubles. They also mocked the Assad regime for choosing to remain silent on the matter, waiting until Hezbollah made official statements, even though the assassination happened in territory controlled by Assad's forces. Hazbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is expected to address the circumstances of Badreddine's death in a speech given on Friday.

Lebanon seeks to ease concerns over US law on Hezbollah
Ynetnews/Reuters/May 16/16/Hezbollah says Lebanon's Central Bank's adoption of new US law targeting the terror group's finances is a part of 'local war of elimination'; Central Bank governor says regulations protect ordinary citizens from having their accounts closed. The Lebanese prime minister sought to ease concerns about a new US law targeting Hezbollah's finances in comments published on Monday, after the group attacked the central bank for agreeing to measures it depicts as part of a war against it. The US Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act (HIFPA) passed in December threatens sanctions against anyone who finances Hezbollah in a significant way. It has ignited an unprecedented dispute between Lebanon's most powerful group - the heavily armed Hezbollah - and a central bank widely seen as a pillar of the otherwise weak and dysfunctional Lebanese state. Prime Minister Tammam Salam, in comments reported in As-Safir newspaper, warned against using the issue for political grandstanding. "We are dealing with it with the finance minister and the (central bank) governor, and matters are still under control," he said. Hezbollah MPs last week said the law was paving the way for "a local war of elimination" launched with the help of the Lebanese central bank and a number of other banks. It urged the central bank governor to review a recent circular to banks detailing regulations about who can be sanctioned. The MPs said the law would push the country "towards bankruptcy because of a wide rift" that would emerge between the Lebanese and the banks - a suggestion that many Lebanese would stop dealing with the banks for fear of being sanctioned. Hezbollah, whose fighters played a major role in forcing Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000, enjoys strong support in the Lebanese Shi'ite community. Its members include government ministers, MPs, and local councillors. Lebanon's banking sector accounts for around six percent of gross domestic product. Since 2001, the United States has put more than 100 individuals and entities affiliated with Hezbollah on sanctions lists under existing anti-terrorism funding legislation, but this new law is aimed at Hezbollah specifically. Iran-backed Hezbollah, classified as a terrorist group by the United States, wields enormous political influence in Lebanon and its powerful military wing is playing a major role in the Syrian conflict. Central Bank governor Riad Salameh recently used an interview on a flagship current affairs program to assure citizens the regulations protect them from having bank accounts arbitrarily blocked or closed. The United States has a list of people sanctioned for terrorism. A Lebanese bank or company doing business with one will not be able to do deal with any US financial institution because that institution could be fined for non-compliance. While in theory a Lebanese bank could carry on working with these individuals and just accept that it cannot have a relationship with international banks, Salameh said this would not be an option and all banks must comply. The Association of Banks in Lebanon said there are Lebanese banks in 33 countries and the regulations are necessary to keep Lebanon part of the global banking system. "While we will remain vigilant in our efforts to isolate Hezbollah from the international financial system, we will do so in a manner that protects, as much as possible, the Lebanese economy and financial system, and that does not target innocent people," the US Embassy in Beirut said in written answers to questions from Reuters.

Badreddine hit sparks fear among Lebanon’s Shiites
Hanin Ghaddar/Now Lebanon/May 16/16
Is Iran an ally? Some within the Lebanese Shiite community are reevaluating after the murky killing of a top Hezbollah commander in Syria
Someone assassinated top Hezbollah military commander Mustafa Badreddine last week. It is still unclear who did it, but the death led to obvious confusion and ambiguity among the Party of God and the Shiite community. From the manner in which his death was announced, to the too quick investigation into the incident and the shift in blame from Israel to “takfiris”—all are signs of doubt, indecision and insecurity.When Hezbollah announced the results of the investigation into Badreddine’s death on Saturday, no one believed them. Their own supporters did not believe it and they are still asking questions. No one is convinced that Badreddine died in battle like any other soldier because they all know how careful the commander used to travel around. They know that Hezbollah is lying. But whoever was behind the assassination, this mood of doubt and suspicion has brought to the surface concerns that Hezbollah and the Lebanon’s Shiite community possess about Iran, their main ally and patron in Syria. There are fears among the Shiite community that Badreddine could have been assassinated by an ally. At the beginning, Shiite fingers were pointing at three suspects: the Syrian regime, who could have given his details to either Israel or the “takfiris”; the Russians, who may have had beef with Badreddine himself; or the Iranians, who are desperate to open a new page with the West. But word on the street today is that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is to blame.
One theory is that Iran is desperately trying to please the West, even if it is at Hezbollah’s expense. Iran is enjoying new investment as a result of the nuclear deal it concluded with the US and other world powers while Hezbollah is currently facing new brutal sanctions. Iran is leading the battle in Syria while Hezbollah is suffering the most losses. Iran is making deals with the West while Arab Shiites are isolated more than ever. In addition, Badreddine—having been indicted by the international tribunal investigating Hariri’s death –may have become a liability to the powerbrokers in Tehran.
Another theory is that serious tension had arisen recently between Badreddine and the IRGC, mainly over the battle for Aleppo. According to sources, Iran asked Badreddine to deploy more Hezbollah fighters in Aleppo and its surrounding towns, but he refused because of large number of casualties Hezbollah recently suffered in the Aleppo area. This allegedly did not go well with the revolutionary guards. But the issue seems to be deeper than this.
Komeil, a Hezbollah fighter in Syria, told me that Hezbollah fighters are becoming more and more restless with the Iranian forces in Syria. “We were surprised with the Iranian’s weak military skills. We thought we’d be protected by them, but we were actually more skilled and they depended on us for protection.” He added that he was disappointed with the explanation of Badreddine’s death by Hezbollah’s leadership because it was not convincing at all. “We know from battles that the rebels do not have the military capability or advanced weapons to do this.”As for working with the Iranians in Syria, Komeil says they’re cheap and arrogant. “Many of our fighters refuse to cooperate with the Iranians. They’re asking us to die for them and I don’t want to sacrifice myself for anyone. Sometimes I feel I’m fighting alongside enemies who do not care if I am dead.”“We – as Hezbollah – should ask ourselves why we couldn’t accomplish anything in Syria, although we have advanced weapons, while the old Hezbollah generation achieved so much with more traditional weapons. We are fighting on the wrong land,” Komeil concludes. This feeling of frustration and discontent is spreading among Hezbollah fighters who feel that they are going to Syria to die for both the regime and Iran, without benefiting Lebanon, or more precisely, the Shiite community in Lebanon.
Another source pointed out that the Iranians responded to the killing of Badreddine in a detached way, if you compare it to their response and rhetoric when Imad Mughniyeh was killed. An Iranian presidential eulogy was released for Mughniyeh and the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon spoke during his funeral. The Iranian foreign minister also came to Beirut especially for the occasion, accompanied by a large delegation of political and military figures. None of this happened during Badreddine’s funeral. The official Iranian presence was trivial in comparison. Whether Iran was actually behind the assassination or not, this incident has prompted a wave of criticism against the revolutionary guards and the Iranian regime. This is not a new phenomenon, as the questioning of Iranian motives began last year after the conclusion of the nuclear agreement. Shiites in Lebanon started to realize that they’ve been played, and that Iran is starting to reap the benefits after decades of war with the West during which the Shiite community had to offer their blood and their lives.Badreddine’s true killers will not be revealed any time soon, but the tension between Hezbollah and Iran will be exposed and inflamed with every loss, every assassination and every betrayal. The Lebanese Shiites are realizing that this is not an alliance, not a partnership, but rather a relation between a superior and his subordinates. The problem is that Hezbollah is no longer the savior. No one is.
**Hanin Ghaddar is the managing editor of NOW and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council. She tweets @haningdr

Takfiri culprits
Nicholas Blanford/Now Lebanon/May 16/16
Hezbollah’s declaration that shelling by extremist groups in Syria was responsible for the death of Mustafa Badreddine last week has raised more questions than answers
The initial assumption was that Israel had assassinated Badreddine with an airstrike against a building in which he was staying near Damascus International Airport. Israel has the means and motive for such an act and it would fit the pattern of Israeli assassinations of senior Hezbollah cadres in recent years. But on Saturday morning it turned out that Hezbollah had an alternative culprit in mind. A statement declared that Badreddine had been caught in an artillery bombardment by “takfiri” groups present in the area. Hezbollah did not say whether it thought the militants had gained intelligence on Badreddine’s whereabouts and targeted him accordingly or simply hit him by chance.
Nevertheless, the explanation was unconvincing for many people. Hezbollah has not revealed the date of Badreddine’s death, although a politician close to the party told the Associated Press that the veteran resistance commander was killed on Thursday. But the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been no reports of shelling in the Damascus airport area since before Wednesday. Crucially, there were no claims of responsibility from any of the rebel groups operating in the area, which includes Jabhat al-Nusra, Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate. Indeed, the silence from the rebel factions in the Damascus area even after Hezbollah announced on Friday that Badreddine was dead is puzzling in itself given that many of them usually waste little time claiming credit for actions for which they had no involvement.
The one claim of responsibility from the rebels came from the Jaysh al-Sunna group which said it had killed Badreddine in Khan Touman in southern Aleppo province. If that were true, why would Hezbollah hide it and make up a story about “takfiris” killing Badreddine much further south in the Damascus airport area?Also it is unclear what weapon system would be in the hands of rebel groups in the vicinity of Damascus airport that could account for the “large explosion” that Hezbollah said on Friday killed Badreddine. Diplomatic sources in Beirut confirmed that there really was a powerful blast near Damascus airport on Thursday even if its origin remains unknown.
Ash Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Sunday that the nearest rebel groups to Damascus airport are about 12 kilometers away. That puts them within range of heavy artillery and a variety of surface-to-surface rockets, such as the 122mm Grad. But these are unguided systems and it would have been an exceptionally lucky (for the rebels) hit to kill Badreddine with one, even if they were aware of his location and aiming for it. Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to Hezbollah, had an intriguing article on Saturday claiming that Badreddine had been killed by a sophisticated guided missile which exploded a few meters from him. There was no mention of the means of delivery, whether jet, drone or even troops on the ground perhaps armed with a long-range anti-tank missile.
One avenue of speculation is that Hezbollah chose not to blame Israel because it is unwilling to risk an escalation with its old foe while busy fighting in Syria. However, this would be a most uncharacteristic course of action by Hezbollah and it would severely erode the deterrence posture it has spent years crafting against Israel. It seems, therefore, that Hezbollah has good reason to absolve Israel for this particular death beyond apprehension of igniting the southern front. Other theories suggest that Badreddine was killed as part of an internal feud or possibly because of his alleged connection to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The internal dynamics among Hezbollah’s leadership and top security personnel rarely see the light of day and the notion that Badreddine was dispatched by party rivals will remain conjecture. As for the linkage to the Hariri assassination, Hezbollah long ago moved on from fretting over the ramifications of the investigation and trial having conducted a skillful and well-presented propaganda campaign in 2010 to undermine the credibility of the tribunal. Today, events in the region have relegated news of the tribunal’s plodding proceedings to the back pages of newspapers.
Sources close to Hezbollah’s thinking are suggesting that certain Arab intelligence services could have had a hand in Badreddine’s death, with those of Saudi Arabia and Jordan topping the list. That may help explain how Badreddine might have been tracked down, but not necessarily shed light on how he was killed. One diplomatic source suggested that the perpetrator of the assassination could have operated via a proxy organization, pointing to the still clandestine linkages between Israel and Jabhat al-Nusra. The source noted that the Israeli military has been cooperating with Jabhat al-Nusra on the Golan Heights through a small intermediary group and has furnished the Al-Qaeda affiliate with weapons, intelligence and even helped write some of their press releases. Whether Israel utilized its relationship with Jabhat al-Nusra for a deniable strike against Badreddine remains, of course, speculative.
The truth behind Badreddine’s death may never be known, but what is evident is that it will make no difference to Hezbollah’s ongoing combat role in Syria. Badreddine’s replacement may well have been chosen already and will likely be as efficient as his predecessor. The mystery over Badreddine’s demise notwithstanding, it is business as usual for Hezbollah.
***Nicholas Blanford is Beirut correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor and Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Middle East Peace and Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security

Iran’s Soleimani visits Beirut to honor Badreddine
Now Lebanon/May 16/16/BEIRUT – The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force has made a short trip to Lebanon to offer condolences to the family of Mustafa Badreddine, a top Hezbollah official killed in mysterious circumstances in Syria.On Saturday, Qassem Soleimani visited Badreddine’s home in the Ghobeiry quarter of the sprawling Dahiyeh suburbs of Beirut, according to a Lebanese daily close to Hezbollah. “We have lost a leader and a dear brother. This tragedy is a great loss for the entire Islamic nation, as losing a figure like [Badreddine] cannot be limited [only] to a certain area, country or suburb,” Al-Akhbar quoted the Iranian general as telling the late Hezbollah commander’s mother. Soleimani also offered condolences to Badreddine’s son, Ali, telling him, “You will be on your father’s path… [and become] a role model for your generation.” Following his visit to slain Hezbollah commander’s home, Soleimani paid a visit to Hezbollah’s nearby Rawda Martyrs Cemetery, the burial place for leading party figures, including Badredinne. Al-Akhbar also reported that Soleimani was “surprised” by the details of Badreddine’s personal life, with the newspaper saying that his “family duties came before everything else, even security matters.”According to the report, Badreddine insisted on visiting his brother—who was suffering from cancer—at a hospital on a weekly basis from 2007 until his death in 2009 “without taking into account security concerns.”Hezbollah announced Friday that Badreddine—who replaced his brother-in-law Imad Mughniyeh as military commander of the party following his assassination in 2008—had been killed in a “large explosion” near Damascus International Airport. The party then raised eyebrows the following day when it blamed “takfiri” rebels, and not Israel, for the blast. No opposition factions took credit for an attack near the Damascus airport, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it its network of activists did not register any artillery attacks in the area in the past week.
**NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated the Arabic-language source material.

Christian United Front between slogan and defeat
Peter Manoukian·Monday, May 16, 2016
For those who know me closely should not argue that I have always been known as someone who believes firmly in the necessity of Unity among Lebanese Armenians, Lebanese Christians, Lebanese, Humanity.....Sadly and regretfully, A supposedly huge alliance with great momentum that theoretically would enjoy great popularity and win majority of seats in any elections between the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement suffered a shocking and for so many surprising drawback in the two rounds of the Lebanese municipality elections.The first moral defeat was in Beirut Christian areas where the voters voted for the opposing list, while the winning list contained candidates of both parties of this new alliance (FPM-LF). Another result in zahle was regarded as a victory, but now after the 2nd round a more careful analyze, Zahle results are regarded otherwise.
But the analyzes of this change of mood of Christian voters to lists not supported by this new understanding, they failed to find the real reason, some supposed it was an act more to express disapproval towards the future movement
But yesterday, the real picture was formulated.
As it seems, the two parties new alliance, who should have backed FPM claims of representing 70% of Christians, now backed with its largest former rival, the Lebanese Forces, now they should have represented at worst case scenario 80% . But if we look at the results of mount Lebanon, in Northern Maten, the Murr-Phalange alliance against this alliance has won in Maten coast, as a matter of fact it won the majority of Maten Municipalities, so at best case the LF-FPM have won around 40-45% of Votes maybe. Zahle now analysts have taken a second look, the alliance of LF-FPM also included the phalange and they won by 11.000 votes, while the second list of skaff won 9,500 votes, while Fattush won 8,000 votes so the two gathered won 60% of votes.
What does this tell us
- Christian environment is characterized by a lot of diversity, An alliance of parties, and specially in ikhtiyari-baladi local elections simply is unable to settle victories conclusive, independent figures and families are not affected by such influences. -The Christian public opinion is not fully convinced by such a new sudden unity which is not based on a clear transparent concrete road map, it simply was not convinced that a sudden unity was declared based on “ several months of dialogue, which resulted in a ten point declaration of points”, And as the leader of the Lebanese Forces read the ten points, he was jocking about it: “baddak ya3mela”s,(you should hope he commits to them and implements them) methods, and General Aoun replies “ since ever these ten points were in the conscious of the FPM” these ways failed to convince the public opinion who wondered, since they were already in FPMs conscious, why was the rivalry, and why should the LF need to set such points now, as the General says they were already in his policy, so what has changed as they were ALREADY in the path of the FPM. -The Christian public opinion also felt that this new unity had a tendency to neglect others, to try to eliminate others, this was the way the Ahrar were dealt with, and other independent figures, and the local families, and the tajadoud, and so many others, they failed to grasp why the LF would by making new friends they would ally with the new ones against the old ones such as the Ahrar, some places the Phalanges, the tajadoud.....So in my humble opinion, this new alliance must consider -A) to tend to be inclusive, and seek to establish unity with all components of the Christian Political groups, families, independents...-B)Change the “baddak ya3mela” bet in the Unknown (Majhoul) to a clear concrete serious transparent road map, a transparent one, one the public opinion needs to know the details, Anyway, failure to do so made this alliance appear weak and minority in the last two weeks elections.

Municipal Vote: Murr, Kataeb Triumph in Sin el-Fil, N. Metn as FPM Wins in Hadath, Clinches 14 Out of 18 Seats in Jounieh
Naharnet/May 16/16/The second round of the municipal elections was held Sunday in the Mount Lebanon district, amid claims of vote buying in the Keserouan region and security incidents in several areas. The elections covered 325 municipalities amid heavy security measures that were taken by the security forces and the army. The polls were held in the main electoral districts of Baabda, Jbeil, Keserouan, Aley, Chouf, and Metn. The Interior Ministry said that 45 municipalities had won uncontested. Major battles took place in several towns in light of the failure of the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement to strike an alliance in all regions.At 6:00 pm, one hour prior to the closure of polls, voter turnout was 56.5% in Jbeil, 47.2% in Metn, 49.5% in Chouf, 58% in Keserouan, 50% in Aley and 42% in Baabda, according to the Interior Ministry. According to Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, voter turnout stood at 56 percent in the entire governorate. "Six people were arrested – five over electoral bribery and the head of a polling station," Mashnouq announced at a press conference after the polls. The first results emerged from the Baabda district town of Hadath, where the Free Patriotic Movement boasted that it won 70% of the vote. In the city of Jbeil, incumbent municipal chief Ziad Hawat said his list won "more than 90% of the vote" in the face of a candidate who ran alone in the electoral battle. The candidate, Claude Marjeh, was nominated by the Citizens in a State secular campaign that is led by ex-minister Charbel Nahas. Meanwhile, MP Michel Murr, who is influential in the Northern Metn region, said the lists that he backed along with the Kataeb Party had won the municipal polls in Sin el-Fil, Brummana, Beit Mery and Baabdat. State-run National News Agency also confirmed that, according to early results, the list backed by Murr, Kataeb and some families had won in the face of a list fielded by the FPM and the Lebanese Forces in Sin el-Fil. The Murr-Kataeb alliance also won in the majority of towns in Northern Metn, according to unofficial results. And according to al-Jadeed television, a list backed by Hizbullah and AMAl Movement was leading by a landslide against a list formed by families and civil society activists in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh. The most heated battle occurred in the coastal city of Jounieh where a list headed by Juan Hbeish and backed by the FPM, Kataeb Party, al-Waad Party, and National Liberal Party won 14 out of 18 seats in the municipal council.
The National News Agency identified the four members who managed to win from the rival list as Fadi Fayyad, Fouad al-Bouwari, Silvio Shiha and Rodrigue Finianos. This list was headed by al-Bouwari and backed by influential ex-MPs Farid Haykal al-Khazen and Mansour Ghanem al-Bon, the Lebanese Forces, and the Maronite Foundation in the World. FPM founder MP Michel Aoun had paid a visit to Jounieh on Saturday night in an attempt to motivate people to head to the polls and vote in favor of the list headed by Hbeish. Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun commented: “It is unfortunate that the LF decided to wage the electoral battle against us.” During a visit to Jounieh's serail, Minister al-Mashnouq said he ordered the ejection of Juan Hbeish from a security meeting there "seeing as he is a candidate and should not be present in the meeting."Mashnouq also revealed that four people have been arrested in the Keserouan towns of Yahshoush and Raashin on charges of paying electoral bribes. Meanwhile, al-Jadeed television aired a video showing an apparent supporter of the list backed by the FPM and Kataeb paying $600 to one of its undercover correspondents after she convinced him that she could provide three votes for the list. In the Beirut southern suburbs of Ghobeiri, Bourj al-Barajneh and Haret Hreik --- Baabda district strongholds of Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement -- the lists backed by the two parties and the FPM confronted lists backed by families and the civil society. And in the coastal town of Choueifat in Aley district a heated battle occurred between rival lists backed by the Progressive Socialist Party of MP Walid Jumblat and the Lebanese Democratic Party of MP Talal Arslan.MTV also spoke of a heated battle in al-Damour region south of Beirut, saying some 10,000 voters were registered in the area and that the turnout could reach 40 or 50 percent. As for security, the Internal Security Forces said fifteen incidents had been recorded until the afternoon, resulting in the injury of at least five people. Electoral brawls outside polling stations forced a temporary suspension of the electoral process in Naameh, Haret al-Naameh, Afqa, al-Laqlouq, Shbaniyeh and Tartej. According to the interior minister, the ministry's Central Operations Center “replaced the head of the polling station in Jbeil's Tartej after three ballots were found in his pocket.”Later in the day, Mashnouq inspected polling stations in the Beirut southern suburb of Ghobeiri, which is part of the Baabda district. “The municipal polls are excellent in all regions and there are no significant security problems but rather democratic and normal competition,” Mashnouq said.“Lebanon currently needs a president, not parliamentary elections,” he added, in response to a question.
Fistfights also erupted outside polling stations in Jbeil and Dahieh as a verbal dispute was recorded outside a Jbeil polling station between supporters of ex-minister Charbel Nahas and others who back the list headed by Ziad Hawat.
Later in the day, a woman from the Shamas family was injured in an armed clash in the Jbeil town of Mishan and the electoral process was suspended, which prompted the intervention of the army's Airborne Regiment. Inside polling stations, two disputes were recorded in Jbeil, one in Metn, one in Chouf and two in Keserouan. The Interior Ministry announced that citizens can contact the 1766 hotline to file any complaint linked to the polls.The first round of the municipal polls were held in Beirut and the Bekaa region on May 8, while the third round, set for next Sunday, will be held in the South and Nabatiyeh, and the fourth and final round will be held in the North and Akkar on May 29.

Rifi Says Authorities to Cooperate with STL if It Asks for Badreddine's DNA
Naharnet/May 16/16/Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stressed Monday that Lebanese authorities will cooperate with the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon if it requests DNA samples to confirm the death of top Hizbullah military chief Mustafa Badreddine, who is wanted by the STL for alleged involvement in ex-PM Rafik Hariri's murder. “Rifi underlined willingness to cooperate with the STL in the case of ex-PM Hariri's assassination, emphasizing that any request from the court about the validation of the identity of any Accused will take its normal judicial course,” said a statement issued by Rifi's office. The minister voiced his remarks during a visit to the tombs of Hariri, slain ex-minister Mohammed Shatah and slain police intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan in central Beirut, where he laid a red flower on every tomb, his office added. Rifi noted that any STL request would be “referred to the public prosecutor's office, which would task the relevant authorities with conducting necessary DNA tests or any other measures that are aimed at unveiling the truth and fulfilling justice.”The STL said Friday that it “took note” of media reports announcing the death of Badreddine in a blast in Syria. “Pending a judicial determination, the STL is not in a position to make any comment on this announcement in the media,” the court said in a statement. “The Special Tribunal for Lebanon remains committed to fulfill its mandate with the highest standards of international Justice,” it stressed. The STL had indicted Hizbullah members Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra with Hariri's murder. A fifth suspect, Hassan Habib Merhi, was later charged. Lebanese authorities have failed to arrest any of them and they are all being tried in absentia. On Saturday, Hizbullah blamed “takfiri groups” for Badreddine's death. Badreddine, who was on a U.S. terror sanctions blacklist and wanted by Israel, was killed in an explosion on Thursday night near Damascus international airport. Hizbullah announced his death on Friday but without immediately apportioning blame, breaking with its usual pattern of accusing arch-foe Israel of responsibility. On Saturday, it said a probe had concluded that Sunni Islamist radicals known as "takfiris", who consider Shiites to be heretics, had killed Badreddine. "An investigation has shown that the blast that targeted one of our positions near the Damascus international airport that led to the martyrdom of the brother commander Mustafa Badreddine was caused by artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri groups present in that region," a Hizbullah statement said. It did not name any specific group, and there has been no claim of responsibility. A Syrian security source has told AFP that Badreddine was in a warehouse near the airport when it was rocked by a blast on Thursday night. No aircraft was heard before the explosion, the source said. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said no artillery fire had been heard in the area either in the past three days. Badreddine, who was in his mid-50s, was Hizbullah's top military commander. One of Hizbullah's most shadowy figures, Badreddine was also known by aliases Elias Saab and Sami Issa. He was only known to the public by a decades-old black-and-white photograph of a smiling young man wearing a suit until Hizbullah released a new image of him in military uniform. Badreddine was also known for his expertise in explosives, apparently developing what would become his trademark explosive technique by adding gas to increase the power of sophisticated explosives. He was also suspected of involvement in the 1983 bombings of the U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait that killed five people. He was detained in Kuwait where he was sentenced to death and imprisoned for years until he fled jail in 1990 after Iraq's Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait.

Paris Says Seeking 'Int'l Conference' to Resolve Lebanon's Political Crisis
Naharnet/May 16/16/France announced Monday that it is seeking to hold an “international conference” aimed at helping Lebanon resolve its “constitutional and political crises.”“The French foreign minister will visit Lebanon on May 27 for talks with all Lebanese political parties and authorities with the aim of preparing for an international conference to resolve the constitutional and political crises,” French Ambassador to Lebanon Emmanuel Bonne said after meeting Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil. Describing French FM Jean-Marc Ayrault's upcoming visit as “very important,” Bonne said he reminded Bassil that French President Francois Hollande's trip to Lebanon in April had involved a call for “reaching a political understanding that would lead to the election of a president, the formation of a national unity government and the election of a truly representative parliament.”“Any solution proposal should be built with all the parties, seeing as we can help, support and talk with everyone. We actually talk with everyone, but we cannot vote instead of the Lebanese MPs themselves,” Bonne added, in response to a question. “We want to push the international community to act and we would then see what shape and format would be most appropriate to hold this conference,” the ambassador said. Noting that the responsibility for “resolving Lebanon’s crisis” falls on “the Lebanese themselves,” Bonne underlined that “the international community must do everything in its capacity to preserve peace, security and stability in this country.”Asked whether Ayrault will meet with any Hizbullah officials, the French envoy said the visit's program is still being prepared. But he added: “As you know, we have ties with Hizbullah, and we talk with them at various levels. For example, when the head of the French Senate visited Beirut in September, he met with a Hizbullah delegation, and I also meet with Hizbullah officials from time to time.” Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 due to electoral rivalry and sharp political disputes among the parties. After a Paris meeting with ex-PM Saad Hariri last year, Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh emerged as a serious presidential candidate but the proposal to nominate Franjieh was met with reservations from Lebanon's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Franjieh's main competitor, Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun, enjoys key support from Hizbullah and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and has refused to withdraw from the race.

Maid to Measure: Lebanon Domestics Take to the Catwalk
Naharnet/May 16/16/Anna Fernando struts down the black-and-white tiles of a trendy coffee shop in the Lebanese capital, dressed in high heels and a strapless ball gown of caramel gauze ribbons. The 43-year-old left her native Sri Lanka 21 years ago to work as a maid in Lebanon, determined to provide her children with better opportunities in life than her own. On her day off this weekend, she joined a dozen other domestic workers at a modeling show in central Beirut organized by local NGO Insaan, Arabic for "human being". "Even if I work like a maid, I'm a human being," Anna says backstage, her eyes thick with mascara before her name is called to show off the work of young Lebanese designers. Sunday's fashion show is part of an effort to humanize an estimated 250,000 foreign domestic workers who toil in the kitchens and living rooms of Lebanese families. Now in its fourth year, the show aims to give participants the opportunity to be seen as something other than the hired help. "In Lebanese society, they live like all other women when they're not at work," says Rania Dirani, the head of Insaan. Rights groups often accuse Lebanon and Gulf states of racist and degrading treatment of migrant domestic workers, who are often referred to simply as "servants" or "Sri Lankans", regardless of their actual nationality.
'Not only domestic workers'
Most overseas workers work under a restrictive sponsorship system called "kafala" that leaves them dependent on their employer's goodwill and unable to escape abusive work relationships. Domestic workers are not protected by Lebanese labor law, despite the efforts of a new union begun for them early last year with the support of the country's federation of labor unions. "At this fashion show we want to tell all these people we are not only domestic workers," Sumy Khan from Bangladesh says. The 22-year-old with short hair and tattoos says she would have loved to have studied journalism at home in Bangladesh, but that she had to leave two years ago to support her family. As she paraded down the catwalk in a short cream-and-white onesie between Lebanese and foreigners huddled along its edge, cameras in hand, her friends whooped and clapped in support. The fashion show is just one of several civil society initiatives that seeks to combat often discriminatory and exploitative attitudes towards domestic workers. Last year, a domestic help agency in Lebanon put out an ad on Mother's Day that was slammed by activists as racist and wildly dehumanizing. "For Mother's Day indulge Ur Mom & offer her a housekeeper. Special offer on Kenyan & Ethiopian nationalities for a period of 10 days," read a text message sent to thousands of mobile phone users and subsequently picked up by media. The American University of Beirut last year surveyed 1,200 employers in Lebanon on their views of domestic workers, and Lebanese rights group Kafa has turned the results into an online campaign."Fifty-one percent of Lebanese women think (their) domestic worker is not trustworthy -- although she takes care of their children," goes one line.
'Now a migrant chef'
Standing out among the models on Sunday, Alix Lenoir, a 20-year-old Franco-Lebanese student of industrial design, says she decided to join to connect with other participants. "I think it's a shame that these women in our society in Lebanon have had a little of their confidence taken away from them," she says.
"When they go out, they go out among themselves -- not with other people." By the end of the evening, Lenoir is hugging one of her fellow models -- 18-year-old Iman Bachir, the daughter of migrant workers from Sudan -- and promising to meet up soon. Fernando says her sacrifice of living away from her family for two decades has paid off. Today, her 21-year-old daughter is studying pharmacology and her 22-year-old son is about to graduate as an army officer in Sri Lanka. And she is starting up a small catering business. "People love Sri Lankan food. It's delicious, full of spices, and very good for you," reads her business card, on which her name sits in a circle of fresh herbs, chillies and spices. She cooks Sri Lankan, Indian and Nepali dishes, the card says, and Lebanon-based foodies can order fluffy rice and fragrant curries by phone, via email or Facebook. "I'm now a migrant chef," she says.

Arslan Says Parties Used Civil Society Banner to Confront Him in Choueifat
Naharnet/May 16/16/Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan on Monday accused some political parties of “hiding” behind the banner of the civil society in a bid to oust his major influence in the Choueifat area where municipal polls were held on Sunday. “I wish our list won all the seats but this is what happens in elections. Sometimes there is no full victory or a full loss,” said Arslan at a press conference, referring to the fact that the rival list managed to clinch three seats on the municipal council. The list backed by Arslan won the other fifteen seats.“We regret that the new municipal council will not include any representative of Khalde's Arab tribes,” Arslan added. “Yesterday's polls proved that the civil society's political weight is exaggerated and that some political parties used the civil society banner to deceive the public opinion,” the Druze leader said. According to media reports, the rival list comprised civil society figures and others backed by the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party. “The three members who won from the rival list are one backed by the Communist Party, a PSP member and a third who is close to us, so where is the civil society?” Arslan asked. Mount Lebanon witnessed on Sunday the second round of municipal elections that had kicked off in Beirut and the Bekaa region on May 8. The next round of the elections will be held in the South and Nabatiyeh on May 22 and the final round will be held in the North and Akkar on May 29.

Ahead of South Elections, Uncontested Municipal Wins Start Emerging
Naharnet/May 16/16/A municipal list running for the upcoming municipal polls in the South has won uncontested in the village of Bnaafoul, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday. The list is backed by the AMAL movement and Hizbullah party and is comprised of 12 seats. Bnaafoul is a village in the district of Sidon in the South governorate. In another southern town, Hizbullah and AMAL reached consensus in the municipality of Khirbet Selem after the withdrawal of other candidates in favor of their "Loyalty and Development for Khirbet Selem List", which won uncontested, NNA said. Municipal elections in South Lebanon and Nabatieh are set to be held on Sunday May 22. The elections kicked off first in Beirut and eastern Bekaa region on May 8 and were then followed by the Mount Lebanon elections on May 15. The fourth round will be held in the North and Akkar on May 29.

Jumblat, Arslan-Backed List Wins Municipal Seats in Baaqlin
Naharnet/May 16/16/A list backed by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has won seats in the municipal council in the Baaqlin region in Mount Lebanon. MP Marwan Hamadeh said that the victory of the “Baaqlin Decision” list demonstrates the locals' “firm path in the town.”The elections emphasize the “democratic competition and the need to preserve the unity of the national course in Mount Lebanon under the sponsorship of Jumblat.”The list, headed by Abdullah al-Ghosseini, is backed by Hamadeh and the Lebanese Democratic Party of MP Talal Arslan. “I hope that the new council will see its unity as a source of strength and be able to achieve accomplishments in all developmental, social, environmental, and cultural fields,” added Hamadeh. Mount Lebanon witnessed on Sunday the second round of municipal elections that had kicked off in Beirut and the Bekaa region on May 8.
The next round of the elections will be held in the South and Nabatiyeh on May 22 and the final round will be held in the North and Akkar on May 29.

Mustaqbal Backs Current Sidon Municipal Chief for Upcoming Polls
Naharnet/May 16/16/Secretary General of al-Mustaqbal Movement Ahmed al-Hariri announced that the movement backs a list headed by current municipal chief of Sidon, Mohammed al-Saudi, for the upcoming municipal polls, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday. “Al-Saudi deserves a lot because he is the son of Sidon. He made many accomplishments for this city which he was able to put on the road to modern development when we put our hand in his hand,” said Hariri in a popular gathering organized by youth of the Hay Maksar al-Abed in Sidon. In addition to the Mustaqbal Movement, Al-Saudi is backed by al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, and former Municipal Chief Abdul-Rahman Bizri. Seeking a second term, he is facing two other lists in the southern city, one headed by Bilal Shaaban and backed by the Popular Nasserite Organization Secretary General Osama Saad. The third list is headed by former al-Jamaa al-Islamiya senior official Ali Sheikh Ammar, who formed an independent 17-member list backed by supporters of imprisoned salafist Ahmed al-Assir. The third round of the municipal polls will take place in south Lebanon and Nabatieh on May 22. The polls were first held in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley on May 8. Mount Lebanon elections witnessed a heated competition on May 15. The fourth and last round will be held on May 29 in the North.

Salam Says U.S. Banking Sanctions Must Stay away from Spotlight
Naharnet/May 16/16/Prime Minister Tammam Salam emphasized that the banking sanctions file against Hizbullah is a sensitive issue that must be kept away from the media spotlight, As Safir daily reported on Monday. Salam has voiced calls “to keep the issue away from political deliberations and from the media because it is an important and critical file that has specific circumstances,” the daily quoted visitors to the PM. The Prime Minister assured in front of his visitors that he is addressing the matter with Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh. He pointed out that things are “still under control knowing that no progress or a setback has been recorded.”In April, Lebanese banks began taking measures against persons or institutions in accordance to a U.S. law that imposes sanctions on banks that knowingly do business with Hizbullah. U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Hizbullah International Financing Prevention Act on Dec. 18. Since then, Lebanese officials and bankers have been flying to Washington to discuss the move with American officials. The U.S. treasury department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, issued regulations last month aimed at implementing the Hizbullah financing prevention act. Many in Lebanon are worried that the U.S. legislation will have negative effects on the Lebanese banking sector, which is one of the most active industries in the country. OFAC's list includes names of officials, businessmen and institutions that the U.S. says are linked to Hizbullah. The list includes the Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasarallah and top military commander Mustafa Badreddine as well as some businessmen. The list also includes the group's al-Manar TV and Al-Nour Radio. Nasrallah said in December 2015, when the law was signed, that his group does not deal with Lebanese or foreign banks.

Report: Hariri in Paris for Talks with Hollande
Naharnet/May 16/16/Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri traveled to Paris over the weekend to hold a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, al-Liwaa daily reported on Monday. Hariri is set to hold talks with Hollande on Tuesday, said the daily. The ex-PM flew from Istanbul to Paris on Saturday after attending the wedding ceremony of the daughter of Turkish President Recep Tayib Erdogan. Reports said that discussions will focus on the two-year presidential vacuum. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of president Michel Suleiman ended.

Report: Nasrallah Meets Iran Deputy FM in Wake of Badreddine Killing
Naharnet/May 16/16/Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has met with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a pro-Hizbullah TV network reported on Sunday, three days after the reported death in Syria of the party's top military chief Mustafa Badreddine. “Nasrallah told Abdollahian that the takfiris' (Sunni extremists) attempts to spread chaos in Iraq and Syria are linked to Israel,” al-Mayadeen TV said. On Saturday, Hizbullah blamed “takfiri groups” for Badreddine's death and vowed to keep fighting to defend President Bashar Assad's regime. Hizbullah has deployed thousands of fighters in Syria where Badreddine had led its intervention in support of Assad's forces, which are also backed by Russia and Iran. Badreddine, who was on a U.S. terror sanctions blacklist and wanted by Israel, was killed in an explosion on Thursday night near Damascus international airport. Hizbullah announced his death on Friday but without immediately apportioning blame, breaking with its usual pattern of accusing arch-foe Israel of responsibility. On Saturday, it said a probe had concluded that Sunni Islamist radicals known as "takfiris", who consider Shiites to be heretics, had killed Badreddine. "An investigation has shown that the blast that targeted one of our positions near the Damascus international airport that led to the martyrdom of the brother commander Mustafa Badreddine was caused by artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri groups present in that region," a Hizbullah statement said.
It did not name any specific group, and there has been no claim of responsibility. A Syrian security source has told AFP that Badreddine was in a warehouse near the airport when it was rocked by a blast on Thursday night. No aircraft was heard before the explosion, the source said. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said no artillery fire had been heard in the area either in the past three days.

French FM, Ayrault to visit Lebanon to prepare for international conference on political gridlock, says ambassador
Mon 16 May 2016/NNA - French Foreign Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, will visit Lebanon on May 27, to hold talks with the Lebanese parties and authorities aimed to prepare for an international conference with the hope of helping resolve the current constitutional and political crises in the country, French Ambassador in Beirut, Emmanuel Bonne, told reporters following a meeting with Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, on Monday. The diplomat visited Bassil today to discuss Ayrault's imminent visit, with Bonne reiterating the necessity to reach political understanding "that would lead to the election of a president, the formation of a national unity government, and the election of a Parliament where all sides are effectively represented." "Ayrault's visit will aim to work on the points that we have just mentioned. We do want to work to motivate the international community; then, we will see which formula to adopt in order to hold the sought conference," Bonne said. "We also consider that it is necessary to [have] an international frame to facilitate the resolving of the crisis in Lebanon. It is true that this is the mission of the Lebanese, but the international community, for its part, must also do its best to preserve peace, security, and stability in this country," he added. In response to a question about whether Ayrault would meet with Hezbollah, Bonne said that that depended on his schedule. "As you know, we do have relations with Hezbollah, and we do speak with the party on many levels," he indicated.

Bassil, Russian Ambassador discuss Vienna meeting on Syria
Mon 16 May 2016/NNA - Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, met on Monday with Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, over the ongoing preparations for the imminent meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), to be held in Vienna, to discuss latest developments in the war-torn country. "We want the talks to be constructive and fruitful in terms of clinching truce and accelerating the provision of humanitarian aids, in a way that complies with the efficacy of the inter-Syrian dialogue," the diplomat told reporters following the meeting. "Normally, the Russian side will focus on a number of key points, such as the closure of the Turkish-Syrian borders in order to curb arm transfer, and the distinction among the factions taking part in the cease-fire, and terrorists," he said. "We will also ask for the assessment of the humanitarian situation, to avoid the exertion of pressures of the Syrian government, but only because there really are anti-regime sides hindering the provision of aids," he explained. "Other issues must be solved as well, just like the extension of the representation of the Syrian opposition, especially in terms of finding a solution to the issue of Kurds' participation," he continued, stressing on the peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict.

Bassil, Malcorra underline dire need for political solution in Syria
Mon 16 May 2016 /NNA - Foreign and Expatriates Minister Jibran Bassil categorically underlined the pressing need for finding a political solution to Syria that contributes to preserving the integrity of its territories and addressing the major challenges in front of Lebanon due to the Syrian displacement. Minister Bassil's fresh words came on Monday during a joint press conference with his Argentinean counterpart, Susana Malcorra, in the wake of their meeting at Villa Boustros. "Resettlement is constitutionally not allowed," said Bassil, indicating that the sole solution lies in their return to their homeland. Bassil solicited Argentina and the international community's support to its stance and preserving Lebanon's unique model. Malcorra, for her part, reiterated the pressing need for finding a political solution to Syria, for the sake of building a secure Syria and safe society capable of living in peace. Malcorra also deemed Lebanese-Argentinean relations as deeply entrenched in history, sharing numerous things in common. She also noted that addressing the Syrian refugees' crisis is a 'joint responsibility.'

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 16-17/16

A group of over 100 Canadian politicians and business leaders from Ontario arrive in Israel to strengthen the Israel-Canada relationship.
Gilad Morag/Ynetnews /May 16/16/The Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, arrived in Israel at the head of a delegation of over 100 Canadian politicians and business leaders on Sunday. Included in the delegation is Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Hon. Dr. Eric Hoskins, and Ontario Minister of and Development Reza Moridi, amongst others. Ontario is the most populous province in Canada, and is also home to Toronto, the most populous city in Canada. Ten of the world's largest tech companies have their research and development centers in the province, and the information technology sector provides over 250,000 jobs. Teva Pharmaceuticals even has a production facility an hour outside of Toronto, and many Israelis have set up hi tech and med tech companies in the province. Israel-Canada relations. In a preliminary visit to Canada, Canadian representatives explained to the Israelis present why the relationship between the two countries is so important, and why they want to strengthen it. "Israel may be small, but there is definitely a market there," the Canadians said, adding that Israel punches above its weight. Premier Wynne added that "before I was a politician, I was an educator and worked at a Jewish school. We worked on subjects such as conflict resolution, something which was very important to me, and something which led me into politics."One of the prime examples of development and entrepreneurship Ontario has to offer is the Mars Building situated in the heart of Toronto. The building, a former hospital, has been turned into a complex for hi tech medical sciences and information technology. The companies based there have been chosen to receive government support due to their commercial viability. Earl Miller, a Mars Building representative, explained the rationale behind the Canadian project. "We provide assistance to companies which want to develop in the bio-tech and info-tech sectors. It's difficult to commercialize a product, so while the various institutions and companies do the research, we assist with the commercialization." Gal Sela of Synaptive Medical Inc which operates in the building is an Israeli who lived most of his life in Canada. "I started the company with three others in 2012, and today, we've grown to 210 employees. We started by dealing with medical physics, and we have seven products which have already been approved for use. One of our products assists with neurosurgery. It's like a GPS for the brain – forms a map of the brain and tells the surgeon exactly where to operate. We are also focusing on the US market, and our products have already been used in over 700 surgeries."

World Powers Ready to Arm Libya in Fight against IS
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/The United States, Italy and Libya's friends and neighbors agreed Monday to arm the war-torn country's fledgling unity government to fight the Islamic State threat. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a 25-member group had agreed to exempt the Government of National Accord from the U.N. arms embargo imposed to halt the Libyan conflict. Along with Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Kerry said there are no plans to deploy an international military force in Libya to support the new government. But he said Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj had come to Vienna with a request for equipment and training which the international ministers present were ready to support. "The United States stands ready to provide humanitarian, economic and security support to the new Libyan government on their request," Kerry said. World powers, he said, will support the GNA's exemption "from the U.N. arms embargo to acquire those weapons and bullets needed to fight Daesh and other terrorist groups." The Islamic State group, or Daesh, has seized upon the chaos in Libya to carve out a sizable enclave around the Mediterranean city of Sirte and to launch attacks beyond.
The international community, particularly European powers, are also concerned about a stream of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya's unsecured coast. Gentiloni told reporters in Vienna that "the stabilization of Libya is the key answer to the risks that we have, and to stabilize Libya we need a government." He hailed Sarraj's decision to create a "presidential guard, which we will support" and a joint operations center to coordinate a Libyan campaign to defeat the IS menace. Sarraj thanked the ministers for their support and insisted the Libyans would take the lead in defeating the militants, while seeking weapons and training from abroad. "The situation in Libya is extremely bad, I'll be very frank, economically, financially and security-wise. It requires the collaboration of all parties," he said. The three were speaking after a meeting of senior officials from 21 governments and four international organizations, called by Gentiloni and Kerry to address the crisis. The group included the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council as well as Libya's neighbors, ensuring that a move to exempt the GNA from the embargo are likely to succeed.
The broader ban on supplying weapons to Libya's other warring factions will remain in place, and even be strengthened, the ministers said.
Struggle against rivals
Libya fell into chaos after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Now, rival militias vie to control the oil-rich country. Last year, the Islamic State group seized the coastal city of Sirte -- Gadhafi's hometown -- and transformed it into a training camp for militants.
The unity government was formed in late March after months of negotiation by U.N. mediators. But while the Government of National Accord has received backing from key institutions like the central bank and the National Oil Corporation, it still faces resistance. Rival administrations in the east and west of Libya -- along with armed militias and a would-be army under a rogue general -- still refuse its authority.
- Springboard for attacks
Europe fears the IS jihadists, who have in recent weeks made new advances, could use Sirte's port and airport as a springboard to launch attacks on the continent. In their joint statement the ministers placed their support behind the GNA as sole Libyan authority and threatened more economic sanctions against factions that resist its rule. "We are ready to respond to the Libyan government's requests for training and equipping the Presidential Guard and vetted forces from throughout Libya," they said. Libya's divisions have once again deepened in recent days, with the GNA and renegade general Khalifa Haftar's forces each announcing their own plans to liberate Sirte. IS is estimated to have around 5,000 fighters in Libya, and it is trying to enlist hundreds more. This month the jihadists launched suicide attacks on key checkpoints in government-held territory along the coast. The move allowed them to build a defensive line along part of the coastal highway that links the east of Libya where Haftar is based with Tripoli in the west.

U.S., S. Korea, Japan to Hold Joint Drill against N. Korea
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/South Korea, Japan and the United States will hold their first anti-missile drills together next month to guard against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea, a Seoul official said Monday. The drill will be held in the waters near Hawaii on June 28, said an official at the Seoul's defense ministry, ahead of the U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific naval exercises. "The training will involve detecting and tracing an imaginary missile from North Korea, but will not include missile interception," said the official. The U.S. will launch an airplane as a mock-up missile, which all three countries will monitor from ships equipped with an Aegis anti-missile system, Yonhap news agency reported. The upcoming exercise was proposed at a trilateral military meeting held after the North's long-range rocket launch in February, the official added. The rocket launch -- held a month after Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test and seen as a disguised ballistic missile test -- drew widespread condemnation and prompted the UN Security Council to slap its toughest sanctions ever on North Korea. Existing UN resolutions forbid the North from the use of any ballistic missile-related technology. Pyongyang responded by launching a series of short-range missiles off its east coast and trying -- although unsuccessfully -- to test-fire a powerful, new medium-range missile in April. The North has recently claimed a series of major technical breakthroughs in developing what it sees as the ultimate goal of its nuclear drive: an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.

Dubai Airport a Transit Point for Drugs Traffic to Europe, Says Italy
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/Dubai airport has become a transit point for smugglers bringing high-value narcotics into Europe, the Italian police said on Monday. Two smugglers have been arrested in recent days at Rome's Fiumicino airport after arriving via Dubai, they said. One was an 19-year-old Slovak with two kilos (4.4 pounds) of cocaine stashed in a false bottom of his suitcase who had departed from Rio de Janeiro, while the other was a Nigerian who hid vials of cocaine in his socks. The street value of the two seizures was put at around half a million dollars (441,000 euros). The smugglers do not leave Dubai's transit lounge, as this would expose them to customs checks, the police said in a press release. Instead, they use the Dubai-Europe leg and the tough anti-drug reputation of the United Arab Emirates to mask the country where they began their trip."The trick aims at providing the smuggler with an itinerary that looks unsuspicious to police officers," they said.

Top Kuwait Court Jails Stateless Activist over Protest
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/Kuwait's supreme court on Monday upheld a one-year jail sentence against leading stateless rights activist Abdulhakeem al-Fadhli and five others for demonstrating. The six men were convicted of illegal assembly, defying orders and assaulting police, according to the court ruling which also states they will be deported from the oil-rich Gulf state after serving the jail term. They were arrested in 2014 after taking part in a protest to demand Kuwaiti citizenship and other basic rights by stateless people, locally known as bidoons. In January 2015, a lower court jailed him to one year in prison but suspended the sentence to allow higher courts to review the case. The appeals court later confirmed the sentence which was upheld Monday by the supreme court. Fadhli was arrested again last month while taking part in a political rally and jailed. The human rights activist has been detained several times for taking part in pro-stateless activities. Bidoons were born and raised in Kuwait and claim the right to Kuwaiti citizenship. But the government says only 34,000 of an estimated 110,000 stateless qualify for consideration and that the rest hold other nationalities. Dozens of bidoons and their Kuwaiti supporters were arrested for taking part in protests staged between 2011 and 2014 to press for resolving the decades-old problem. Some of the detainees were acquitted while others were jailed. External Affairs Minister of the African island nation of Comoros Abdulkarim Mohamed was quoted by Kuwaiti press on Monday as saying that his country was ready to consider taking Kuwait's bidoons.

Netanyahu Calls Defense Minister to Order over Army Freedom of Speech
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to order on Monday at a time of tensions over the right of military officers to speak their minds. Yaalon on Sunday delivered a speech to senior officers in which he implored them to "continue speaking your minds". "Do so even if your remarks aren't part of the mainstream, and even if they are at odds with ideas and stances held by the senior command or political echelon," Yaalon said. His remarks were perceived as a public show of support for Major General Yair Golan, deputy head of the armed forces, who on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day this month made remarks comparing contemporary Israeli society to Nazi Germany. Yaalon had stood up for Golan, stressing that military commanders should not only "lead soldiers into battle" but also teach them "values, with a compass and conscience". Netanyahu had criticized the deputy chief of staff's "outrageous" remarks as "utterly mistaken and unacceptable", adding however a few days later that "the affair is behind us". Sources described by Israeli media as "close to Netanyahu" said following Yaalon's speech the premier was surprised his defense minister was raising the issue of Golan's speech again, and Netanyahu summoned Yaalon to a meeting on Monday. A statement released by Netanyahu's office late Sunday reiterated that Golan's comparison was an "inappropriate remark" that harmed Israel internationally. Following the Monday meeting, the offices of Netanyahu and Yaalon issued a joint statement saying the two had clarified issues. "There is no dispute, nor was there ever one, that the army is subordinate to the political echelon, and officers are free to express their opinions in the relevant forums," the statement read. The military establishment has been taking an active stance in publicly defining the parameters of morality amid a wave of Palestinian violence, at times to the chagrin or rightwing ministers and lawmakers. Since October last year, 204 Palestinians and 28 Israelis have been killed, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say. The chief-of-staff, Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot, angered politicians in February with remarks warning young soldiers not to use excessive force in subduing suspected Palestinian assailants. And the top brass, as well as Yaalon, strongly condemned Elor Azaria, a soldier standing trial in military court for shooting dead a prone and wounded Palestinian assailant, even before the trial began. Rightwing politicians, including the Education Minister Naftali Bennett, defended the soldier, saying "he is not a murderer," while thousands of Israelis marched in support of him. Ben Caspit, a columnist for the Mariv newspaper, called it a "cultural war" at the center of Netanyahu's government -- one of the most rightwing in Israel's history. "This is war of the few against the many. Yaalon has been standing almost entirely alone in the fray," he wrote. "Prime Minister Netanyahu, his ministers, and almost all the Likud MPs are facing off against him." Political calculations have also fed the row -- Israeli media have speculated that Yaalon could be planning to leave Likud and form his own party. Netanyahu is also reportedly in negotiations with two prominent opposition leaders about joining his government, which has only a one-seat majority in the 120-member parliament. Israeli media have speculated that Netanyahu might offer up the defense ministry portfolio to entice either rightwing former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman or Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog into government and secure a larger majority.

HRW Urges Jordan to Ease Transit for Gaza Palestinians
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/Human Rights Watch urged Jordan Monday to lift recent "restrictions" on transit through its territory of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, but the authorities in Amman denied any policy change. Since August 2015, "Palestinians from Gaza have found it increasingly difficult to get permission to transit through Jordan to travel abroad, without any explanation for the change," HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson wrote in a letter to the Jordanian authorities. Israel has imposed a land, air and sea blockade since 2006 on the Islamist Hamas-controled Gaza Strip, which is bordered to the north and east by the Jewish state and to the west by the Mediterranean. To the south, the Palestinian enclave is also subject to an Egyptian blockade. Since the closure of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, up to 100 Gazans, mostly students and businessmen, are allowed to transit Israel every week to travel abroad via the West Bank and Jordan, the New York-based rights group said. HRW said that "until recently", Jordan helped to facilitate such travel. "However, since August 2015, individuals, lawyers, and human rights organisations have found that such requests have largely been refused by Jordan or received no response," the rights group's letter said. Jordanian authorities denied that Amman's policy has changed. "There is no change in Jordan's policy relating to the transit of our Palestinian brothers, including those in Gaza," a government source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source said that "11,116 Gazans entered or transited Jordan in 2015". "Freedom of travel for Gazans is primarily the responsibility of Israel and Egypt," the source added. Jordan's government spokesman Mohamed Momani told AFP: "We continue to help (the Palestinians) on all levels, including freedom of movement." "The solution to all these problems is an end to Israeli settlements and the creation of a Palestinian state so the Palestinian people... can enjoy all of their rights," he added. HRW said that between last August and January 2016, 58 people contacted Israel's Gisha rights group which helps Gazans seeking Israeli permission to travel, "saying their requests for Jordanian permission to transit had been rejected or that they had received no answer". Previously, Gisha "was hearing of virtually no refusals", HRW said. It called on Jordan to facilitate transit for Gaza residents, urging Amman to "ensure that their decisions are transparent, are not arbitrary, and take into consideration the human rights of those affected".

HRW Urges Jordan to Ease Transit for Gaza Palestinians
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/Human Rights Watch urged Jordan Monday to lift recent "restrictions" on transit through its territory of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, but the authorities in Amman denied any policy change. Since August 2015, "Palestinians from Gaza have found it increasingly difficult to get permission to transit through Jordan to travel abroad, without any explanation for the change," HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson wrote in a letter to the Jordanian authorities.Israel has imposed a land, air and sea blockade since 2006 on the Islamist Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which is bordered to the north and east by the Jewish state and to the west by the Mediterranean. To the south, the Palestinian enclave is also subject to an Egyptian blockade. Since the closure of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, up to 100 Gazans, mostly students and businessmen, are allowed to transit Israel every week to travel abroad via the West Bank and Jordan, the New York-based rights group said. HRW said that "until recently", Jordan helped to facilitate such travel. "However, since August 2015, individuals, lawyers, and human rights organisations have found that such requests have largely been refused by Jordan or received no response," the rights group's letter said. Jordanian authorities denied that Amman's policy has changed. "There is no change in Jordan's policy relating to the transit of our Palestinian brothers, including those in Gaza," a government source told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source said that "11,116 Gazans entered or transited Jordan in 2015". "Freedom of travel for Gazans is primarily the responsibility of Israel and Egypt," the source added. Jordan's government spokesman Mohamed Momani told AFP: "We continue to help (the Palestinians) on all levels, including freedom of movement.""The solution to all these problems is an end to Israeli settlements and the creation of a Palestinian state so the Palestinian people... can enjoy all of their rights," he added. HRW said that between last August and January 2016, 58 people contacted Israel's Gisha rights group which helps Gazans seeking Israeli permission to travel, "saying their requests for Jordanian permission to transit had been rejected or that they had received no answer". Previously, Gisha "was hearing of virtually no refusals", HRW said. It called on Jordan to facilitate transit for Gaza residents, urging Amman to "ensure that their decisions are transparent, are not arbitrary, and take into consideration the human rights of those affected".

Bangladesh Opposition Official Arrested over Israel Meeting
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/Bangladesh police have arrested a senior official from the main opposition party and accused him of plotting against the state following his meeting with an Israeli political adviser, an official said Monday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government is stepping up a crackdown on political opponents in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, which is also reeling from a wave of killings blamed on Islamists. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) joint secretary general Aslam Chowdhury was arrested on Sunday after local media reported that he had met an Israeli government adviser in India in March. "We've arrested Chowdhury for allegedly plotting conspiracies against the government by personally meeting an Israeli politician abroad," detective police commissioner Abdul Baten told reporters. Dhaka police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder said officers were preparing to file a criminal case against him. Chowdhury, a successful businessman from the southern city of Chittagong, has denied plotting against the government, telling reporters he met the adviser during a "personal business trip" to India. Bangladesh has no diplomatic ties with Israel and Bangladeshis are banned from traveling to the country.
The arrest is the latest against the BNP. Party supremo and former prime minister Khaleda Zia was last week charged with masterminding arson attacks during anti-government protests last year, the latest in a string of charges which she says are politically motivated. Bangladesh has been hit by a political crisis since the BNP and other opposition parties boycotted the general election in 2014. Scores of people were killed in firebomb attacks on vehicles last year when Zia called a transport blockade as part of her efforts to force the government to hold fresh elections.Hasina's secular government launched a crackdown in response to the violence, with thousands of opposition supporters arrested -- particularly those from the main Islamist party. Bangladesh has also been hit by a series of gruesome murders of secular and liberal activists and members of religious minorities.

U.S. Says Bid to Retake Iraq's Mosul from IS Making Progress
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/The U.S.-led offensive to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State group is making progress, the top American envoy to the coalition said Sunday. IS had "returned to suicide bombing" because the area under its control was shrinking and it was on the defensive, Brett McGurk said at a conference in the Jordanian capital. His remarks came as jihadist suicide assailants broke into a gas plant north of Baghdad and killed at least seven people, in an attack claimed by IS. "We are now making progress against Daesh," McGurk said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "The campaign to isolate and squeeze and constrict Daesh in Mosul has already began," he said. "We are doing precision air strikes in Mosul almost every day, we have a lot of information from the people who are inside Mosul about what Daesh is doing inside the city."The Iraqi army said in late March that its troops and allied militia had launched what was expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake Mosul, IS' main hub in the country. McGurk said IS was now under "constant, synchronized pressure." "Their territory is shrinking and they are now doing these suicide attacks against civilian populations. It is not going to work but this is what they are trying to do and it is nothing new," said the U.S. envoy. Iraqi forces collapsed in the face of the 2014 IS advance and the jihadist group ultimately overran around a third of the country. IS has declared an Islamic "caliphate" in areas under its control in Iraq and in neighboring Syria, where it has also seized significant territory. Imposing its extremist interpretation of Islamic law, IS has committed widespread atrocities in areas under its control and launched a wave of attacks against the West. The U.S.-led coalition of Western and Arab nations launched air strikes against IS in Iraq in August of 2014 and has killed thousands of the jihadists.

U.N. Envoy to Yemen Says Optimistic about Peace Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 16/16/The U.N. special envoy to Yemen said Sunday he is optimistic about achieving a peaceful settlement in the war-torn country, but admitted "difficult matters" remain unresolved. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said some progress had been achieved in the talks which began on April 21. "Now, we have an opportunity to reach a peaceful settlement... the progress we have made on some points makes us optimistic," he told a news conference. "But there remains some difficult matters... the problem is reaching a clear political agreement."But the envoy declined to provide details on the progress made other than an agreement in principle to free 50 percent of prisoners and detainees before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the first week of June. There has been mounting international pressure to end the Yemen conflict, which the United Nations estimates has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.8 million since March last year. The talks pit the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi militia and their allies of forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh against the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216, issued more than a year ago, orders the Huthi rebels to pull out of territory they occupied in a 2014 offensive and surrender heavy arms they captured. Pro-government forces, backed by Saudi air power, pushed the rebels out of five southern provinces last year. The Huthis however still control the capital Sanaa as well as large parts of the country's north and west, and the Saudi-led coalition has drawn strong criticism over heavy civilian casualties. The stumbling block at the talks remains the form of the government that would control Yemen in a transitional period. The rebels are demanding to share power with Hadi while his delegation insists he is the legitimate head of state under U.N. resolutions. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said U.N. agencies provide aid to more than 13 million Yemenis.

An update on anti-regime protests in Iran
Monday, 16 May 2016
NCRI - The following are a selection of news about recent anti-regime protests in Iran:
Saturday, May 14, 2016:
Students Protest in Sama University, Kermanshah
A group of students of Sama University of Kermanshah, western Iran, protested against the university notification on full settlement of tuition fees as a precondition to get a test card. The protesters said that they cannot afford to pay the full tuition fee. Based on other reports, a group of employees of the general department of physical education in Kermanshah gathered in Simetri Street and protested against the unpaid salaries and the 5-months overtime job payments.
Contractors of Green Spaces Organization Protest in Sanandaj
A group of contractors of green spaces organization rallied in front of the Sanandaj (western Iran) municipality building and protested against the 3-month suspended payments of their wages. These workers are in charge of painting passages and street curbs.
Personnel of the Emergency Center Protest in Ilam
The personnel of Dr. Fattahi Emergency Center in Ilam rallied and protested against their 3-month suspended and irregular salary payments, demanding remunerations.
Rally and Strike of Furniture Sellers in Yaft-Abad, Tehran
The furniture sellers of Yaft-Abad, in particular the sellers of Omid Mall, shut down their business, rallied in the streets and protested against the severe recession, declining revenues and tax extortions in the Guild. The policies of the mullahs' regime have driven these sellers to the verge of bankruptcy.
Protest in Tehran Fruit and Vegetable Market
A group of the regime’s plainclothes policemen with property inspectors and discretionary punishment agents raided the central fruit and vegetable market of Tehran and sealed two affiliated warehouses.
A group of market sellers who had witnessed this violent incident, clashed with regime forces and the regime's police forces left the market in fear of the protest spreading.
Students of the Free University Protest in Kashan
In the Free University of Kashan, about 150 to 200 students held a rally to protest against the low quality of food in the university canteen.
Victims on financial scam protest in front of Hassan Rouhani's Office
Victims of a major financial scam by the Padideh Shandiz institute lodged a protest in front of the office of the regime’s President Hassan Rouhani situated in Pastour Street in Tehran. The protesters demanded their stolen money to be returned. The Padideh Shandiz institute is one of the dozens of financial firms founded in different cities by senior Iranian regime officials in order to plunder the Iranian people’s very little savings and assets.
Padideh Shandiz, which has close links to the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has billed itself as an international tourism development company active in restaurants, tourism and construction and lured investors by promising huge returns on their shares in projects in Shandiz, a suburb of the city of Mashhad, and in the island resort of Kish. Its advertising campaign on state television was taken as reassurance that the regime backed the company.
In January 2015, a huge "fraud" worth $34.3 billion came to light in the company which is believed to have manipulated its shares. Many people who had invested in the company went bankrupt soon after.
Padideh Shandiz is reported to have had a third share in Iranian airports advertisements, as well as paying 5.1% of the state-broadcaster IRIB's income from advertisements.
Friday, May 13, 2016:
People Protest against Rerouting of Karoon River and Building Behesht-Abad Dam in Ahwaz
During a football match in Ghadir sport stadium, a group of people protested against the decision of the mullahs’ regime to reroute the Karoon River and the building of the Behesht-Abad Dam. At the same time, another group of people formed a human chain by the Karoon riverside in Ahwaz, south-west Iran.
In protest against the rerouting of Karoon River, citizens of Ahwaz rallied near the library building located in the west side of the central Karoon riverbank, forming a human chain. Demonstrators held signs and placards representing their protest against the river-rerouting.

PMOI supporters in Holland denounce Iran regime’s massacre in Syria
Monday, 16 May 2016/NCRI - Supporters of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) in The Hague have held a protest outside the Dutch Parliament denouncing the crimes of the Iranian regime against the people of Syria. The PMOI (MEK) supporters on Saturday urged the government in Holland to base its relationship with the Iranian regime on a halt to its domestic human rights abuses and support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. In particular, they denounced the massacre of the people of Aleppo, in northern Syria, by the Iranian regime's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and affiliated foreign mercenaries. They held up placards with images of the onslaught in Aleppo. They also held banners demanding a halt to human rights abuses in Iran, one of which read: "Stop executions, medieval torture and cruel punishments in Iran."Amnesty International in its April 6 annual Death Penalty report covering the 2015 period wrote: "Iran put at least 977 people to death in 2015, compared to at least 743 the year before.""Iran alone accounted for 82% of all executions recorded" in the Middle East and North Africa, the human rights group said. There have been more than 2,300 executions during Hassan Rouhani’s tenure as President. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran in March announced that the number of executions in Iran in 2015 was greater than any year in the last 25 years. Rouhani has explicitly endorsed the executions as examples of “God’s commandments” and “laws of the parliament that belong to the people.”

IRAN: Statement of Jafar Azimzadeh about the release of Ismail Abdi
Monday, 16 May 2016 /NCRI – Iranian political prisoner Jafar Azimzadeh, a workers’ rights activist, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike for over two weeks, has sent a statement out of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison following the release on bail of fellow political prisoner Ismail Abdi, Secretary General of Iran’s Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA).
The following is the text of the statement by Jafar Azimzadeh:
My dear friend and resistant cellmate Ismail Abdi was released on three 3 billion Rials bail (U.S. $100,000). He had spent 11 months in prison without a judicial verdict and solely based on the will of the security apparatus. Abdi’s release, while exciting and gratifying, does not mean that even a small step was being taken to realize our demands and the demands of millions of teachers and workers. In our joint statement that was strongly and passionately supported by the country’s teachers and workers unions as well as labor and teachers’ organizations across the world, we demanded an end to treating social and civil protests as security issues and removing the charge of “associating and colluding with intent to act against national security" from the open files of protesting workers and teachers and imprisoned union activists, including ourselves.
We protested wages below the poverty line, the ban on holding independent and free celebrations to mark International Workers’ Day and Teachers’ Day, the ban on forming independent trade unions, and lack of transparency and effective action by the International Labor Organization (ILO) against flagrant violation of the essential rights of Iranian workers and teachers, and we did go on hunger strike. Accordingly, as far as it concerns Ismail Abdi’s release through a heavy bail and an open case with heavy security charges, such an act from the legal authority dealing with his case even within the framework of existing law-breaking actions, was routine and, in Ismail’s case, predictable. For that reason, his release can’t be used as a claim of addressing our demands and that of millions of workers and teachers, and it appears that it was intended to overshadow and limit the scope of the ever increasing (labor and teachers) movement that has centered around ending the treatment of protests by teachers and workers as security issues and protesting heavy security charges against trade activists around the country and around the globe. Therefore, with great appreciation for the support of Iran’s teachers and workers and labor and workers’ unions and organizations around the world for our demands in the joint statement with Ismail Abdi, and emphasizing on realization of all of them, I will continue my indefinite hunger strike that I began on April 30.Copy to: International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)/Jafar Azimzadeh - Ward 8 of Evin Prison

Guards attack Kurdish political prisoners in Iran
Sunday, 15 May 2016 /NCRI - Black-clad prison guards have raided a Kurdish political prisoners' ward in Iran's notorious Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison, beating inmates and pillaging through their personal property. The incident occurred on Saturday morning in Hall 21 of the prison which is situated in the city of Karaj, north-west of Tehran. Around 100 suppressive guards in full riot gear and wielding batons raided the ward which houses political prisoners of Kurdish descent, according to reports from the prison. During the raid, which lasted more than two hours, prisoners' personal items were searched and many items destroyed. Pillows were torn apart with blades.
Some 40 Iranian Kurdish political prisoners are housed in the hall.

Iran political prisoner is refused treatment after suspected heart attack
Sunday, 15 May 2016/NCRI – Afshin Baymani, an ailing political prisoner in Iran’s notorious Rajai-Shahr Prison (Gohardasht Prison), is being refused hospital treatment by the authorities after suffering what appears to a heart attack earlier on Sunday.
Mr. Baymani, in his mid-forties, who suffers from a serious heart condition, is being held in Ward 4 of Hall 12 of Rajai-Shahr Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran. According to fellow political prisoners, Mr. Baymani was initially taken to the infirmary where doctors said his condition is serious and that he needs to be hospitalized, a request that was denied by the warden despite the doctors insisting that he must not be taken back to the ward in his current state. He was finally sent back to the ward with two injections. Doctors have said he must at no time be left alone with his condition, even during his sleep since he is at risk of heart failure. He has been told that in addition to his heart, his lungs are also suffering from serious problems.
Medical staff in Rajai-Shahr Prison have previously said Mr. Baymani is in need of an open heart surgery.
Mr. Baymani, a father of two, has been imprisoned for some 16 years in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison and Gohardasht Prison in Karaj for allegedly helping his brother evade arrest.
Mr. Baymani was originally sentenced to execution on September 6, 2000, but his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment six years later.
Mr. Baymani has previously suffered heart attacks and is in poor health. In 2014, he was among a group of political prisoners who went on hunger strike in solidarity with Iranian women in Isfahan, central Iran, who at the time were subjected to a spate of acid attacks by organized fundamentalist gangs affiliated to the regime.
He again went on a hunger strike in December 2015 in protest to his transfer to the ordinary prisoners’ ward.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 16-17/16

What exactly is happening in Saudi Arabia?
Noga Tarnopolsky/The Media Line/Jerusalem Post/May 16/16
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman is 31-years-old, charismatic, full of verve and very single-minded.
Following in the footsteps of the French philosopher-cum-Svengali Bernard-Henri Lévy, who is commonly referred to as BHL, the young prince styles himself MBS.He picks up titles like other young men pick up dates. Nominally second in line to the throne, behind his cousin Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, he has already been put in charge of many of the Gulf kingdom’s diplomatic initiatives including a new cooperation council with Jordan and is, de facto, the man charged with steering Saudi Arabia into a new economic reality over the next fifteen years. MBS is the author of “Saudi Vision 2030,” a hugely ambitious plan to wean the country of its dependence on oil income and diversify the local economy. Last weekend, the prince calmly fired Ali al-Naimi, Saudi’s minister of oil for the past twenty years, and replaced him with Kalid al-Falih, a widely respected oil industry technocrat. In Riyadh, Western correspondents report, the young prince is known as “Mr. Everything.”
Speaking with Bloomberg news last month, Mohammed delineated two iterations of himself: “one who pursued a vision of his own, and one who adapted to the court as it was.”“There’s a big difference,” he said. “The first, he can create Apple. The second can become a successful employee. I had elements that were much more than what Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates had. If I work according to their methods, what will I create? All of this was in my head when I was young.”Prince Mohammed is overseeing the most dramatic changes his country has seen in the past half century.
This week, Dad, aka King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, issued a blizzard of decrees (51, to be precise) rearranging the institutions of state to facilitate the implementation of his son’s plans. Throughout 2015, something close to dread burbled up from the monolithic façade of Riyadh’s officialdom as it became clear that Saudi Arabia was burning through its foreign reserves faster than had previously been foreseen and that insolvency loomed, possibly within 24 months.
Saudi Arabia has traditionally relied on the petroleum sector for 90% of its state budget, and cratering oil revenues resulted in a budget shortfall of almost $200 billion. New thinking was required, stat. Replacing the legendary al-Naimi with al-Falih made headlines, as did Prince Mohammed’s proposal to fill the national coffers through an the IPO of the state-owned oil conglomerate, Saudi Aramco, that, if it comes to fruition, is expected to fetch as much as $2 trillion. But these are only two parts of a much broader plan to fundamentally recast the kingdom. The aim is to reorient the Saudi economy away from dependence on oil revenues and towards a newly conceived private sector. “Saudi Vision 2030” is the road-map for its implementation. The prince’s plan foresees a significant expansion of the manufacturing sector, which currently accounts only for a quarter of Saudi non-oil economic activity, in the hope that is will boost private sector activity from 45% to 60% of gross domestic product and reduce unemployment from 11.6% to a projected 7%. The arid kingdom’s water sector is also being revolutionized. A new Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture has been established, while electricity will as of now be part of al-Falih’s expanded purview as energy czar.

In addition, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Investment has been reconstituted sans investment, and is now part of the new energy “super-ministry.”In yet another change, Ahmed al-Kholifey, who served as deputy for the past three years, has now been elevated to the post of Governor of the Saudi central bank. Lastly but not incidentally, a brand new Commission for Recreation and Culture has been established as part of the national reorganization. Run by Ahmad al-Khatib, a former health minister with close ties to the royal family, Khatib faces the challenge of developing new tourism and entertainment options that are admissible within the severe restrictions of social behavior permitted within the ultra-conservative kingdom. MBS has been letting it be known he sees the need for a certain liberalization, though no one expects conservative clerics, who have traditionally enjoyed being part of the House of Saud’s inner circle, to easily permit any attempts to free up the structures that frustrate the kingdom’s youthful majority.The prince’s plan promises unspecified “cultural and entertainment” projects including spaces for cultural events, libraries and museums, and, in terms of household spending, it hopes to double the amount currently being spent on cultural activities and entertainment, from 3% to 6% by 2030.

Why target Yemen's Mukalla?
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/May 16/16
On April 24, Mukalla - the most important port in the Yemeni governorate of Hadhramaut - was liberated from al-Qaeda via coalition operations to restore legitimacy in the country, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Legitimate Yemeni forces and members of the popular resistance, particularly from among Hadhramaut’s residents, also played an influential role.The legitimate Yemeni government considers Mukalla a very important city. Oil and gas pipelines are connected to it from the regions of Marib and Jawf. It has experts in trade and export operations.
Above all, it is distant from Houthi influence and that of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, unlike Aden which suffers more problems. For all these reasons, Mukalla can be a practical ‘capital’ of the legitimate Yemeni government. It generates the money required to manage internal affairs, to work in commerce, and to establish a political and civil basis that tempts Yemenis to follow suit within the context of legitimacy.
ISIS
However, attacks against Mukalla by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after its liberation raises a lot of questions. ISIS was never mentioned in Mukalla or Hadhramaut until now. There have been frequent attacks there. Mukalla generates the money required to manage internal affairs, to work in commerce, and to establish a political and civil basis that tempts Yemenis to follow suit within the context of legitimacy. On Sunday, an ISIS suicide bomber attacked a police headquarters, targeting the city’s security director Mubarak al-Awthaban, killing 30 people and injuring about 60. Pro-ISIS social-media users posted statements claiming that one of its members, Abu al-Baraa al-Ansari, blew himself up among a gathering of “apostate” security forces. The war against Al-Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen is real - arresting some 250 Al-Qaeda members since liberating Mukalla is proof of that. The war that ISIS is waging against Mukalla is further proof that this malicious organization generously serves the long-term goals of the enemies of Arab interests and of legitimacy, as represented by legitimate Yemeni forces and the Arab coalition, which are fighting Iranian soldiers in Yemen, the Houthis and their allies, Saleh’s supporters. ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Houthis and Saleh’s forces are all the same - they are the coalition’s rivals and opponents of Yemeni peace.

The ‘moderate’ Hassan Rowhani praises Qassem Soleimani’s ‘heroism’
Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/May 16/16
The remarks made by Iranian President Hassan Rowhani about the commander of the Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, made it clear to those who had wagered on him where he really stands in the scale of internal Iranian differences and the prospects for him to rein in Iran’s regional ambitions. Rowhani praised the “heroism and courage” of Soleimani in Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Palestine. The president said the Revolutionary Guards were not only responsible for the country’s security alongside the police, army, and the Basij, but are also the defenders of “our holy sites in Iraq and Syria, and the oppressed in Lebanon, Palestine, Afghanistan and anywhere we are required to (defend them).”Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov fully understand Rowhani’s statements, and are also convinced of the need for Soleimani’s role. On the other hand, US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry still prefer to pretend they are not hearing and are not worried about the repercussions of Iranian military adventures outside its borders including overt military intervention in Arab countries. They prefer to ignore the protests of Arab and Turkish leaders, fearing they would otherwise threaten US-Iranian relations, now the centrepiece of Obama’s historical legacy; and US-Russian relations, a priority for John Kerry as he dreams of winning the Nobel Peace Prize with his dear friend Lavrov. But this dream will not see the light of day as long as the Lavrov-Kerry duo continues to throw Syria towards more tragedy and bloodletting with their palliative accords and unserious threats. The reputation of the duo today is not good. Their historical legacy will not record for them an achievement on par with the chemical weapons deal, which saw Obama back down from his famous redlines. Rather, history will record their failure and their collusion to move the bar in accordance with cynical interests rather than principles and morals, with regard to the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history.
In the absence of a clear and sustained military policy in support of the opposition, the strategy of draining the opposition and forcing it to surrender is succeeding. There will be no Nobel Prize for them nor for President Rowhani, who has read well the signs from his American and Russian counterparts, and decided he has room for political manoeuvres instead of working to prove his moderate credentials and take Iran towards a new pattern of regional relations, away from military interventionism and projects for regional dominance. All these facts increase the doubts of the camp that has from the beginning decided that what was happening in Tehran is just a good cop, bad cop routine, with little difference between the moderate ayatollahs and the hard-line ayatollahs. Indeed, both wings consider the Revolutionary Guards to be the basis of the Iranian revolution and the guarantor of its continuation.
This is important because there was a faction that used to call for patience, arguing that moderation was bringing new policies to Tehran, including the reining in of projects of regional dominance and intervention in Arab countries.
Options for the Gulf
The Gulf countries are thinking seriously about their options. Some are implementing measures that take into account the clarity of Iranian positions, and frustration and annoyance with US and Russian ones. While this will not be translated into direct wars, it could be translated into the protraction of proxy wars involving the US, Russia, Iran, the Gulf powers, and Turkey, from Syria and Iraq to Yemen and Lebanon. It was the military element in the calculations of some Gulf countries and Turkey that prompted in part the US-Russian statement issued last week, which had a flavour of bargaining rather than a flavour of determination to induce a qualitative shift toward a radical solution to the Syrian crisis. Yet Moscow agreed to merely reduce the number of air raids in areas covered by the ceasefire. Washington agreed to increase support for its regional allies, led by Turkey, to help them stop the flow of fighters and weapons or financial support to terrorist groups through their territories.
This was followed by a Russian attempt at the UN Security Council to include Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam to the list of sanctioned terrorist groups that already includes ISIS and al-Qaeda. However, US, British, and French opposition stopped the motion, in order to protect the negotiations in Geneva and avoid obstruction of the efforts for a cessation of hostilities on the ground. The course of political negotiations has long been intertwined with the course of military operations, following decisions to this effect made by the axis comprising Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian and pro-regime militias. The battle for Aleppo is fateful in the calculations of this axis, regardless of any statements made by the US and Russia, the Friends of Syria group in Paris, or by other meetings in Vienna or elsewhere.
The battlefield is racing with and even beating the negotiating table, with a view to impose one fait accompli after the other in order to tie the hands of the supporters of the Syrian opposition and lower the bar of international positions, especially US positions. What is being sought is to force the moderate rebels to surrender politically and militarily.
Since the Paris Group held its ministerial meeting on May 9 and until the Vienna Process meeting will convene on May 17, John Kerry issued and will issue further statements expressing frustration with Russian and Iranian positions, in order to rein them in somewhat, and to warn of a Plan B or a quagmire for the Russians in Syria. But once again, we will hear from Kerry sweet talk as he engages in the diplomacy of smiles and handshakes in front of TV cameras, reassuring his colleague Lavrov that yet another chapter has been added to the annals of US-Russian accords concluded at the expense of Syria.
The UN will also express concern and reaffirm the need for a political solution and for negotiations to be rescued, while entirely shirking its responsibility to ensure accountability, and overlooking violations against its own resolutions – all in the name of preserving the political process and bowing down to the fait accompli imposed by the developments on the ground.
The General Secretariat speaks of war crimes in Syria while deliberately not holding the government and its allies responsible, and not explaining that the groups that are committing war crimes are already outlaw terrorist groups and not states. As for the governments involved in war crimes in Syria, they are under international law responsible for their war crimes and must be exposed and held accountable, rather than be covered for. The UN thus contents itself with watching while avoiding the issue of accountability.
The UN Secretariat and Security Council member states also buried their heads in the sand when Iran challenged the sanctions regime and violated binding UN Security Council resolutions passed under Chapter VII of the Charter, sending military advisors and mercenaries into Syria.
The international silence that blessed all these violations is the same thing that contributed into turning Syria into magnet for foreign volunteers fighting alongside the regime in Damascus, just like international silence at the start of the war had led to the growth of terrorism in Syria.
Rewarding Iran
Today, the major powers along with Germany and the EU are effectively rewarding Iran for the nuclear deal by repealing resolutions banning Tehran from supplying weapons, fighters, and advisors anywhere it pleases outside its borders. Today, Tehran is stating publicly that it has a military arm in Syria supporting Bashar al-Assad, entering as a direct party to the civil war along with its militias. Today, the figurehead of Iranian moderation, President Hassan Rowhani, in a speech he delivered in Kerman in south-eastern Iran, has declared that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are defending the security of countries that requested Tehran’s help, mentioning by name Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. He said: “We see now the effects of the heroic deeds of Soleimani in Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Lebanon,” before praising him for his “courage”, as other Iranian officials vowed a “great revenge” for the death of 13 Iranian military advisors from the Revolutionary Guards in Syria. Iran’s brigades are openly and publicly being deployed to Syria, to encircle Aleppo in coordination with Russian and Syrian air raids, not against ISIS but against moderate Syrian rebels. The goal is to improve the regime’s military position on the ground, especially since the countries that back the Syrian opposition are undermining the Syrian rebels by withholding weapons and by forcing through regional and international accords that tie their hands.
Simply put, in the absence of a clear and sustained military policy in support of the opposition, the strategy of draining the opposition and forcing it to surrender is succeeding. The Russian-Iranian axis in Syria is coherent and clear in its military and diplomatic strategy. It is betting on the incoherence, hesitation, and weakness of the backers of the opposition. Agreeing a ceasefire is better than continued bloodletting. The Russian and American expression of keenness for a political solution soon should be welcomed and encouraged. However, the fact of the matter is that Russia is pursuing a strategy on the ground whose goal is to decimate the Syrian opposition and/or categorize its groupings as terrorists, like it has done with the Nusra Front even before it resorted to terrorism. The fact is that the US Secretary of State’s concerns for Russia to be drawn into a quagmire in Syria is only empty rhetoric. As long as Washington does not uphold accountability and monitoring mechanisms, its rhetoric will turn into poison for innocent civilians in Syria that is no less harmful than Russian raids, Iranian militias, and the crimes of terror groups and their supporters as well as the atrocities of the Syrian regime against its own people.

Instigators accountable
Turki Al-Dakhil/Al Arabiya/May 16/16
Saudi prisoner Hadi al-Baqmi broke hearts as he spoke about the influence of instigators. Hundreds of Saudi young men are fighting in battlefields that they were dragged to in a cold-blooded manner via religious sermons or lectures.Like others, Baqmi was of course wrong in joining these battlefields, for which he has paid 10 years of his life. Meanwhile, his children grow up apart from him.
Accountability
Lawyer Abdulrahman al-Lahham decided to legally pursue those instigators to protect God’s religion and the country, and defend youths who are being recruited everyday via the internet or preachers’ sermons. Lahham said such cases put an end to extremists’ manipulation of young men.
Baqmi asked why his instigator’s fortune has increased, and why the latter gets to brag as he enjoys living in his castle while other people’s sons are dragged to their graves. He asked how this instigator gets to risk the lives of other people’s sons without venturing his own life. These are logical questions.
Holding instigators accountable is necessary, as our sons have been pushed to join bloody wars for 30 years now, and are being pursued and imprisoned while instigators remain on the loose. If the instigator is honest, why is he not among the ranks of young men who are being used to fuel wars? Baqmi says the preacher’s tears were one of the reasons he accepted to be recruited. “I thought he was honest because I saw him cry,” he said. Holding instigators accountable is necessary, as our sons have been pushed to join bloody wars for 30 years now, and are being pursued and imprisoned while instigators remain on the loose. Holding those responsible accountable is legitimate and legal, as justice is the backbone of every country. oponents of Arab and Islamic social reform to make their case to a mass audience. Turki also owns Al Mesbar Studies and Research Centre and Madarek Publishing House in Dubai. He has received several awards and honors, including the America Abroad Media annual award for his role in supporting civil society, human rights and advancing women’s roles in Gulf societies.

Are the Arabs asking for too much?
Khaled AlmaeenaAl Arabiya/May 16/16
Browsing through a copy of the International New York Times on a flight from Dubai to Jeddah, I read Roger Cohen’s article “The Arab Withering”. He reviews Robert F. Worth’s book A Rage for Order. Cohen has a style of his own. It’s not just a book review but an analysis of how he views the sorry state of the Arab world especially after the Arab Spring. It is a chronicle, as Roger Cohen states, of “shattered hopes, lives, families and societies”. The book as Cohen relates is frank and reveals a new dimension of where we are at present. It reflects on how historical baggage added weight to a present Arab world incapable of carrying on. It reinforces what Arabs used to talk about for years about Arab societies fractured by dictators for their own personal selfish gains and the plague that exists in the Arab world as exemplified by sect, tribe and the mukhabarat (secret police) which has dented any effort to build a civil society. It’s a realistic but sad appraisal of the Arab world post-2011. Frustration levels are high and the level of despair has reached such a height that incoherent calls including a return to the old order in some states are being made. The only way forward is to create a climate of confidence, build civil institutions and focus on the real problems facing us, such as education, health, water shortages and population growth. Two things impacted me in the last four weeks. The first was the Arab Youth Survey 2015 and the other was the Arab Media Forum 2016. Here I met and discussed with participants the situation in the Arab world. I saw hope, a yearning for progress and a desire to have peace and stability.
Narrative of hatred
There was a total rejection of Da’esh (the self-proclaimed ISIS) and its barbaric practices of obscurantism and political Islam. We cannot continue like this anymore. The narrative of hatred, conspiracy theories and repression should stop. Enough blood has been spilt. The only way forward is to create a climate of confidence, build civil institutions and focus on the real problems facing us, such as education, health, water shortages and population growth. The Arab people want to live in dignity. They want to be stakeholders and not statistics in a despotic rentier state system. They want to breathe, to feel free, to govern and be governed by states that believe in the rule of law.
They want to live. Are the Arabs asking for too much?

Ahmadinejad's return to public eye in Iran fuels talk of a comeback
Reuters/Ynetnews/May 16/16
The former Iranian president, a Holocaust denier who repeatedly threatened to annihilate Israel and nurtured Tehran's nuclear program, has been making more and more public appearance of late, sparking rumors he is planning to run for president in 2017. On a podium decorated as a bunker from the Iran-Iraq war, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad woos a crowd of hundreds with an anti-Western speech reminiscent of his fiery addresses as Iran's president.
At the end of the event in Jiroft in southeast Iran, held partly to honor victims of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, some of the crowd chant: "The slogan of any man is that Ahmadinejad is coming back."After nearly three years out of the public eye following two terms as president, Ahmadinejad has made a handful of appearances in the past few weeks, including his speech last week in Jiroft, which have stoked talk of a political comeback. The 59-year-old conservative and populist has made no announcement about his future or addressed speculation that he plans to stand in the next presidential election, due in 2017.
But if he does run, he could cause problems for his pragmatic successor, Hassan Rouhani, who gained popularity after the deal with world powers that led to most sanctions on Iran being lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
"In the presidency it's the individual that is important. Political groups are not important. In reality, an individual can start a wave," Massoud Mirkazemi, a former oil minister under Ahmadinejad, told the Asr-e-Iran website in an interview published on Wednesday.
"Whoever can start this wave will get votes. Ahmadinejad has started, and can start this wave," he said, predicting his political ally would defeat Rouhani if he runs. Ahmadinejad's chances of success are hard to assess.
He did not run in the last presidential election, in June 2013, because of Iranian constitutional limits, and conservatives suffered setbacks in March elections to parliament and the Assembly of Experts which will select Iran's next supreme leader, the country's highest authority.
But Ahmadinejad could be the conservatives' best hope of bouncing back in next year's election although his relations with some of them are strained.
"Hardliners recognize Ahmadinejad is the only person that can stand up to the reformists and their candidates," said Saeed Leylaz, a Tehran-based political analyst who worked as an advisor to former President Mohammad Khatami.
"His activity has grown very, very much. And he's caused a stir in various places."
Online battle
As president for eight years, Ahmadinejad frequently enraged the international community with his fierce rhetoric against the United States and Israel, his defiant stand on Iran's disputed nuclear program and persistent questioning of the Holocaust.
Supporters praise him for defending traditional values and standing up to the West. Opponents criticize him for his economic record and over allegations of high-level corruption while he was president.
Although largely about freedom and democracy, last week's speech in Jiroft hit a familiar theme by condemning "oppressors" in a dig at the West, and the United States in particular.
"I say why did you start a military campaign in Iraq and Afghanistan and kill 1 million people? They say we want to bring freedom there," he told the crowd. "Democracy means a population has the right to choose their own freedom. They kill people for freedom and congratulate themselves."
Ahmadinejad was first elected president in 2005. His disputed win in the 2009 election prompted the Islamic Republic's biggest protests and a security crackdown in which several people were killed and hundreds were arrested.
As Ahmadinejad has become more visible again, supporters have used the Internet to highlight his accomplishments.
A pro-Ahmadinejad blog has published statistics that portray him in a good light, suggesting, for example, that more rural roads were paved while he was in power than have been under Rouhani, but without citing a source for the data.
Ahmadinejad's critics have also been active online. A satirical photograph posted on the Telegram messaging app shows him posing as a school teacher and presenting a lesson, saying: "Through demagoguery we'll make them forget the memories of eight years of misery."
Opponents have also drawn attention to legal charges Ahmadinejad faces. The nature of the charges has not been announced but local media say they are over government procedures not being followed properly. The former president was summoned to court in 2013 but did not show up.Opponents cite the legal case as an obstacle to be overcome before Ahmadinejad can think about contesting an election. "Ahmadinejad must first be tried, then introduce himself as a candidate for the elections," Ali Mottahari, a moderate conservative member of parliament, was quoted as saying by state media.
Support of supreme leader?
Before he can run in an election, Ahmadinejad would be likely to need at least the tacit approval of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The support of the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military and economic force, would also be a significant boost.
Ahmadinejad long had the backing of Khamenei but clashed with him more than once in his final years in office. In 2011, he boycotted government meetings for 10 days after Khamenei reinstated an intelligence minister Ahmadinejad had dismissed.
The Revolutionary Guard have sent some signals of support.
In March, during the Iranian Nowruz New Year holiday, Rouhani took a trip to the resort island of Kish while Ahmadinejad visited Shalamcheh, scene of a battle in the Iran-Iraq war. The Basij News site, which is affiliated with the Guard, praised Ahmadinejad and questioned why Rouhani had not shown respect for the families of war victims.
Ali Tajernia, a reformist former member of parliament, said in an interview with the Arman-e-Emrouz newspaper last week that "influential people with a role in the power structure" had sent messages to Rouhani urging him not to seek re-election.
If Ahmadinejad does mount a comeback, he is likely to revert to populist rhetoric to tap support.
"Ahmadinejad has his own special base of social media support that he can mobilize," Amir Mohebian, a conservative Tehran-based political strategist and analyst who has advised top politicians, said in response to a question from Reuters.
With the economy set to be a campaign issue, Rouhani will try to show the lifting of sanctions is bringing economic gains. If he fails to do so, Ahmadinejad is likely to repeat promises to spread the country's wealth to the poor and disenfranchised.
Rouhani could hit back by making the allegations of corruption during Ahmadinejad's rule a campaign issue. Rouhani came to power on promises to root out corruption, and in March a businessman allegedly linked to top officials from Ahmadinejad's time in office was sentenced to death.

The Jihad on Christian Church Tents
Raymond Ibrahim/The Gatestone Institute/May 15, 2016
The church tent in Egypt that belonged to the congregation of Christian priest Fr. Jonathan Adel is pictured as it burns on May 12, 2016.
A Christian church in Egypt was just torched to the ground at the hands of "extremists" on May 12. A video shows the structure burning as Christians scurry to throw pails of water on it.
The church consisted of a large tent that had been consecrated and contained all the material of a "normal" church — an altar, icons, and crosses — and was led by Fr. Jonathan Adel. The Christians of the region had been meeting there for all regular church services, functions, and celebrations; authorities had agreed to its existence and use as a church.
A statement condemning this attack, written by Bishop Macarious, closed with: "May God protect the Church and preserve Egypt and Egyptians from all adversity."
Why were these Christians meeting in a large "church tent" in the first place? Because the church they had built in 2009 was sealed off by authorities after local Muslims protested and rioted.
The Virgin Mary Church is not the first congregation in Egypt to be denied a church building, forced to worship in a tent, often to be attacked again. According to a 2010 report, "Since March 16, 2010, after the demolition of the old church [as in Minya], the Bishop and the congregation have been celebrating mass in a linen tent erected on the courtyard where the new church is planned, under the summer heat exceeding 113 degrees Fahrenheit."After waiting 44 years, the Christians of Nag Shenouda were issued the necessary permits to build a church. Because of this, local Muslims rioted and burned down the church tent they had been using. Then, when a Christian allowed some of the congregation to use his home, a Muslim mob attacked it. Denied a place to worship, the determined Christians of Nag Shenouda celebrated Easter 2015 in the middle of the street.
Church closures and mob attacks on Christians occur across the Islamic world.
Sometimes when the mob does not torch the church tents, the authorities do it themselves: Egyptian police destroyed the tent structure of St. Joseph Church, in another village in Minya, under the pretext that it was built without a license. As usual, this chain of events — Christian minorities having their churches closed and being forced to meet in tents, only to be persecuted again by police or mobs — is not an "aberration" limited to the experiences of Egypt's Christians but occur across the world, wherever Christians live under Muslim rule:
Kenya (November, 2015): After rioting Muslims burned down two church buildings, the congregations were forced to erect church tents, some of which were flooded by strong rains, which carried away five people.
Indonesia (January 2015): Authorities in the Sharia-governed province of Aceh began to remove tents built by Christians for worship after their churches were torn down by authorities responding to Muslim violence against churches that left one dead and thousands Christians displaced. At least two church tents were torn down. Earlier, in 2012, the St. Johannes Baptista church tent was sealed off by authorities. The congregation had been using it since 2006 as a temporary location, as they had not received a church permit since they applied in 2000.
Sudan (June 2014): After authorities in North Khartoum demolished another church building that had stood since 1983, the pastor said "We will have to pray in a makeshift tent [along the road] next Sunday."
Pakistan (September 2012): Soon after a madrassa (Islamic school) was opened near where churchless Christians held their tent services, Muslim students began harassing the Christians. They shot bullets at their homes, shouted, "convert to Islam or leave this neighborhood," and sexually harassed Christian girls as they left after services.
**Raymond Ibrahim is a Judith Friedman Rosen fellow at the Middle East Forum and a Shillman fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.